What is Knight’s Armament hiding?

SHOT Show story: at SHOT, the media are allowed to take photographs, and the general attendees are not.  Because we want to feed the black rifle craze, Team Gun Nuts went by the Knight’s Armament booth to take some pictures.  After snapping some shots, we were approached by two of Knight’s booth staff that said “no photos, even for the press.”  I was kind of taken aback by this, because it’s a trade show, and the whole point of bringing your toys there is to get people excited about buying them.

So, we did like we were asked, and stopped taking pictures.  However, here are all the pictures that we DID take before we were asked to stop and complied.

Knight's rifles
More from Knight's
Knight's M110 SASS

Please feel free to reproduce these photos to your heart’s content across the web, with or without attribution to Gun Nuts (but preferably with).  While I’ve never experienced it personally, I’ve heard from reliable sources that Knight’s disdains the civilian market.

Gun Nuts doesn’t like secrets, and we really don’t like gun companies that are contemptuous of the civilian and sport shooter market.  If Knight’s Armament wants to hide their products, that’s fine – but don’t bring them to the biggest industry trade show in the world and expect that to happen.

30 Comments

  1. Agreed, why bring them to this very large industry trade show that they know reporters, etc. will be three and not expect pictures to be taken?

  2. I read at another site that word is the Military is having reliability issues with the knight Sr-25.
    Something is going on here.

  3. I thought the civilian market was “where it’s at” as far as gun sales go.

    Am I wrong? I know the military has deep pockets, but isn’t the civilian market much more accessible and possibly even more lucrative?

    1. The military will go with the lowest bidder. I think Knight’s sticks with the military contracts because their products can’t compete in the civilian marketplace and they get better press off fanboys who base their purchasing decisions off what the military uses than they would actually competing with other companies in that price range.

  4. When you land a big .mil contract you don’t need those lame civilians anymore.

    The only Knight’s product I have is a small rail guard I acquired from somewhere… it doesn’t lock on the rail worth crap, so I’ve got a couple XTM panels keeping it in line. But it was free.

  5. Caleb,

    Too bad I didn’t know they were being …um… difficult. I would have gladly stood in the aisle or competitor’s booth with a zoom lens and clicked away. But, then I guess I am just …uh… difficult also.

    -Richard

    1. Bloggers are notorious prickly, Richard – I’m actually in contact with Knight’s right now, we’re trying to get something nailed down for a Q&A session or some type of open dialog. Stay tuned!

  6. KAC is more friendly to the commercial market than ever. I’ve no idea what they wanted to keep quiet, but unfounded speculation and the passing of rumors is not terribly friendly or helpful to anyone.

    1. We’ve been in contact with the guys from Knights, and a clarification/retraction will be going up tomorrow morning.

  7. If I were you, I wouldn’t have posted these pictures. If KAC wants to be secretive, let them. If everyone followed their wishes and pretended they didn’t exist then they would either realize that media attention is good or would cease to exist. Either way, the problem would work itself out.

  8. You want pictures of our 110s you’re more than welcome to some.
    They weathered our last deployment fine. Only reliability issue we had was a bad extractor in the first few rounds while zeroing. We were one of the first three outfits to get them, and Knight’s support was great.
    As to the no pictures, like there’s anything “new’ for any AR platform. Please, think they wanted attention. And they got it:-)

    1. Thanks for the comment Andy, I’ve been touch with Knight’s to clear up the issue, and we’ll have the full story posted tomorrow.

  9. As others have posted, Its and AR platform… not a whole lot different they can do to it beyond stocks, grips, and forearm that folks can take photo’s of.

    Aside from that, I could care less. How about some more S&W photos? 😉

  10. I’ve done a zillion (non-gun-related) high-tech trade shows, and the only time I or a colleague has said “Please, no photos” was when the use of flashes in darkened environments would have disrupted other attendees viewing and understanding of the gadget on display. Knight’s policy in this case is not only pointless, but insulting.

  11. They don;’t look very special to me. Big ones little ones, pistonny things, A2 stocks – the platform pretty much dictates what can and can’t be done, and accuracy results in attention to detail.

  12. Don’t see much special there and maybe they don’t want their crappy products from scaring away the customers on the net or a magazine?

  13. First, those of you who are so quick to judge & deride KAC don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. As a civilian and a return KAC customer, I can attest that they not only build great weapons, but they also provide excellent service. Second, posting pics here and asking people to repost them elsewhere just because you got butthurt by them asking you not to photograph the items at SHOT is a dick move. SHOT is a show for industry professionals that has been overrun by people with little to no industry involvement. If KAC doesn’t want their products plastered all over the web, well that’s their prerogative. It’s disappointing, yes. I love to see all of the new products roll out each year. But it’s not my right or anyone else’s to photograph every square inch of the place and post it on the net.

  14. Next time do some research, or better yet tell the whole story. Surely you asked them WHY? Tell the reason, and don’t hate on them without knowing the facts. Knight’s told all the people that were polite and asked why, that they are protecting their products from the damned Airsoft companies. They are constantly ripping them off, without paying ANY royalties. They even make copies of their RAS, URX, and other sights and stuff. This stuff gets sold on ebay as the genuine article, which is bad for Knights.

  15. Someone needs to remind KAC that without the civilian base,the AR-15 wouldn’t be nearly as big or as “cool” as it is today.

  16. Caleb, no fanboys here. I just happen to be a regular Joe that has actually a real world experience KAC and I have a hard time watching people pile on and spread the false perception that they are not civilian friendly. A little bit of research on your own part regarding KAC would reveal that they have made a strong commitment to the civilian market over the last several years and that they stand behind their products. And yes, I have read your “update” post. It doesn’t change the fact that this post was irresponsible and ill-informed. I’m certain that your upcoming Q&A will shed some light on KAC’s commitment to the civi market as well as their innovative contributions to the AR market. The E3 system in particular represents a significant improvement to the M16 FOW. Other topics to consider would be the triple tap muzzle brake, the history of the RIS / RAS & URX rail systems, M110 & Mk 11 and the new SR25 EMC. KAC has some great products and they are continuing to provide innovation to the AR market as well as our military.

    1. I cleaned your comment up to reduce thread clutter; however to call the post “irresponsible” is just silly. All we did was report the facts of what happened and the experience of other media professionals and industry insiders. Unlike many forums and other sites, Gun Nuts is not in the business of making up wild accusations out of whole cloth, or trolling for fun and pleasure.

  17. Caleb, there’s nothing silly about it. Your comments above assert that KAC has a “disdain” for civilian business. That is simply untrue. Your choice to leave these comments up, in spite of KAC’s efforts to reach out to you does nothing but continue to damage the reputation of a company that doesn’t deserve it. That, in my opinion is irresponsible. On the other hand, it has drawn some attention to your site, which I suspect is the reason it is still up.

    1. Matt, those comments stay up because I’m not in the business of hiding my opinion. I don’t like it when other bloggers try to hide the record by deleting posts or comments – if I said something, right or wrong it stays up so people known that Gun Nuts is built on a foundation of openness. We don’t hide what we’ve said, and to do so would be unethical.

  18. Really dissapointing post. You have “heard” from “reliable” (unnamed) sources they have a disdain for the civilian market? They are “hiding something”? I’m surprised you are arguing instead of apologizing and letting folks know you stepped on your dick and let your ego cause you to make all kinds of unfounded accusations.

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