With the wall to wall customers this past 2 months or more, finding time to get the November Gun notes has been almost impossible. I thought several weeks ago that it would slow down just before the election but it has gone just the opposite. Just prior to the election it was absolutely crazy with folks driving 3 and 4 hours just to buy 2 or 3 boxes of ammo. A lot of California folks are driving 4 hours or more for a box or two of 9mm or 45 ACP. Phoenix is pretty much bought out of handguns and ammo. Word got out that we had a decent supply of both the handguns and most ammo and the rampage started.

Shortly after the election when the word got out that Biden was the probable winner it really went crazy and we were going thru several cases of ammo each day. Now that may not sound like much but it is when you figure each customer only gets 1 box of ammo. I hate to limit it but if we don’t a handful of people will get everything.

By the third week of November our stash of ammo and guns was for all practical purposes gone, dried up. We had thought the schnitzels might hit the fan after the election so we stashed thousands of rounds of ammo in a couple of our safes. Then when the rush started we had ammo and guns when everybody else in the area was down to only a handful. One amazing caliber of ammo that went quickly was 30-30. Who would have thought 30-30 was sold out all across the country. Everybody I talked to said it didn’t make sense. But then I realized that with all the Biden talk folks were scared of what the Antifa group would do if Trump won the election. With their vows to “burn the damn place down” that scared a lot of folks. And maybe they couldn’t afford an AR-15 or a new pistol so they dragged their old 30-30 out of the closet, cleaned it up and bought as much 30-30 ammo as they could. We had a 10 round case of 30-30 and when we put it on the shelf we sold out of it in about half a day. Now we get at least a dozen people ask for 30-30 ammo every day and there is none available.

Recently one of our distributors who talks to Arizona gun shops every day told me he didn’t think there was a single box of factory 38 Special in the state of Arizona.  Who woulda thunk.

The shortages are getting worse by the day and it is not all guns and ammunition. Now it is reloading gear, from the presses to the powder and primers. Small rifle and small pistol primers are almost non existent. Due to the demand for guns and ammo a whole new group of scalpers had cropped up. They are at all the gun shows and on the internet offering ammunition at 2 to3 times retail. They say they don’t take credit cards and accept money orders only. Then after getting your money order, you never see the ammo. They claim they sent it and they would check up on it but you never hear from them again. It is scalper’s heaven out there. Bricks of primers that normally sell for $45 each are going for $125 to $250 per brick at gun shows. Bricks of 22 ammo are selling for $200 to $250 per brick and more.

It is a sad state of affairs these days. A lady came into the shop recently and said she had been scheduled to take a concealed weapon class down in Phoenix and was told to have 2 boxes of 9mm for the class, 100 rounds. She searched all over Phoenix and finally found a little Mom and Pop gun shop in Mesa. She paid $89.95 per box of 9mm or almost $200 for 2 boxes. She said she knew she was getting ripped off but had to have it for the CCW class so she paid the price.

The shortage is hitting a lot of other businesses also. We recently had our furnace checked up before cold weather hit. The furnace company ordered a couple of new parts but was told there were no parts available, everything was back ordered and no date of delivery was given. Tools of all kinds are backordered. Auto parts too. And just about every other business was reporting severe back orders of just about everything.

Remember when the toilet paper shortage was going strong? Well, guess what. It’s back. Colleen drove all over Flagstaff and no T.Paper was found. She tried to order a case or two from Sam’s Club for our machine shops but none available. Toilet paper and paper towels are non existent again.

Most of the dealer shows have been cancelled including the SHOT Show, the Safari Club convention and much more. From what I hear Las Vegas is hurting big time with all the conventions being cancelled. Even the prostitutes in Las Vegas are cash only these days. That brings new meaning to the term “Laid off”.

I guess there is a silver lining to all this but I’ll be damned if I can find it.  There are some bits of gun news that are worth mentioning, but these were released before all these shutdowns and it may be a good while before we see any of these items.

Glock has the an interesting pistol in their P-80. When Glock first designed and built the guns for the Austrian Army it was called the P-80.  This gun was never imported to the U.S. A year later when the same gun was ready to ship to the U.S. it was given the model name 17. Now Lipsey’s, one of the bigger distributors, is bringing the original Glock P-80 into the states. It is very plain compared to the Glocks of today but for the person that wants one of the original Glocks, they are going to be available. When is another question, but hopefully soon

Most people know that the Israeli’s guns are some of the very best guns available. Israel is surrounded by huge countries that want to destroy them so they have to have the best firearms just to stay alive. A year or two we contracted to buy at least 50 of the Israeli Defense Force’s Browning High Powers when they contracted for another batch of guns, most likely Glocks. We have now received 62 of them and that may be the last of them We turned each one of them into a full custom Belgium Hi Power.

Anyway I ventured off the path on that subject. Israel has had their own various “assault rifles” thru the years and now there is a new one, but not really new. It is Israel’s own AR-15. It is called the Zion 15. And from what I have heard it is absolutely top of the line. In quality right up there with the Armalite AR-15 and to me that says a lot as I consider the Armalite AR-15 one of the very best. No idea when it may be available but now sure would be a good time.  

The S&W Shield EZ is a top seller. It is the Shield with a very special slide that is easy to rack. Now the ladies can have their own pistol that is easy for them to work. It comes in 9mm and 380.

Leupold announces recently that they had cancelled all their fall and winter orders. No more info than that but I am sure it has to do with the Covid 19.

A year or two ago Weatherby moved their plant to Sheridan Wyoming and now they are putting out some excellent guns that old Roy would be proud of. Their new Back Country is a rifle that weighs less than 5 lbs. It comes chambered in a new cartridge. I would have liked to say it was chambered in a caliber other than a 6.5 but that was not to be. But at least it isn’t in the 6.5 Creedmoor. It is chambered in the 6.5 RPM. The initials stand for Rebated Precision Magnum and I am happy to say it eats the Creedmoor’s lunch.  

This is not really news but just in case you didn’t know, Ruger has their new American Ranch Rifle chambered in 450 Bushmaster. This one should be a great Black Bear and hog rifle.  

Before I close this I want to say thanks to a lot of folks in Flagstaff that have brought in factory ammo that they have but don’t have guns for anymore. We are buying every bit of factory ammo that is offered to us.

That is about it for this month or really for last month. I hate to have a Gun Notes as negative as this one but I figured maybe you need an explanation of what and why. Every day I talk to people that come in and ask us to order some gun for them. I tell them we can’t order any guns. They don’t understand and are getting pissed. I tell them the shortages have shut down any ordering and gun shops can only get back orders in or what is offered to us by our distributors. That our distributors call every morning and tell us what guns and ammo they got in overnight and they tell us they got 6, 8 maybe 10 handguns in and they can let us have 1, maybe 2 guns. If they got a case or two of ammo they tell us they can let us have 5 maybe 6 boxes of ammo. And that is how it is all across the country. What really irks me is after telling them all that they say “what shortage?” If I am not in jail for strangling one of these yoyos we will see what news we have next month.  And by the way, have a good Christmas and remember we aren’t celebrating Santa Claus. We are

celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.

Until next time,

God bless,

Gary