Gary's Gun Notes #166

As I type this we are 2 weeks from election day, a day that will decide the fate of this great country of ours. If the election goes our way, we stand a good chance of turning it back around and getting some common sense in the White House. If it doesn’t go our way, this country will not weather Hillary Clinton. Pure and simple, if she wins this country is doomed.

Every few days someone comes in our shop mouthing off that they are not going to vote for Trump because they don’t like something he did or they don’t like the way he combs his hair. I have told more than one of them that they are an idiot and don’t deserve to live in this country. For some reason they don’t like that, usually mumbling something and walking out of our shop. Now I realize that is not the way to win friends and influence people, but if that person is stupid enough to not vote or even stupider (is that a word?) to vote for Clinton, he would never be a friend anyway.

Texas is doing their early voting this week and already, the second day of voting, they are finding voting machines that when the republican ticket is punched, the vote goes to the democrats. Amazing huh? Amarillo and two other cities are already experiencing this. Because of this Texas has issued an “emergency protocol” that all voting will be done on paper ballots. Now if the other states will do the same, we have a good chance. I am sure the democrats will try to come up with some other crooked way to screw us out of votes.

Off the negative vein, let’s see what is new and different. Our 85th handgun hunt is now history and it was a very good one with only one small hiccup. The Feds are trying to shut down all the exotic ranches because they don’t have control over them, or as much control as they would like. They were there the first day checking things out, taking blood samples of hogs that had been taken the day before. They were looking for and praying for some virus that they could use to shut the place down. Thank the Lord they didn’t find any so they left late in the day the first day. We couldn’t shoot any hogs the first day but a lot of other critters like sheep, goats, Fallow deer, Sika Deer, Bison, and various other critters were taken so the day wasn’t a total loss. We had several youngsters there hunting along with several lady hunters. That is great as we need to get more youth hunters and lady hunters in our sport. We had 46 hunters there and all in all the hunt was a great one and was some great times spent with old friends and new ones. A good friend told me a few years back that our HHC, Handgun Hunter’s Challenge, was not a hunt. it was a gathering of friends.

Our dates for the next 2 HHCs have been set. The spring hunt is March 23rd thru the 26th. The fall hunt is set for October 5th thru the 8th. If you want to sign up, call Sandy at 931-979-4050 and join us. As normal I have booked the whole lodge with room for 50 hunters.

Let’s see, what is new. It seems like we are still talking about what new products were shown at the SHOT SHOW and they are already announcing the next one. it is scheduled for mid January. More on that later. Some new things this week that are excellent additions to a hunter’s collection. One or two I wonder if the guy that designed them was on dope. First the good stuff. Ruger, as always, is expanding their firearm lineup. They now have the new LCP 2. This new and improved little pocket pistol is chambered in 380 and holds 7 rounds. One of the nice features is it is small enough to carry in your pocket and weighs just a bit over 10 ounces. They have dropped the Model 77 rifle and replaced it with the American model. Not sure how I feel about this but from an economical standpoint, it makes sense. I still hate to see the Model 77 go.

Most shooters like the features of the bullpup design in a rifle. This puts the action back alongside your face and the whole thing is just barely legal at 26” overall. Now a company called High Tower Armory has come up with a bullpup kit for a common rifle. The only question in my mind is the gun is it was designed for. It is made for (are you ready for this?), the Hi Point. Now the Hi Point carbine is reliable, comes in 9mm, 40 caliber, 380 and 45 ACP. Now I am not bad mouthing the Hi Point. If you like fat girls with 3 teeth, who sweat a lot and have a nice mustache, then you will absolutely love the Hi point. The company that makes them says this kit will add functionality and give it a much more sleek, modern appearance. Yep, right up there with roller skates for a penguin. But if you have a Hi Point, I salute you. Check out High Tower Armory and make your penguin...err..carbine look sleeker.

Henry Arms is always expanding their product line and they have now added a couple more to the line up. They are planning a single shot rifle in 308, 223, 243, and 45-70 and should have it ready by mid January. Not sure if it will be an inexpensive rifle like the H&R or a top of the line rifle like the Ruger #1. They also have a new single shot shotgun in 12, 20 and 410 gauge on the way. Again not sure of the price range on this one either. Another new offering is a new lever action 410 gauge shotgun. Now this one has been tried before and has pretty much flopped, so hopefully they will have overcome the previous shotgun’s short comings. Colleen says it will sell well, and she usually knows her guns.

You guys that carry a canoe overland to your favorite fishing spot or duck hunting spot will like this. It is a back pack that converts into a 9’ boat. How’s that for American know-how? The company is the Folding Boat Company (you would never have thunk of that name, would you?”) The boat is sort of like a canoe/Zodiac.inflatable boat rolled into one. The backpack weighs 21 lbs, which isn’t that bad. I have some friends that carry more more than 21 lbs of snacks in their backpack, especially if they are going to be out for more than 4 hours. Another good point in this is the price. It sells for $895. Not bad for a poor man’s yacht.

Sig has finally come out with a new pistol that doesn’t look like all the other Sig pistols since day one. It is the model P320 and feels good in the hand and shoots even better. I actually like this one.

Remember Hi Standard? They were the trend setter and flag bearer of super accurate 22 caliber pistols in the 1930s up thru the early 90s, when they closed the doors. A couple of companies have tried to resurrect the name and company thru the last 16 years or so but no luck. Now a new owner and new company has bought out the rights to the name and various designs and not only are they planning to bring back the great 22 caliber semi autos, they are now making AK-47s and AR-15s. How is that for a change of directions? The company has also bought out the old Interarms name and the AMT name. Interarms was an importer that brought in a lot of great handguns, rifles and shotguns. The AMT brand would be the Auto Mag 2 in 22 Magnum, Auto Mag 3 in 30 carbine, Auto Mag 4 in 45 Win. Magnum, and the Auto Mag 5 in 50 AE. All of these semi auto pistols were very well made guns and hopefully the new company can succeed in bringing them back into the fold. Another company has bought out the original Auto Mag design and name and are working to release the new and improved Auto Mag sometime early next year. Besides the Auto Mag, which I have hunted with since the early 1970s, Kase and I have both shot and hunted with the Auto Mag 4 in 45 Win. Mag and the Auto Mag 5 in 50 AE. Both were extremely well made pistols and it will be good to see them again.

Lately we have been selling the Mossberg Night Train (sounds sort of like a blues club on lower Broadway in Nashville). This is a very well made rifle for the person that wants to get into longer range hunting but doesn’t want to spend $2000. This rifle is chambered in 308 and comes with a lot of features that normally would only be found on high dollar rifles. It comes from Mossberg as a package gun with rifle, a 6 X 24 X 50 scope, bipod and fluted barrel with muzzle brake. The ones we have had come in green and gray and have not set on the shelf much more than a day. Retail is somewhere south of $800 but we have been putting them out the door around $660. The rifle has a lot of great features and is priced right. In fact I bought one of the MVP Predator varmint models recently in 223, just because. And I am not a rifle person at all. I was impressed by the features of the gun and figured, why not. it uses all the standard AR-15 magazines, has the heavier fluted barrel, the target trigger and target stock. I got the one without the scope and put a Nikon 4 X 12 scope on it. It puts a whole lot of bullets in one little hole. I like that.

You folks that like the old Winchester 1892 rifles will be happy to know the Navy Arms versions are finally out in decent numbers. There is the 1892 Short Rifle in 45 Long Colt and the 1892 Coyote Killer in 44 Magnum. Both guns have American walnut stocks with real color case hardening and special sights from Marble Arms. Really nice guns for the lever gun lover.

Years ago before our second African hunt I promised Colleen she could go along with Kase and me. I figured if we hunted Lion, maybe we could use some extra bait. Anyway, she opted for a rifle for a change so we built her a full custom Ruger #1 in 30-06 for medium size game and I bought her a Colt Sauer in 300 Win. Mag for larger game. Those that are familiar with the Colt Sauer rifles know they are super slick and you can work the bolt with your little finger. Anyway, she used it on several critters at longer range like Zebra, Blesbok, Wildebeest and such. The Colt Sauer was dropped shortly after that and are now sky high as “collector’s items”. Sauer came out with a couple of replacement models that weren’t up to the standard of the Colt Sauer and they didn’t do well at all. They are trying again with the new Sauer 100. It supposedly has all the features of the Colt Sauer along with the super smooth action. I am hoping this one pans out as we need a new smooth, sleek rifle as close to the old Colt Sauer as possible. If you have a chance, check one out.

A fairly new company called Ray-Vin is producing an AR-15 look alike semi auto in 22 Magnum. There are a lot of 22 LR ARs out there but I think this is the first one I have seen in 22 Magnum. They make uppers that will attach to your lower also plus the gun is also available chambered in 17 HMR.

I wonder if EOTECH talked to a fortune teller who told them they would lose the U.S. Military contract this year. They have released a couple of really nice scopes called the VUDU scopes. They come in a 1 X 6, a 2.5 X 10X, and a 3.5 X 18X and those should cover just about any needs the average shooter or hunter should encounter. Sort of on the same subject, a company called Linq has a new completely wireless Laser and white light system for your rifle. Not exactly sure how it works other than a pressure switch on the pistol grip. More on this later after I have the chance to check one out.

More and more ladies are getting into hunting and that includes black powder hunting. Traditions Performance Firearms has a new ladies black powder rifle in 50 caliber. Scaled down to a ladies size, the gun has a 26” barrel, comes in 2 different camo finishes and has a 3 X 9 scope mounted and bore sighted at the factory. If your lady is into black powder you might think about this one for Christmas.

Speaking of guns for the lady hunter, Weatherby has their new rifle designed by women for women. It is their new Camilla model. it is a scaled down version of their fine Vanguard rifle and has a classy and sleek look to it, a perfect ladies rifle.

With all the ammo shortages over the past 2 years or more, there have been several companies tooling up to make their own ammo. Companies like Browning, Sig, Ruger and a couple of others. Now there is a company that is making lead free ammo for those that live in one of the communist states. The company is Liberty Ammunition. The newest round is a 308 with a muzzle velocity of 3500 fps and they claim match grade accuracy. Another brand of new ammo is the Federal Micro HST in 9mm. This one is designed for use in a concealed carry pistol. It features a 150 grain bullet. It joins the Federal premium Personal Defense load in 380 they introduced last year. Yet another is the Sig brand of ammo. One is the HT-C Precision Hunting round. It was mainly designed for hog hunting but works great for all medium weight game animals.

Another special ammunition is the Remington Ultimate Defense Combo Package. This one is for those that carry the Judge revolver. It has 10 rounds of 410 shotshells that have 4 triple ought buckshot in each shell. The package also has 10 rounds of 45 Long Colt with the 230 grain JHP. Both types come packaged together. Smart move on Remington's part as there are a lot of the Taurus Judge and the S&W Governor out there.

Those of us older than navel lint will fondly remember the Mini Mauser rifle that came out quite a few years back. For some reason it only lasted a few years. Well, it is back, sort of. This time it is made by Howa. Now Howa has been around a long time, about 60 years. They make the really nice Weatherby Vanguard rifles and also made the super nice S&W model 1500 rifles of a few years back. Howa is now making the Mini Action Rifle. It is a short, compact rifle chambered in 7.62 X 39, 204, 222 and 223. This one is nice and perfect for the calibers it comes chambered in.

Marlin Arms, another firearm maker in the Freedom Group stable is coming out with some custom lever guns. They now have their own custom shop sort of like the S&W performance center. Expect some really nice lever guns to come out of that shop.

The trend these days is harkening back to the early days of the Winchester Short magnums, with several companies claiming to be the bestest and the firstest with the fastest ever. Take all this with a grain of salt. Speed (contrary to what they say) does not kill. Bullet placement kills. So take all these super dooper whiz bang rounds and bullets with absolutely no drag that fly thru the air like a ray of sunshine with a ho hum and a grain of salt. We have all heard it before and will again. Pure hype.

A while back we bought a large batch of Belgium Browning Hi Powers from the IDF, the Israeli Defense Force when they traded in their sidearms for another pistol. We have customized almost 40 of them now and just received another batch thru customs. Very few custom gun makers work on the Browning hi Powers but I enjoy doing so. We take each gun, go thru them piece by piece, replace any worn part, then in the standard version we do a full action job, refinish the gun in our deluxe Black Chromex finish and do the small parts in a fire blue finish and fit a set of checkered wood grips to them. They are priced at $1195. The deluxe version is full engraved then has all the features of the standard model and some fancier grips. These run $1395. We also have our Ultimate Hi Power which is a long slide version, with comp and is full custom from end to end.

A few weeks back I introduced our own all steel red dot base. The original was for the Ruger Redhawk. Since then it has gone crazy. We build each all steel base for the particular gun it is going on. Every gun is different and that is why many of the cheap aluminum bases come loose and cause lots of problems. A good friend really didn’t believe me when I told him each base was made to fit one particular gun, so I pulled out 2 Ruger Redhawks. Our base fit one perfectly and wouldn’t even start on the other. But now, as I said it has gone crazy. We have over 2 dozen guns in right now for the red dot base and the red dot itself. We started with the Burris Fast Fire 3 and most folks want us to furnish the base and the red dot also as we have a good package price on both units. Not saying the Burris is the best. It is just one that I picked out for my pistol and everybody that saw it liked it. It is small and fits on top of the gun perfectly. We have double action revolvers, semi auto 1911s, S&W autos, single action revolvers, Browning Hi Powers and a lot more sitting in the safe waiting to be worked on. Another unusual one we are doing is the Ruger Vaquero. A lot of folks bought them for the cowboy shoots back in the early 90s. The cowboy shoots are slowly dying out and a lot of Vaqueros are sitting in safes gathering dust. The sights on the Vaqueros and the foreign made single action Colt clones are pretty much non existent so they are not much use for hunting for anyone other than that rare person that can shoot a fixed sight gun well. Anyway, with our red dot base and a red dot they become a viable hunting revolver. The new all steel red dot base is $125 made to fit your pistol and the Burris Fast Fire 3 is $250 in the package for $375 total. We are also working on a new base to fit lever action rifles right now as there are a lot of lever guns used in the cowboy shoots that are not really set up as a hunting rifle. But with our red dot base and red dot they can be the perfect hunting rifle. That package will be the same price.

That’s it for this time. Hopefully next month we will have some good news. If not, then the future is bleak for gun owners. Until then, God bless us all.
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.