Jonnin

the 22-45 is stuck with the original grips though. If you like them, that is fine, but if you ever wanted to upgrad to ergos, you are outta luck. Unless they changed this on the mark 3 (???).

I am not aware of ANY gun that radically changes point of impact due to break in. The action smooths up which helps the shooter a little. The feed ramp smooths up and reduces jams. The slide and all beat off any burrs and polish up. The finish rubs off the internal parts and polishes up smooth. It operates better and won't jam anymore (if it ever did), in other words. I would not expect any gun to go from 6 inchs off to dead on because it was broken in. If it were going to do that, I think whatever was wrong (and this should never happen, it could be dangerous) would be shot out and cleared up in the first 25 shots. Now, if you change how you look at the sights, that will have an effect of course.

There is one other option. You could look at the 1911 styled .22s. I have not seen one yet that I would have; the only one I would shoot is an expensive kit that goes onto a true .45 1911 frame and makes for a high dollar gun. But there are some modestly priced ones, colt is making one, several others as well. Someone might know more if you are interested in such.

Most of these guns do not take optics out of the box. It does not cost much at all to cure that: a smith adds a rail with 2 screws and its done, all the modern optics for a pistol fit on a rail. Might cost like $25 to get that done. It may be better to have it done afterwards on the gun you want rather than seek the few that have a rail, in other words. For sure some ruger mark 3s have a rail, but I think they tacticool up the frame a bit and ugly it up. I am not aware of a rail only version, but it may exist. The S&W 22a has a rail on all versions. I am not aware of any buckmarks that come with a rail. Walther bought hammerli if I am not mistaken, but those are high dollar guns. Walther makes some cheap .22s but they are NOT accurate target guns, they are at best toys/plinkers. Those high dollar guns are great, if you can afford them. The triggers are out of this world, and the accuracy and fitted grips and all make a great package. I cannot tell any real difference between a buckmark and a ruger mark, apart from the look and feel. They are both dead on, about the same price, well made and reliable, and so on. If you are on a budget, the S&W 22a is also a very good choice, esp if you get the wooden target grips model. For low end guns (under $1000), these are the 3 I recommend and nothing else. There are others out there --- the beretta neos which is accurate but jamtastic, or a sig mosquito which also can be ammo picky and troublesome, but I just cannot recommend these others over the 3 I listed. If you are serious about it and on a budget, get a ruger mark 3, gut it of the extra safetys, plop in a volquartsen trigger kit, get some good grips, and pop on an ultradot red dot sight. It will take you a long, long way --- if you can master this cheap gun, then you can start to look at the $2500 ones to upgrade. If you are serious and not on a budget, go for the $$$ ones right away.

I suspect there is some true demand spike, but i also think some of the distributors are hoarding a few specific things to drive up prices for a profitable year. I would not be amazed to find out that ammo is sitting in warehouses while the shelves empty, for example...

Looks good! I did the same thing another way, took 2 boards, nail together to make a 90 degree angle, drilled holes and glued in a couple of inches of dowl rods across it, and my guns sit with the dowel in the barrel and rest on their grips in a nice row. Same general effect, but yours is probably neater.

As others said, its across the board. Hunting stuff seems to move the slowest; the stores I go to seem to have the exact same guns for quite a while in that category (shotguns and deer rifles). I think most hunters have all they need and in the current economy few are looking to get a sackful of this type of gun. Most popular right now, due to election year insanity, are defensive weapons (semi automatic rifles in medium to weak calibers like 223, pistols like glocks, pocket pistols, defensive shotguns (semi auto or pump, either upgradable from a bird gun or already configured). Ammo and primers are also in very high demand right now. Personally, this year, I have budgeted for 1 sig 938 1 single action 9mm semi auto of some sort 1 trigger kit for my ruger 22 1 who knows what for my wife 1 22 LR revolver, maybe and probably $500 in reloading materials (most of that is primers and powders, however if your store were near me and had cheap lead bullets in my calibers I would get that from you too). I mostly find brass. I will buy used brass cheap, but not new brass. I won't pay a ton for the used brass, its a small fee for the minor effort of somone sweeping it into a bucket and sorting it, which is not exactly difficult to do. I love me a gun shop that has a range and allows testing/rental of used guns. I would rather drive for 30 min to a shop way out of town that has a range, in other words. Be the guy that can get what people ask for in a reasonable time and at a competetive price. That is difficult; small local shops are at the mercy of the big distributors who favor bigger places (bigger orders). But working hard asap to develop strong supply lines and, more important, the attitude of "I can get one of those for you, let me find out what I can do" is huge. Oh, yea, one more thing. Don't be that guy that treats my wife (or any woman) like she is a child who got lost and wandered in. Lot of gun stores turn women (and their husbands...) away by their immediate "are you lost" type approach to women customers.

nice set! My wife has a pink 10-22 and its a great shooter. Just me and her at the range, so I pick it up for a few shots. Put 3 in nearly the same hole (it was like 15 yards) and turn around to gloat .... and an entire HCP class (like 10 people) is watching and my wife is pretending she does not know me or something. Sigh. Beware the pink gun!

good start! My wife likes that targt too, hard to find them sometimes though.

sportsmans is awesome but its been over-run. It had next to zero primers. If that fails you, slip down to georgia and hit the reloading store in fort oglethorpe. Some of the other small gun stores have a few items, but those are the big suppliers that I know of. here: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&sugexp=llsin&gs_nf=1&cp=13&gs_id=12&xhr=t&q=north+ga+reloading&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1280&bih=678&wrapid=tljp1333068191389024&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl n ga reloading is the name

Pretty much. There are various pocket holsters, some square it up to look like a wallet, but whatever style you like. It does not have to be pants, but most mean that when they say it. You *could* put them in a "secret" jacket pocket or something if preferred. I can get a sig 238, spare mag, holster, and my wallet all into my pocket, just standard men's jeans most days. These things are tiny!

what do you want out of it? It is the AR of pistols --- most companies make one, you can get parts all over the place, and they vary in quality and price and look quite a bit. Yet one is very much like another in the mid price range. There are also the not quite 1911s out there, highcaps and odd sizes and other minor design changes that a purist would not want. Out of the box, kimbers look really nice and have a good trigger and decent accuracy. If you were not going to modify it and wanted a good looker, this is where I would go. If you do not like their fancy look or want to tinker with it, a more generic model from springfield or colt is a good starter. I went with para, which I found on sale with the features I wanted. The trigger could be better, but it has been great.

You think that, then you look and the 30-06 is a latecomer, there were several 1880s rounds that were pretty close to the 06. 303 brit, for example, was pretty close...

year old thread, hopefully he has one by now! I also like shooters depo but they don't typically have a highpoint, unless they get one in trade they do not carry them new.

For the same reasons it hunts well, it makes an excellent target pistol. You still want to reload for it, of course, but ignoring the cost of factory ammo (which is too high for any caliber, the 44 is not unique here) it is a top choice for marksmanship training. A decent barrel length and decent quality gun net you an accurate starter platform that autos cannot touch until nearly triple the price of the revolver. Other calibers work well too but the 44 has amazing accuracy in general.

How much are you going to do what of with it? If you plan to use it a fair amount, unfinished wood may soak up dirt and oil and yuck from your hands and get an unattractive stain to it. If you just shoot it a few times, not so much, takes a while to happen.

clean it right away before shooting. After that, clean it every go for the next 5 range trips. After that, clean it when it is dirty, as needed.

that sounds odd. Get someone who can hit what they aim at to give it a try, see if it does the same thing for a few experienced shooters. Try a couple of brands of ammo. If 2-3 people have the same problem with 2-3 brands of ammmo, I would say it is time to call them.

still hovering around for the first store to get a sig 938 in stock. I will have it soon, I think. I also think I may get a RIA 9mm for the range if there is any money left after the above. Not a gun but getting a trigger kit for my mark 2 finally. Need to buy another round of primers asap. Since I gotta buy at least 1 for the wife, that about spends this year's money unless I get a windfall.

Ah, they have a one line executive summary of the piece: "States with the worst corruption risk scores lack powerful watchdog agencies" That really stands out, in my eyes.

bullet is seated too deep, so the round can scoot a little deeper into the chamber, soaking up the firing pin hit? Drop the round into the barrel, does it go in deeper than a factory bullet?

Its all about the powder. For almost any pistol load, you can pick a powder that a second charge will overflow it if worried about this issue. Rifles usually cannot be set up to overcharge but someone determined to blow themself up can find a way.

The lightest 44s that I have seen that are commonly available are about 150 grains. Even way, way downloaded, its just too big for very small game. However, a full magnum load of shotshell should be able to drop anything that a slug is too large for. The shotshells are expensive for all calibers and 44 is pretty bad for that too, but it would work and its not hard to find it. So it ranges from around 150-300 grains in all shapes and styles. The two overlap ... a 357 way wimped up may be a great bunny killer but a 44 mag maxed out is considered to be a better choice when being eaten by a larger bear. There will always be something that one or the other is better at. If you include 9mm and 380 options for a 357, which will fire them just fine, that caliber ranges from 75 or so grains for a light 380 bullet all the way to over 200 grains for the biggest 357 loads, has shotshell that is, really, just as good as the .44 (here, I would say both can do exactly the same thing at about the same ranges). So, the 357 has a much wider selection of slugs, really, for the reloader.

30 yards? Don't kill yourself over it, get a long extension cord, plug it in, and run it out there. If you want to bury it, put it in a 1 inch pvc pipe thru the yard, about 10 inches deep, and call it good. Give the kids a power strip up there and its done without the complications.

You should be able to find a decent one for closer to 700 than 900. I have an M&P 15, very similar to the sport, was around 700 and has been an excellent gun.