Notes from the gun shop...

A bit of an odd day I think.  Not so many guns sold, one transfer was flat out denied.  Why we don't and won't know.  Lots of shooting related stuff sold though and several guns ordered with a couple put on layaway.

Ammunition shortages continue to be felt.  Ok, you can get some sort of loaded ammo for most things but for what are now nearly obsolete cartridges (can we use the term obsolete for the .32 WCF, .25-20, .218 Bee, etc?) there is apparently no relief and ammunition is unavailable.  Today a fella brought in a neat Stevens single-shot in .32-20 for which we could find no ammunition in "the supply line".   Disappointing for the customer, frustrating for us.  Considering all the recently produced guns for the cartridge (Marlin rifles, Ruger Blackhawks and Thompson Center Contenders) you'd think the manufacturers would want to supply them.  There can be only one reason they don't and that is that they can't.

Then too, ammo prices haven't declined by much since the "shortage".   It isn't because the military is taking production, not now.  It isn't because the raw materials used are being sucked up by China, not with this cruddy world economy.  It is because those materials are being bought with devalued American dollars.  Dollars devalued by a government who has "printed" perhaps an extra trillion dollars to cover debts incurred by an administration intent on paying off those to whom they are beholding.

Ruger SP101 .22 LR

I almost forgot to say that I got to handle one of the new Ruger .22 LR SP101s yesterday. Not to shoot it mind you, just to look at. It seems to me that the gun is a good solid piece with a heavy hammer spring (seems heavier than the .357 SP101s we've had) but the front sight dovetail gave me pause. It was correctly formed on the right side of the ram but squared off on the left side and looked like this... └─┘ DPris told me his gun's dovetail was correctly cut, so, I guess I'll wait until I get a correct dovetail. I intend to replace the front sight with a proper blade and a proper dovetail would be necessary.  I must be one of the relatively few who don't like the Hi-Viz sights.  By the way, that gun was test fired in mid-July.

Links:
- Ruger SP101 8-Shot .22LR by DeadDuck357
- Ruger Eight-Shot 22 Long Rifle SP101: Stainless Steel Kit Gun Perfection by Jeff Quinn at GunBlast.com