Just wondering . . . It occurred to me that, depending where you live in the Columbus area, the shop I mentioned (Fin, Feathers, & Fur) might be somewhat closer than an hour and a half away from you (I was basing my guess-timate on travel time from my house in Pickaway Co.)

A couple more options that you might look into are Buckeye Outdoor Sports, out I-70 to the east a few miles, near Buckeye Lake. They advertise in the Columbus Dispatch regularly. Don't know if they stock CZ's but it might be worth a call. Nice folks.

The other option is a place called Bottom Dollar, down in Fayette County. They're out in the country but not too far off I-71. They specialize in trap shooting supplies (in quantity) but will also order just about anything that can be ordered and for about as cheaply as it can be gotten. Unfortunately I don't have their number here in NY, but you can probably locate it. Try either Jeffersonville or Bloomingburg for a listing.

-WSJ

WSJ thank you very much for your suggestion of Fin, Feathers and Fur! My wife and I went up there this weekend and it was great. Just as you said they were very helpful and knowledgeable. If they didn't know the answer they asked someone else. The guy I talked to said they could get it but it might take a while he is going to give me a call this week. I even got him to check on a 7x57 for my wife. This too will have to be ordered. However they did have them in 375, 416, 458, 30-06, 270 and one or two others. They had the 416 and 375 sitting next to the Rugers of the same cal. but the Rugers cost an honest 3x as much as the CZ's. Thanks for all your help. How do you know about these places? Are you from Columbus?

CARR4570: Glad you found my suggestion helpful and FF&F to be as represented. I'm from Pickaway County, just south of Columbus, and my wife still lives there. I live and work here in NY and make the trip to Ohio pretty regularly.

I happened onto FF&F about 6 or 8 years ago, before they expanded to their new store. I just can't seem to resist stopping in gun shops and sporting goods stores I run across on my travels - never know when you might run across something interesting!

I have dealt with Vance's more than a few times over the last 20 years (my wife bought a rifle there just last year) but have been disappointed by the way things have gone there in recent years. They always had a very decent inventory but used to be much more laid back and pleasant to deal with. Columbus once had a number of decent gun shops but passed a 7 day waiting period law back in the 1980's that was a death knell for most of them. Vance's is not within Columbus incorporated limits and there's no waiting period. The result was a windfall for Vance's (they became the only game in town). The bad part is I don't care for a shop that's so busy that you have to take a number and wait to talk to someone or look at something. It's especially difficult when you're not looking for any one thing in particular, just something interesting you don't have. The salesmen get frustrated, too, especially as a lot of the other customers waiting their turn really aren't gun people; they just want to pick out a 9mm and get on their way.

Let us know how the 9.3 search works out. -WSJ

FF&F called me yesterday. They got in touch with CZ and told me that they could get both guns in three days just to give them a call and they would order them for me. Gee, now was that so hard? I think I'll let Vance's know they lost out on a grand in gun sales. Where does your wife go and shoot, my wife is really interested in hunting and shooting and if she knew where other women did such things it would be a big help. She often complains about feeling intimidated around men. She is uncomfortable with her knowledge about guns at this point, of course I'm trying to work on that.

CARR45-70,

You might want to look into BOW (Becoming and Outdoors Woman) for you wife. I believe they run courses nation wide. My wife went to one of their winter courses. It's kinda like adult summer camp, with 1/2 day courses related to hunting, fishing, shooting and other outdoor activities. Do a web search and see whats available around your area.