Notes from the gun shop...

The hunting season rush has officially begun. It seems to me that we only had a month's break from the election rush to the hunting season rush. In any case we were full up this past Monday. Here in western Virginia it is the early muzzle loader season that is causing all the excitement and just around the corner. One can learn a lot from serving folks in a rush to get ready for this or that season.

For instance, many folks don't unload and clean their guns from one season to the next. I can't tell you how many breech plugs for in-lines we've sold. Still, we've sent many away empty handed or with new guns. Many don't even clean their guns if they do unload or fire them. They bring them to the gunsmith for cleaning. I find that amazing. I thought everyone cleaned their own guns. They buy cleaning supplies. What do they do with all that stuff?

There's a side-bar to this. Knight Muzzleloading (not to be confused with Knight Armament) has closed shop.

We would like to thank all of our loyal customers: past, present and future. Knight Rifles is no longer producing or selling any guns. However, we will continue to produce and sell parts and accessories for your Knight Rifles. We plan to continue in this role for the foreseeable future.

To express our appreciation for being Knight customers, we would like to announce that ALL ORDERS PLACED ON THE WEBSITE will receive a 10% discount over retail prices. This will take effect immediately and will continue until further notice.

We would also like to restate that our Technical Support and Warranty departments are still fully operational.

Customer service can be reached at http://www.knightrifles.com/contactus or (641) 856-2626.

Unfortunately, many owners of Knight in-lines don't know that. They are surprised, disappointed, and a bit upset about it. I'm surprised at how many bought what were fairly expensive rifles and never cleaned them. This small effort would have ensured a life-time of use even if there was no spare parts supply. Apparently they couldn't be bothered. If you are a shooter of Knight's product(s) I suggest you get all the shooting needs you can forsee using now, while still available.

Another continuing (from last year) situation is the lack of a favorite bullet or bullet/sabot combo. Many is the tale told of 200 yard sub-MOA groups with the favored combo and their trusty 2 or 3 50-grain Triple-7 charge. Of course this sacred load wasn't so wonderful that they laid in a supply of the projectiles. Nope, I guess they thought it would always be there and they only bought one blister pack of 20. Right now the Shock Wave and Power Belt are dominating the market. If you want anything else they are tough to find. Shops just don't sell enough to make stocking them worthwhile.

Primer deliveries are up. The shop now has nearly 30,000 primers of all types on hand with one exception. Large rifle. We have no large rifle primers of any make except for Remington 9½M.

.380 ACP ammo is also in short supply. I think all of it in the supply chain has been bought up. All that remains are forgotten cases here and there around the country. Perhaps as demand for other ammunition dries up manufacturers will be able to make a run of .380 ACP.

My dealer says he can't get new supplies of CoreLokt (Remington) ammo. I don't know why. Of course, that is what the customers suddenly want. I think that price (it having been among the lower priced brands) is the key. As the economy goes down the tubes the lower price point product will get the demand.

And so it goes...