Here are some things worth mentioning:

Hodgdon has taken over the distribution and packaging rights to Winchester powder. The powder line will not be changed, all that should change is the packaging to Hodgdon's round cans. Furthermore, if your local dealer has not been able to get Win powders, but he can get Hodgdon, look for Win powders to become more available. Hodgdon has also come out with a new powder 'US 869' which is a ball powder, slightly faster than H50BMG. Jeffe and BoomStick... sounds right up your alley.

High Standard has bought the rights to the entire AMT line. They have done some minor redesigning and per word of mouth from the HS booth, their guns actually work. The biggest thing to come of this is the fact that parts and magazines will interchange with the old AMT pistols.

PMC has closed their Boulder City factory. No more weird cowboy calibers (ie 40-65 and 45-90) and no more Starfire, at least not for the next few months. The cowboy ammo is definately gone and PMC is looking for someone to pick up manufacture of Starfire and ElDorado lines.

No word on Winchester rifles. Have heard that they have about a years worth of inventory in storage, but who is to say if they have a decent selection of everything, or if their shelves are full of Wal-Mart cheapies. If I has to guess, I would guess the latter.

I have not checked out the Rem 798 (Zastava rifle) yet.

Is there anything else I have forgotten to check, or anyone would like to know about?

-Spencer

Spencer,

Ask Steyr when they are going to market their hunting rifles better and make mags. available to us.

What happens in Vegas....

I was going to make another stop by the Steyr booth anyways to check out some really pretty fully case harderend rifles.

I can inquire about magazine availability, and rifle production and distribution tables.

-Spencer

Spencer, if you're up to it, I am very interested in the new M-85 Sako action.

If you get a chance.........

Spencer,

Can you stop by the Williams Firearms booth and check out their new action.

More new stuff...

The Remington 798 and 799 are just like the Charles Daly 98's and Mini-Mausers. Same bright blue job and even the markings on the side are the same deep roll stamping, except now it says 'Remington' not CD. The stocks arent bad, nice checkering and they look almost like a laminate.

The over under, double, and combo rifles are unmistakably Baikal. Over under shotguns are the same way. Hardwood stocks, rough blue job, Russian. Nothing fancy, but they do have grooved ribs, but they might be 11mm... possible difficulties with scope mounting. Not bad for the $699 or so MSRP.

Timney- New triggers for you CZ lovers. They have come out with triggers for the 452 and 550. The 452 production might be delayed as they are switching from an aluminum housing to a steel housing. The 550 is currently in production.

For the Sako rifle and Williams action (assuming Williams is here, I haven't seen them yet, but then again I haven't looked for them), what would you like to know about them?

Steyr could say nothing about availability of rifles or magazines.

One more day to go...

If you have ever had a question to ask a company, now is the time. The SHOT Show comes but once a year and its not everyday you get to chat with Frank Brownell, JB Wood (author), R Lee Ermey, and the owners of every million-dollar firearms corporation in a 4 day span.

-Spencer

Ask them why they dont make firearms anymore that pepole are proud of owning..

Quality control should be #1.. you should not have to go to a custom gunmaker these days to get quality. 10 minuts longer on a production line, and you would have a rifle you could go to hell and back with!


Oh, and give them a suggestion... listen to your customers.. when we say there is a problem, FIX IT. Find out what pepole are not satisfied with.

Like Remington importing cheap rifles, just to save some money. A satisfied customer buys more of your products.. the piece of $hit he just bought, gets stuffed in the safe, or sold, and buys from the competition next time.

Winchester: say good luck, hope FN lets Mirouku produce the M70 and the cowboy rifles. At least they know how to make quality.

Leupold. Tell them to make fix the canted reticles, make some FFP scopes, and make the controls reliable before they produce a gimmick like the melted scope. I want something that works before you re-design it.

Tell Zeiss, to make the Conquest a 30mm scope.. will probably not work, but.. they would make a Killing on the Tactical market. Their line has a nice reputiation of having superior glass, and etched reticles. 30mm, more adjustments, and rugged, and in 5 years Leupold should be out of the LE market. Writing on the wall..

Cz: Tell them to change distributor here in Norway. They suck.. cant get the 527 without paying through my nose. 2 crossbolts in their magnum rifles?



Ill probably think of something else soon..

one question..
remington spartan in 45/70
'WHEN'

Spencer,
Would love to know whether Hodgdon has any intention of dropping the Australian supplied powders (H4198, H4895, Varget, H4350, H4831SC) etc.
Cheers...
Con

I see no reason why Hodgdon would discontinue their Australian powders. Except for 4198, I am sure the rest of them are best sellers.

It is a little bit puzzling why Remington is picking up the Baikal and Zastava lines. I would think that EAA would jump at the chance to get back at least the shotguns.

It is a bit more complicated than Remington wanting to make an extra buck though. With unions and lawyers omnipresent, it is not surprising more companies are leaving the country.

I was recently informed that Winchester machinists were making $60/hr for their work. No wonder they are closing up.

Everybody wants to make $100 an hour and buy rifles for $200. A paradox if there ever was one.

A couple more updates worth mentioning:

The new Leupold with the funny front lens wasn't too impressive. 56mm front lens. It is awfully nice to have the scope nice and close to the receiver though.

Went by the Simmons/Redfield/Weaver booth. Impressive! Simmons and Redfield are completely redesigned and I would advise that you completely disassociate the old scopes with the new, especially Redfield. All part numbers beginning with a '5' are new production, which includes almost the entire Redfield and Simmons lines except for pistol scopes and Simmons 22MAG series. Redfield is being billed now as a premium line and Simmons as a low-cost entry brand, with Weaver in the middle. It is the first time they have had new catalouges printed since Meade bought them out about 3 or so years ago.

The Remington double IMO is too light. It feels like it would beat the hell out of you in a 45-70.

-Spencer

anyone know when the reminton 798 will become available. Especially the 375 and 458s

SPENCER
could you see if the williams actions are avaliable
daniel

I looked at the REm double 45-70. 11mm rib. handled well. looked like walnut, not "hardwood". Actually decent finish overall, very plain. Adjustment wheel in slot in underrib to spread or contract barrel spacing, about a foot back from muzzle. Pull 14.25" barrels 23.5" wt 7.5 pounds will kick furiously. Rem rep: no idea when it will be available, but scope rings will come with it. That will add a bit of weight.

Thanks for the update.

Any news from Nosler on the 6.5 Accubond?

Is Hornady gonna do a 6.5 IB?

Are you associated with Cliff's? I might stop in there on Tuesday.

quote:

Originally posted by vigillinus:
I looked at the REm double 45-70. 11mm rib. handled well. looked like walnut, not "hardwood". Actually decent finish overall, very plain. Adjustment wheel in slot in underrib to spread or contract barrel spacing, about a foot back from muzzle. Pull 14.25" barrels 23.5" wt 7.5 pounds will kick furiously. Rem rep: no idea when it will be available, but scope rings will come with it. That will add a bit of weight.

7.5lb 45-70's are NOT hard kickers

I will check to see if the stocks are walnut or hardwood. I will also confirm if they come with rings.

7.5lbs? My shoulder hurts just thinking about it.

-Spencer

The Baikals are all walnut and have a dark stain. Remington can't give anu approximation on 'When' because the people at the booth know nothing.

The Sako 85 was nice. The rear receiver ring has been lengthened, making for a nice smooth bolt travel. The magazine release is a little tricky where you have to push in and push down a bit that way if you are on a hunt and acrewing around with you gun, you don't dump your magazine by mistake.

The extractor is the same, just the bottom of the bolt has been machined away, so with the extractor on top, it doesnt 'control round feed until the last inch or so of pushing the bolt forward. More like a push-feed than CRF. Also, the booth guy said there is something like 40% more bolt face.

Nosler says they have a 6.5 Accubond in the works but dont expect it before the end of the year (he said 'maybe Sept' but what I hear is 'maybe next year').
Nobody at the Hornady booth could speak of a 6.5 IB, so I guess thats a 'no'.

Williams was listed in the catalog, but their space was empty. Looks like they didn't show up.

-Spencer

Spencer, that was exactly the info I was wondering about on the Sako--Thanks. Sounds like a Win action Charlie Sisk had described to me once--controlled push/feed! It's interesting to hear that the bolt travel is a bit smoother, I've got a bunch of M-75's and some are really smooth, some are just OK, and nobody I've had fondle em can tell me the diff.....oh well

Thanks again--Don

Williams didn't show up! Man, I hope everything is alright with him. I think he had mentioned being sick prior to the show.

I check his website everyday, as he said he'd post pictures of the new action at the same time as the show.

I went looking for Williams today also and was disappointed that they weren't there.
Remington told me that the 798 in .375 & .458 SHOULD be available around May.
The .45-70 double is a nice little gun and decent looking I think, but it is VERY light.

Put a Leupold 1.5-5x on the Rem double .45-70 and that will add some weight and hold down the recoil. We will have to wait and see how they shoot when they finally start coming through the pipeline, if we live that long .......

For my part, replace or recut the tiny U rear sight, use the factory 300 grain stuff, and you have pretty near the ideal thick woods deer rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by MajorCaliber:
7.5lb 45-70's are NOT hard kickers

at the last STC hunt, Rob had a cz O/U 458win mag double, opened to 458 lott, going 500gr at 2300....

and weighed 8.25

and was pleasant to shoot....

7.5# 45/70, even if 400gr at 2000 (works in other guns) will be BANG flop...

jeffe

quote:

Originally posted by BW:
Williams didn't show up! Man, I hope everything is alright with him. I think he had mentioned being sick prior to the show.

I check his website everyday, as he said he'd post pictures of the new action at the same time as the show.

Too bad Williams didn't show up...

The Remausers they had on display were -,+ $599 list.

Rich

I didn't check in during the show but now that I am home I can echo what SCR has posted.

I took a photo of the empty Williams booth, I was very disappointed to see that.

I fiddled with the Zastava/Rem 798 and 799. I had arran ged an interview with the Zastava folks before the show, and I got that done. You will have to read about that later.

I also spent some time at Steyr looking at rifles and talking with their President. Their new rifle this year is the SBS in .450 Marlin! That is for you big bore shooters, I will probably stay with my .376 Steyr.

The Winchester whoop-te-do is a long way from being finished.

jim

quote:

Originally posted by ShopCartRacing:
The extractor is the same, just the bottom of the bolt has been machined away, so with the extractor on top, it doesnt 'control round feed until the last inch or so of pushing the bolt forward.

Did you get a chance to feed rounds through one, and, if not, is this your impression or something the Sako/Beretta reps said? I'm asking because unless I am very confused by the photographs, the extractor looks like it is positioned only slightly higher on the bolt than that of a typical Mauser, not on top.

I wouldn't worry too much about a 7.5 lb 45-70. It is a lot easier to add weight to a gun that taking weight off. I can see adding a mercury recoil reducer in the butt if the recoil is "unpleasant."

Fast Ed

i wouldn't worry about the 7.5 lb. double rifle either. it is a mythical beast like the unicorn.

Anybody go by the Montana Rifleman Booth?

Any news to report on their actions particularly the Professional Hunter?

Posted by jeffosso!

quote:

at the last STC hunt, Rob had a cz O/U 458win mag double, opened to 458 lott, going 500gr at 2300....

and weighed 8.25

and was pleasant to shoot....

jeffosso, I use to believe every thing you said!.

Now I am wondering about your veracity.

465H&H

I did chat briefly with the MRC people. I wasn't really thinking about buying anything so I didn't quiz them has I have previously.

They did indicate that they are getting both the RH and LH blue and stainless actions out now. But that they were in the process of bringing all the machining work in house.They have apparently been through several machinists and have now given up on finding an outsider to produce the quality they require.

The PH action is ready to go into production but that step has not been taken as yet. It sounded like they had about 1/3 the number of orders that they anticipated needing but were pushing to start production anyway - betting on the results to come.

Les