ARKANSAS SPORTSMAN

Semi-automatic scare paying off for gun dealers

— The shooting industry is experiencing a remarkable boom.

Anticipating a resurrection of the 1994 assault weapons ban, and perhaps even tighter regulations, buyers have snapped up almost all the semi-automatic, AR-15 style firearms. It is difficult to impossible to find these rifles in gun stores anywhere in Arkansas. If you were planning to buy one, you might have to wait awhile.

High capacity magazines are even harder to find, even for AR-style plinker rifles chambered for .22LR. Before the Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Conn., a 25-round magazine for a Smith & Wesson M&P 15/22 cost between $19 and $22. On Internet gun auction sites, the starting price for that item is now $72. Many sellers offer them in packages of three starting at about $210. People are bidding on them at those prices, too. Again, that’s just for .22LR magazine. Full size magazines for .223 Rem. or 5.56x45 NATO are even higher.

Tactical style rifles in .22LR are scarce, too, but they haven’t seen the huge price spikes of the .224-cal. versions. When available, the M&P 15/22 still retails for around $500.

It is a panic-buying spree like the one that occurred in 2008-2009, when many gun owners feared that the Obama administration and a Democratic congress would outlaw those types of firearms and their accessories. At that time, the price of a new AR-15 jumped from about $800 to a peak of around $2,000. Prices had almost returned to 2008 levels when the Sandy Hook shooting renewed fears of a federal assault on tactical-style weapons and accessories.

Apparently, manufacturers are holding off making new weapons and magazines until the new regulatory climate becomes clear. I overheard the assistant manager at a local gun shop Wednesday tell a customer that “they’re probably not going to be making anything they can’t sell.”

It’s not just AR-style firearms and accessories that are scarce. Reloading components are also in short supply, especially those for loading .223/5.56x45. That includes popular powders for reloading those cartridges, like Varget, H322, H335, Reloder 7, Reloder 19, IMR-4831, IMR-4895 and Win. 748.

Chris Hodgdon of Hodgdon Powder said Wednesday that he has never seen demand like this. Hodgdon Powder also owns all the IMR propellents. Chris Hodgdon said it’s going to be a challenge to meet the demand in the coming year and that he sees no end to this current cycle.

Also, 224-caliber bullets are hard to find.

It happened in 1994, too. There was a run on all bulk bullets back then, but primers were especially scarce for a time amid rumors that the government would close the market on reloading components and increase the taxes on factory ammo by several thousand percent. Right now, primers are plentiful, but the 1994 rumors are floating anew.

If you read the actual 1994 assault weapons ban, it’s interesting to note how many exceptions it contained to exempt bona fide hunting firearms like the BrowningBAR, Remington 742 and a multitude of other semi-automatic rim fire rifles and semiautomatic shotguns like the Browning Auto-5 and the Remington 1100.

From 1994-2004, when the ban was in effect, the hunting firearms sector flourished. Winchester introduced its entire line of short magnum cartridges in 2002, and Remington soon introduced a full line of short action ultra magnum cartridges. The .50 BMG came into prominence among civilian shooters, as did the .338 Lapua. Since 2004, tactical style firearms have comprised the fastest growing segment of the industry.

KUDOS

A tip of the hat to Remington Arms customer service department.

About a year ago I bought a new Remington 105 CTi shotgun. That’s the unique semiautomatic 12-gauge that loads and ejects from the bottom.

I love the gun, but I noticed the Limbsaver recoil pad was unusually tacky. Once in my possession, the pad quickly deteriorated into goo, rendering the gun virtually unusable. I have to store it in my safe upside down because it absorbs everything it touches, especially carpet fibers. It left liquid rubber streaks all down the butt stock, which I had to remove with oil.

I called Remington to complain. A woman in the customer service department logged my complaint and requested the shotgun’s serial number. She said a new pad would be sent to me at no cost.

The new pad arrived about one week later, complete with two new installation screws. It appears to be better constructed than the old pad, which has been exiled to a place in my shop where it can rot in peace.

Sports, Pages 25 on 01/13/2013

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