transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:00] My dad has always said, there's no such thing as a cheap hobby. Right. So like, it doesn't matter what your hobby is. It's like, oh, I'm just fishing. Well, you can fish with a Zebco 33, but then also all of a sudden, you're having to buy a bass boat.

Speaker 2:
[00:12] I think about watch guy. I don't wear watches, but these high-end watches, you know, you can't just have one. You don't want to have just one.

Speaker 1:
[00:20] You're not a watch guy if you only have one. You just are a guy who owns a watch.

Speaker 2:
[00:24] That's it.

Speaker 1:
[00:28] I'm Ryan Gresham, and this is Gun Talk Nation. Gun Talk Nation is brought to you by Archon Firearms, Range Ready, Silencer Central, and FN. Hey, welcome to Gun Talk Nation. Today on Gun Talk Nation, we are on location in Houston, Texas, yeehaw, for the NRA Annual Meetings, AKA the NRA Show, 2026. And I'm with my good buddy, JB John Bailey.

Speaker 2:
[01:08] What's up?

Speaker 1:
[01:08] EOTech. You've been in a lot of these.

Speaker 2:
[01:14] Yeah. You know, it's funny. We just talked about that. My first year was like 2002 or 2002.

Speaker 1:
[01:22] 2002.

Speaker 2:
[01:23] Yeah. We were in a 10-foot booth. I manned it all by myself. And it was so crazy because it was a smaller event. But I just remember herds of people, like just blocking. They couldn't even get past. So they were just like traffic and right in front of you. And it was constant for Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Now it's a bigger event. People spread out a lot. But it was ridiculous back then to be one person, showing those for three days.

Speaker 1:
[01:51] Well, it's just one person in any booth, even if it's a small booth. Like, I can't go to the bathroom.

Speaker 2:
[01:57] Right.

Speaker 1:
[01:57] How is this going to work?

Speaker 2:
[01:58] Yeah. It was funny, too. That same first year, there's a local knife guy that was next to us. So, he was sitting in a chair for three days with a massive cooler of beer next to him. And I'm doing my thing, and every, like, 20 minutes, I hear, you know, he just happened. He was having a great time. He had the best NRA show ever.

Speaker 1:
[02:20] Oh, my gosh.

Speaker 2:
[02:21] It was funny.

Speaker 1:
[02:22] You know, that's funny you bring that up, because there's a bit of behind the scenes of these types of shows where it's like, dude, I've had it. You go to the booth where the people are from Kentucky, and they've got Moonshine, and it's like, no, let me stop in. What kind of Moonshine did you bring this time? Here's a little sip. There's a little bit of that going on behind the scenes.

Speaker 2:
[02:47] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[02:48] I mean, pro tips. Sometimes at the NRA show, because it is open to the public, there are certain booths that sell product. I don't know if you guys sell product.

Speaker 2:
[02:56] We don't.

Speaker 1:
[02:57] No, okay. But certainly apparel, knives, holsters or whatever. Pro tip for everybody listening, if the company is selling those types of items and they're not driving distance to the NRA show, Sunday afternoon, dude, it's like 70 percent off. Go pick up some shirts, some hats.

Speaker 2:
[03:19] Nobody wants to go home with that stuff.

Speaker 1:
[03:20] You're like, dude, we are selling it all. I don't want to pack this up. Then you can pick up some deals.

Speaker 2:
[03:25] Even, you know, this isn't for the consumer, the attendee that's walking around, but even from a manufacturer's standpoint, like the last year or even, no, it was this past year, Wiley X was right next to us. They're like, we don't want to come home with any of these. So, you know, so there's like, take some sunglasses. Yeah, range glasses, sunglasses. It's like, perfect.

Speaker 1:
[03:46] Yeah, you never know. I mean, I will encourage you guys to show up to these types of things, the NRA show. So this year, it's in Houston. Uh, 2027, I believe it's going to be in Atlanta again. So if you're listening to this and you're thinking, I've never been, or it's been a long time, plan it because it's, it's fun.

Speaker 2:
[04:04] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[04:04] I mean, we work it and we have fun doing it. I would come here if not working it. I'd be like, this is fun. Like just walk around, sell cool stuff.

Speaker 2:
[04:13] Yep. And this year in particular, I believe, especially, you know, a little biased because we have a lot of new products, but I think shot show for all the dealers, there's a lot of new stuff out, really cool things to see, which normally the last couple of years, I don't think there was a lot of new like innovative stuff, but there's really some cool stuff out. So now you can see your brands that you like, but also really see some cool new stuff.

Speaker 1:
[04:37] Well, the fact of the matter is your local gun shop can't carry all the stuff, right? All the pistols, all the optics, all the rifles, whatever, they can't carry it. They can't stock at all. And so like, you're going to, you know, you're, hey, guys, secret, your gun dealer may have some favorite brands, and he's like, you know, oh, I hate, I don't know, pick somebody. Browning, because this one time in 1998, something happened. So you're not, you're not seeing all the different brands. So this is a place where you can touch them, hold them, you know, use them, and go, oh, wow.

Speaker 2:
[05:11] Well, and that dealer of theirs typically will buy direct from the brands that they really like and support. And then they also have access to that wholesale group. So you might walk this and find a, you know, a Henry rifle you love. And they could buy it through wholesale. And so now you're exposed, you get to kind of feel and check it all out here, and then go back to your dealer and they can, if they don't have it in stock, they can just order it for you. So it's done really well.

Speaker 1:
[05:36] And you can also ask all these questions of like, you know, okay, John Bailey, this guy works at EOTech. He knows everything about it. Tell me about holographic sites versus, you know, the regular, you know, LED red dot site stuff. And you can go, yeah, pros and cons. Here we go.

Speaker 2:
[05:53] You'll never get information like that from a dealer. They know a little about the product, but they don't know it inside and out, like I do or our booth people do. So it's really good to get the real deal on product specs and what's better. And hey, I shoot this for this. What's the best thing, you know, the best optic for you or a brush rifle, whatever it is. So you really get good information from unbiased. They're biased because of their brand, but, you know, unbiased where dealers might be a little bit different.

Speaker 1:
[06:23] Yeah, he's trying to sell what he's got in stock.

Speaker 2:
[06:25] Yeah, that's it.

Speaker 1:
[06:26] I mean, to be honest.

Speaker 2:
[06:27] Right, right.

Speaker 1:
[06:29] Hey, I want to tell you about the Archon Type B pistol, designed with the lowest bore axis of any striker fired handgun, which helps reduce muzzle flip during recoil, getting you back on target faster. This is made possible by the patented AF Speed Lock System, featuring a unique non-tilting barrel lockup design, and with the Gen 2 modular grip, you can customize size and texture to fit your use and shooting preference. Archon Firearms. What if you could be significantly better with your firearms in a short time? At Range Ready Studios, we offer handgun and rifle classes to help you be the best you can be. You'll be safer, more competent, and just better at the range. We also offer special experience classes, which include the gun, the ammo, the gear, and the training. Learn more at rangereadystudios.com. I got a question for you, because you're the guy to ask about this, because you know this optics world, and you've been in the world of night vision and thermal also. I know you've got some experience there. Dude, is this... am I crazy? Is it like everybody's buying bump helmets and nods now? Like this used to be military, and then it was okay, there's a handful of like hog hunter type folks. I feel like lately I'm seeing it across the spectrum of gun owners. Are you seeing this? What's going on there? What's your theory?

Speaker 2:
[08:02] I don't know. For one, I think people are just got comfortable with the idea of it. A couple of years ago, it's like $8,000 binos. I can't do that. But then you start seeing more people. There are brands that have lower cost. There are still the green tubes that are out there that you could buy for less than the white phosphor tubes. So I think the range of pricing, so somebody that's not really into it can still have a set, kind of have that look and they work, and we're selling a lot of our binos and even our monocular that hooks up to it, and that's all high-end military stuff and consumers are buying that. So I think it's just more accepted. I don't know if there's more use than there was before. It's still kind of a hog hunting, maybe a crazy home defense thing, but I don't know.

Speaker 1:
[08:54] And we always kind of skip to like, well, what's the application? What's the purpose of this? And I think some of it is maybe perhaps that's the wrong question. It's kind of like, it's just for fun. And they really are maybe just putting them on, put in some IR lasers on it, and going out to the range at night. Or I guess perhaps BLM land or something like that where they can do things at night like that.

Speaker 2:
[09:19] Well, that's a good point. You know, there are more. We came out with our OGLC, our commercial laser. There are a lot of guys tricking their guns out with those, whether it's a low end or a high end. And if you have that and you have IR capability, what's the next thing you're gonna get, right? That's right.

Speaker 1:
[09:35] Natural progression. And my dad has always said, there's no such thing as a cheap hobby. So like, it doesn't matter what your hobby is. It's like, oh, I'm just fishing. Well, you can fish with a Zebco 33, but then also all of a sudden, you're having to buy a bass boat, and you're buying all these other things. You're buying the forward-looking rate sonar or whatever. You can go crazy with whatever your hobby is. And if your hobby is guns, and I was just having this conversation with somebody else, it's like, well, if you've bought a bunch of different guns, you're like, well, I don't really, I mean, I feel like I'm good on ARs or pistols, but like, what else could I get? Okay, well, maybe it's a silencer or silencer for every gun, or maybe it's nods. And also, okay, if you're a motorcycle guy, well, how much are you spending on a Harley?

Speaker 2:
[10:22] Sure.

Speaker 1:
[10:22] I mean, what is it? I don't know. I used one, maybe you're spending 20 or 30, or maybe you're spending 40 grand. If that's your hobby and you go, okay, well, like, bump helmet, dual, you know, PBS 14s or whatever, like, yeah, okay, you're in it for 12 or whatever it is. Yeah, you could say it's expensive, but it's like, I don't know, it's cheaper than a bass boat.

Speaker 2:
[10:44] Yeah, sure, so I think about watch guy. I don't wear watches, but these high-end watches, you know, you can't just have one. You don't wanna have just one.

Speaker 1:
[10:53] You're not a watch guy if you only have one. You just are a guy who owns a watch.

Speaker 2:
[10:57] That's it, yeah. My watch is on my phone, so I don't get into it, but I know they're ridiculously expensive, and typically, you don't sell one to buy one, you're collecting them, and man, that gets way more expensive than what they could be doing here with lasers and nods and all that stuff.

Speaker 1:
[11:14] Well, along those lines, so EOTech, people know EOTech going way back and like, okay, holographic sites used by elite military folks, but you're doing all these things we're talking about. Fill people in on the things they might not realize that your company is making and offering.

Speaker 2:
[11:36] It hasn't been like a slogan, but my slogan that I've had in my head for the 22 years I've been with EOTech is, eventually own the gun, not the actual gun. I don't think we're ever going to have a firearm under our name, but you never know. But I think we would be the major components of that gun. So we've always been the optic and we did the magnified stuff to diversify. Now we have a laser that goes on there. We now have suppressors that go on there. So our whole theory was kind of just be the go-to for all of the components or accessories that go on a rifle.

Speaker 1:
[12:15] Talk about the laser. Tell people more about this. Is this kind of, this is like a high-power IR?

Speaker 2:
[12:23] Yeah, so we offer, 2023 we launched the OGL and it was the high-power restricted stuff. You know, the FDA controls all of that, which is ridiculous, but whatever. FDA. Yeah, of all places and all people. So yeah, we did that and immediately got military, some law enforcement, international deals. So it put it on the map right away. We were trying to do the commercial faster, but we just did the commercial. It's really, to me, it's a better Apppeel C. The Apppeel was the go-to for a long, long time. We went after that to have better performance and close pricing, but even be better than that. There's an Engal out that L3 makes that is really, really good, but it's like $4,000 or $5,000. So we were kind of targeting that from a performance standpoint, but hopefully be around the same price point as an Apppeel C so consumers can purchase it. And I think we nailed it. It's a great, great optic, offers visible NIR, offers a really good adjustable IR illuminator.

Speaker 1:
[13:31] Okay.

Speaker 2:
[13:32] Really small system. So it's great. And like I say, I think a lot of people are really kind of making their rifle kit even more sophisticated with high, high tech stuff like clip on night vision and laser systems like that. So we wanted to be involved in all of that.

Speaker 1:
[13:48] What's that run?

Speaker 2:
[13:50] We just changed our pricing. We kind of launched it inaccurately. We just dropped it to $19.99 as MSRP.

Speaker 1:
[13:59] Okay.

Speaker 2:
[13:59] And I think at PLC at the time was like $1,600, $1,700. So we're right in that sweet spot, I think.

Speaker 1:
[14:06] Okay. What kind of batteries?

Speaker 2:
[14:09] One single CR123.

Speaker 1:
[14:11] Wow.

Speaker 2:
[14:12] Yep.

Speaker 1:
[14:12] That's not, I would think to take more battery power or something like that.

Speaker 2:
[14:16] Well, it's off most of the time. So you have a pressure button on the top, and then you also have the pressure switch. But if you're not running it, it's not running battery power. So yeah, and it's a lithium battery. So there's a good runtime on that.

Speaker 1:
[14:33] Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. It's never been faster or easier to purchase a silencer. One of the companies that makes it pretty fast and easy is Silencer Central. They know the game, they help you get your tax stamps, and they make it really easy. They've got rifle silencers, pistols, rim fires, and even shotgun silencers. For 18 years, they maintain a commitment to simplicity, helping customers like you work through the ATF paperwork, making silencer ownership easy and fast. And they've got a lot of product on their website to choose from, not just their brands, but all of the brands out there, Silencer Central. FN has launched four new products for the US commercial market. The FN 309 MRD is an easy-to-rack, easy-to-load, self-defense pistol designed for peace-of-mind performance. FN also improved a legend with the Next Generation of Scar series. Now, with 25 innovative upgrades and no price increase, the Next Generation of Scar is suppressor capable, especially with FN's brand new forward-venting suppressors, the FN QD762 and the FN QD556. Visit fnamerica.com/guntalk to learn more. I know you guys introduced new things at SHOT Show, and we should probably update people and just kind of remind them.

Speaker 2:
[16:01] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[16:02] What are kind of the highlights for you? What are some of your favorites?

Speaker 2:
[16:05] So what was cool was we had, and this has never really happened, we had a product in really every category.

Speaker 1:
[16:13] I know, I was like, wait, EOTech does silencers, EOTech does this.

Speaker 2:
[16:17] Yeah. It never works that way. You either have virtually nothing to talk about, or you have this wave of all these products to talk about. So we have our 4-12, our Voodoo 4-12, that's super short. So it's the second gen, we did the 3-9 last year in the second focal, and everybody loved it. We sold a ton of them, but the first question by a lot was, that's really cool, but do you have in a first focal plane? So we did the 4-12 in first focal. Those are shipping now.

Speaker 1:
[16:44] What's the reticle in that?

Speaker 2:
[16:46] We have two. So we have two simple there. One is basically a crosshair with wind holds all the way out, and then the other is a dot with a circle for closer range, but the same wind hold. So we wanted to accommodate the guy that likes the crosshair or the guy that wants a ring for some speed. So they're very similar but different in terms of your actual aiming area.

Speaker 1:
[17:12] Does it illuminate? Okay.

Speaker 2:
[17:14] Yeah. It's got 10 brightness settings. It's got an off position between each one. So if you have a favorite setting, you just dial 112.

Speaker 1:
[17:21] It's about the same size as that three or nine?

Speaker 2:
[17:24] Yeah. 7.1 inches. So really short.

Speaker 1:
[17:28] Guys, it's amazing. When you showed me that, we're going, what is happening right now? What kind of voodoo, pun not intended, has been done to this? Because, I mean, it's really impressive.

Speaker 2:
[17:41] It is. I didn't think we could do it. You're always, optics are like squeezing a balloon. If you want better eye relief, you're usually going to sacrifice something. Yeah. But I think we sacrifice just a little bit in all of the areas, so that you don't really suffer anywhere. The eye relief is still good. The eye box is really good. But if you're going to compare it to a three and a half to 18 or something like that, that's longer and has all the room to make it optimized, it's not going to be as good. But really, really good optic. We talked about night vision and clip-ons. It's perfect for a clip-on because it's so short, you're able to put the clip-on close and have a balanced rifle rather than have that thing way out at the end. So a lot of benefit.

Speaker 1:
[18:25] Probably a lot of people maybe don't think of that, because they go like, okay, whatever, I have a three to nine scope. We're like, well, but this has a particular purpose in mind. Like when you divide, okay, this is to keep things lightweight and compact and give us still room for that thermal to convert it.

Speaker 2:
[18:45] I think it took everything in mind because I think you're a really good magnification range, four power to 12, but people are going to say, well, I want a one power. What happens if something is close? We have a ring that's proprietary to us that mounts to it and offers our E-Flex or we have an RMR footprint.

Speaker 1:
[19:03] Put your red dot on there.

Speaker 2:
[19:04] Yeah. So now you have a 1X solution. You have four to 12, which I think can get you anything you want, except for maybe some really big game long range stuff.

Speaker 1:
[19:12] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[19:13] You have the ability to put a clip on there. If you're really sophisticated, you could have your laser in front of it because you still have all that rail space. So it just makes for... I mean, you can go as crazy as you want.

Speaker 1:
[19:25] What else is EOTech doing that was released at Shotshow that people may not have heard about?

Speaker 2:
[19:31] So we have our closed emitter pistol sight. So we have the E-Flex, which is kind of that open emitter. The closed emitter is becoming really popular. I think it's driven more for law enforcement that can't have that blockage or any damage or anything like that to the LED. So it's got two pieces of glass, switchable reticles, shake-awake technology, sleep modes. We even have a mode that deactivates it. So if law enforcement want to keep that on all the time, they can do it. So it's a pretty smart system. So we're close to, we're actually building that as we speak. So we should be shipping that in the next two or three weeks. Our HD holographic sight is really cool. It kind of looks the same as everything, but it's an all-aluminum housing with a rotary dial instead of the buttons. And what that allows us to do is put Shake Awake and programmable sleep modes in there. Yep.

Speaker 1:
[20:27] Couldn't do that with the buttons.

Speaker 2:
[20:29] No, the buttons are basically always waiting for somebody to push them. They're always asking. So there's just a small little trickle that you can't do the Shake Awake. So the dial allows us to do that. And we have an auto-bright feature. So we have a light pipe in the front. So you could set it to that, and it will just change depending on what lighting environment you have. If you don't like where that's set, you have seven manual settings that you can kind of go to. So really adapts to everything you want to do, and has all those bells and whistles people have been asking for.

Speaker 1:
[21:01] It feels like we've kind of come to a point with like certain features of like auto-shutoff and Shake Awake, where they're really good, right? I mean, when that first came out, all of us were doing the, let's see how quickly we can pick up the optic and make it come on or whatever.

Speaker 2:
[21:17] I bet I could beat it.

Speaker 1:
[21:19] But it feels like it's almost like, yeah, it's just done. It's settled, you know, we're going to trust the science on this one at this point or something like that.

Speaker 2:
[21:26] I think you're right. Because, you know, we were asked for years, and I think it was 50-50. Some of us said, I don't want any of that, you know, because you have more of that. It could fail and all that stuff. And then I think it got better and it got more accepted. So now I think it's kind of a standard.

Speaker 1:
[21:43] Yeah, yeah, very cool. What's coming up for you guys? What's kind of, what do the tea leaves say for EOTech? And what's possible, what are people asking for?

Speaker 2:
[21:57] You know, we have sister companies that our managing company kind of bought. So I think like longer range is digital solutions. You know, everybody wants, you know, information in their system. You know, if you have an analog like a holographic scope or even just a tube rifle scope, there's nothing other than a reticle that is going to give you information. But if you go digital and you have like LED or an OLED display or something like that, and you can get into, we own a company that really specializes in the ATACs, the situational awareness that the military use.

Speaker 1:
[22:36] Like a heads-up display kind of thing?

Speaker 2:
[22:38] Well, yeah, that's what they use it on almost like an iPad of some sort. But with Bluetooth and all that, you can have that go into your optics. So as you're looking through, you could see where your teammates are, or you can identify where bad guys are and all that. So yeah, and then it tells you all the other ballistic stuff and all that stuff. So I think eventually everything is going to be digital, whether it's night vision, binos and all that stuff, that's kind of the way and we're propped to be with our sister companies, kind of be in that leading position for it. So it's exciting.

Speaker 1:
[23:14] That is exciting. Oh my gosh. That gets me pumped. You imagine what you could be doing with this. All right. So maybe, you know, guys, sell your bass boat, sell your Harley, all your watches, all your watches. And let's quit screwing around here. Let's really get out a ridiculously expensive and amazing fun, tricked out gun, nod, helmet.

Speaker 2:
[23:35] Oh, yeah. Thermal, craziness. The virtual reality stuff and all that. It could be crazy.

Speaker 1:
[23:41] Awesome. All right, guys, that's it for us. Thanks for listening. Thanks for watching. We will see you next time on Gun Talk Nation.