The 2026 SHOT (Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trades) Show, held at the Venetian Expo + Caesars Forum in fabulous Las Vegas, NV, saw many innovations in the firearms industry. With President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” eliminating Federal Excise Taxes on NFA (National Firearms Act) related items such as SBRs (Short Barreled Rifles) and sound suppressors, there was naturally a plethora of such items on display; still, there are innovations going on in the revolver world, if one knows where to look.
At the leading edge of revolver development, as always, are the fine folks at Lipsey’s Distributors; Lipsey’s VP Jason Cloessner has been a very close friend of mine for decades, and his mind and tastes are very much in tune with my own. As I often say, Jason is the only guy I know who has a cooler job than I do: he dreams up cool new guns, takes the pulse of the market to determine if “that dog will hunt”, and leverages the buying power of Lipsey’s to have the manufacturers make the guns they did not know we wanted. If you browse the list of guns that are exclusively available from Lipsey’s on their web site (https://www.lipseys.com/), you will see what I mean: there are many cool and useful guns that would have never been made without the efforts of Jason Cloessner and Lipsey’s, and I thank them for it. Lipsey’s has been partnering with Smith & Wesson for some years now on exclusive offerings, and this years’ new crop of Lipsey’s S&Ws are some of the most desirable ever.
Probably the biggest talk of the SHOT Show, as far as revolvers are concerned, are the new Lipsey’s Exclusive S&W Night Guard revolvers. S&W made a series of Night Guard revolvers back in 2008, which have been discontinued for quite some time, but are fondly remembered by many revolver aficionados. Launched at SHOT 2026, the new Lipsey’s Exclusive S&W Night Guards are a substantial improvement over the earlier models, in several ways.
The new Night Guards retain the light weight of their predecessors, featuring a lightweight Scandium frame. Built on S&W’s L (medium) frame, the new Night Guards weigh a scant 23 ounces, and are available as either a seven-shot 357 Magnum / 38 Special (Model 386 Night Guard) or as a five-shot 44 Special (Model 396 Night Guard), both finished in a very attractive and businesslike black.
The three-inch barrels are stainless steel on both models, as are the cylinders, which are finished with an attractive black PVD coating; the use of stainless steel cylinders means that the Night Guards are tough enough to manage a steady diet of full-power loads, unlike many earlier lightweight S&Ws. The cylinder also features an additional ball-detent lockup at the front, offering an extra point of lockup for greater strength. To further toughen the Night Guards, a stainless steel blast shield is embedded into the top of the frame opening above the barrel’s forcing cone, protecting the Scandium frame from flame-cutting at this critical area.
The sights on the Night Guards are excellent: the front sight is a Tritium night sight from XS Sights, as was the front sight on the earlier version, but the new Night Guard features the XS Big Dot Tritium sight for quicker target acquisition. The rear sight on the earlier version was the “Extreme Duty” fixed rear sight from Cylinder & Slide, which is an excellent sight, but the rear sight on the new Night Guard is fully adjustable with a larger notch to accommodate the Big Dot front sight, which is a definite improvement over the C&S sight, as if offers the adjustability necessary to sight a variety of loads to point of aim.
Control is provided by the excellent Hogue® Bantam grips, which fill the hand perfectly and offer enough texture to allow for a solid hold, without being abrasive in any way. These thin rubber grips are relatively soft and very easy to hold on to under recoil, with a very nice palm swell. Full-power 357 Magnum or 44 Special loads in a 23-ounce revolver can smack a bit, but such grips as these make the Night Guards very comfortable to shoot.
Finally, as a feature (or lack thereof) that will be more than welcome to just about everyone, the much-maligned and oft-hated Smith & Wesson Internal Key Lock System has thankfully been designed out of the new Night Guards. I know of no one who LIKES an internal key lock, but I do know a great many shooters who despise the locks so intensely that they will not buy any revolver that has one; as for me, I am able to (almost) ignore the lock, and I still enjoy my S&Ws that have locks, but the fact is that the locks were never necessary. I have heard stories of S&W’s locks engaging at the most inopportune moments possible, but I have personal knowledge of the locks engaging themselves only on Scandium models using heavy loads; it is therefore a welcome development that Lipsey’s specified these Scandium Night Guards, which are designed to use heavy loads, without the key locks.
The Lipsey’s Exclusive Smith & Wesson Night Guard revolvers retail for $1,269.00 in either 357 Magnum / 38 Special (Model 386 Night Guard) or 44 Special (Model 396 Night Guard), so what I consider to be the best fighting revolvers available today can be had at a price that will be accessible to most shooters.
Another Lipsey’s Exclusive for 2026 is a collaboration between Lipsey’s, the Smith & Wesson Performance Center®, Tyler Gun Works, and Field Ethos™: the Smith & Wesson Performance Center Model 36 Field Ethos “Tropical”.
Field Ethos is a web site dedicated to “The Global Hunt For Adventure”, featuring stories from the hunting fields, gear reviews, news, and reflections on society in general, and the Model 36 Field Ethos Tropical represents Field Ethos’ vision of the perfect carry revolver. Small size, ease of carry, practicality, and beauty were the criteria used to arrive at this neat little 5-shot revolver.
Built on S&W’s classic J (small) frame and chambered in 38 Special, the all-steel construction of the Model 36 Field Ethos Tropical belies its 19-ounce weight. The Model 36 is THE classic J-frame 38, having been in production since 1950 and commonly known as the “Chief’s Special”. The Model 36 Field Ethos Tropical retains the familiar classic features of the standard Model 36, and adds a number of enhancements that improve the reliability, packability, and beauty of the little J-frame.
First, the Model 36 Field Ethos Tropical sports a beautifully-polished blue finish, which harkens back to an earlier time when manufacturers really knew how to polish steel. The finish is perfect and even, and the little revolver absolutely seems to glow. The frame and cylinder are blued carbon steel, and the thin-profile 1.88-inch barrel is stainless steel, perfectly polished and blued to match the carbon-steel frame and cylinder. The aesthetics are topped-off by a tastefully engraved FE logo on the frame’s side plate.
The hammer is bobbed, making the Model 36 Field Ethos Tropical a DOA (Double Action Only) revolver. The bobbed hammer makes the little J-frame much easier to draw from a bag or a pocket, with the trade-off being the loss of the ability to manually cock the hammer for a lighter single action trigger pull. This is not a problem for the Model 36 Field Ethos Tropical because, as a product of Smith & Wesson’s Performance Center, the Model 36 Field Ethos Tropical features a Performance Center action job, for a light and buttery-smooth double action trigger.
The sights are fixed, pairing a very nice gold bead front sight with a U-notch rear sight cut into the frame. The gold bead makes sight acquisition quick and easy, for both initial and follow-up shots.
The Model 36 Field Ethos Tropical sports a beautiful and practical set of Bear Hug Boot grips by Tyler Gun Works in Friona, TX. Tyler Gun Works is now producing the famous Bear Hug grip styles, and these excellent grips are perfectly crafted from high-grade walnut. The Bear Hug boot grip is large enough to comfortably hold, yet small enough to easily conceal; the open backstrap design, coupled with just enough palm swell and gentle finger grooves, make these some of the most comfortable and easy to manage J-frame grips ever produced.
Finally, as on the Night Guard revolvers, the Model 36 Field Ethos Tropical thankfully includes no internal key lock system. At a retail price of $1,099.00, the Lipsey’s Exclusive Smith & Wesson Performance Center Model 36 Field Ethos Tropical represents a fine value on one of the finest small-frame 38 Special revolvers ever made.
Introduced at the 2025 SHOT Show, Lipsey’s and Smith & Wesson® are continuing to expand their wonderful Lipsey’s-Exclusive line of SA/DA “Mountain Gun” revolvers. The Lipsey’s-Exclusive Mountain Guns are improved reissues of the great Mountain Guns produced from the late 1980s to the mid-2000s. The Mountain Gun concept was both simple and brilliant – a rugged, easy-to-carry double-action field revolver with a 4-inch lightweight tapered barrel – and the Mountain Gun quickly engendered a loyal cult following as an outdoorsman’s backup revolver. As the my late great friend John Taffin would say, the Mountain Gun is the “Perfect Packin’ Pistol”, and my original blued 45 Colt Model 25 Mountain Gun has been among my favorite DA revolvers for decades.
While the original Mountain Guns could be had in either blued or stainless steel, the Lipsey’s-Exclusive models are available only in polished stainless steel. This is more in keeping with the Mountain Gun concept of a rugged outdoorsman’s sidearm, as the rust-resistant qualities of stainless steel make it more impervious to the elements.
Each Mountain Gun model features a 4.125-inch lightweight tapered barrel with a half-lug for protection of the ejector rod. This lightweight barrel shifts the Mountain Gun’s balance rearward into the shooter’s hand, rather than balancing more heavily at the muzzle, resulting a very quick-handling revolver. This not only makes the Mountain Gun easier to carry, it makes the Mountain Gun quicker to get into action when faced with either four-legged predators in the wild, or with two-legged predators on the Mean Streets.
The Lipsey’s-Exclusive Smith & Wesson Mountain Guns are available in 22 Long Rifle (Model 617 Mountain Gun), 357 Magnum / 38 Special (Model 686 Plus Mountain Gun), 10mm (Model 610 Mountain Gun), or 44 Magnum / 44 Special (Model 629 Mountain Gun). The 22 Long Rifle Model 617 Mountain Gun is built on the smaller K frame size and features a ten-shot cylinder capacity, while the 357 Magnum / 38 Special Model 686 Plus Mountain Gun is built on the medium L frame size and features a seven-shot cylinder capacity, the 10mm Model 610 Mountain Gun is built on the large N frame size and features a six-shot cylinder capacity, and the 44 Magnum / 44 Special Model 629 Mountain Gun is built on the large N frame size and features a six-shot cylinder capacity. The front of the cylinder on the 686 Plus Mountain Gun, the 610 Mountain Gun, and the 629 Mountain Gun is beveled, in what is commonly called a “black powder bevel”, which aids in reholstering and adds an aesthetically pleasing touch.
The sights on the Lipsey’s-Exclusive Mountain Guns are excellent, consisting of a gold-bead Patridge front sight, coupled with S&W’s famous fully-adjustable rear sight. The gold bead front sight is very quick to acquire, speeding up both initial and follow-up shots on the four-legged and two-legged predators previously mentioned.
The grip frames on all the Mountain Gun models are of the Round Butt configuration, which to me is preferable to the Square Butt grip, as the Round Butt frame can accommodate both the smaller Round Butt grip panels or the more hand-filling Square Butt conversion-style grip panels. The grips on these Lipsey’s-Exclusive Mountain Guns are Bear Hug Square Butt conversion grips from Tyler Gun Works. Precisely crafted from high-grade walnut, the Bear Hug grips feature a smooth texture, exposed back strap, and generous palm swells for a very comfortable and controllable hold. To me, these grips are nothing short of perfect, and they make shooting even the heaviest loads a pleasant experience.
As with the other Lipsey’s-Exclusive Smith & Wesson models previously discussed, the Mountain Guns are not cursed with S&W’s Internal Key Lock System. Retail price on all models of the Lipsey’s-Exclusive Mountain Gun is $1,239.00, and one can certainly spend far more for far less.
To locate a dealer near you visit www.lipseys.com/dealerfinder