Gary's Gun Notes #166

For the last couple of weeks I have been hearing a contented sigh of relief and still a few “We won!!” here and there. Thank the Lord, we won the election, but it is not over yet. The Clinton group including that witch Stein are regrouping and have the OK to do a recount, supposedly to see if the machines were hacked. If they find any sign that they were, and if they were they were done by the liberal crowd, not the Trump people, they will call for a change in the electoral vote. If Clinton shows more votes by a considerable margin (even if they are crooked votes) they may be able to force some of the electoral college folks to change their votes. I am not up on the legalities of this but it scares hell out of me. So it is not over til the fat lady sings and I surely don’t want to hear Clinton sing. Those that have been doing some hard praying, don’t let up yet. I don’t even want to imagine what will happen if the liberal crowd pulls this off. Trump has been doing a great job of lining up folks for his cabinet posts and all the other posts in this government of ours, and it sure would wreak havoc on the government if the democrats pulled off the change in electoral votes. Trump is doing exactly what he said he would do if elected and we need to back him more now than ever. The folks in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and the other couple of states involved in this re-count need to be pro-active right now and if you know who to call or e-mail, do so.

The SHOT show is only about 6 weeks away and a lot of companies are releasing pictures and descriptions of their products early. The rush of the last 3 or 4 months has helped a lot of companies stay afloat, especially those that build AR-15s and AR parts, lowers and uppers and all the internals. With Trump in office the rush to buy them will slow down considerably, but don’t go and do something silly like sell yours. This great country of ours is still in a critical stage and we still have 50 days or so of Obama and he is as crooked as a snake and will do everything in his power to screw up this country before he gets out of office. He passed almost 600 new rules and regulations just in the last month and has been averaging over 85,000 new rules and regulations a year since he got into office. That is the most since Jimmy Carter. Some will be able to be squashed by Trump when he gets in but not all and some will cause some problems. Plus all the cry baby liberals will continue to cause problems like the college professors that are urging and backing the students to protest and raise hell about everything we hold dear. There needs to be a season on college professors.

In the last couple of years we have had a drastic shortage of 22 LR ammunition. That is easing up somewhat, although we still can’t get on the phone and order 20,000 rounds of it for store stock. We still have to wait until one of our distributors calls and offers us some. But at least that is better than it has been. What baffles me is the total lack of 22 Magnum ammo. There simply hasn’t been any available in well over a year. Sure, there is some on the internet if you want to pay 3 times normal, which we won’t do. I would rather tell a custom that we simply don’t have it than to rape them for $60 a box of 50 rounds. The sale of 22 Magnum rifles this fall and early winter has dropped to zilch. Why buy the gun if the ammo is non-available. The 22 Magnum round is now and has been for years, one of my favorite cartridges for small game hunting. People say no big deal that the 17 HMR is still here. Well, personally I don’t care for anything that starts with 17. Out here in the west we pretty much have a wind any day of the year and the 17 caliber bullets don’t hold true in a wind, whereas the 22 Magnum is perfect. No, the 17 HMR will never replace the 22 Magnum for anyone that is an ardent small game hunter. And Lord knows it has been the poacher’s choice in ammo for years.

Winchester is slowly coming back around. I don’t know if they will ever reach the status they had when they folded 5 or 6 years ago. They have made some really stupid moves (in my personal opinion) since they came back. The first was making a large run of Model 94 lever guns in commemoratives. These are non shooters and about as useful as tits on a chicken. When people were searching everywhere for a good lever gun in 30-30, 32 Winchester Special or some smaller calibers, Winchester puts out a bunch of useless rifles and none that we can use. They say that they are busy building some original 1873s and 1886s, but again people are asking for model 94s. Wake up Winchester. And now that most of our hunting seasons are winding down they have announced a new Super X pump shotgun in 12 gauge. Admittedly it is a good looking shotgun with pistol grip stock in camo but it also aimed at the hunters in the east as it is a slug gun, useless out here and useless as a home defense gun. Winchester needs to put someone in charge that will listen to what the shooters want. Nuff said.

Springfield Armory is really pushing their new AR-15 they call the Saint. which is a very nice looking rifle but there are almost 200 other AR-15 companies making the exact same rifle, so I don’t know how this one will float. Sig has finally broken away from the same old same old style guns. Ever since the mid to late 70s when they made the Sig 220 for Browning as the BDA in 38 Super, 9mm and 45, it seems all their guns have looked just alike. They would quote great strides in features yet they weren’t noticeable in the looks or feel. Now they have finally come out with a new pistol that looks completely different. It is their new model P320.

Another new semi auto that I like the looks and feel of is the new Walther PPQ 45. It isn’t really that much different from about 100 other striker fired pistols on the market but it just has a good feel to it. Another European handgun company that you don’t hear much about these days is H&K. They have so many law enforcement and military contracts that they really don’t need to come up with anything new but their new VP9 Tactical looks and feels good. They are always a bit big and bulky but always work. I am sure a lot of Seal team types will really go for this one.

The AR company Del Ton is really pushing some new models trying to stay strong in this wavering election year. I guess they figured of Clinton won people would be still rushing to buy what they could. And if Trump won they would want some specialized models that are a step above the standard AR-15. In their newest brochure they show several new models in 223 and in 308 both. They have always been a good brand and are working to be better.

Speaking of the new AR-15s, we get the younger crowd (under 35) in quite often asking about the $3000 and $4000 AR-15s that they read write ups on in the tactical magazines. If you are one of those, remember the words MIL SPEC. All AR-15s are built to MILITARY SPECIFICATIONS, which in a broad term means they are all the same. If you go to a gun show and go to the tables of AR parts you will see boxes of triggers, hammers, springs, gas blocks, M-4 stocks and on and on. In most cases these parts just drop in because they are made to Mil Specs. So that $3000 AR realistically is the same as an $800 AR. It may look fancier with camo stocks or multi colored furniture or a shinier receiver but it is pretty much the same gun. So before you go spending high dollar on a “special AR-15” check out the other brands too. I am older so I like the Armalite as they made the first ones, even before Colt. But it is no better than DPMS, Bushmaster, Windham Weaponry (which used to be Bushmaster before they sold out and was at one time the only company that made ARs other than Colt), Del Ton, Daniel Defense or any of the other ARs on the market. Also remember the tactical magazines get paid to say those great things about the various tactical guns. They don’t do it out of the kindness of their hearts. Money talks.

With all the ammo shortages of the last couple of years, more and more new companies are coming out with their own brand of ammo. Lots of gun companies like Sig, Browning, Ruger and more are coming out with specialty ammo under their own brand name. Other companies are doing the same. Gorilla ammo is a new one that is stressing quality over quantity and pushing for shot to shot consistency in their ammo. Legend Pro is another new company that specializes in lead free ammo. They make a wide range of calibers and bullet weights in rifle and handgun ammo. Although I do not agree with their caving in to the liberal no lead crap I have to admit their ammo is first class all the way. Liberty Ammunition is another that is a lead free ammo and who are part of Winchester’s Animal Instinct line of ammo. They specialize in 308 ammo that runs a blistering 3500 fps. That fact alone should sell their ammo. Federal has their HST line of ammo out that includes their Micro 9mm which is a heavy 150 grain bullet designed for the short barreled pistols in the concealed carry market. Other companies that have been around a while are expanding their line up with new calibers, and new loadings. Aguila has been around for a long time but are planning a large increase in the new year. HSM, another company that has been around a while has some new loads in 223 coming out. Hornady, to me a leader in new products has their new Precision Hunter line of ammo. So for all the old ammo companies that just can’t seem to get their act together and furnish ammunition for us in the coming year we can at least depend upon quite a few new companies or older companies coming out with an expanding line up of great ammo.

We are now about 4 months away from our next HHC. This one is slated to be at the normal hunting spot at Wilderness Hunting Lodge in Monterey Tennessee. This is always a good hunt and always looked forward to after the hectic winter and spring months. It is slated for March 23 thru the 26th. Several people have already signed up. If you want to make sure you are on the list of folks going on this hunt, call Sandy at 931-979-4050 and sign up. I will have more info on that as we go along.

And for the first time in almost 10 years we have an Africa hunt scheduled for June 1 thru 7, about 6 months away. I have booked the whole camp as normal and it holds 12 hunters. It is a tent camp with large tents that hold 2 hunters. In the first week we booked 10 hunters for the hunt and have 2 openings left. This hunt is in an area called Rooiport which is on the edge of the Kalahari Desert. It is a great place to hunt and there are about 300,000 acres in this concession, and we will be the only hunters there. I have hunted there 4 or 5 times thru the years and it is a favorite place of mine to hunt. Large amounts of game, record book animals are abundant as you will see hundreds of animals every day. hardly 10 minutes will go by without seeing large groups of African game to either side of the truck. Africa at it’s best. And we will be hunting with some great folks. The hunt is booked thru Madubula Safaris and John Abraham. John has been the PH of the Year a couple of times and the International PH of the Year also. It is first class all the way without being over priced as many are. Plus we hunt on a large amount of acreage, not just a little 500 acre spots as many are these days. It is the true African experience. if you are interested, give me a call at the shop at 928-526-3313. And remember we only have 2 openings left.

That’s it for this time. Hopefully I will have some better political news for you next time and a rundown of some of the new stuff coming to the SHOT show. Until then, it’s hunting season, take a youngster or lady out hunting. They are our future.
God bless,
Gary

E-Mail: gary@reedercustomguns.com

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