GARY'S GUN NOTES
This months Gun Notes is a bit earlier than normal due to the holiday coming up. Plus a lack of new guns or ammo available. A lot of new items have been advertised but I haven't personally seen many of the new items at all.
This past week's crap about the not guilty verdict in a very obvious self defense case is causing a lot of problems among the liberal crowd. Trouble makers like Jesse Jackson are again causing a lot of trouble. Others are joining him whining about the loss of 2 black lives when in truth there wasn't a black person included at all. But the truth is not always apparent when the liberals start shouting. With all this in mind, I do hope all of you do carry anytime you are out and about.
A couple of new items out this week that might not be available for a while (so what's new?). The new Diamondback Sidekick is interesting. Those of you that date back to the early 60s will probably remember the High Standard Double Nine. It was a double action 22 LR revolver with a 9 shot cylinder. Now look at a pic of the new Sidekick. Same gun. Double action and 9 shot cylinder with an extra 9 shot cylinder in 22 Magnum. Not complaining at all. The High Standard Double 9 was a great little gun and a lot are still around today. It is neat to see a good idea brought back. If the Sidekick is as good internally as the old High Standard it should be a good one.
Another new idea or two is 10mm. Smith & Wesson and Springfield Armory are both bringing out new 10mm pistols. Now the 10mm is one of my favorite calibers. A great cartridge and a good caliber for smaller bodied deer and hogs. The only concern I have with these 2 new guns coming out is the S&W has a 4"barrel and the Springfield Armory has a 3.8" barrel. Going to 10mm is good, but how about making it a true 10mm. A short barreled 10mm gives you the power of the 40 S&W. So why doing it half way. Give us a good longslide 10mm. One of our most popular 1911s is our Ultimate 10 which Kase brought out about 15 years ago. In fact Kase got written up as one of 2 custom gunmakers that are responsible for bring the 10mm back to life. A 6" 10mm longslide is the perfect 10mm. This gives the 10mm the power it needs to be a viable cartridge for small to medium game.
This week we posted something on the web site that I hoped never to do. That is to not take any more orders until Feb. 1st at the earliest, maybe a bit longer. The reason is that we are so far behind on the almost 300 orders we have in our order books. With the parts shortages the timeframe is getting longer and this includes, gun parts along with steel for our cylinders and barrels, chemicals for our gun finishes, ammunition for our test firing and several other things that are simply not available in a reasonable timeframe. Plus we have recently lost 2 of my machinists which brings us down to 4, which makes it harder on all of us. The orders in the order book run up to well over 2 years and hopefully this 2 month period will give us time to get a lot of these guns finished and to the owners. Of the almost 300 orders at least 70 to 75 are over 2 years and even though the customers have been patient, it still bothers me to be that far behind. So hopefully this 2 month will help get some of these guns finished and out the door.
A couple of weeks ago I introduced our new Dangerous Game Holster. It is a simple holster that is intended for revolvers carried in dangerous situations. Years ago I saw a picture of a holster that John Wesley Hardin, the gunfighter in the old west carried under his coat. The revolver was held in place by a spring loaded clamp that snugly clamps around the cylinder holding it in place. The nose of the revolver sits in a small cut at the bottom of the holster. That’s it. Very simple and extremely easy to get into action. Simply grab the grip and pull forward. It comes out into your hand instantly. The back of the holster is a flat double layered piece of leather with the leather covered clamp in a position to clamp around the cylinder. There is a strap going over your off shoulder down to your belt to hold the holster in place. The leather strap over your strong side shoulder is wide and comfortable. That’s it. We have sold quite a few of them and have them in stock for 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5 and 8" revolvers. Right now I have them in right hand and left hand and designed for revolvers like the Ruger Blackhawks, Super Blackhawks and Redhawks. S&W N frame revolvers work fine too. These holsters are mostly designed for guns carried in dangerous game situations. The holster is made of top grade cowhide and double stitched in areas where it is needed. I have priced the new Dangerous Game Holsters at $195 plus a couple of bucks for shipping. We have our next Africa hunt scheduled for next April 5 thru 14 and if all goes well, Good Lord willing I plan on having one of these holsters on with my 8" 510 GNR riding in it.
Speaking of our next Africa hunt, this one will be very unusual and in 16 safaris to Africa I have only hunted once in this area. The hunt is in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The lodge looks like a 5 star hotel, way too nice for me, but that is where we will be staying. And the good part is the daily rates will be the same as they are in a tent camp. The lodge is on the beach just a few yards from the water’s edge. We will be hunting in a completely different area than most folks hunt in. It is almost like the jungle areas most envision Africa to be hunted in. very dense vegetation, and a lot of animals that are not encountered in most other areas. I hunted there in 2010 if my memory serves me. I was there with Jason Puffy Parr, my best friend that we lost to a blood clot in the brain a few years back.The area included a lot of unusual animals like Caracal, the African Lynx, the Blue Duiker, the white Gemsbok, the white Springbok, the Forest Hog plus a lot more of the animals not often encountered in Africa. Plus many of the normal animals found in other areas of South Africa. I have 4 people signed up now and have room for 6 more. If you have wanted to hunt Africa this is your chance. And the prices are well within the average blue collar worker’s budget. You can hunt Africa for 7 days and take 4 or 5 of the most popular African animals for less than $10,000. And in Africa you only pay for what you kill. In Alaska if you hunt one of the big bears and never even see a bear you still pay the $20,000 or more. In Africa if you hunt an animal, a Kudu for instance, and never even see one you don’t pay for it. You only pay for what you kill. Africa is my favorite place to hunt and if all goes well next April I will be back there and I would love for you to join me. If you are interested give me a call at 928-527-4100.
Real quick here I got a call this afternoon from one of our distributors (yes I work on Sunday too) and he said they are getting a lot of U.S. Government primers in and he is shipping me some. I didn’t even know the Government had primers. I should have some within a week or so to try out. I will let you know.
That’s it for this month. Until next month remember in about a month we are celebrating a very special event and it sure isn’t Santa Claus.
Til next month if you get a chance to go hunting, take a youngster or lady with you. They are our future.
God bless,
Gary