RazorMP
Field-Tested Reviews. Pro-2A Perspective.
Straightforward coverage of firearms, optics, and tactical gear built on real range time. You get practical takeaways, clear disclosures, and no paid opinions presented as facts.
SHOT Show 2026 in Las Vegas (Jan 20–23 at the Venetian Expo + Caesars Forum) was packed with the usual chaos: bright lights, big promises, and enough “game-changing” claims to fill a dump truck. So I did what I always do — I went booth to booth looking for the stuff that still makes sense after the marketing noise dies down.
Detroit Gun Works was one of those stops.
They were set up on the Caesars Forum side of the show, and they came in with a clear headline product that got a lot of people leaning in for a closer look: the DGW Mini-R.
I’m not interested in reading a spec sheet to you. If you want that, the internet has plenty of copy-and-paste heroes.
On the show floor I’m looking at:
Fit and finish: overall machining quality, consistency, and whether it looks like it was built with intention or assembled with hope.
Controls and ergonomics: how the chassis feels, how things lock up, and whether the setup looks practical instead of gimmicky.
Design logic: does the system have a real purpose, or is it “innovation” that only exists to look cool under booth lights.
Practical compatibility: magazine choices, caliber options, and whether ownership turns into a scavenger hunt for proprietary parts.
The Mini-R is being positioned as a modular bolt-action that’s built around AR-caliber compatibility and AR magazine use, with a folding chassis concept aimed at staying compact while still delivering bolt-gun precision.
That concept hits a sweet spot for a lot of shooters: you get the manual consistency of a bolt gun, but you’re not stuck in a world of obscure magazines and hard-to-find support gear.
Here’s where I’ll give DGW credit: the Mini-R pitch doesn’t feel like “reinventing firearms.” It feels like:
Take what people already have (AR mags and common calibers), and build a bolt gun system around it.
That’s the kind of idea that can either be brilliant… or fall apart the moment you start running it hard. The show-floor story is promising, but the only real test is the boring stuff: feeding, extraction, repeatable accuracy, and whether it stays consistent over time.
From what was being discussed around SHOT week, the Mini-R is not being positioned as a bargain buy. It’s in that premium “purpose-built tool” lane where the price only makes sense if the performance and reliability hold up outside of controlled demos.
Quick housekeeping: this was a show-floor overview. Everything I’m sharing is observational and educational. I’m not providing instructions on building, modifying, or manufacturing anything. If you handle firearms, follow all safety rules and manufacturer guidance — always.
If you’ve followed my content for any length of time, you know the show-floor visit is step one. The real story comes with time on the range: reliability, accuracy consistency, and whether the system actually holds up when you’re not carefully posing it for a camera.
So here’s what I’m doing next:
Keeping an eye on the Mini-R as it hits real-world availability and gets more independent trigger time.
If I get hands-on range time with it, I’ll break it down the way I always do — what works, what doesn’t, and what matters after the honeymoon phase.
If you want me to prioritize a specific Detroit Gun Works product for a deeper dive, tell me exactly which one and why. “Because it looks cool” is still a valid answer. We’re allowed to enjoy things.
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