221 Fireball

I didn't go quite that far, but I did put my .22s in the back of the gun safe, where they will remain until .22 ammo is a regular commodity again.   I'd really like to hear some numbers on how bad sales have been for .22 firearm manufacturers. I can't see people rushing out to buy one right now with the current ammo situation. I know I wouldn't.

I've had great success with a 20 year pet load of 17 gr. Blue Dot, mag primer, and 240 XTP out of my 8 3/8 Mod 29 ... a dozen plus dead deer can't be wrong! :up:

13.5?! That's only 10 grains more Bullseye than I use for .38...LOL. :ugh:   I've recently been loading a sweet .357 for my rifle, 12.5grs of H110, mag primer, 180gr Sierra, doing 1300+ out of my Marlin 1892.

I'm finding it sitting on the Walmart shelves on a weekly bases, and I don't go to Walmart until about 10:00am :pleased:   I guess since they're making it from nail gun blanks, brass should be plentiful for Winchester to divert it over to the ammo line. I think it will remain readily available, unless all the .22 rimfire owners who can't find ammo rush out and buy a B-Mag :rofl:   I also think it be awesome for prairie dogs, as you can chuck the empty out on the ground and forget about it. I did one prairie dog hunt in Wyoming a few years back, and while it was a blast laying havoc on a dog town, it was a bit depressing on how fast you could delete your stash of handloads that took hours to produce and minutes to deplete!

Soooo many toys ... but I like it! :up:

Yep, OS, especially in rifle rounds.   Guess the simple answer asked by the poster isn't entirely simple, but a lot of us "reply'ers" sure are!   :rofl:

Was at the Hermitage Walmart yesterday at 10:30 am to buy paint supplies and of course strolled over to the ammo case. They had about 10 boxes of CCI Stingers on the shelf, $5.99 per 50. I bought one box, could've bought three, but not sure how Stingers will shoot in my pistol(s). They had a good stack of .17HMR boxes on the shelf there too at $14 a box. The new norm price I guess. Seems .17 were going for $11 about a year or so ago...can't remember for sure.   The manager said the gypsies were still lurking at 7am most days, but they're slowing down a bit too.   I'd be curious to hear from the dealers if .22 rifles and pistol sales have declined in the past year due to ammo unavailability. I for one have no desire to buy any more .22 firearms at this point.

+1 :pleased:

Yes, Browning was the design genius, but Winchester was the marketing genius. From what I've read, they had a 20+ years working relation. As far as inventing the first, I believe it was Mr Spencer (can't remember the first name), he of course invented the Spencer repeating carbine in 1860 which was actually used in the Civil War. About the same time, Mr Henry came out with one also. The first Winchester I believe was the 1866, and I believe they were all Brownings design...I know the 1892 was, which was my favorite.   All those lever guns will always be in my heart, they were my earliest 'gun addiction' as I watched TV Westerns every Sat morning in the 60s. Guys like Chuck Connors, aka The Rifleman, was just plain badass back then. :pleased:

I hear you MK...one never knows really, you can get a lemon in anything...including cheap guns and expensive guns. One of the worst guns I ever bought was a brand new Colt Diamondback .38 in the 70s. The darn thing was out of time and shaving lead new out of the box!

Ah, ballistics, the never ending debate...lol. :pleased:   How about ask the deer? Dead is dead if you put it where it needs to go. I have a Marlin .357 and a Win 94 30-30...without a mathamatical calculation hoe-down, I can tell you my "thurty thurty" kicks a hell of a lot more with a 150 grainer vs my 1894 Marlin with a 158 (my favorite .357 load). Either will take deer, but the fact is ...for me anyway...I leave them both in the safe and take the ol' 7/08 when I want to lay one down...heh,heh :up:   I do agree with those above though....no scopes on those lever guns...they're made for fast, short shots! Nothing feels quite as balanced as a good lever gun....John Wayne knew his stuff! :usa:   BTW - did you know the lever action is the only American rifle action we can claim as our own design? Yep, that Oliver WInchester was sure a smart feller.

KaNuckles, I just noticed that you're in Dickson. If you don't mind a road trip, Whittaker Guns in Owensboro is one of the largest CZ dealers I know of. He has a rack of them anytime I've gone in there. That's where I bought my Canvasback, which is a 20 gauge btw. Check their Website....Whittakerguns.com I think...

Not sure about all the "he said, she said", but I bought a CZ Canvasback O/U eight years ago and shot a weekly skeet league with it with zero problems for two years. In other words, I've put a lot of lead down the tubes. The fit and finish is outstanding considering the price, as is the Turkish walnut. I also owned a Ruger Red Label, which never fit me right, and sold it after I bought the CZ. I then bought a Beretta Silver Onyx because I thought I needed a 'fancy' gun. Kept it a year, and sold it because my CZ was still my go to gun.   So here's one CZ owner that says "Theyrrrrrrrre Great!" :up:

LOL...I imagine that's my son's exact thoughts when we ride...him on his FZ8 and me on my old man Road King ... I resemble that remark :pleased:

Put her on "The Voice!"   What a freak.

Paul, I'm standing by to help in any way. Prayers to a safe return.   Walt

Having a high dollar alarm system is piece of mind. If it ever goes off ...   First I hit the megadeath button on the headboard post from my saferoom/bedroom, which of course activates the steel bars closing on all windows and doors after the perps are inside, which then opens the gates to release the hyenas which are minimally fed.   Of course if they manage to climb up onto something, the camera's on the remote Dillon mini-gun would pick up on that.   Finally after my 9/11 call to the county coroner, I'd grab my classic Model 29 6 1/2" pinned and recessed "Dirty Harry" model .44 magnum for any mop up and ask the question..."Do you feel lucky, punk?" :cool:   :rofl:

I imagine NSA is already watching your (our) backyards. :ugh:

Hmmm.... a new prank involving a shotgun could be born from this as well. What a tempting aerial target!   "Sorry officer, I thought it was aliens invading my personal air space."    :rofl:

So what I'm thinking Terry is this... put an empty gun safe in your garage, don't bolt it down, hide your guns under the mattresses and in the closet like the old days, and won't the perps be surprized when they drag your safe home and open it up to find a note that says "Gotcha!"  :rofl:

When I was a Ky resident (3 years ago), Ky Gun Co was my 'go to' gun shop (about an hours drive from the house). They have GREAT prices, especially on new guns. I never traded one in as I've found in the past, most gun shops pretty much offer you 'wholesale' prices on trade-in. Best bet is to post your stuff on TGO if you're needing to free up some new gun money :pleased:

Welcome Chuck and thanks for serving!   My son and I both shoot IDPA at MCTS and GGC. We may even have crossed paths before. This is a great site, though it has caused me to spend too much money from time to time when I see those toys on the classifieds I think I have to have...LOL.   Walt :usa:

Gosh, you make me feel old...heh,heh.   I started squirrel hunting at age 10, that be 1965, and we were still buying paper shells. Seems plastic came on in the late sixties, by the time I was a teenager and started duck hunting. The hoopla over plastic hulls by then was that they wouldn't swell if they got wet, like paper. Funny thing is, I can't ever remember having a paper shell wet enough that it wouldn't feed my shotgun. They had a waxy coating so they were pretty durable really.   Enfield, I still have probably 30 or 40 paper shells left. I can't find any market worth to them, I even tried on TGO once with no takers, though free would probably work. :pleased: But once in awhile, especially if I'm squirrel hunting, I'll slip a few in my pocket if I'm using my single shot or double barrel... just to add some nostalgia to the hunt. I have had a couple not go off, but then they are close to 50 years old I imagine. If I were you, I'd shoot them...they're kind of fun to watch the old paper wads come blowing out too...like confetti!

Hey Pat,   Just my two cents, but I have a Marlin 1892 .357 and a Ruger M-77 all weather in 7.62x39. I LOVE BOTH rifles...but that little AK round just hits a harder. I reload for both, so either rifle is pretty versatile and either rifle is flat out fun to shoot with little recoil. With lots of surplus ammo available, I think the 7.62x39 round be the one for SHTF situations though, and you can get full metal jacket stuff too.   But either caliber, you'll find that M-77 a blast to shoot and accurate too. They also make it in .44 mag, which has always interested me as well. I can not think of a single quirk on the 77. I've owned four during my life and all of them functioned and shot great. You can't beat the mauser action and you sure can't beat the genius of Bill Ruger's guns.

  Ah, good point ... "Would you mind to fetch me my .45 magazine in my truck?" Does he bring back my clip or my copy of American Handgunner. :rofl: