Analytics and Market Reporting

It’s the desire of Ronin’s Grips to move the industry away from subjective opinion and towards data driven decision making. The following are reports created using specialized tools that analyze websites, social media and the opinions of thousands of posts relating to the law enforcement, military and the small arms industry. Click here if you’d like to learn more about why data driven analytics matter.

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  • Top 10 Most Reliable 2011-Type Pistols January 27, 2026
    The United States handgun market is currently undergoing a significant architectural transition, characterized by the “industrialization” and widespread adoption of the 2011-style pistol. Formerly a niche platform reserved for competitive shooting disciplines like USPSA and IPSC, the 2011—a modular, double-stack evolution of the John Browning 1911 design—has recently been adapted for law enforcement duty and ...
  • 2026 National Defense Strategy: Homeland Defense and Global Implications January 27, 2026
    Executive Summary The 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS), released by the Department of War (DoW) on January 23, 2026, marks a definitive pivot in the United States’ military posture, discarding the 2022 framework of “Integrated Deterrence” in favor of a new, assertive doctrine titled “Peace Through Strength.” This report, produced by a multidisciplinary team of national ...
  • The 10 Most Reliable Semi-Automatic Tactical Shotguns January 27, 2026
    The United States civilian small arms market has undergone a profound transformation within the tactical shotgun segment over the past decade. Historically, the reliability doctrine of the tactical shotgun was synonymous with manual pump-action operation, exemplified by the venerable Remington 870 and Mossberg 500/590 series. The prevailing wisdom held that semi-automatic platforms were “jam-o-matics,” suitable ...
  • 2026 Global Small Arms & Defense Trade Show Schedule January 26, 2026
    The global defense industry enters 2026 at a point of critical inflection. Following the supply chain disruptions of the early 2020s and the rapid re-armament initiatives triggered by conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, 2026 represents a year of “industrial maturity.” For the small arms industry analyst, this shift is profound. The frantic ...
  • Operation Absolute Resolve: An Analysis of the “Discombobulator” Event January 26, 2026
    Note: This analysis was conducted with open source intel. The exact weapons used are classified and unknown. This paper presents the likely systems used based on multiple inputs identified in the methodology and sources used. 1. Executive Summary On January 3, 2026, United States special operations forces executed Operation Absolute Resolve, a high-risk extraction ...
  • Top 20 Tactical Training Programs In the US for Law Enforcement January 26, 2026
    EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Tactical Training Industrial Complex: An Analyst’s Perspective The landscape of law enforcement tactical training in the United States has undergone a radical transformation in the post-Global War on Terror (GWOT) era. We are no longer in an era where static qualification on a square range constitutes operational readiness. The contemporary tactical officer faces an ...
  • The Convergence of Precision and Payload: An Analysis of the Extreme Long Range (ELR), Anti-Materiel Rifles and Drones January 26, 2026
    The discipline of military small arms is witnessing a pivotal collision between two historically distinct capability sets: the precision-focused anti-personnel sniper system and the energy-focused anti-materiel rifle. For decades, these roles were bifurcated by the limitations of physics and materials science. Precision engagement was the domain of .30 caliber systems, while heavy payload delivery against ...
  • Top 10 Most Reliable AR-15 Rifles January 26, 2026
    The United States small arms market has evolved into a hyper-saturated ecosystem where the distinction between “consumer-grade” recreational firearms and “duty-grade” defensive tools is frequently obscured by aggressive marketing nomenclature and cosmetic uniformity. For the institutional procurement officer, the law enforcement armorer, or the private citizen focused on home defense, the challenge in 2025 is ...
  • Top 20 Optical Innovations from SHOT Show 2026 January 25, 2026
    A Market Analysis of the Top 20 Systems Executive Summary The 2026 Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show, held from January 20–23 at The Venetian Expo and Caesars Forum in Las Vegas 1, served as a definitive bellwether for the future of small arms fire control systems. For the past decade, the industry has been characterized ...
  • Understanding Three Meta Trends That Dominated SHOT Show 2026 – Compensators, 2011s and Vendors Showing Preproduction Models January 25, 2026
    Executive Summary The 2026 Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show, held at the Venetian Expo and Caesars Forum in Las Vegas, has concluded, providing a decisive litmus test for the trajectory of the global small arms industry.1 Unlike the chaotic demand cycles of the early 2020s, which were defined by undifferentiated panic buying, or the ...
  • The Top 20 2011-Style Pistols at SHOT Show 2026 January 25, 2026
    1. Executive Summary The 2026 Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show will likely be cataloged by small arms historians not merely as another annual exhibition, but as the distinct inflection point where the double-stack 1911—colloquially and historically identified as the “2011”—transcended its heritage as a niche competition instrument to secure its position as the dominant ...
  • Innovations in Anti-Materiel Rifles: Highlights from SHOT Show 2026 January 25, 2026
    Executive Summary The 2026 Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show, held at the Venetian Expo and Caesars Forum in Las Vegas, marked a watershed moment in the trajectory of heavy-caliber small arms development. For decades, the Anti-Materiel Rifle System (AMRS) category has been dominated by incremental refinements to the Browning Machine Gun (.50 BMG) cartridge ...
  • Navigating the Future of Law Enforcement Technology – Lessons Learned from SHOT Show 2026 January 25, 2026
    Executive Summary The 2026 operational landscape, as evidenced by the technology and discourse at SHOT Show, is defined by a critical tension between legacy reliability and computational modernization. Law enforcement agencies are currently navigating a severe workforce crisis, necessitating equipment solutions that lower the training threshold for new recruits—such as improved ergonomics and red dot sights—while ...
  • The .50 BMG Cartridge: A Century of Heavy Firepower Excellence January 24, 2026
    The .50 Browning Machine Gun (12.7×99mm NATO) cartridge represents a singular anomaly in the history of military ordnance: a munition conceived in the frantic final months of World War I to counter primitive armor that has not only survived but thrived to become the premier heavy-engagement standard of the 21st century. This report, synthesized from ...
  • European Union SITREP – Week Ending January 24, 2026 January 24, 2026
    Reporting Period: January 18 – January 24, 2026 1. Executive Summary The reporting period ending January 24, 2026, represents one of the most volatile and strategically consequential weeks for the European Union (EU) in the post-Cold War era. The Union faced a simultaneous, multi-vector stress test of its external security architecture, its internal economic cohesion, and its resilience ...
  • Canada SITREP – Week Ending January 24, 2026 January 24, 2026
    Period Covering: January 18, 2026 – January 24, 2026 1. Executive Summary The reporting period ending January 24, 2026, represents a decisive and volatile inflection point in Canadian grand strategy. The administration of Prime Minister Mark Carney has executed a high-stakes geopolitical pivot, formalizing a “New Strategic Partnership” with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) aimed at ...
  • Iran SITREP – Week Ending January 24, 2026 January 24, 2026
    DATE: January 17-24, 2026 1. Executive Summary 1.1. Strategic Overview The Islamic Republic of Iran faces a convergence of existential crises unparalleled since the 1979 Revolution. For the reporting period ending January 24, 2026, the regime is engaged in a high-intensity internal security operation to suppress nationwide protests while simultaneously navigating a critical standoff with the International ...
  • Innovations in Firearms and Manufacturing Showcased At SHOT Show 2026 January 24, 2026
    Executive Summary The 47th annual Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show, convened from January 20–23, 2026, at The Venetian Expo and Caesars Forum in Las Vegas, served as a definitive bellwether for a global small arms industry in transition. With over 54,000 industry professionals in attendance and more than 2,800 exhibitors occupying a record-breaking 830,000 ...
  • China SITREP – Week Ending January 24, 2026 January 24, 2026
    PERIOD: JANUARY 17 – JANUARY 24, 2026 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: THE STRATEGIC BIFURCATION The assessment period ending January 24, 2026, reveals a People’s Republic of China (PRC) operating under a strategy of extreme bifurcation. The leadership in Beijing is attempting to manage two contradictory trajectories simultaneously: a diplomatic “charm offensive” aimed at fracturing the cohesion of the ...
  • Russia-Ukraine Conflict SITREP – Week Ending January 24, 2026 January 24, 2026
    DATES: January 17 – 24th, 2026 1. STRATEGIC OVERVIEW The reporting period ending January 24, 2026, marks a pivotal and highly volatile juncture in the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine conflict. The strategic landscape is currently defined by a “fight-and-talk” dynamic, where intensified kinetic operations are being leveraged to shape the parameters of nascent, high-stakes diplomatic engagements. This week ...
  • Revolutionizing Handguns: Key Innovations from SHOT Show 2026 January 24, 2026
    Executive Summary The 2026 Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show in Las Vegas serves as a definitive milestone in the trajectory of the global small arms industry. Unlike previous years, which were characterized by a chaotic race to the bottom in terms of size—the “micro-compact” wars—or the fragmented adoption of optics-ready systems, 2026 has introduced ...
  • Greenland-US Dispute SITREP – Week Ending January 24, 2026 January 24, 2026
    1. Executive Summary The reporting period ending January 24, 2026, marks a definitive and volatile inflection point in the geopolitical history of the Arctic. What commenced as a resurgence of U.S. executive interest in the acquisition of Greenland—a semi-autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark—rapidly metastasized into a Tier-1 transatlantic security crisis, challenging the fundamental cohesion ...
  • Cuba SITREP – Week Ending January 24, 2026 January 24, 2026
    Reporting Period: January 17, 2026 – January 24, 2026 Executive Summary The Republic of Cuba is currently navigating its most precarious existential crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, precipitated by the tectonic geopolitical shift of January 3, 2026. The U.S. military operation in Venezuela (“Operation Absolute Resolve”), which resulted in the ...
  • Venezuela SITREP – Week Ending January 24, 2026 January 24, 2026
    REPORTING PERIOD: JANUARY 17 – JANUARY 24, 2026 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF): The operational week ending January 24, 2026, marks the crystallization of a new, albeit fragile, status quo in Venezuela following the January 3 United States military intervention (“Operation Absolute Resolve”) that resulted in the capture and extraction of former President Nicolás Maduro. ...
  • PCC & PDW Evolution at SHOT 2026 January 24, 2026
    Executive Summary: The End of the Blowback’s Reign The 2026 Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show will likely be recorded in industry histories as the definitive expiration date of the “AR-9” era. For nearly a decade, the Pistol Caliber Carbine (PCC) market was defined by a singular, somewhat stagnant engineering philosophy: the simple blowback, AR-15-derived ...

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