The 2006 Celebrity handgun Hunt is now history and as
usual we harvested a lot of meat for the needy over the holidays. We brought
in almost 14,000 pounds of meat which brings our 12 year total to 200,000
pounds of meat for the needy.
Several of the regulars on this web site were there,
including Bill Firman, Charlie Herf, Joe Butler, Andy Rowe, Jim Audette, Kase
and myself, just to name a few. All told there were 55 handgun hunters all
gathered together for a good cause and to have some fun with friends for 4
days.
Bill Firman shot most of the animals known to man with
his 338 GNR and 378 GNR encores, including Aoudad (also known as Barbary Sheep
from northern Africa), Blackbuck from India, Sika bucks and does from Formosa,
and a huge Yak from Tibet, plus probably more that I can't think of.
Joe Butler got a very nice Dall sheep with his 378 GNR.
Charlie Herf took a huge Aoudad and Sika deer, both with
the new 280 GNR in his encore. He also killed at least 4 bottles of wine from
one of the famous vineyards in Upper Rottencrotch, Mississippi.
Jim Audette took a nice black ram from Hawaii, a hog
from New Orleans, along with Sika Deer and Axis deer. He is now famous in
Texas for his shot at a white ram in which he killed a black ram who was
standing about 80 feet way the hell off to one side.
Andy Rowe took a Blackbuck and Dall sheep with his 8mm
GNR encore and a Sika deer with his 41 GNR revolver.
Kase took an exceptional Axis deer from one of the Asian
countries along with Sika deer with his 378 GNR.
I wanted to try out the new 455 GNR or the 375 GNR, both
in revolvers, on something big. I didn't get a chance to use the 375 GNR but
the 455 was put to good use on a Savannah Buffalo from Africa. The Savannah is
said to be a cross between the Cape Buffalo and the Central African buffalo.
It is better suited for cold weather than the Cape or central African buffalo.
The skin on this big buffalo is at least an inch thick and they weigh in the
vicinity of 1600 pounds. Mine ended up with 952 pounds of usable meat. The 455
did a very good job on him. Not the one shot kill like the 410 GNR did on a
Savannah Buffalo a couple of years ago but this new buff was considerably
larger and just soaked up the punishment. The first shot broke his shoulder,
then he ran off and when we caught up with him 80 yards or so later he took a
couple more heavy hits to bring down.
Our Handgun Hunters Challenge is next up, coming in
February again down in Texas. I have 17 hunters coming to this one and this
hopefully will be another great hunt and again hopefully lots of piggies will
bite the dust that weekend.
Not a helluva lot of news in the industry this time of
year. Most companies are holding back the new stuff for the SHOT SHOW in late
January. There are a couple of tidbits that I can pass along. Armalite, long
known for having the best 223 on the military market (in my humble opinion),
is now set to release a new 9mm handgun, called the AR-24. To me it looks and
feels like a smoothed out CZ-75. They plan a 45 auto shortly after the 9mm and
then a 40 right after that. The AR-24 is an all steel model, with a super
smooth double action trigger. They also plan to build a polymer framed pistol
sometime in 2007.
Remington will attempt to boost sales of their 300 Ultra
Mag rifles next year by coming out with a special series of ammo called the
Power Level Ammo. The highest level, level 3 is for large game at long range,
supposedly duplicating the power of a 340 Weatherby. Level 2 ammo will be
equal to a 300 Winchester mag, for elk and such and level 1 is equal to a
30-06 for deer and such at long range. This way they figure you can spend a
bit more on the ammo and not have to buy another rifle.
Speaking of ammo prices, expect them to jump a bunch on
2007. The cost of the components ammo is made of is skyrocketing. Lead has
tripled in price in the last 3 years, brass doubled, copper has doubled in
price, steel has doubled in price, and so on. My suggestion is watch for after
hunting season sales and stock up while it is cheaper.
By now we all know that Nancy Pelosi will be holding the
reins of the Speaker of the House. Part of the scary thought is that should
something happen to the president and vice president, she becomes president.
And don't think that can't happen. Gerald Ford became president just that way.
I have been asked if she will try to impose the Brady
Bill and a gun ban similar to the Clinton gun ban. To that I say "hell
yes, she will!". Now she can't do it while George Bush is in office but
in 2 years she will probably have free rein to do so, if a democrat president
gets into office. And unfortunately right now the prospect for a democrat
president looks very strong.
Kase and I talked about this while on that long 16 hour
drive back from the Texas hunt and what guns we both will try to buy now while
we still can. High capacity magazines will surely go by the way side. So buy
them now for the guns you currently have before the prices begin to go up.
Kase has his eye on the new Sig assault rifle that is
coming out next month. He also plans to stock up on a small truckload of hi
cap magazines for it. I know this sounds silly to some, but long ago I decided
to have a minimum of 30 magazines for each semi auto that I have. Now with
this crazy woman getting ready to tell us what to kiss and when, I plan to up
that number to 40 or so.
Basically look back over all the guns that Clinton tried
to ban and in some cases did ban and if they are currently available and if
you feel you need one, then you have 2 years to get it. Remember ammo too.
Many of you will remember how many types of ammo were extremely hard to get
during Clinton's rule. You can figure that it will be worse than that.
Finally, don't forget that the democrats seem to love
the idea of allowing every type of riff raff into the country. Lord knows we
can't hurt the feelings of any illegal alien, even if he is a criminal or
criminally insane. Hell, he can join the democratic party and feel right at
home. But with more and more of this scum entering this country every day, the
chances of a home break in looms larger every day.
So when you pick up these guns that might possibly be
banned in a couple of years, get a good safe too. I have been very impressed
with the brand of safes sold by Sam's Club. I currently have 4 of them, either
here at my house or at my shop. All the guns go into safes when we close up
each night so I have 4 safes there, (not all of which are the ones from Sams
Club) plus I have a couple more here at my house. At less than $600, you just
can't beat the price. Hell, I can't even buy safes of that quality at
wholesale that cheap.
Let's see, what else can I depress you with. Oh yeah.
The morons in power in California and in New Jersey are back on the anti
hunting kick again. In New Jersey, the state supreme court has voted to allow
the scheduled bear hunt to be banned. The woman in power there, state
environmental commissioner, Lisa Jackson, says if we control our trash better,
we won't have to control the bears. Typical moronic statement.
In California the anti hunting groups are suing the
state of California Game & Fish Commission. They claim the lead in
ammunition used by hunters violates the Endangered Species Act. Several large
groups have joined together to file this lawsuit. They want all hunting
stopped in the state to protect the condors. Makes sense, doesn't it?
Til next time, go hunting.
Gary
