Gary's Gun Notes #159

Apparently our ammo shortage is beginning to level out. There are still quite a bit of ammo and brass that is extremely hard to find such as 22 Magnum and some of the more uncommon calibers of ammo. But the 22 LR shortage is easing up a bit with us getting several bricks every week for the last month or so. We still can’t call our distributors and order any, but some of our back orders are coming in a bit at a time. This doesn’t sound like much but it is a lot better than nothing at all.

On the ammo note a lot of new companies are cropping up these days, companies that I have never heard of before, along with some gun manufacturers that are branching out into their own brand of ammo. I was talking to J.D. Jones today and he tells me that the old Super Vel ammo may be coming back. At first mainly in 9mm, and 45 ACP but branching out into handgun hunting ammo too. I mentioned before that Sig is coming out with their own brand of ammo. Black Hills is doing the same with some specialty ammo for snubbie handguns, the choice of a lot of folks for concealed carry. They have a new 38 Special that is said to be a non expanding bullet that runs 1000 fps out of a snubbie handgun.

Lots of new companies coming out with their own ammo also. A company called ABM for Applied Ballistics Munitions, has a line up of specialty ammo for tactical use and for match use. Century Arms, the importer of military type arms for many years is bringing in a group of specialty loads for foreign guns like the Makarov, Mauser rifles and a lot more. There are several special 9mm loads, a hot 380 auto load, a screaming 45 ACP load, one for the 8mm Mauser,some 308 loads (7.62X51) a whole bunch of special loads in 7.62X39 along with loads in 7.62X25 for the Tokarev and some 5.45X39 loads. So those that have had a hard time finding this specialty ammo can look forward to these offerings. The company HSM, that has been around a good while is expanding their line up of ammo including several offerings in 223 in a hunting bullet.

Federal’s American Eagle brand is introducing a special 50 round box of ammo in several calibers called the Predator Bulk Pack and the Varmint Bulk Pack. these are chambered in 17 Hornet, 22 Hornet, 223, 22-250, 243 and 308. They told me they would be shipping the bulk packs to dealers this week. We’ll see. Fiocchi is supposedly cranking up the production of their various calibers of ammo in the Canned Heat line. These are cartridges sealed in cans sort of like tuna fish cans. They promote them as airtight sealed cans of ammo to store “just in case”. They come in 9mm, 40 caliber, 45 ACP, 223 along with 10 round packs of buckshot. As I mentioned last time Ruger is getting into their own line up of ammo with their ARX ammo, powered by Polycase ammo. Ruger is always good about releasing the info about their new products when they ship them. So when you hear about these new goodies, more than likely they are already in your local gun shop.

Winchester continues to address different types of hunting with their specialty ammo. Ammo for hog hunting, their Deer Season XP ammo, their Long Beard XR turkey loads, along with their Train & Defend ammo.
If half of these companies come thru this year like they say they are, then our ammo shortage will dwindle down to near nothing.

In new guns for this year there are quite a few that are said to be coming. Often this is according to how much reaction they get to showing them at the SHOT SHOW. If the response is good, then they make the gun. If not then they drop the idea and deny ever making it in the first place. Remember Llama pistols? They folded back about 10 years ago after being in business for over 80 years. They are coming back with several new models. Their “1911” which was actually not a 1911, just sort of a 1911 wannabe, is supposedly coming back as a true 1911. The new company is now based in the Philippines which is good. There are some very fine guns being made in the Philippines these days, so that is welcome news. They have a mini 1911 also in 380 auto that is getting some good revues.

Those familiar with the Ruger Scout rifle will have to take a second look at the new Howa Scout. It looks very much like the Ruger and knowing Howa, it should be just as good. For those not in the know, Howa was the manufacturer for years of the Weatherby rifles, along with the extremely nice 1500 series of Smith & Wesson rifles. I have never seen anything from Howa that was not top of the line. Howa is also teaming up with Webley & Scott, the folks in Europe that have been making guns for well over 200 years. They have a new rifle coming out called the Empire Rifle. It is a long action Africa type rifle and the quality looks to be typical Howa, top of the line.

Nothing to get real excited about but there are even more companies coming out with their version of the AR-15. Cobalt Kinetics has a new rifle or two that look to have been designed about 50 years in the future. American Tactical has a new AR. Armalite has 2 new models coming out, the M-15 Light Tactical carbine and the AR-10 Precision Rifle. I am very fond of Armalite and have been for many years. Just recently I had Colleen order me a special AR from Armalite. Great guns. A company called Layke Tactical has a new 308 AR called the LT10 rifle. RTD manufacturing has a new 308 AR called the RT-10. Ash Tactical has a new AR called the Core AR-15 that comes in several calibers and you can switch the uppers to change calibers. Anderson manufacturing has a new 308 AR. These are the folks that promote no lube in their rifles. And I have a list of at least 20 more new ARs coming out, but after a while they all look the same. Also in a bolt action rifle using normal AR rounds Badger Ordnance has a new short bolt action that they say you can “tuck into a bag”. Oh yeah, one more. Colt has a new AR out called the Expanse M4, yawn, that looks exactly like every M4 Colt has ever made. There is a video on the internet showing the gun, that you can sleep thru.

Chiappa Firearms has a new 22 caliber rifle out for the harsher environments. It is a 22 LR and is a take down lever action with a matte chrome finish on the metal and some sort of soft rubber type finish on the stock & forend. It is meant to be taken down, put in a case and set aside for when the horse pucky hits the fan. There have been several guns made similar to this thru the years that were meant to be put in a hard case and placed under the seat of Piper Cub, an Otter, Beaver or another bush plane in case of a crash in Alaska or east L.A.

Mossberg has come out with a special model 500 shotgun that looks space age enough to be interesting. It has a 6 position M-4 type stock, a special solid grip forend, a heat shield similar to that on their great M-590, and accessory rails and special sidesaddle. A real neat looking shotgun, not just the same old same old. The stock and forend are a light tan color and it is a shotgun I wouldn’t mind having for “those times”.

Browning has their X-Bolt Stalker coming out just in time for our varmint season. It is the X-Bolt with a heavy contour barrel and a brush camo and matte finish bluing on the barrel. Chambered in 204, 223, 22-250, 243, and 308. It should be popular with varmint hunters everywhere.

Coonan Arms, the folks that were the first to come out with a 1911 size pistol in 357 Magnum years ago has finally gone a step farther with their new 45 ACP. This is pretty much a true 1911 with only a couple of modifications. The Coonan’s are great guns. I always hoped they would come out with the gun in 41 Magnum or maybe the 44 magnum, but nothing so far. The 357 Magnum, to me, is barely adequate for hunting, whereas the 41 mag and 44 mag could open up some new hunting fields for them.

A company called UTAS has come out with a beefed up AR style shotgun in 12 gauge. The gun looks very good and feels even better. I haven’t shot one yet but looking forward to it. many years back Kase and I both lusted for the Atchison 12 gauge shotgun. it was big, ugly and black and looked like an AR-15 with a thyroid problem. But it sure could put some lead in the air. The new UTAS XTR-12 has a 10 round magazine. and has all the tactical features AR lovers want. At just over a grand it should do well.

We have been selling the Black Aces “shotgun” that is not actually listed as a shotgun. It is a 9” 12 gauge pump gun with folding stock. It is perfectly legal and is not Class 3 so no extra paperwork or waiting periods. It comes with a letter from the ATF stating that it is legal and is OK to own. It is a great home defense gun. Colleen bought the first one in the door for around the house “just in case”. These are super smooth guns and if you are thinking of a short 9” 12 gauge shotgun for self defense, check these out. or give us a call at 928-527-4100. Great gun.

OK, time for a commercial to pay for the baby some new shoes. Go grab a beer while I go over a couple of new goodies that we have come up with in the last month. First we have our new TRAIL GUN just released. it is built actually on 2 guns, a larger caliber on the Blackhawk and a smaller caliber on the Single Six. The first TRAIL GUN is built on the customer’s Blackhawk and comes chambered in 32-20 and 327 federal, a dual cylinder revolver, or you can have it as a single cylinder gun. All the bells and whistles on this one. The second TRAIL GUN is built on the customer’s Single Six. Just about every gun guy has a Single Six sitting in his safe gathering dust. Now you can put it to use. We take the 22 LR Single Six, convert it to centerfire, build a new barrel for it and a new 6 shot cylinder in 218 Bee and you have a great gun for the trail. Other calibers will be coming out in each gun.

Another new goodie is our all steel Sight Base. It is built to fit your revolver and your red dot sight. We build it one at a time to fit your revolver perfectly. No flimsy aluminum to come loose or to fit the gun somewhat. These are finished to match the finish on your gun or the finish on your red dot. We have finished up several this week, all for the Burris Fast Fire. They are priced at $100 for calibers under 44 and $125 for calibers over 44. We guarantee them to fit perfectly and stay put.

Another new one is a new line of holsters. We have had our crossdraw holster out for almost 10 years for scoped revolvers. it has been a great holster but was limited to scopes with small front lens. This posed a problem for those with scopes with larger front lens. early last fall we re-designed the holster with the opening 2” further down the holster to accommodate the larger scopes. I lowered the area around the trigger guard also and now the one holster works with regular single action revolvers or for the Ruger Super Redhawk. We have them coming in 5 1/2, 6 1/2, 7 1/2, 8 1/2 and 10 inch lengths. These are extremely well made holsters, made by an Amish friend who makes them all by hand. Top grade cowhide and suede lined interior, these are perfect for scoped guns like the Super Redhawk and the Ruger Hunter.

Our new Flattop Tool is doing very well. This is a tool that holds 3 rounds of 22 LR. About 30 thou. of the nose sticks out the top. you take a box cutter or knife and slice off the nose and it gives a cheap funky 22 LR the power of a 22 Magnum. Plus they are extremely accurate and function perfectly in a semi auto. Even at 50 yards the exit hole in test media is well over 2” around while the standard round nose 22 has an exit hole about a half inch.

Recently we have had to pull a few guns out of our showcases as they were wall to wall guns and no way to keep them apart enough to show them. All are prototypes of various series. I have several new series coming out so it was time to pull a few of these guns out and put them on the in stock list. If you are looking for some really nice custom guns at super prices, check out our in stock list.. http://www.reedercustomguns.net/gnr/information/in_stock.htm nbsp; But don’t think about it too long as they go quickly at these prices.

Our next Handgun Hunter’s Challenge is scheduled for September 29 thru October 3rd. Several folks have signed up already. The October hunt is always the one that fills up quickly. Give it some thought. More info on the opening page of our web site. Join us. you will enjoy it.

That is it for this month. Good Lord willing I will have more info for you next time. Until then, take a youngster or lady shooting. They are our future.
God bless,
gary

E-Mail: gary@reedercustomguns.com

Reeder Custom Guns 2601 E. 7th Ave. Flagstaff, AZ 86004	Phone: 928-527-4100 928-526-3313 Fax: 928-527-0840 928-526-1287
The names Ruger, Blackhawk, Super Blackhawk, Bisley and Vaquero are trademarks of the Sturm, Ruger Firearms Co. Inc.