Gary's Gun Notes #75
A lot has happened in the last month or so. Our
politicians keep pushing a little bit at a time. We barely missed having a
pretty drastic law leveled on us and the sky gets darker each day. We need to
get with our state legislators and let them know how we feel and that if they
vote for any of these outlandish bills, we will work hard to make sure he or
she isn't reelected in the next election. Our vote is the strongest weapon we
have. If you are not an NRA member and own guns, you are a fool, plain and
simple. We may not agree with everything the NRA does but they are our
strongest defense out there. If you have a few extra bucks, sign up a friend
or relative. Especially women and kids. They are our future. Like they say,
"when you educate a man, you educate an individual. When you educate a
woman, you educate a whole family". Do it now.
The shortages continue to plague us and will probably get worse before it gets
better. I have heard 2 or 3 guys complaining that the shortages are caused by
the gun shops hoarding everything so they can charge higher prices. That type
of mentality really bothers me. The gun shops are having an extremely hard
time even getting product. Colleen was on the phone for several hours today
calling every distributor we have trying to find handgun ammo. She found a
couple of cases and our cost on it was a bit over $18 per box of 50. That
means we will have to sell it for at least $22 a box of 50 and that is FMJ
stuff, not hollow points. We still have a few boxes on the shelf at $15.95 a
box.
Primers and powder are getting even harder to get and the price is going up
daily. Reloading is the only way to go these days, and if you don't reload,
you really need to start while the equipment is still available. A box of ammo
that costs $40 can be reloaded for about $18, so you do save considerably.
OK, so much for the doom and gloom. We will make it one day at a time. Keep a
clear head and keep a close tab on the news. Don't let the bad guys slip
something by you when you are snoozing.
Alright, what's new. Well, even though the SHOT SHOW is months past, new
products are being released almost daily. It seems that every company is
trying to get in on the gun buying rush. SIG has a new little handgun out
called the P-238 in 380 that is a miniature 1911 styled pistol weighing just
under a pound. Now, if we could just find some 380 ammo......Oh by the way,
Walther has a new design 380 coming out thru Smith & Wesson that is called
the PK 380. About the same size as the little Walther P-22 and lightweight at
19 ounces, it should be a fine little gun, if we could find some 380
ammo...And by the way, Taurus is coming out with a new little compact
380...how unique. It is super lightweight at 10 ounces and holds 9 rounds. It
is called the model 738 TCP....if only we could get some 380 ammo....And did I
tell you about the new Kahr Arms new pistol chambered in, guess what? You
guessed it, the 380. This one is the new KP3833, even lighter than the Taurus
at a bit over 9 ounces and holding 7 rounds. This one may take a back seat to
some of the others due to it's mid $600s price tag. If only we could find some
380 ammo...The Magnum Research Micro Eagle that we told you about a while back
is out, in 380. A tiny little gun A bit heavier than some of the others at 14
ounces and holding 7 rounds...if only we could.....well, you know..
A while back I told you about the new Springfield Armory XD-M pistol out with
a capacity of 20 rounds of 9mm and 17 of 40 S&W. These pistols are few and
far between, so if you have been looking for one but can't find it, hang in
there and let your dealer know you are serious about getting one.
American Tactical has their GSG-5 out. It is a true to life copy of the most
popular small sub-machine pistol ever made, the H&K MP-5. It is a carbine
and at first glance it looks exactly like the MP-5 carbine. It is chambered in
22 LR and has the normal long banana style magazine. The gun is made in
Germany and seems extremely well made and is a neat little gun. Prices run in
the low $500s for it if you can find one.
AR-15 type rifles are now being offered in almost a new caliber a day.
Originally only offered in 223 (there were actually one or two other calibers
way back but they didn't last long) the AR style rifle now comes in the 6.5
Grendel, the 6.8 RCP, the 30 Remington AR (not to be confused with the old 30
Remington), the 450 Bushmaster, 17 HMR, 5.7x28, 22 LR, 7.62x39, 308, 338
Federal, 243, 7mm-08, and of course the 50 Beowulf. And let's not forget the
new American Tactical AR-15 style rifle (?) chambered in 410 shotgun.
SAKO has a new rifle coming out that they guarantee "sub-MOA groups at
100". Now to those of you not really up on initials, MOA means minute of
angle, which at 100 yards is 1 inch. So they are guaranteeing less than 1 inch
groups at 100. I hope they can uphold that guarantee but that is a tough one.
The gun is the new SAKO-A7.
Puma, a spin off from Rossi and now sold thru Legacy Sports has several new
Italian made firearms out that will interest the person that likes the
unusual. One of their new guns is the old Wanted Dead or Alive Bounty Hunter
model 92 which looks like a chopped off Winchester model 92 but is actually a
federally approved handgun. They also have their model '86 in 45-70, the model
'87 shotgun, made popular in the Terminator movie , and a nifty copy of the
old PPSH machine gun, except this one is semi auto and has a 50 round drum
magazine and comes chambered in 22 LR.
On the political front all the news is not bad. There is a national CCW
reciprocity bill in the House, bill HR-197 that would make your CCW permit ok
in any state. In states where they have CCWs it would apply to the recognized
rules. In states where there is no CCW a federal standard would apply. A
similar bill is set to be introduced in the senate soon.
The micro-stamping bill that was introduced to us last year is pretty much
dying in every state it has been introduced in. Quite a few states have given
it a big thumbs down. Recently a Tennessee legislator introduced a bill to ban
silly bills like microstamping. That bill would make it illegal to sell any
micro-stamped firearms or ammunition in the state of Tennessee. Sounds good to
me.
Montana's House has voted on a bill to make all firearms, weapons, components
and ammunition made and kept in Montana exempt from all federal regulation. It
passed their House, they believe it could pass their senate as well.
So, all the news isn't bad. Hang in there. As the old
saying goes, "we'll make it, with a little help from above".
God bless.
Gary
