Gary's Gun Notes #162

As I type this we are 3 months from our next HHC (Handgun Hunter’s Challenge) and I am really looking forward to it. For some reason it has been a very stressful couple of months in this business. I am sure a psychologist would say it is worry or stress over the coming election. That is probably true as this election is absolutely the most important election in the history of the United States. If another liberal Democrat gets elected, as John Taffin says “we are doomed”. We stand to lose everything we have worked for for the last 240 years. Our freedoms, and not just the right to bear arms, but all of them, will be gone. And even with this looming over us, there will be a fair percentage of conservatives that will not vote. Some saying they don’t like Trump, some saying their vote doesn’t count. Well, I can understand both feelings. Trump is crass, rude, egotistical and loud, but he is the only man that can pull us out of this mess. Anyone else is just another politician, looking for a free lunch. Trump recently loaned his campaign 50 million dollars and then said it didn’t need to be paid back. What other politician would do that. The others would be stashing some of that in their pockets, if not all of it. He doesn’t feel the need to kiss ass. All the others do that on a daily basis. They say 3 things motivate man, power, money or sex. He already has more money than he could spend in his lifetime. He has more power than any other businessman I know of (at least those that are honest). And finally he is an older man so he doesn’t think of sex 8 to 10 times an hour like a younger man does. So to me at least he is the only chance we have to pull out of this quagmire. Again to me, anyone that won’t vote for Trump (if he ends up being our nominee) is a fool. If we end up with Clinton or Joe Biden in the White House, it will be due to the fools that refuse to vote for some childish reason. The same as when many refused to vote for Romney because he was a Mormon. Again only a fool would be guilty of this, and look what it got us. And even worse, look where it got us. Trump has several characteristics that I don’t care for, but he is our only chance.

And all that was not paid for, and you can call me names and say bad things about my Mother, but this country is all we have and I am not going to roll over and give it up freely to a bunch of crooks in the Democratic party nor am I going to kiss the asses of a bunch of whining pussies in the Republican party that just want another good ol’ boy that they can control. Nuff said.

Now back to the real Gun Notes. As I mentioned above, our next HHC is now 3 months away. In fact 3 months from today, good Lord willing, we will be on the road to the hunt. If you are interested in joining us, give Sandy a call at the lodge and put down your deposit ($250 if I remember right) and join the Misfits for a great weekend in the Tennessee foothills. Sandy’s phone number is 931-979-4050.

Stag Arms is back in business under new ownership and one of the first things they are bringing out is a new hybrid AK/AR. It is a cross between an AK-47 and an AR-15. Chambered in 7.62 X 39 the new AR looks exactly like a standard M-4 AR-15 except for the long curved magazine and a slight beefiness. If it works as they say it will, it should be a good seller for them.

The AR-15 outlook has gone from a glut on the market to being scarce again and as usual the prices have gone up a bit, not as much as the last scare 2 years ago but enough to notice. Colleen called to round up some for the gun shop as hers sold out in one day. All our distributors were sold out of guns, uppers, lowers and 30 round magazines. Now if you are slapping yourself for not jumping on the AR bandwagon when they were super cheap a couple of months ago, let me slap you a couple of times too. Just remember ol’ Uncle Gary told you to buy one when they were at rock bottom. I even followed my own advice and picked up an Armalite AR-15 and it has turned into my favorite. I think the prices will drop down a bit between now and the election but expect them to go back up just before the election, along with the other AR items.

Another new one I had a chance to play with recently is the new Ruger American in 45. Many of the polymer framed guns feel light in the hand, almost not solid enough. The new Ruger American is just different. It feels as solid as an all steel gun, just not as heavy. It has a very comfortable feel in the hand, yet not blocky and cumbersome like some of the other new semi autos. I have to give the new American a thumbs up. In fact I may own one in these next few days if one stays in our showcase long enough.

On the topic of Ruger, we have had a run on folks ordering the new Ruger Precision Rifle. It is a very solid bolt gun with the looks of an AR. It is heavy but a good heavy. I am hearing nothing but good words from those that have bought them. All we have sold have been in 308. At least in this area the 6.5 Creedmore isn’t setting the woods on fire, so to speak.

We were talking recently about all the gun companies coming out with their own line of ammunition. Well, we can add Browning to that list. They are now releasing their new BXR Rapid Expansion Matrix Tip ammo. That sounds like a mouthful but it apparently does exactly what they say it does. It is intended for deer and Antelope and comes in calibers from 243 to to 300 Winchester Magnum. The bullets are light for caliber which helps give it the speed required for rapid expansion.

Coonan Arms has finally come into the big caliber ballgame. They had some of the finest 357 Magnums on the market starting back over 20 years ago, dropping out for a few years then coming back stronger than ever. Now they have a new semi auto out in 45 ACP. The Coonan is one of the smoothest 1911s I have ever owned. And to me it is really not a true 1911. It looks like one but that, to me, is where the resemblance ends. It has a linkless barrel, a pivoting trigger and external extractor, none of which a true 1911 has. Nevertheless, it is a fine 45. Suggested retail will be somewhere near $1400 and if the new 45 is anything like their 357, worth every penny.

With the ammo shortages we have had for the last 3 years, several ammo and brass makers are ramping up their production lines to put more product out the door. Remington has a new plant in Lonoke Arkansas strictly for ammunition production. We pass by it every trip to the HHC and it is a huge plant. The plant is actually 3 plants, two old ones and a new one. They produce over 2.6 billion rounds of loaded ammo per year, which leads me to ask, where in hell has the rimfire ammo been??? But I shouldn’t complain as the 22 LR ammo has been more and more abundant over the past couple of months and we have actually seen some 22 Magnum ammo come in the door. One day, maybe, they will catch up. But don’t expect the prices to back to 2005 levels.

An old American company that was known for their pump shotguns is now making a name for itself in 1911s. That company is Ithaca. They are making what they call the finest hand fit 1911s at a fraction of what the well known companies charge. Their main selling point is they are Pro Fit and no MIM or plastics parts are included in their guns. They have a Government and a Commander model at this time with more to come.

An unusual red dot sight is the new Leupold Delta Point Reflex Sight system. It is a red dot sight that can detect movement in front of it, which automatically activates the sight. Very surprising is this sight retails for about $800 while their Carbine Optic red dot sight without the movement detection feature runs about $1300.

One of the best selling AR-15 rifles for us over the last couple of months has been the Bushmaster QRC (Quick Response Carbine). What makes this one a bit more desirable is it comes from the factory with a red dot sight mounted on it’s flattop upper. For guys confused about which red dot to buy can now just buy the rifle and get the red dot ready to go. This is, to me, the best buy on the AR market. At around $700 for the package, you can’t beat it.

Mossberg has one of the neatest shotguns on the market and it is just one of their model 500s, a model that has been around for close to 50 years. but it is how they package it that makes it neat. It is named the 500 ATI Scorpion. It has a full heat shield 18½” barrel with piccatinny rail on the action and tan forend and stock. The stock is a semi M-4 type stock. Nothing really unusual but just enough to set it apart from all the others and priced somewhere around $490 or so.

Another shotgun, intended for hunting, is the new Savage Stevens Model 320. It is a pump gun with lots of great features. Their newest model is a new turkey shotgun in a full camo pattern. It has the dual slide bars, a rotary bolt, synthetic stock, 5 round capacity mag tube, extended full choke tube, fiber optic sight and drilled and tapped for scope or red dot. And all this at a bit over $250 and that includes Savage’s warranty. There is no way to beat that for a great hunting shotgun.

One of my favorite shotguns is a side by side. I can’t hit diddly with one, but I still like them. Merkel has a new SXS 12 gauge shotgun coming out called the Model 40E. The E stands for English stock, the straight no pistol grip stock which many favor. The gun is one of the classier looking SXS shotguns on the market. It is a field grade box lock gun aimed at the average upland game hunter. And knowing Merkel it will be priced right.

It looks like Remington is going to try to beat their ill fated 9mm pistol (that they just couldn’t seem to get to work) with a new 380 auto. This one is the RM380 Micro Pistol, re-engineered to work....hopefully.

Our new Ultimate 10 Longslide 1911 and the new Hog Hunter Longslide are garnering a lot of attention these days. Several orders for each over the past couple of weeks. The 10mm is finally reaching it’s peak in the hunting fields and with the longslide and longer barrel it helps to burn all the powder and give you that extra added punch for hogs or deer.

Over this past months we have developed new wider thumbpiece hammers for the Redhawk and Super Redhawk. We take the factory hammer from the customer’s revolver and completely rework it to a lower sitting wider thumbpiece hammer that is easier to get to and with deep serrations in the thumbpiece it makes cocking the gun, even with wet hands, much more positive. The modification on your hammer is $125. You can see more on the front page of the web site.

A couple of years back due to an extreme shortage of large caliber barrels, we dropped our AFRICAN CLASSIC, built on the Ruger #1. With the shortage easing up a bit from 2 years delivery on the barrel blanks to about 3 months we have brought back the rifle. Chambered in your choice of calibers like 416 Rigby, 404 Jeffrey, 470 Nitro, 500 Nitro, 458 Lott and several more, you can now have that classic African rifle for a fraction of the cost of one of the original brands. The new revised AFRICAN CLASSIC is $1995 built on your Ruger #1. About 4 to 5 month delivery in most cases.

Our Flattop Tool is doing very well, selling about as quick as we can get them made. This is the tool that converts your plain lead funky 22 LR round into the power of a 22 Magnum. The tool converts 3 rounds of 22 LR at a time and sells for $75 plus shipping.

That is it for this time. Hopefully the next time we will have some more positive news for all of us on the coming election. Until then, take a lady or youngster shooting and hunting. They are our future.
Til next time,
God bless,
Gary

E-Mail: gary@reedercustomguns.com

Reeder Custom Guns 2601 E. 7th Ave. Flagstaff, AZ 86004	Phone: 928-527-4100 928-526-3313 Fax: 928-527-0840 928-526-1287
The names Ruger, Blackhawk, Super Blackhawk, Bisley and Vaquero are trademarks of the Sturm, Ruger Firearms Co. Inc.