This last couple of weeks has been hectic to say the least. With our new Flattop Tools, the crate of surplus Browning Hi Powers, trying to finish the brand new custom series on the Redhawk along with all the normal stuff has left little room for anything else. The new Flattop Tools are going crazy and going out the door as quick as we can get them made. These little tools hold up to 4 22 caliber rounds. They lock in the tool and the round nose is cut off with a knife or box cutter. The result is a flat nose that does a tremendous amount of damage to the varmint or whatever is on your hunting list. A round nose 22 LR round does about a 1/2” hole thru the test media while the flat nose round does better than a 2” hole. It is amazing how much difference just flattening these rounds make. We have a single round tool in 22 LR, a 2 round tool for the 22 Short, a 3 round tool for the 22 LR and our 2+2 tool which holds 2 rounds of 22 Short and 2 rounds of 22 LR. The difference can be seen here...http://www.reedercustomguns.net/forum/index.php?id=625316

 

Recently I bought a crate of Browning Hi Powers that had been issued to the IDF, the Israeli Defense Force. They are in decent condition and we are replacing any worn parts, putting new hammers and sears in them, new Novak Nite Sights, action job, ramping and polishing, new custom checkered grips,  engraving on some and the deluxe Black Chromex finish. We have sold over 2 dozen of them from the last 2 batches and have 5 or 6 more to do. There aren’t any classier 9mms than the Browning Hi Power. And if the Israelis used them, you know they are good. You can see them here..http://www.reedercustomguns.net/gnr/instock.html

 

We have a very special full custom Redhawk we are working on. It is still a couple of weeks away but is a full underlug, vent rib barrel, 5 shot cylinder, full Gunfighter Grip, special finish and sights and more. It will be chambered in several large calibers. More on this one as we go along.

 

Years ago we built a very special Vaquero for Paco Kelly. Since then we have built quite a few guns for customers that wanted one just like Paco’s.  Recently we decided to build one just like Paco’s and build it as a special series. We are already getting quite a few calls for it. It is a very special Vaquero with all the bells and whistles, real color case, deluxe Black Chromex on the barrel, cylinder and Gunfighter Gripframe, gold bands, special grips and special front sight. It is our new Outlaw and can be seen here..http://www.reedercustomguns.net/gnr/revolvers/outlawclassic.htm

 

Another new one that is garnering some attention is the new Hellcat. This beauty is built on the new adjustable sighted Bearcat. We convert the gun from rimfire to centerfire, build a new 5 shot cylinder in 32 H&R or our new 250 GNR, which is a 32 H&R necked down to 257. We build a new barrel to the customer’s desired length, fit the interchangeable blade front sight to it, new grips, do some engraving and the deluxe Black Chromex finish. It turns it into a really nice little packing gun with some decent power. Nate, my main man in the shop took a Russian boar with the 250 GNR in the prototype revolver at the last Handgun Hunter’s Challenge. Here is the new Hellcat..http://www.reedercustomguns.net/gnr/revolvers/hellcat.htm

 

Speaking of the HHC, our next one is coming up in 2 months. It is scheduled for October 1-4 at the Wilderness Hunting Lodge in Monterey Tennessee. It should be a really special hunt as we have 51 hunters signed up for it as of now with 3 or 4 openings left. Good friend Jim Taylor, who is a missionary in Mozambique is flying back to the U.S. to visit his family and will be joining us. Jim has been a non hunter for several years now due to being in Mozambique so this will be a real treat for him. Several of the Misfits including John Taffin, Irv Coutts, Blake Naugle, Huey Eaves, and David McGilvray have all donated to Jim’s hunt and it should be a grand time for him. Jim is doing a great job in Africa helping folks that can’t help themselves and enduring hardships most of us would not be able to handle and deserves a treat.

 

Lots of interest in my new 400 GNR. This a simple cartridge to make. Just fireform a 30-30 case to a straight case, and use a 10mm/40 caliber bullet. We are rebarreling Marlin 30-30s to the new 400 GNR and it works perfectly. Plus now you have quite a bit of punch in the Marlin M-336 or M-30 without the recoil and abuse of the 444 or 45-70. Should be a great round for bull elk, moose and such. It is a low pressure round so it will also be offered in the Contender and Encore handguns.

 

Ruger has been busy of late introducing several new guns and new versions of older guns. Their new Precision Rifle is a unique one. At first glance it looks like just another AR-15. Then at a closer glance it becomes obvious it is a bolt action. Sort of the best of both worlds. Chambered in 243, 308 and 6.5 Creedmore it should be a decent deer or target rifle.

 

Boy, the Confederate Flag hoopla is still going on. Mostly it is idiots that never passed American History in school that are bitching and calling for banning it. If they would read their history books they would see that it had nothing to do with slavery. In fact Lincoln didn’t mean to free the slaves at all. He only did it under pressure from France and England who vowed to back the Southern States if he didn’t do so. And then he didn’t mean to free all the slaves, only those in the southern states. Thank goodness most of the southern states are telling the liberal politicians to take a flying leap.

 

While we are lingering on the sick news these days the Planned Parenthood people have killed over 325,000 babies, born and unborn, in the last year and the liberals are not complaining about this. They are complaining about a dentist who shot a lion. I guess to the liberal mind, one lion is worth much more than 325,000 babies. It is a sick world.

 

Hornady is being smart, as usual. They are coming out with some new dies called the American Dies that are about half the price of the normal RCBS dies. Packaged in a clear plastic package they also come with a free shell holder. These are very well made dies (what else would you expect from Hornady?)

 

The new Glock 43, a small palm sized 9mm, is still selling just as well as it did when it was introduced. Typical Glock. Great workmanship and totally dependable.

 

The Crunch is still with us. Contrary to what some gun magazines are saying “it looks like the powder and ammo shortage is over and prices are dropping back down to normal” it is not happening. Some of these gun magazine editors would make great used car salesman. Obviously they don’t know their ass from 3rd base about what is happening in this industry. Yes some 22 ammo is becoming a bit more available but no, it is not back to normal, or anywhere near normal. Some shops have some, most do not. We get about 2 bricks a week at best. That lasts about an hour, even limiting it to one box of 50 per customer. Pistol powder is almost non existent in some areas, while rifle powder is not to be found in others. So it is not back to normal and if it is by the end of the year it will surprise me. If you need a certain powder or caliber of ammo and can’t find it, when you do, grab it. It will probably be priced a bit higher than normal but you can either live with it or do without. The bricks of 22 LR ammo is running nearly $40 per brick wholesale, counting shipping and such. So if your local gun shop has it at $4.50 per box of 50, for the good stuff, they are not raping you. They are probably marking it up the normal 20%.

 

The plethora of AR-15s (I am not supposed to use that term. It is now supposed to be Modern Sporting Rifle instead, but that is only from the cowards that are afraid of the liberal press and would rather change the way they do and say things than stand up and tell the liberals to stick it), is smoothing out a bit. Many of the companies that make AR-15s (over 200 of them) are now making their rifles into very special guns or are dropping their prices drastically to get rid of stock on hand, or are selling just parts instead of full guns. Just in the last couple of weeks, we have sold brand new AR-15s from various makers for under $600. So it is a buyer’s market right now. If you need one, now is the time to buy it. 

 

Specialty ammo is the big thing these days. There are about a dozen companies that are making very special ammo for feral hog hunting. With the extreme over abundance of feral and Russian hogs thru-out the U.S., it is the perfect time to introduce this special ammo. Some is rifle ammo, but most of it is slugs and buckshot. This is good in that our slugs and buck shot have sort of limped along for years now with no new features at all, just the same old same old. But now the various companies are coming out with special sabotted slugs, hollow pointed slugs, steel plated slugs and a lot more. One of the slug companies is Fiocchi. They have a new slug out called the Boar and Buck Slayer. It is a steel segmented 12 gauge slug with no lead in it. It is a 1 ounce slug (437 grains) at 1630 FPS. This works out to almost 2600 foot-pounds of energy. There is not much that can stand up to that. The companies that make rifle ammo for these feral hogs is doing much the same, introducing special partitioned bullets to hold up on a hard shoulder of a hog. Plus the “shield” on a hogs shoulder makes for even more problems and it takes a very good bullet to not blow apart or open up too soon on a hog.

 

The other specialty ammo is for turkey hunters. For instance Federal has come out with a buckshot round called the Third Degree. It has 3 different types of shot in the shell, #5 copper plated shot, #6 Flitestopper lead, and #7 heavyweight lead shot. And this is just one of many new rounds coming out for the turkey hunters.

 

The market for suppressors and full auto guns is expanding in leaps and bounds. In our town there are 3 gun shops and 2 of them have gone class 3 and are pushing suppressors, short barreled rifles, sawed off shotguns and full auto guns. Apparently the BATF is just swamped with applications for these and in some cases it is taking 8 to 10 months just for the paperwork.

 

A while back we mentioned a company called Heizer had a little 2” pocket pistol coming out in 223. That is now out as is a version in 7.62X39, the AK-47 round. Not really sure what they are trying to prove or what crowd they are selling to, but I guess it all boils down to “whatever floats your boat”.

 

Even with more than 75 companies making 1911s these days, more and more are venturing into the game. No matter what kind or caliber of 1911 you are looking for, if the caliber will fit in a 1911 magazine, there is someone either making it or thinking about it. Browning has a scaled down 1911 coming out chambered in 380. It looks good but not sure if a single action 1911 style pistol in 380 will garner much attention these days. The 380 craze is pretty much over and with several companies making 9mms in the same size package as the 380s are, it just doesn’t make a lot of sense to downsize, unless recoil is a dramatic factor. The new Browning 380 is called the Black Label. Also at a retail price of $700, there are a lot of guns more suited to self defense out there and at a smaller price tag.

 

Word from Thompson Center is that they are finally releasing some G-2 frames. This has been long awaited by handgun hunting folks. I consider the G-2 the finest frame TC has ever built. The Encore is a great frame for the larger calibers, but for the average everyday handgun hunter the G-2 is perfect. For the last 4 or 5 years I have used nothing but the G-2 frame. If I am lucky enough to get back to Africa, I will for sure take an Encore frame chambered in one of my larger calibers, but I will also have a couple of G-2s in some of my medium calibers along too. My go to single shot handgun right now and for the last 20 years or more has been my 9” 41 GNR Contender barrel. A few years back I switched it over to a G-2 frame and haven’t even thought of changing that since then. I have talked to a couple that have bought one of the new G-2 frames. Admittedly they may need a bit of fine tuning but at least they are back out after about a 4 year absence.

 

That is it for now. Remember our next HHC is October 1-4. If you want to join us, call 931-839-2091 and put down your deposit. Let me know when you do so I don’t overbook.

 

Till next time, take a youngster or lady shooting and hunting. They are our future.

God bless,

Gary