Our earliest hunting seasons here in Arizona are now open and success has been very limited, so far. Our archery deer season started last Friday and due to the extremely heavy rains we have had every day for the last 6 weeks, the forest roads are solid mud and the grass is so high that even getting around is hard. As I type this it is raining so hard one wonders if the roof will hold out.  Our archery deer season here is always packed as it is the only season where you can buy permits over the counter. Everything else is by draw only. Also another impediment is the amount of hunters. Truckloads of them come up from Phoenix and Tucson and all points in between plus countless from out of state. Unless one wants to pack in to the back areas not easily reached by roads, the chances of a big buck are slim. Like many other states, Arizona has a problem with “road hunters” These are yoyos that ride the roads waiting for a deer to jump out and commit suicide. There are probably 75% more of them than serious hunters, unfortunately.
 
Our next HHC (Handgun Hunter's Challenge) is about 5 weeks away, which means we only have 4 weekends to get everything ready. We currently have 46 hunters signed up for this hunt, which is our 79th handgun hunt since 1987.  Even though we call it a handgun hunt, it is open to those that don't feel comfortable with handguns in the hunting field. That is OK too as these folks will get a chance to talk to over 40 handgun hunters, see their guns, shoot them if they like and should they decide to give it a try, they are welcome to hunt with many of them. Kase and I will have probably 35 to 40 with us, and a lot of the other Misfits at the hunt will also have dozens of guns too. Our HHCs are always enjoyable times, seeing old friends that we don't see but once or twice a year. Plus we get to meet some of the new Misfits that are on their first hunt. There are 4 openings left as we close it out at 50 hunters. If you are interested, call 931-839-2091 to sign up and put down your deposit.  If you do, make sure and let me know so I can keep up and not overbook.
 
Some news that I have mentioned here before but it is worth a second mention. Ruger is working on their 3rd plant, this one being in North Carolina. The new plant will be strictly for designing and building new products.  Remington is talking seriously about moving out of New York and has pared the choices down to two cities in Tennessee, either Nashville, or Clarksville, about 50 miles west of Nashville. I am prejudice on the choice as I lived in Clarksville for many years, working at one of the radio stations there and at one 10 miles north across from Ft. Campbell. Having moved all my life, with my Dad a lifer in the Army, and then when I got out of high school and got into radio I moved a lot as most radio folks do, so middle Tennessee is about as close to home as I have ever had. With Remington announcing these 2 choices, it would seem they are serious about the move out of the northeast and to a more gun friendly state with less unions and being a right to work state.
 
Senator Lautenberg of New Jersey, a strong anti gun senator, has proposed a background check for all sales of gunpowder in any quantity. Two other northeastern Senators are proposing a heavy tax on guns or ammunition. This is typical of the Democratic party and the liberal thought process. If they don't like something, then by their thinking, it should be banned from anyone having it.  Obama has not had any luck with his anti gun agenda so he will be trying some back door deals this fall trying to push thru some of his registration and eventually confiscation plans on us. Stay in touch with your Senators and congressmen about this. Don't let Obama sneak something thru on us.
 
Savage and Ruger have been extremely successful with their mid price range rifles over the past year or so and there are more of the same to come. Ruger has a new rifle coming out in the American series, actually 4 of them, 2 in 22 LR and 2 in 22 Magnum. There will be a compact version in each caliber and a rifle version in each. The compact American Rimfire has a 18” barrel while the rifle version has a 22” barrel. Ruger will officially announce these in the next week or so. The 22 LR models will accept all 22 LR rotary magazines including their 25 round mags and the 50 round version also. The 22 Magnum version will accept the normal 9 round rotary magazine found in the 77/22 rifles in 22 Magnum. Both the 22 LR and the 22 Magnum American Rimfire rifles are short throw bolt actions with several 10-22 features. They both have full adjustable triggers from 3 to 5 lbs and are equipped with open sights but also set up for scopes.  Each one comes with the black composite stocks  and a satin black finish on the metal. The price is great on these just as they have been on the centerfire American rifles. The suggested retail will be in the $330 range. With prices on the 77/22 rifles considerably higher, I look for these guns to be a strong seller for Ruger if they can get them out during our small game seasons this fall.
 
Just when you figured that the market is totally saturated with AR-15s and their variations, 4 new companies have announced in the last month that they are now making even more AR-15s. I think every man, woman and child in the U.S. now owns an AR-15. To give you an example of how so many are buying them, or have done so, recently a little blue haired old lady came in the shop[. She looked about 85 or so, maybe a little younger, and weighed maybe 90 lbs soaking wet.  She said all her friends told her she needed an AR-15 and wanted to know what one looked like. We sold her a 410 gauge pump.
 
The shortages continue to keep things backlogged. One of the major gun companies is 2 million guns behind while another is 1.1 million guns backlogged. Guns like any Glock, the Ruger LCP, LCR, SR9, SR40, SR45 and any 1911 sell within 30 minutes of us getting them in. Primers seem to be catching up but my gut feeling is that is temporary only. We recently got about 75 thousand primers in, but they were ordered in February. So when they are gone, will we be able to get more in? That is the big question. The 22 LR ammo is still very hard to get. We have almost 100,000 rounds of 22 LR back ordered, and no idea when or if they will get here. Gunpowder is still extremely hard to get. Several states, after the Boston bombings, have outlawed large canisters of gunpowder in the gunshops in their states. Most Alliant and Dupont powder is non existent as is the Winchester powders. A little Ramshot and Hodgdon powders are dribbling thru but very little. The Shooting Industry magazine says this may well last another year. It ain't looking good for the home team.
 
Over the past 2 months we have had to drop, at least for a while, several of our most popular models of revolvers. Many internal parts for Ruger revolvers are not available at this time, some distributors are even saying they are factory discontinued. With that being the case, I have dropped all 5 shot double action revolvers from our line up. These included our Mastodon and Mini Mastodon, both on the Redhawk revolvers, our new Brute revolver, the little 2” 5 shot revolver in 475 and 500 Linebaugh , and our 500 GNR and 510 GNR. I also dropped the 5 shot version of our Stealth Hawk also built on the Redhawk.
 
To make up for all this and give those that like double action hunting revolvers, we have designed and built a new prototype hunting revolver, this one being built on the Super Redhawk chassis. This new revolver is our Brute 2 and is built on your Super Redhawk base gun. We build the new Brute 2 on either the 44 Magnum, 454 Casull or 480 Ruger models of the Super Redhawk. The new Brute 2 package gives you a new heavy barrel in the length of your choice from 4” to 10”. It will not be built in a 3” snubby like the Ruger Alaskan. For that you need to check out our original Alaskan Survivalist that we have been building since 1987. 
 
The 44 Magnum version of our Brute 2 can be rechambered into our very powerful 429 GNR, which is an extremely popular 44 caliber. The other 2 calibers will stay chambered in either 454 Casull or 480 Ruger. The gun gets a full action job, Deep Dish Crown, Maxi Throat, your choice of front sights, including gold bead, red or green fiber optic or standard black blade. The gun gets new grip inserts in either Mongolian stag, black or ivory Corian, in in several variations of laminated wood. The Brute 2  is finished in our satin Vapor Honed finish. This new Brute 2 is not one of our flashy, engraved, fancied up revolvers. Instead it is simply a beefy super strong hunting handgun built the way you like. The price is good too, at $1395 on your base Super Redhawk. Pictures of the new Brute 2 are shown here on the site under the New Products section.
 
Kase has also come out with a new product in his new Venom pistol. This gun is built on your Glock, in any of their models. It includes a silver slide, snake scale engraving, an action job, extended slide release and any personalization you might want. This package is priced where anyone can afford it at $395 on your base Glock.
 
The storm is right overhead and the lights are flickering so I better close this out while we still have power.
Remember, the hunting seasons are almost here, take a youngster or lady hunting this fall. They are our future.
God bless,
Gary