PAY ATTENTION
by RICK WYATT
Got a big yuck out of a meme I saw the other day, it was a picture of a crotch rocket lying on its side in front of a gas pump with the caption “Motorcycle faints after seeing the price of gasoline!” It was funny and cute, but unfortunately there was that sliver of truth that is the root of great comedy, prices are out of control. Fortunately, it was a mid-price crotch rocket and not one of the behemoths like mine that prefer premium fuel, that price would have induced immediate cardiac arrest, and somebody would have to do mouth to breather respiration to bring it back to life. Hope I have made my point because I am not going to write about the price of gas, rather about the price of everything else that is affecting the prices in the firearms industry.
All of us are reeling under the prices of ammunition and the availability of many of the rounds we want/need. At the store we get several calls a day from people looking for .410 shotgun ammo, and for the last couple of months we have had to tell people that there is none available through our suppliers. Invariably they will ask if we know where they can find some and we honestly tell them no (we answer truthfully because if you steer them in the right direction, even if it is the competition, in most cases they will return as a customer). I have heard that there has been an individual at some of the gun shows selling .410 at an outrageous price, and people are paying it! Many people think they can get around the shortages by reloading their own ammunition, but here is the simple truth about that plan; reloaders are having many of the same problems that the ammo industry is having, the availability of components such as primers, propellants, and projectiles and God help you if you need to buy casings too. The ammo shortage is going to be with us for a while, and like I have said in the past if you are planning to hunt this fall set your ammo aside now, then remember to vote in November.
New guns are something else you need to pay attention to, before you jump on what looks like a real good deal on a firearm do some research and see what the experience of others has been with a particular manufacturer. Don’t just buy based on a name because many of the old-time builders have gone out of business and sold their name to start-up companies (many foreign) who hope that the right name will move their product off the shelf. Sometimes such a marriage works, CZ bought out Dan Wesson and now the DW 1911’s are precision works of art (I can’t wait to see what they do with Colt), but too often the name gets slapped on a cheap knockoff of a previously successful and proven product. You don’t have to be a metallurgist to recognize inferior metals many of these knockoff companies build with and the first place to look is the thickness of barrel walls and the finish of receivers. There is a difference between inexpensive and downright cheap, and cheap usually wears out very quickly or starts to present some significant safety issues. Country of manufacture is not necessarily an issue either, Benelli has their Stoeger brand of firearms built in Turkey but has set a high standard for quality of materials used. Mossberg’s Silver Reserve O/U shot guns are built in Turkey also with a high expectation of quality and materials and when you compare them side by side with a lot of the other O/U guns built there, then what I am trying to tell you becomes apparent.
Unfortunately, the “Made in America” tag sometimes needs to be looked at closely also. Some manufacturers make a profit by using inferior materials and this is obvious when you look at Derringers. We had a customer who bought a .38 cal. Derringer, which subsequently blew up in his hand ripping his thumb off in the process. I am not using the name of the company because there is ongoing litigation, but I got to see pictures of the exploded gun and to be honest it looked like the barrels were cast and finished out of pot metal which is why that brand is relatively inexpensive. Bond Arms builds Derringers, they are built out of steel, and you can see the obvious difference in quality over most of the other Derringers in the market, and yes, they are expensiv,e but how much if your hand (or life) worth to you? And this applies to other guns “built” here also, which may be code for assembled out of inexpensive imported parts. Look carefully at fit, finish, quality of materials and make sure you are not shopping the turd rack when buying a gun. Guys should never shop for guns when they are pissed at the old lady, have money in their pocket (or on the card) the attitude “I’ll show her,” for the same reason you don’t grocery shop when you are hungry because you usually end up with junk!
It took me a while to get here, but what I want to tell you is that the price of good quality firearms has not risen as much as other things in the market. Prices have gone up some, but so has the price of quality steel parts such as barrels, springs, and pins. I know money is tight, but you will never regret maybe delaying gratification and buying quality over flash, pretty isn’t important when you are protecting yourself or family. Make sure when you are purchasing that you can find ammo for the new baby, sold a guy a 10mm the other day, but didn’t (don’t) have any ammo for him at this time. And that is what ties all of this together, we are in an economy that sucks (to say the least) and we are having to deal with shortages throughout the industry so please understand that the retailers are stuck in the middle, and we are doing the best we can to fill our shelves but there are no gun and bullet leprechauns to help us out. Look, fondle, and do some research because in the long run it will save you money.
