SHOT Show is chock full of awesome firearms. But you also run across some strange items. A few don’t look like guns at all. I didn’t see as many of those this year as I did in 2023, but they were there. The unusual guns this year were often familiar blasters with unique Cerakote jobs. But I’ve only included two of those.
When I say these guns are weird or unusual, I don’t mean they are bad products. I can’t say one way or the other without running them myself. Each is cool in its own way. Some more than others. But you won’t find these in your average gun store, or likely anywhere but the company website.
SHOT Show is so unbelievably huge that I no doubt missed a couple that should make this list. But it’s just about impossible to see all 14 miles of aisle space. So, with that in mind, let’s look at my choices for the weird guns of SHOT Show 2024, in alphabetical order.
Crossfire Metal Works Viper Tac-Bat .22
This is a cool little gun. It’s a single-shot, slam-fire .22 Long Rifle…gun? Bat? Bat gun? Something like that. It’s based on Crossfire Metal Works’ Tac-Bat line. They just made it into a gun. Basically, it’s a machined steel club that fires a .22. Think of it as a 2024 version of the cane gun. It’s solid too. Heavier than it looks. This thing will knock out anything this side of a grizzly bear, and you can shoot it for good measure.
The good folks at Crossfire told me they have a revolver and a .410 shotgun version on the way. I don’t know if I would ever carry a Viper Tac-Bat .22, but if I’m ever being stalked by a yeti… Either way, I wouldn’t mind having one because they’re just plain awesome. Weird, but awesome.
Diamondback Thompson TG-9
Diamondback had some sweet stuff at Range Day. I wish they’d hung around for the show itself. One of those sweet things was the 9mm TG-9, which is a DB9R carbine with Thompson submachinegun-style furniture and a drum mag. To be precise, you get the DB9R upper and lower, a 16-inch barrel with “Tommy Gun” style flash hider, and a walnut stock, pistol grip, and foregrip. The stock isn’t the angled Thompson stock and is designed for a shoulder-fired weapon. The grips are very stylish. And Diamondback tops it off with a 50-round Magpul drum mag.
But wait, there’s more! The TG-9 comes with a Saviour Equipment Ultimate Guitar Case to carry in style to your next mob hit. All you need is a pinstriped suit, a wide-brimmed fedora, and some spats. But you better act fast, Diamondback only has 500 of these, and once they’re gone, you may as well be looking for Jimmy Hoffa.
Impala Plus Urban Shotgun
Nothing weird about this gun except the Cerakote. But it fits here. The Impala Plus is a nice-looking, semi-automatic 12-gauge shotgun made in Turkey. Nothing wrong with that. Turkey is turning out some good firearms at great prices these days. The ergonomics look good, and the gun comes with a full array of choke tubes.
But I just can’t get past the “urban camo.” That’s what makes this weird for me. It might count as camo if you hold it up next to a tagged wall or railroad car. But I guess some folks like it, or they wouldn’t offer it. It just seems like it would be illegal in the places where the “camo” fits.
Magnum Research BFR Revolver
I know some people love the “Biggest, Finest Revolver.” Personally, I think it’s cool in a Wyatt Earp sorta way, assuming ol’ Wyatt looked like the Incredible Hulk. I get that some folks believe that bigger is better. Who am I to say they’re wrong? But I just wonder why this thing exists, other than to be the biggest, baddest bear on the block. Maybe that’s the exact reason. I will say that Magnum Research makes good stuff, and I expect the BFR is no different. I just wouldn’t want to lug that thing around and then fire a .45-70 Gov’t round from it. I have rifles for that.
Ounce Pistol
This one qualifies as weird. It’s kinda cool but definitely weird. I stopped by the booth, where the nice folks showed me how to use the Ounce Pistol. It folds up innocuously and really doesn’t look like a gun. With a little practice, I learned to flip the lever, unfold the gun, and grip it. What you have is a 10+1 capacity semi-automatic pistol chambered for .22 Long Rifle. Another lever lets you fold it back up.
The gun is very light, weighing in at only 7.5 ounces empty. That’s no problem recoil-wise since you’re firing .22 Long Rifle rounds. The bore axis is noticeably low, but I don’t know if it makes much difference, being a .22. The Ounce Pistol is very slim, but once unfolded, its height and length are similar to a standard subcompact. I might be interested in this gun at 200 bucks. But the $899 price tag means it will have to remain a weird gun that I wrote about.
Stealth Arms Platypussy 1911
The Stealth Arms Platypus 1911s were among the coolest guns I saw all week. They are obviously high quality with a very slick action. Stealth Arms lets you design your own pistol on their website, choosing your features that show up on a 3D display as you progress. You can even choose from their unique Cerakote options, including the “Perry” option, which looks better than you might think.
But I wondered about the one pistol stamped “Platypussy.” It had a nice sky blue Cerakote (assuming you like that color) with flowers. It seemed just like the others. Maybe it’s targeted at women with a tongue-in-cheek, less-than-polite slang term? But it might be just the thing for a femme fatale in a B-list James Bond knockoff.
I couldn’t say, but I found it a little weird. Maybe it was a one-off for SHOT Show. I didn’t think to ask. I just smirked and took the photo. I couldn’t find it on the website, so maybe that’s the case. Or perhaps it’s a custom item. Maybe call and ask them if you feel the need.
Weird or Not?
So, those are my votes for the weird guns of SHOT Show 2024. I’m sure I missed one or two for the reasons mentioned previously. Still, weird doesn’t mean bad or undesirable. Some of my best friends are straight-up weirdos. I may or may not resemble that label myself. Weird stuff is just different.
Were you at SHOT Show? Did you see something I missed, or do you feel the need to defend the BFR to the death? Sound off in the comments. I really don’t mind.
