NRA Publications editors and staff will be part of the thousands of media members (1,804 attended last year) that will descend on Las Vegas, Nev., next week for the world’s  premier exposition of combined firearms, ammunition, archery, cutlery, outdoor apparel, optics, camping and related products and services. They call it SHOT Show.

Here are the dates and times:

January 18 - 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
January 19 - 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
January 20 - 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
January 21 - 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Check out the floor plan of the Sands Expo and Convention Center and the breakdown of the different areas of the floor. Not enough? A SHOT Show iPhone app and a mobile website for other smartphone users are now available for all show attendees. Users can find exhibitors, view the floor plan, find sessions and events, show news and alerts, new products and show specials.

Our team will be using the app to help them tackle the 700,000 net square feet of exhibit space and estimated 1,500 exhibitors over the frenzied four-day show.

Follow American Rifleman on Twitter and Facebook to get real-time updates and this blog for multiple posts each day. The SHOT Show also has its own Twitter feed and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, owner and sponsor of the show, has been tweeting for the last month about its signature event. If you're not on Twitter, the SHOT Show has its own blog.

We’ll be tracking down stars like Ralph and Vick Cianciarulo, the “Top Shot” Season 1 cast, Jerry Miculek, Jim Scoutten, Craig Morgan, Matt Hughes and many more. Check out the full list of appearances here.

We’ll be attending the Outdoor Channel’s Golden Moose Awards, the Sportsman Choice Awards, and we’ll cover the 2011 Taurus Defender of Freedom Award at the first bell.

We certainly can’t leave out the new products. Subscribe to the RSS feed above, and you’ll have direct access to every single innovative gun and gadget we can find.

Also, through special arrangement with SHOT Show organizers and select exhibitors, the nation’s hunters and shooters will get a look at those products on GunBroker.com at the same time they are announced to the trade.

They’ll be a lot more to come. For now, we’re packed up and ready to go.