Yeah I know. I'm late, again. One day they will probably
refer to me as "the late Gary Reeder". But this last month has been
so hectic that I simply haven't had the necessary hour to sit down and
cogitate on what I need to tell you about.
So here goes. It just seems like a month or 2 back that I was telling you
about all the new items we saw at the SHOT SHOW and not it is almost here
again. The show for 2009 will be in Orlando Jan. 15-18. I won't be able to
make it but Colleen is planning to be there and will have pics and news about
the new gear for '09.
In the meantime here are some sneak peeks at some of the new products that we
will see in the next few months or less. Of course the Ruger LCP was one of
the headliners of '08 and '09 should be no different. Several companies are
planning new small pocket size 380 caliber pistols. One of them is Magnum
Research. Last weekend Kase and I were at the Y.O. Ranch for the yearly
charity Celebrity Handgun Hunt (more on that in a minute) and Jim Skildun, the
head honcho of Magnum Research was there. He had with him a new little pocket
size 380 auto. We didn't get to shoot it but it sure looked nice. Expect to
hear much more about this little jewel in the next month or two.
Another small 380 coming soon is one from Khar Arms. This one is called the
P380 and in dimensions is almost exactly the same as the Ruger LCP and the new
Magnum Research pistol, a bit over 4" long and not quite 4" high.
Perfect pocket size.
Some other pistols that would be a good investment would be the AR-15 pistols.
Several companies make them and as they are in the extreme minority they will
garner a much high premium if Obama stops their production. One of these is
the new P556 pistol from Sig Sauer. From what I hear they are already months
backlogged but if you can get one it is a prime investment. I have been
setting back a pistol lower and upper and finally finished my AR-15 pistol. To
me this pistol is about as useful as the proverbial tits on a chicken but I
figure it will at least double in value if the Clinton Gun Ban is brought
back.
Speaking of small pocket size pistols, for many year several types of small
super inexpensive pocket pistols were made by a family in California. These
were the Ravens, Jennings and Davis pistols. These were small
"cheap" semi autos and derringers. They didn't have the best
reputation for reliability but for $69.95, what could you expect. We sold a
truckload of them at our shop in Florida every year, many of them to older
folks who simply couldn't afford anything better, but it gave them a feeling
of security.
After numerous lawsuits the companies folded and lay dormant for a few years.
They were eventually bought out and the name changed to Cobra Enterprises. The
quality came up drastically and they actually began to produce a decent little
pocket gun. Still not a Glock or Colt by any stretch of the imagination, but a
decent little gun. Now they have branched out into revolvers. Their new
product is called The Shadow. It is a small 38 special revolver that is J
frame S&W size and hammerless like the S&W. It comes in 3 finishes,
titanium anodized, black anodized and a gaudy titty pink anodized. The gun
weighs in at 15 ounces empty and amazingly looks and feels pretty good.
Of course Kel Tec is extremely backlogged on their little 32 and 380 pistols,
but they have been out for a few years and are more well known that any of the
new kids on the block. Their little 380, the P-3AT weighs in at only a bit
over 8 ounces. This little gun is the one that Ruger is said to have copied
somewhat, at least in looks. Their little 32 auto is even smaller.
Remington and Winchester both have a long line of new guns to premier at the
SHOT SHOW in a month. Remington has a new pump shotgun called the model 887
NitroMagnum (one word). Supposedly you just hold this one up in the air and
the geese walk in with their hands up, (make that their wings up).They are
adding a couple of calibers to their triangular shaped barrel model 700 VTR.
The new calibers are 221 Fireball and 243. The various rifle companies just
won't let the little 221 die.
Winchester is bringing out a "Safari grade" model 1895 in 405. In my
thinking they should have brought out the 1895 in 405 first way back when
rather than in 30-06 or 270. But my opinion and 7 bucks will get you a cup of
coffee at Starbucks.
Ruger seemed to start a trend in "extremely high capacity" magazines
with their 18 shot SR9. Since then several others have followed suit. The
latest being the Springfield Armory XDM. This one is a 20 round 9mm or 17
round 40 caliber. And several other companies are slated to premier their
latest extreme capacity semi autos at the SHOT SHOW.
Rebates seem to be in vogue these days. With seemingly everyone interested
only in grabbing up an assault rifle while they can, the sales of the standard
firearms have slumped somewhat. Several companies are offering rebates to perk
up these lagging sales. S&W has rebates on several of their handguns of
$30 up to $75. Taurus has done the same with rebates also of $50 and $75 on
their 1911s and 24/7 pistols.
Another rebate that seems to have come about at an inopportune time is one
being offered by FNH. The FN guns are well known (betcha didn't know that FN
makes over 70% of the small arms used by our military all over the world,
didja didja?). The announced the rebate on all the FN assault rifles from
November 1st to the end of the year. Of course they are so backlogged the
rebate of $125 seems pretty insignificant.
How about a 50 caliber air rifle? Sounds like an oxymoron doesn't it? Well, a
company called Air Venturi has a new air gun that is 50 caliber and is called
the Dragon Slayer. It has 192 footpounds of energy and uses compressed air for
it's power. Boy would that work wonders on the neighborhood "feral"
cats.
Well our latest Celebrity Handgun Hunt is now history and a great hunt it was.
55 handgun hunters from all over the country converged on the famous Y.O.
Ranch in Mountain Home Texas for a 3 day hunt for charity. The hunt turned out
to be an excellent one with the weather pretty much cooperating with us and
after all was said and done we raised over 18,000 pounds of meat for the
needy. In the 19 years we have been doing this we have donated well over
200,000 pounds of meat for the needy. That's a lot of chili. This is an event
I look forward to each year and Kase and I both attend and do our best to add
wild game meat to the larder. Kase took a huge Black Hawaiian sheep and a Sika
deer doe, while I took a 7 point whitetail buck and 4 whitetail does. Several
of the regulars on our forum, including Jason Puff Daddy Parr, Charlie Herf,
Larry Farley, Sean Harper, Bill Firman, Andy Rowe, Scott Boggs and Doug Faith
also did their best to add to the total of meat taken. If I have forgotten
anyone, please forgive me. It's late and I am fighting a futile battle against
the flu.
Our two new Raptor cartridges did extremely well at the Y.O. Hunt. I brought
along the 257 Raptor for myself and the 240 Raptor for Kase. His scope gave
out on the ride down so he ended up using his old faithful 378 GNR encore that
he has used for umpteen years all over the country.
Several whitetail and Sika deer bucks were taken with the 257 and 240 Raptors
and at ranges in excess of 200 yards and in almost every case one shot kills
were the rule. Also in most cases those little 75 and 85 grain bullets went
all the way thru the animal. These two Raptor cartridges have really proven
themselves in the field with close to 20 animals taken with them so far. The
6.5 Raptor cartridge is our next endeavor and Sean Harper and I will start the
testing process on it this coming week. I hope to have good test results to
post by the next Gun Notes.
I mentioned a while back that small cartridges are coming back again. Several
of our small cartridges have almost overnight become our most popular
cartridges. The new 250 GNR is still in the testing stages but is doing well.
This is a 357 magnum case necked down to 25 caliber. The 256 GNR, 300 GNR, 356
GNR plus the new Raptors are some of our most popular cartridges.
At the Y.O Ernie French, one of the head honchos of Thompson Center Arms came
up to me and handed me one of their new cartridges. This is the 30 Reese,
which, I think, is a 38 special case necked down to 30 caliber. A low velocity
cartridge with it's 150 grain bullet, I assume it will be aimed at the small
caliber silhouette games and small game hunting.
Bob Baker, owner of Freedom Arms also came up to me with a new handgun
cartridge. This one will be chambered in their revolvers and is a 327 Federal
case necked down to 22. It is called the 22/327 (or maybe the 327/22, can't
remember which). But it is very neat little cartridge. Bob says it works fine
in his revolvers.
So those of you that like the smaller cartridges will have lots to choose from
in the coming year. have fun!
Til next time, have a great Christmas and let's all work hard for a happy and
healthy new year.
Gary
