This week’s verse is Fuzzy Wuzzy, one of the Barracks-room Ballads from Rudyard Kipling. Most of the poems in that collection were written in the vernacular of the time and Fuzzy Wuzzy is no exception. It (relatively) accurately describes the feeling of the English soldiers concerning the Beja warriors who were supporting the Mahdi of Sudan in the Mahdist War. The term relates to the elaborate tiffa hair style favoured by the Hadendoa tribe, a subdivision of the Beja people
We’ve fought with many men acrost the seas, An’ some of ’em was brave an’ some was not: The Paythan an’ the Zulu an’ Burmese; But the Fuzzy was the finest o’ the lot. We never got a ha’porth’s change of ‘im: ‘E squatted in the scrub an’ ‘ocked our ‘orses, ‘E cut our sentries up at Suakim, An’ ‘e played the cat an’ banjo with our forces. So ‘ere’s to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, at your ‘ome in the Soudan; You’re a pore benighted ‘eathen but a first-class fightin’ man; We gives you your certificate, an’ if you want it signed We’ll come an’ ‘ave a romp with you whenever you’re inclined.
We took our chanst among the Khyber ‘ills, The Boers knocked us silly at a mile, The Burman give us Irriwaddy chills, An’ a Zulu impi dished us up in style: But all we ever got from such as they Was pop to what the Fuzzy made us swaller; We ‘eld our bloomin’ own, the papers say, But man for man the Fuzzy knocked us ‘oller. Then ‘ere’s to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, an’ the missis and the kid; Our orders was to break you, an’ of course we went an’ did. We sloshed you with Martinis, an’ it wasn’t ‘ardly fair; But for all the odds agin’ you, Fuzzy-Wuz, you broke the square.
‘E ‘asn’t got no papers of ‘is own, ‘E ‘asn’t got no medals nor rewards, So we must certify the skill ‘e’s shown In usin’ of ‘is long two-‘anded swords: When ‘e’s ‘oppin’ in an’ out among the bush With ‘is coffin-‘eaded shield an’ shovel-spear, An ‘appy day with Fuzzy on the rush Will last an ‘ealthy Tommy for a year. So ‘ere’s to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, an’ your friends which are no more, If we ‘adn’t lost some messmates we would ‘elp you to deplore; But give an’ take’s the gospel, an’ we’ll call the bargain fair, For if you ‘ave lost more than us, you crumpled up the square!
‘E rushes at the smoke when we let drive, An’, before we know, ‘e’s ‘ackin’ at our ‘ead; ‘E’s all ‘ot sand an’ ginger when alive, An’ ‘e’s generally shammin’ when ‘e’s dead. ‘E’s a daisy, ‘e’s a ducky, ‘e’s a lamb! ‘E’s a injia-rubber idiot on the spree, ‘E’s the on’y thing that doesn’t give a damn For a Regiment o’ British Infantree! So ‘ere’s to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, at your ‘ome in the Soudan; You’re a pore benighted ‘eathen but a first-class fightin’ man; An’ ‘ere’s to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, with your ‘ayrick ‘ead of ‘air – You big black boundin’ beggar – for you broke a British square!
It looks like Thompson Center Arms is making a comeback. In an announcement on April 30, Gregg Ritz, former owner of Thompson/Center, said he had re-acquired the Massachusetts-based gunmaker. Ritz previously sold Thompson/Center to Smith & Wesson in 2007. S&W announced its plans to sell the brand in 2021, and subsequently ended production. The newly launched website has this to say:
America’s Master Gunmaker™
Thompson/Center Arms has been a cornerstone of the firearms industry since 1967. With a diverse range of products catering to hunters, shooters, and outdoor enthusiasts, Thompson/Center Arms has earned a reputation for excellence. Thompson/Center Arms looks to build upon its legacy while embracing the future with a renewed commitment to American made quality, innovation, and unmatched customer satisfaction.
NEW PRODUCT LINE LAUNCHING 2025
Several TC firearms have had homes in my collection. In fact there are a couple of TC Compass bolt rifles in my safe as I type.
Some of you have/are dealing with the VA and their ‘fiduciary’ program and the loss of gun rights that go with that program. There was an amendment to strip the VA of that particular power proposed by Rep. Eli Crane’s (R-AZ) to restore veterans’ gun rights. Two putative Republicans voted against it, Reps. Michael Bost (R-IL) and Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa). Radewagen is a delegate, not a voting member of the House, so that really leaves Crane. If you’re in Crane’s district, call and let him know he was wrong. He can be reached at (202) 225-3361.
This next piece hits close to home for me. Literally. Three Upstate NY men and another from South Carolina were busted on gun charges. The men charged are Charles Baker, 26, of Brewerton, Jeremy Baker, 23, of Syracuse, John Leone Jr., 52, of Elbridge and Brian Lawson, 23, of South Carolina. From CNY Central:
An investigation led by the AG’s Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF) recovered 31 firearms and receivers, including 18 ghost guns or parts used to make ghost guns, dozens of high-capacity magazines and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. The following firearms and components seized include:
Nine Polymer80 and AR-15 style unfinished frames/receivers, used to assemble ghost guns
Nine unserialized and unregistered Polymer80 ghost gun pistols
Nine serialized unregistered firearms
Three AR-15-style rifles
One 7.62 assault rifle
Dozens of magazines, including several extended magazines classified as high-capacity ammunition feeding devices
Hundreds of rounds of ammunition
A couple of points here. First, New York has arguably the most stringent firearms laws in the country. Second, Polymer80 hasn’t shipped to NY since 2018. Third, the unfinished frames and receivers are not illegal here, at least not yet.
I have to admit I have little sympathy for these 4 men. They knowingly broke state and probably federal laws. Are the laws they broke unconstitutional and unjust? You bet your ass they are. But they are still the law. At least for now. . .
Gun Porn
This week’s gun porn is an interesting bit of history. It’s a Maynard Patent #7 Improved Hunting Rifle.
This fine Maynard Patent Model 1873 single shot rifle appears to be an Improved Hunter’s Rifle No. 7 in one of the various thick base 40 caliber Maynard centerfire cartridges. The overall length is approx. 36″. The 20″ round 40 caliber centerfire barrel has a very good bore with good rifling and light firing erosion. The front sight is a Beach combination style and the rear sight has two flip up leaves (replacing an earlier sight). The barrel has approx. 85% blue turning brown. The case hardened receiver is a smooth mottled silver intermixed with brown. The receiver markings are present but light due to a light stamping on the case hardened action. The 1873 model stamp is distinct. The buttstock is very good with scattered light usage dents and dings and most of its original varnish finish. The lever has the most likely special order checkered pistol grip, usually associated with higher grade guns, installed. The action functions correctly. This very nice example of the scarce Model 1873 Maynard No. 7 Hunter’s rifle is ready for your single shot rifle collection.
Before you ask, the gap between the barrel and breech face is supposed to be there. This rifle is chambered in one of the Maynard patent thick base cartridges. The base fills the gap and seals the chamber.
1873 Maynard .40-40 cartridges
The Buy Now price for this rare and unique rifle is $2350
Welcome to Saturday Shootaround, your spot for all 2A and firearms related news. Instead of a verse this week, here’s a selection of 2A quotes:
“The great body of our citizens shoot less as times goes on. We should encourage rifle practice among schoolboys, and indeed among all classes, as well as in the military services by every means in our power. Thus, and not otherwise, may we be able to assist in preserving peace in the world… The first step – in the direction of preparation to avert war if possible, and to be fit for war if it should come – is to teach men to shoot!”
Theodore Roosevelt
“The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.”
Colonel Jeff Cooper
We’re starting this weeks news with a bit on the shooting that happened at the KC Chiefs victory Parade in Kansas City this week. Despite all that you may have heard, there was only one death, 43 year old Lisa Lopez-Galvan, and 22 others were injured.
We know that two ‘juveniles’ have been arrested for the shootings. The entire incident looks to be gang related, but you won’t hear that from the MSM.
Speer just announced that USSOCOM just issued a contract for 8.5 million rounds of their Gold Dot G2 9mm ammo. The G2 version of the venerable Gold Dot (full disclosure, this editor runs Gold Dot ammo in his carry guns) is consistently at the top of the FBI ammo testing.
The Hawaii state supreme court ruled last week that there is no Second Amendment in that state.
In Wilson v the State of Hawaii, a case I was not all that familiar with until recently, the appellee, Christopher Wilson was initially charged with posession of a firearm without a licence and a couple of other charges including criminal trespass.
He was convicted and appealed. The appeals court vacated that conviction in light of both Bruen and Heller. The State appealed the ruling to the state Supreme court and won and this is where it gets weird. The ruling starts this way:
Article I, section 17 of the Hawaiʻi Constitution mirrors the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. We read those words differently than the current United States Supreme Court. We hold that in Hawaiʻi there is no state constitutional right to carry a firearm in public.
In other, plainer words, the Hawaii supreme court just said FU to SCOTUS. It only gets worse from there. Opinion author, Justice Todd Eddins takes several pages to parse both the 2nd Amendment and the Hawaiian version of the same. He also takes several shots at SCOTUS. At one point he invokes the spirit of Aloha to justify the ruling.
In Hawaiʻi, the Aloha Spirit inspires constitutional interpretation. When this court exercises “power on behalf of the people and in fulfillment of [our] responsibilities, obligations, and service to the people” we “may contemplate and reside with the life force and give consideration to the ‘Aloha Spirit.’” The spirit of Aloha clashes with a federally-mandated lifestyle that lets citizens walk around with deadly weapons during day-to-day activities. (citations omitted)
I highly doubt that SCOTUS will take this lying down. I fully expect this particular case to wind up there before too long.
CCI has a new .22LR load out now. The Uppercut is optimized for 2.5-4″ barrels. It launches a 32 grain jacketed bullet at 950fps from pistol length barrels. Jacketed bullets are a bit unusual in .22LR, as that caliber uses a heeled bullet. The jacket helps keep fouling to a minimum and provides uniform expansion. MSRP for a box of 50 is $12.99
I was asked to write a bit on reloading (or hand loading, I will use the terms interchangeably throughout this article) a while back. The request came because of a small experiment with velocity that I was working on, but more on that later.
First things first, a small disclaimer and a couple of warnings. I am not an expert reloader, though I have been doing it for nigh on 40 years. If you haven’t reloaded before, I highly recommend you do as much research into the topic as possible. There are several excellent books on the subject like Tom McHale’s The Practical Guide to Reloading Ammo and Steven Gregerson’s The Beginners Guide to Reloading Ammunition. You will also want one of the reloading manuals from Hornady, Sierra, Hogdon, or Nosler, they will provide all the necessary load data.
Keep in mind that if you choose to reload, you are working with low explosives. Both the primers and smokeless powder are inflammable. If you go the blackpowder route, that is actually explosive. You need to keep them in a cool, dry place away from any source of ignition. While we’re on the subject of powder and primer safety, do NOT use any powder or primer that you are unsure of. The use of the wrong powder or primer can cause serious issues up to and including rapid unintentional disassembly of your firearm.
Basic reloading equipment
For rifle and pistol cartridges, you’ll need a press, a set of dies, a priming tool and powder measuring equipment. Case prep tools like trimmers, chamfering tools and primer pocket reamers are good to have, but not entirely necessary to start with. Were I looking to get my start in reloading, I’d probably go with one of the many kits available. RCBS, Hornady, Redding and others make quality starter kits.
Presses
There are a wide variety of styles and manufacturers of reloading presses out there. The most common types of presses are single stage and progressive. You may also find turret presses. A single stage is just that, each pull of the handle does one single operation in the process. A progressive does up to 5 operations per handle pull and make a complete cartridge after the first couple of pulls. If you’re just starting out, I’d recommend a single stage press.
L, RCBS Rock Chucker single stage, R, Hornady Lock&Load AP progressive
Dies and shell holders
Dies are caliber specific, you’ll need at least one set for every caliber you reload. These dies de-cap the case, resize it, seat the bullet and crimp the neck if necessary. Some, mainly pistol dies, bell the case mouth. If you’re reloading for some semi-auto rifles, you’ll need small base dies. Carbide dies, while more expensive, last longer and do not require the use of a case lubricant.
When shopping for dies, be sure you get the correct thread pattern for your specific press. Hornady and RCBS use one thread pitch and other companiesuse another. You can usually get bushings to fix that issue, but not always. Depending on caliber, material and manufacturer, you can expect to pay between $50 and $100 for a set of dies.
Shell holders are base diameter specific. For example, the RCBS #3 shell holder fits .308 Win and any of its derivatives as well as .30-06 and its derivatives. If you go the progressive press route, you’ll need one for each station on your press. Don’t worry though, shell holders are inexpensive, usually under $10.
L-R RCBS .38 super die set, .308 die set, RCBS #3 shell holder
Powder measuring and other accessories
You’ll need an accurate scale of some sort. It needs to display weight in grains. My current go-to scale is a digital one from Hornady. There are several brands of digital scale out there, in a wide range of prices and accuracy ranges. If you’re looking for a scale, be sure to read the reviews as quality and ease of use can vary wildly. At the higher end of the price spectrum you can find electronic powder throwers. While I have one, I tend to not use it much. Don’t take that as a knock on them, they work and work well for the most part. While we’re on the subject of powder measurement, you’ll also need a powder funnel. They run the price gamut from around $5 to over $100 and help get the powder out of the pan and into the case without spilling it all over the place. A powder trickler is a nice-to-have but not completely necessary.
There are a few other accessories you’ll need to start out with. You’ll want a priming tool. They make seating primers a breeze and help keep primer seating depth consistent. A quality caliper is needed to check the overall length of the completed cartridge. A set of deburring/chamfering tools will make reloading easier and the finished cartridge fit in the chamber without dragging or damaging it. A primer pocket reamer/uniformer does just what it says. Most of these accessories are included in the kits I mentioned earlier.
Top L-R Frankford Arsenal digital caliper, Hornady powder trickler, Hornady G3-1500 digital scale. Bottom, RCBS hand priming tool.
You’ll also need a case lube kit. This keeps everything moving smoothly during the resizing process. I prefer the pad type lube kits, but the spray type works just as well if a bit messier. Some of these kits include a case neck brush, but if it doesn’t you’ll need to pick up one of those too.
Shotshell reloading
Shotshell reloading is a slightly different proposition. Not only do you need more components like shot cups and wads, you need specialized equipment for crimping and shot metering. Fortunately, companies like Lee make decent, inexpensive gear. The Lee Load-All is a decent starter shotshell press. If you’re a serious trap or skeet shooter, you may want to look at one of the presses/loading stations from MEC.
Individual Components
A loaded rifle or pistol cartridge consists of four components, the case, the projectile (or bullet), a primer and powder. Shotgun shells have some extra parts like a shot cup and wad.
Powder
There are hundreds of different formulations of smokeless powder available. These different formulations deflagrate (yes, deflagrate is the proper term, black and reloading powders are low explosives) at different rates. There are also different grain structures. These differences can create highly varying pressures. One thing to keep in mind about powders is that they can vary slightly from lot to lot. If you’re using a volumetric powder measure, be sure to check the weight to volume every time you open a new container of powder. You may have to change the bushing.
You need to be damned sure you’re using the correct powder for your specific caliber. You can find safe load recipes in the various reloading manuals. I do not recommend using load data from random internet sources. Bubba on the internet may have had good luck with his recipe in his gun, but it may detonate yours.
Federal regulations state that you can have no more than 50 pounds of reloading powder at home. If you’re keeping more than 20 pounds, it needs to be stored in a wooden box or cabinet with a minimum 1″ wall thickness. Your state or local jurisdiction may have additional restrictions on powder storage.
Reloading powders come in two sizes on the consumer market, 1lb bottles and 8lb kegs. A pound of powder is equal to 7000 grains. The number of rounds you can load will vary depending on the particular recipe you’re using. A pound of CFE pistol, a commonly used powder for 9mm, will net you around 1200 rounds in that caliber, while a pound of Varget will net you about 270 rounds of 5.56.
Primers
Consider the primer as the bang button. Primers convert the mechanical energy of a falling firing pin or striker to chemical energy in the form of fire. For the purposes of this article, we’re only going to talk about Boxer primers. There is another form of primer construction, Berdan, that is not reloadable at home.
Primers come in 6 sizes, small pistol, large pistol, small rifle, large rifle, 50BMG and #209 shotgun primers. It should be noted that the small and large sizes are dimensionally the same, however they are not interchangeable. For the most part anyway. The rifle primers contain more priming compound and can create dangerous overpressure when used in pistol cases. The reverse is true if you use pistol primers in rifles. The smaller amount of priming compound can fail to fully ignite the much larger powder column in a rifle case.
Primers for rifles and pistols look like the left hand image above, #209 primers like the right hand image. They are functionally the same, but #209s have an additional flange. Nearly all the major ammo manufacturers produce primers for retail sale. Keep in mind, the amount of priming compound can and does vary from maker to maker. If your recipe calls for Winchester #41 small rifle, use that primer and not, say, Federal 205m primers. I suppose you should have noticed a trend in this article by now. Until you’re a very experienced reloader, do not deviate from the published load recipes and data.
Bullets
There are a wide variety of choices for bullets for reloading. The choice of construction, type and weight are all more-or-less personal choices. Some bullet types are better for specific uses than others, but as I have covered that elsewhere, I won’t belabor that point. Suffice to say, choose an expanding bullet for hunting, match bullets for serious target shooting and whatever is cheapest for plinking.
One of the better points of handloading your own ammo is that the bullet choice is much greater than it is in factory ammo. You can usually get heavy or light for caliber bullets to handload that aren’t available as loaded rounds.
Story time with Uncle Danny. . .
I mentioned in the intro that the reason for this article was an experiment I was doing. I was trying to hit 5,000 fps with a rifle chambered in .220 Swift. The fastest commercially available load for the .220 swift has a published velocity of 4415 fps with a 35 grain pill. I managed to hit that number and then some, by loading up some 25 grain custom .224 diameter bullets I found online. That bullet and a slightly compressed load (101% of case capacity) of 42 grains of IMR 3031 got me a mean 10 shot velocity of 5120 fps out of a 28″ barrel. This was just a velocity experiment, accuracy with the max velocity load was less than stellar. I suspect the bullets were spun too fast and that impacted the ballistics.
I can’t stress enough **DO NOT try this at home** I am what you’d call a trained professional.
Cases
The case is the container that holds everything together. We will only be discussing brass cases here. In this section, I’ll be using case and brass interchangeably. You can find steel and aluminum cased ammo, but those are generally not reloadable. There is also polymer cased ammo around. That is supposed to be reloadable, but I haven’t seen any of the tooling needed to do so.
Finding brass is easy. You can buy fresh, unfired brass or once fired brass at any place that sells reloading supplies. You can also pick up brass at the range. I’d caution you to closely inspect range brass, as there are a lot of guys that discard old, used up brass at the range.
So. what are you looking at when you inspect range brass, or any brass for that matter? Check the neck for any cracks or discoloration. Look at the primer pocket, if there is any appearance of soot or the hole looks out of round, discard the case. If there are any bulges or dents, discard the case. If the color of the brass looks odd around the base, discard the case. Any of those defects are weak points, and a case can rupture there. You don’t want a faceful of hot gas and unburnt powder. Ask me how I know. . .
Once you’ve looked over the brass, it’s time to prep the cases. De-capping or removing the primer (they’re the same thing) the case is my first step. It isn’t necessary to do so, but I have a dedicated de-capping setup, so that’s how I do it. If you don’t have a decapper, no worries, your resizing die has one built in.
The next step is cleaning the cases. Do you need to clean the cases? No, but. . . Cleaning the brass prior to resizing keeps all the gunk on the case out of your dies and can prolong the life of your tooling.
You can clean brass with a tumbler or an ultrasonic cleaner. Both options work, but tumbling your brass makes it nice and shiny. There are a few different types of tumbling media out there. Walnut shells, corn cob and stainless steel pins can all be used to tumble brass. If I’m being honest though, the only time I tumble brass now is if the finished product is going to someone else. Tumbling takes time, and the sifting process can be a pain. In a pinch, you can wash your brass in some hot, soapy water. Regardless of which method you choose, give the cases a good rinse when you’re done. Once the cases are dry, hit the primer pocket with a reamer, just to make sure everything is the way it’s supposed to be.
The reloading process
Once you’ve gotten all your components together and prepped the brass, it’s time to start the reloading process. I’m going to make a few assumptions here, namely that you have a clean organized space to work in and that you’ve mounted your press to a sturdy bench or other surface. The exact process will vary based on your press, but the steps will mostly remain the same. I know men aren’t supposed to read directions, but in this case be sure to do so. Set up your press as described in the instructions. I assure you your Man Card will not be revoked.
Lube the cases. Lightly lubricate the sidewalls of the case but do not get any on the shoulders of bottlenecked cases. That can lead to damage to the shoulder. Using a case neck brush, libe the inside of the case neck.
Insert the case into the shell holder. With the press handle in the up position, slide a case into the shell holder.
Size the case. Gently but firmly lower the press handle all the way to the bottom and run the case all the way into the sizer die. This will size the case to the proper dimension and push the fired primer out of the case. Next, raise the press handle. This will lower the case and expand the case mouth (on bottle-neck cartridges), correctly setting the case neck diameter to hold the bullet tightly.
Check the case length. After several firings, cases sometimes stretch and become longer than the specified maximum length. These cases must be trimmed to allow for proper chambering and for safety reasons. Use a dial or digital caliper to check the exact case length. Check the reloading manual for maximum case length and trim length.
Chamfer and deburr. Cases that have been trimmed need to also be chamfered and deburred. This will remove any burrs left on the case mouth after trimming and will allow a new bullet to be easily seated into the case.
Expand the case mouth. (This only applies to straight-walled cartridges. Because of their design, straight-wall cases need to be expanded in a separate expander die. Install the expander die in the press, place a sized case in the shell holder and run it into the die. The expander should be adjusted so the case mouth is belled outward just enough to accept the new bullet.
Prime the case. This can be done either with a hand primer or with your press. (For most brands anyway, refer to the instructions of your particular press)
Measure the powder. Consult the reloading manual to learn what kind of powder, and exactly how much is recommended to reload your cartridge. Then weigh the recommended charge on your scale. After accurately weighing the powder charge, pour it into the case using a powder funnel.
Bullet seating. Set the seating dies according to the instruction manual. Place a primed and charged case into the shell holder. Take a bullet and hold it over the case mouth with one hand while you lower the press handle with the other, easing the case and bullet up into the die. Run the case all the way up into the die. Check the seating depth and make any adjustments as needed.
Crimp the bullet. Run the cartridge up into the crimping die. This step is only necessary with some cartridges. If it is necessary, your die set will come with a crimping die.
Your first reloaded cartridge is ready to be fired. Of course, I’ve described only one case going through all the reloading steps. When actually reloading, you’d take a batch of cases through each operation before moving on to the next step.
Once again, and I cannot stress this enough, You are dealing with potentially dangerous materials and you need to take every precaution to prevent an accident.
I recently wrote about bullet choices, and in that article I mentioned that I thought .380 was a bit light for a carry gun. Today, I’m going to expand on that and discuss carry guns and calibers. I realize this is a fraught topic, and everyone has an opinion on what is a good carry gun. What I’m going to do is present some options, and present some data to support my conclusions.
Before I get into what I think are good carry options, I need to get one point out of the way first: Having a gun if/when you need one is better than not having one. Only have a little Spanish .25? Well, it’s better than nothing as long as you can use it. As the great Jeff Cooper said “beware the man with one gun, he can probably use it.“
Now onward into the depths. . .
Let’s start with some definitions. By carry gun I mean a concealable handgun of some sort. Obviously, what is concealable for me, a 6’1″ 210lbs man may not be concealable for a 5′ 98lb woman, but there is an upper limit. You are not going to conceal an 8″ barreled S&W X frame chambered in .500 S&W unless you’re the Mountain. So we’re going to limit today’s discussion to 4.5″ barreled pistols or smaller. For reference, that’s the barrel length on a Glock 19.
What Caliber?
Before we can get to the guns, we need to take a look at the calibers. There are a wide variety of pistol calibers suitable for carry. That is, they are chambered in guns that are concealable and light enough to carry. Everything from .22 lr to .45 ACP can be found in a carry gun, but some are better than others. Let’s take a look at the external ballistics of some of the more common rounds.
Caliber (man., weight and bbl length)
Muzzle Velocity
Muzzle energy
.22 long rifle (Win, Silvertip 37 gr, 1.8″ bbl)
1080 fps
92 lb-ft
.22 WMR (Hor. Critical Def, 45 gr, 1.8″ bbl)
950 fps
91 lb-ft
.25 ACP (Hor. Critical Def. 35 gr, 2″ bbl)
900 fps
63 lb-ft
.32 ACP (Hor. Critical Def. 60 gr, 2″ bbl)
1000 fps
133 lb-ft
.380 ACP (Hor. Critical Def. 90gr, 2.75″ bbl)
900 fps
162 lb-ft
.38 Special (Fed. Punch +p 120 gr, 1.875″)
900 fps
216 lb-ft
.38 Special (Speer Gold Dot 135 gr 4″ bbl)
1025 fps
320 lb-ft
9×19 mm (Fed. Punch 124 gr 4″ bbl)
1150 fps
364 lb-ft
.38 Super (BuffBore +p 115 gr 4.5″ bbl)
1402 fps
540 lb-ft
.357 Mag (Fed HydroShock 158gr, 2.125″)
1100 fps
400 lb-ft
.357 Mag (Fed. Hydro-Shock 158gr, 4″ bbl)
1240 fps
540 lb-ft
.40 S&W (Fed Punch 165 gr, 4″ bbl)
1130 fps
468 lb-ft
10mm (Hor. Crit. Duty 175 gr, 5″ bbl)
1160 fps
523 lb-ft
.45 ACP (Fed. Punch 230 gr, 5″ bbl)
890 fps
405 lb-ft
So, what are we seeing in that chart?
I chose the data in that chart based on a couple of factors. First, I chose rounds that are relatively common across most of the US. For that reason, there are no entries for 9mm Makarov or 5.7×28. Second, I used loads based on what is commonly available at the typical local gun shop. Third, the velocity and muzzle energy numbers come from real-world velocity testing in barrel lengths that are typical in carry guns.
What can we take from those numbers? Obviously, some calibers are more powerful than others, some are faster than others and some are better suited for self defense than others.
One thing I think I have to point out is the seeming lack of performance for the .22 WMR. The .22WMR is a rifle round, and has been from the start. It uses slower-burning rifle powders that are optimized for long barrels. If a manufacturer loaded up the .22WMR with a faster-burning powder, I think the numbers would change, but not enough for me to consider carrying one.
But what makes a caliber suitable for carry and self defense? There are a couple of things to consider. First, is that caliber available in a carry sized gun. Second, does the round deliver enough energy to be effective.
During WWII, the US Army felt that 36 lb-ft of energy was enough to kill a human. Today the Army says 59 lb-ft is what it takes. As you can see, all the common calibers I listed above generate enough energy to dispatch a human according to the Army. It’s pretty clear to me that it would take a very precise shot to do it with something like a .22 or .25 though. So the question becomes, what is enough energy to do the job with a less than perfect shot.
From my perspective, there is a pretty well defined cutoff point, 300 lb-ft of ME, of calibers that should be considered for carry. That power level will provide satisfactory penetration. 300 lb-ft of energy is enough to cause enough hydro-static shock to cause major disruptions in bodily systems. Looking at the chart, that cutoff is at the .38 Special with bullets of at least 130 grains. Generally speaking, pistol rounds with that level of muzzle energy also carry enough velocity to ensure reliable expansion at typical self defense ranges.
You will note that I have not mentioned the FBI ammunition testing protocols. There is a reason for that, namely that the hard barrier tests have little civilian application. I do think the 12-18″ penetration number is important however, as an oblique shot would have to travel that far to hit the vitals. Moreover, the FBI itself says the tests are not determinative of the actual effectiveness of a given round on a human target.
Am I saying .25 ACP is unsuitable for a carry gun? Yes, with a caveat. If the only gun you have, whether it’s the only one you own or the only one you can conveniently carry, is a little .25, please carry that. I’d say the same thing for the .22s, .32s and .380s. You are better off with one of those than with nothing. Getting shot, even with something like a .25 hurts. You’re going to need to be good enough with your gun to hit a ping pong ball sized target at 10 meters consistently. If you’re not, carry something that reaches that 300 lb-ft threshold.
Now onto the calibers that do meet that 300 lb-ft threshold. Every caliber 9mm and larger round I looked at produced more than 300 lb-ft at the muzzle regardless of load. Some like the .38 super, .357 Mag and 10mm are pushing past 500 lb-ft of muzzle energy. Based on the data I saw, the .38 Special requires a load of at least 130 grains to reach the 300 lb-ft threshold. The issues I see with some of the more powerful loads comes down to capacity, concealability and shootability. We’ll get into that in a couple of paragraphs when we start talking about carry guns.
What’s the best carry caliber?
As much as it pains me to say so, (your editor carried a pistol chambered in .38 super for a very long time and until very recently thought that caliber the best for carry) the best all-around choice for carry caliber is 9mm. It delivers enough energy on target. It is chambered in a lot of different guns. It is affordable to practice with. Recoil can be fairly mild, especially with the lighter 115 gr loads. It has good capacity in carry sized guns. Even a single stack compact 9mm holds at least 8 rounds, 2 more than any compact revolver chambered in either .38 special or .357 magnum.
Carry Guns
Now on to what to carry. In the interests of full disclosure, this Editor has three pistols he carries regularly. My main EDC is a Glock 43x MOS with a Trijicon RMRcc red dot. I also carry a Colt Commander chambered in .38 super and a custom 1911 in .45 ACP on occasion.
Unlike the caliber section, I am not going to proclaim one gun or manufacturer as the superior choice. Instead, I am going to point out the things you should look at when deciding on a carry gun. Pistol/handgun fitment is a very personal thing but there are a couple of criteria that need to be looked at as far as suitability in carry guns goes.
The most important criteria to look at is how the gun fits. Can you get a good grip on it? Is the trigger in the ‘right spot’? Can you reach all the controls easily? Those are all questions you need to be asking when looking at a carry pistol.
Next you need to determine if you can carry the gun comfortably and conceal it well. If you plan on carrying Appendix, or anywhere forward of 3/9 o’clock, barrel/slide length becomes an issue. Width of the gun is also something you need to look at.
The third thing I take into account is capacity. More is usually better. When it comes to carry guns, there comes a point of diminishing returns. The grip gets longer and thicker for more ammo capacity. That becomes an issue when it comes to concealability.
Being in the People’s Republic of New York, capacity is kind of taken out of my hands; 10 rounds is the max. Those of you in southern New England and Commiefornia are likely in the same boat.
The next thing to look at is reliability. This is largely reputational, as guns, like every other piece of equipment, can vary in quality. The best thing you can do is buy a gun from a reputable brand.
So, now that we’ve covered all that, I have a few recommendations for carry guns. As I said above, the pistol I carry most often is a G43x. It has a 10 round single-stack magazine, a mid-sized grip and a 3.4″ barrel. As a side note, there was a time when your editor really disliked Glock pistols. I could not shoot them well. Then this particular 43x came into my life. . . Anyway, if you can shoot a Glock well, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend one, the same goes for any of the other Mid-sized (G19) and smaller 9mm models.
If you’re looking for something in a smaller form factor, I would point you to the Sig P365. It’s 5 ounces lighter and just about an inch shorter than the 43x with a similar capacity. I have some trigger time on the P365, and I like it quite a bit. The compact P320 is another pistol I’ve shot and it would also be a good choice.
The Glock 43 (not the 43x) is another choice in that segment, however it only holds 6 round with the flush magazine.
Staying in the compact 9mm realm, the Springfield Hellcat is another decent choice. When that gun was first available here, I got to shoot one quite extensively, and while the grip didn’t fit me well, I experienced zero stoppages.
The field is wide open when it comes to mid-sized pistols, all the brands have at least one 9mm offering in that space. The S&W Shield series is a decent choice as is the FN 509 if you can handle the extremely aggressive grip texture. If you’re on a budget, I’d take a hard look at the Canik TP9sf. For less than $400 you get the pistol, the best striker fired pistol trigger I’ve ever shot, a decent quality Kydex holster, three mags and a fitted, lockable hard case.
In the on-going series about my experiences teaching firearms stuff, we’re going to take a look at ammo choices. I’m not talking about calibers, that’s a different discussion for a different day. What we’re going to look at are different types of projectiles for a variety of use cases.
There are a wide variety of bullets available to the shooter today that will fit whatever role you want them for. Let’s take a look at the different types of projectiles available for most shooters.
We can break down the types into several general categories, full metal jacket, jacketed and semi-jacketed hollow points, cast lead and mono-metal, non-lead projectiles. The last are typically hollow points, but not always.
L-R: FMJ, JHP, protected point, partition, ballistic tip, copper solid hollow point, hard cast lead.
Non-lead bullets are required for hunting on many western federally owned lands and in some states, namely Commiefornia. My home state, NY, is requiring non-lead projectiles for big game, deer and bear, on state owned lands starting next hunting season.
I bring up this topic because a recent student told me he only used FMJ bullets in his carry piece, a little pocket .380. That sparked a class discussion of bullet choice and use cases for the variety of bullets that are available.
While I consider .380 as being less than optimal for carry, but as I said above that’s a discussion for another day, when loaded with the proper bullet, it can be an effective self defense round. Are FMJs that choice? No. Are FMJs a good choice for carry in any other caliber? Again, the answer is likely no (there may be a few exceptions, but those exceptions are rare and caliber specific).
But KITDAFBS, the military uses full metal jacket bullets, surely they’re good enough for self-defense you might say. (Yes, that was the rejoinder for the student.) Well, no. The military use of FMJ ammo dates back to the 1st Geneva convention, which banned any other type of projectile in warfare.
That begs the question, what bullet is best for my intended task? Well, like most things, the task defines the tools. You wouldn’t try to tighten a bolt with a hammer now would you? So, what’s the best task for each bullet type? We’ll take a look at the construction and best use case for each type.
Full Metal Jacket Projectiles
If you served in the military, this is the type of projectile you fired. The US military uses FMJ almost exclusively in small arms ammo. There are some very specific exceptions; some of the MP/SP/USAF SF use hollow points in their duty pistols and there are .50 BMG loads other than FMJ. Even tracers are FMJ constructed bullets, they just have a hollow base to contain the tracer compound.
The construction of these projectiles is fairly simple. A copper alloy jacket surrounds a core, usually lead. FMJ bullets are relatively inexpensive to manufacture because of the simple construction. That makes the ammunition considerably less expensive than hollow points of the same caliber. There is a variation of the FMJ called the TMJ, or Total Metal Jacket. The core is completely surrounded by the jacket in that type.
So, when and where is the FMJ best used? The answer to that is pretty simple: at the range.
The lack of terminal expansion is one of the major reasons for that. A 5.56 FMJ makes a .224″ diameter hole going in and out. They do not expand on impact, and the permanent wound channel is bullet diameter plus a tiny fraction.
Cost is another factor. A box of 50 9mm FMJ around here costs about $15 give or take, meanwhile a box of 25 9mm hollow points starts at about $20 and goes up from there depending on the name on the box.
There is an exception (when isn’t there an exception?) to not using FMJ bullets for anything but the range, and that is furbearer hunting. An FMJ leaves two little neat holes in the hide, while a traditional hunting bullet will leave one small hole and one really big one.
Expanding Handgun Projectiles
There are a wide variety of expanding handgun bullets available. These fall into one of three major categories; jacketed hollow points, soft points and semi-jacketed soft points. Of the three, you are most likely to find JHP rounds at your local ammo supplier. Soft points and semi-jacketed rounds are older types and usually only found in revolver calibers.
Various 9mm projectiles after firing into 10% ballistics gel.
All three types expand on impact, creating a larger-than-caliber permanent wound channel. They also transfer more energy into the target and create a much larger temporary wound channel. The energy dump and larger wound channels equate to ‘stopping power’.
Your editor carries a Glock 43x with 124 gr Gold Dots from Speer, but there are a lot of other good choices. The Speer rounds work well in my gun and point of impact/aim are the same as the 124 gr FMJ I practice with.
I am not going to go into any of the specialized pistol target rounds like the wad-cutter here. Just know that they have their place, and that’s at the range. I am also going to avoid the ‘screwdriver’ type rounds. I’m talking about the ARX from Inceptor and the clones. I haven’t seen enough data about them to have formed an opinion, and frankly, the lack of data makes me wonder about the utility of that particular projectile. YMMV. . .
There is another relatively common kind of pistol ammo available: Hard cast lead. For the most part, hard cast bullets are used in hunting scenarios where deep, and I mean deep, penetration is desirable. That kind of ammo is generally used for game like bears and elk, critters with large, heavy bone structures that would break a jacketed bullet apart on impact. The hard cast lead rounds tend to expand little and drive through heavy bone without much trouble. Hard cast lead can also be found in rifle calibers, and the use case is much the same: deep penetration through heavy bone.
Expanding Rifle Projectiles
There are a wide variety of expanding rifle bullets out there. We can break them out into one of three basic construction categories: cup-and-core, partition and mono-metal solids. The cup-and-core bullets are the simplest and most common rifle bullets. As the name suggests, they are a cup of copper alloy filled with a core of lead.
They come in several tip styles, soft point, like above, hollow point or ‘protected point’ also known as Ballistic tip. They may also have some sort of ‘locking’ mechanism that either bonds the core to the cup or mechanically attaches the two. This is done to help prevent jacket separation, which is when the core and cup separate under impact. That can reduce penetration and increase the chance of a mere wound instead of a fatal shot.
The cup-and-core bullet is a good choice for game like deer, caribou and pronghorn in the appropriate calibers. Those animals are not particularly tough animals and don’t take a lot to harvest them cleanly.
I’m going to take a second here to discuss a sub-type of cup-and-core projectiles: Frangibles. Designed to break up on contact with a hard surface, frangible bullets are used for predator/furbearer hunting. There are a couple of brands out there that market frangible rifle ammo for home defense. The idea is that you can use your rifle without worrying about accidentally shooting a neighbor. If you use a rifle for that purpose, I think the frangible rounds are a decent idea, especially if you live in a densely populated area.
Nosler Partition
Partition bullets are constructed differently. They have an ‘H’ shaped copper alloy jacket with spaces above and below the partition for core material. Again, they come in several tip styles, either soft point(pictured above), hollow point or protected point.
Typically used for heavier game animals like bear, moose and elk, this style of projectile holds together better when they hit heavy bone.
Mono-metal solids are just that, a solid chunk of metal in the shape of a bullet. Barnes, the best known maker of this kind of projectile, uses a copper alloy, but some other manufacturers use bronze. This type of projectile only comes in two flavors; hollow point or protected point.
Barnes TTSX
Because of the changes in laws around the country, I think you will be seeing more and more mono-metal solids in hunting calibers at your local supplier. I will admit my first experiences with copper solids left me feeling a bit underwhelmed, the terminal performance of this type of projectile has come a long way. I have personally harvested several deer and a black bear with copper solids, and they performed well.
I’m sure I’ve missed some of the specialized bullets, there are a lot of manufacturers and bullet types out there. If I missed your favorite, I’m sorry, I don’t know everything and be sure to drop it in the comments.
It’s been about 6 weeks since I last shared my experiences selling firearms. Some things have changed, others have not.
Let’s start with the background check numbers. According to the FBI, there were some 2.88 million NICS checks run in July. While still a substantial number, there was a marked decrease from June (3.05m) and July of last year(3.64m).
Why the decrease? I honestly can’t say. At least where I work, Inventory is higher than it’s been in more than a year. We also have a wider selection of firearms than we’ve had for the same time period. Perhaps it was just the summer doldrums.
That said, It seems that sales are picking up again. This past Wednesday I processed 14 transactions in a six hour period. I haven’t been that busy since last July during all the riots and such. And that wasn’t a one off thing, traffic has picked up after the July slowdown.
As I said above, guns are becoming more and more available. While browsing through our distributors sites recently, I saw a lot less out of stock firearms.
If you’re in the market for a Remington 870, they seem to be hitting stores. Prices are a bit higher than you might remember, but that may just be the Hologram’s inflationary pressures.
Ammo is starting to loosen up some. And better, I’m not seeing the same 30 faces every day looking for ammo. It’s more like 15-20.
Now for a little industry news. The hologram imposed new sanctions on some Russian businesses. Big deal you say, its the GD Russians. Well, those sanctions affect ammo and gun imports. While it isn’t an outright ban on gun and ammo importation, it does place limits on the permits needed to import those products. While the sanctions are in place no new permits will be issued and no renewals will take place.
It’s been about a month since the last update from the world of firearms retail. There honestly been little new to report.
Ammo supply still remains tight. There are signs that it is starting to improve, however slow the recovery is. It’s still going to be a while before you see that box of your favorite oddball cartridge on the shelf, but the more popular loadings are starting to be more available. I’d also note that online prices seem to be coming back down. I don’t know if that’s due people balking at paying $1 a round for 9mm fmj or if there is more in the warehouses.
A recent check of inventory at my place of employ showed we had around 400 guns in stock. That’s more than have been in the store for more than a year. And it is more than just cheap, turkish import home defense shotguns, which had been the majority of the stock last year. Our latest shipment included a wide variety of firearms, from .22’s to 12 gauge over/unders.
NICS background checks have slowed some. June was the first month in almost three years that did not have a year-over-year increase in the number of checks. You have to go back to December of 2018 to find the last month that didnt show an increase over the previous year. All that said, there were still 3,054,726 checks performed in June. Keep in mind, last June was the start of the BLM/AntiFA riots across the country.
Through the first six months of the year there have been more than 22 million checks run. If the trend continues, there will be well north of 40 million checks run for the year.
It’s important to keep in mind the number of checks can’t be used as a one to one correlation for guns sold. A large percentage are run for purposes other than gun sales. The NSSF estimates that number to be around 40%.
It’s been exactly two months since I last shared my insights into the gun and ammo situation as I see it as someone who works at the retail end of the industry.
Let’s start with the raw FBI background check numbers. NICS background checks have slowed some. There were 3,222,105 checks run in May. That’s down about 300,000 from April and around 1.5 million from the all time record month of March. It is important to note that those checks are not a one to one when it comes to gun sales. A large number, some estimates put it at half, are run for other purposes than firearms transactions. Many states, mine included, require a federal background check as part of initial pistol licensure and as part of the recertification process. Additionally, many buyers purchase more than one firearm per transaction.
The gun situtation seems to be resolving. At my store we have a wider variety of guns than we’ve had for close to a year. We are also getting multiples of the same gun in. Some brands are still scarce, but overall, the supply of guns seems to be loosening.
We’re still at the mercy of our distributors, and aren’t allowed to special order guns. Our gun buyers say that has to do with the lead times and overall availability of specific guns.
There is mixed news on the ammo front. The president of Hornady said recently that his company is back-ordered 3 years. The president of Vista Outdoors, the parent company of CCI, Speer, Federal and Remington ammo, said his company was back-ordered 2 years. Additionally, he said that he didn’t expect primers to be commercially available for at least a year. There’s more bad news, deer slug manufacturer Lightfield announced that they were not restarting production. I don’t know the specifics of why, but they announced two years ago that they were moving, and as far as I know, they haven’t produced a shell since that date.
All that said, it seems the ammo supply is starting to come back. I don’t expect to see some of the less popular calibers and loadings to be widely available for a year, but that has more to do with the manufacturing schedule than any shortage or the like.
I’m going to digress for a moment here and explain the manufacturing scheduling process for ammo, and why I think its going to be a while before you see that box of .257 Roberts or 7-30 Waters on the shelf. Under normal circumstances, ammo manufacturers have a fairly rigid production schedule due to capacity restraints, maintenance scheduling, tooling changeover, etc. The schedule will typically have a single run of certain calibers, generally the less popular rounds, while more popular calibers will be produced in either a continuous run or in multiple runs. Once the scheduled amount of a particular caliber/loading is reached, that particular combination isn’t run again till the next year. With the onset of covid last march, and all the attendant knock-on effects, that schedule got blown up.
Now, with things normalizing, the production schedule is back in place. It will take a full year to cycle through and for ammo to be back to the point it was in the before.
Honestly, if I stopped seeing the same two dozen or so faces every day I think we’d have a decent supply in stock. Except for a few weeks in January, we got regular shipments of ammo. They weren’t huge, but we did have a regular supply.
I’m also going to take aim (SWIDT) at everyone that’s price gouging right now. It isn’t just the small shops that are doing it now. Big retailers like Bass Pro have marked up their ammo 50% or more. How do I know? I know exactly what a box, flat, case and sleeve of all that stuff costs because I have access to our distributors sites. Our prices have gone up, but only because the distributors and manufacturers prices have gone up. I saw a box of 9mm the other day at Gander for $30+. The same box of ammo, same bullet weight, brand and all, is $20 where I work. I have to ask why? I don’t know about you, but I refuse to shop somewhere I know they’re gouging. People will remember this in the future.
A little while ago, I wrote about my observations on the gun and ammo issue from my perspective as someone who sells them for a living. This post is a continuation with updated information.
Ammo supply seems to be loosening up some. And there’s some very good news on the ammo production front, but first some history.
Last June, Big Green declared bankruptcy. This came on the heels of several months of WuFlu related closures. Just before the bankruptcy filing, the company fired all the employees at the Lonoke Arkansas ammo plant. All of Remington’s ammo had been produced there since the closure of the Bridgeport CT plant in the mid 1980’s.
Vista Outdoors Group, the parent company of Federal, Speer, CCI and a couple of other smaller ammo producers, bought the Remington ammo name and facility during the bankruptcy auction. About 2 months ago, Vista restarted production at the Lonoke facility. They have already started shipping new production ammunition.
Why .35 Rem? Beats me, but I’m glad to see any new Remington ammo. They produced 15% to 20% of the domestic ammo in this country.
The new owners of the firearms part of Remington had announced they were reopening the Ilion NY factory, the historic home of Remington since Eliphalet Remington, on 1 March. That did not happen. The United Mine Workers took umbrage at the new owner’s reopening plans. I will keep an eye on that situation, seeing as Ilion is only about an hour from me.
While we’re on the subject of the Remington bankruptcy and subsequent parting-out, Marlin had been aquired by Remington in 2017. As part of the asset sale, Sturm, Ruger inc. bought Marlin. I don’t have any word about whether they have restarted production at the Madison NC plant, but anecdotally, I haven’t seen a new Marlin of any kind since last spring.
NICS checks havent slowed much. February was down from the 4.3 million checks in January, with 3.4 million background checks run. That is up about 600,000 from the previous year. March however set yet another new record at 4.69 million checks. That’s just shy of a million more checks than March 2020.
We are three months into 2021 and there have been more checks run than there were in each of the first 10 years of NICS checks.
Before you get carried away, there isn’t a one to one correlation between checks and firearms sold. A good percentage are run for other purposes than firearms purchases like pistol permit applications and recertifications, some people change their minds, and then there are the delay/denies. The NSSF figures a bit more than half are for actual purchases. Even that half is somewhat misleading, as you can put multiple firearms on a single 4473.
No, this isn’t the first chapter of my memoirs. Instead it’s a commentary about the gun and ammo issue from my perspective as someone who sells guns for a living.
If you haven’t seen it yet, I wrote about the number of NICS checks and the records that were set last year. You can check it out here. Those numbers will come into play later, so take a look.
First, I’m going to address ammo and firearms availability. There are/were several factors that led us to the apparent shortage that we’re seeing today. Starting with the WuFlu closures this time last year to the riots last summer to thousands of people rediscovering hunting and the shooting sports. Then there was the bankruptcy of Big Green. The previous ownership group ended production at all Remington facilities when they entered receivership. There hasn’t been a new box of ammo or gun with that name on it produced for nearly a year.
Let’s take a look at the issues the closures and lockdowns caused the firearms and ammo industries for a second. It wasn’t just lost production time, the closures also impacted supply chains, importation of raw materials and production scheduling. The effects of those are still being felt today. Think about it for a second, mines closed, smelters closed, foundries closed. With modern manufacturing keyed to what are called Just in time supply chains, any disruption is going to cause outsized knock-on effects. At this point, the manufacturers are concentrating on the most popular rounds, just to meet demand. It may be a year or more before you see that .32 win special on the shelves.
Jason Vanderbrink, the president of ammo for Vista Outdoors, the group that owns CCI, Speer and Federal ammo, says his production facilities are running at 100% plus capacity. That capacity will increase some over the next few months as the newly reopened Remington ammo facility in Lonoke Arkansas starts shipping. That plant had been aquired by Vista in the Remington arms bankruptcy sale last fall. With any luck the ammo market will start to loosen up once that facility starts to ship.
Now, on to my personal observations. Working behind the gun counter 40 plus hours a week gives me a slightly different perspective than I think most of you have. I don’t see a shortage of guns. What I see are a bunch of people grabbing up anything they can. While looking over the A&D book a few weeks ago I noticed something. The location that I work at has gotten nearly the same number of guns as it did over the same time period the past few years. What has changed is the assortment of firearms we’re seeing. We don’t have the variety we used to have. We’re seeing the same guns over and over again. I’m not sure if that’s due to our buyers or the manufacturers. That said, the latest shipment of guns we got had a wider variety than I’ve seen since last summer.
Ammo however is a different story. I do see a shortage there. Used to be, we’d get pallets of ammo. Now, we get random boxes of ammo and an occasional case or two. Why? Well, as I see it there are several factors. Individual hoarders are a part. I see the same guys every day. I know for a fact that most of those guys are sitting on thousands of rounds, I sold at least some of it to them. You know they aren’t just stopping at my place. It got so bad, one guy bought 10 cases of 9mm, all we got in one day, the management instituted a two box limit per day.
The next factor I see are online retailers. Your local gunshop can’t compete with the big online dealers. A small, low volume dealer doesn’t have the buying power of some huge online place. Those online places go to the top of the list when an order comes in. Joe’s Guns n Bait in east bumf*ck gets whats left. And while we’re on the subject, I’ve noticed a big price spike at most of the online dealers. One online place is even being sued for price gouging. While the prices at my employer have gone up, its been a modest increase due to an increase from the suppliers.
