TOP HUNTING & SHOOTING GEAR BRANDS

Want to know what the top brands and products were that hunters and target shooters preferred most in 2008? The list below has been compiled from the 24,206 surveys completed by volunteer hunters & target shooters last year for http://www.huntersafety.com/ and http://www.targetshootingsurvey.com/. You might want to check these sites out and take a survey - it puts you in to win a $100 gift certificate:

Top muzzleloader brand: CVA (40.8% of all purchases)
Top handgun brand: Smith & Wesson (18.4% of all purchases)
Top scope for firearms: BSA (16.1% of all purchases)
Top rifle ammunition brand: Remington (29.9% of all purchases)
Top shotgun ammunition brand: Winchester (35.7% of all purchases)
Top handgun ammunition brand: Winchester (26.1% of all purchases)
Top blackpowder brand: Pyrodex (39.0% of all purchases)
Top balls, bullets, or shot brand: Powerbelt (34.9% of all purchases)
Top bow brand: BowTech (22.0% of all purchases)
Top arrow brand: Easton (40.5% of all purchases)
Top fletching brand: Bohning (26.3% of all purchases)
Top broadhead brand: Muzzy (21.5% of all purchases)
Top game call brand: Primos (35.9% of all purchases)
Top reloading bullet brand: Hornady (23.0% of all purchases)
Top reloading powder brand: Hodgdon (33.0% of all purchases)
Top binocular brand: Bushnell (29.4% of all purchases)
Top knife brand: Buck (19.8% of all purchases)
Top shooting target brand: Shoot-N-C (37.7% of all purchases)

Launched in 2006, HunterSurvey.com and TargetshootingSurvey.com help the firearms and outdoor equipment industries, government officials, and conservation organizations track consumer activities and expenditure trends. The list above represents only a small sample of the vast amount of information that is available from the complete survey results. The results are scientifically analyzed to reflect all US hunters and target shooters.

FRIDAY THE 13TH

FIRST, let me assure you that this post is not intended as NOT bad news, since, after all, it is Friday the 13th. I just happened to notice that I haven't posted anything on here since Valentine's Day and thought maybe I should make an effort. I have been busy though, doing our personal income tax forms, along with the Corporate taxes, so, that in itself, has kept me quite busy these past few weeks. Business taxes are due March 16th, so I slid in right under the deadline......anyway, back to business.......

As some of our local customers know, we are down on inventory!!! Not because we can't afford to buy anything, no sir, there is nothing available out there. Handguns are getting harder and harder to find. And ammunition, well let's just say that's a conversation in itself. I just read an extremely interesting article on questioning the shortage:

Contrived US
Ammunition Shortage

From Charleston Voice
3-8-9

From an undisclosed, but reliable source. I'd like to know who told Remington to cut back on production.... ______ Less than 10 days ago I went to buy my wife a handgun from a large national sporting goods retail outlet near Boise. They have 3 very large sets of shelves that are normally stacked high with every imaginable type of ammo, but on this day they had maybe 2% of their normal stock and 0, yes ZERO .38 cal. When I asked the salesman about it he said that they have not been able to get much and when they do it sells within a few days. Because I am so concerned about what is unfolding in our country I decided to check around. Out of 5 major outlets I was able to obtain 2 boxes of .40 cal. and 1 box of .38, 250 rounds total. The story from each salesman was the same, there is none available and they don't know when they will receive more. At one location I got talking with the clerk and he told me that his brother works for Remington and has run their ammo making machines for over 10 years, in the past few years they have run 12 hours a day 7 days a week. TWO WEEKS after our last elections their management informed them that they were to cut back to 2 1/2 days a week and only run 8 hour a day. He said they had 50 semi-truck trailers waiting to be loaded but that they could not fill them. A small family owned gun store I have dealt with for the last several years had quite a bit available but I was told again that they have scoured the entire area and bought everything they could find to resell, and they thought what they had would be gone by this Monday, tomorrow. After talking more with the owner he told me that last Wednesday and Thursday his staff had spent the entire time calling every gun store in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington and could not locate anything more than a few boxes here and there. While I was in the store he took off to drive all the way to Montana to get what was available there in a few small towns, that is at least a 16 hour round trip drive. Apparently over thirty people were waiting for an ammo shipment in Mt. Home, Id. and when the Semi finally arrived it had only 12 boxes of pistol ammo aboard and they were told not to expect anymore in the near future. I haven't heard this situation mentioned anywhere, and I would never have discovered it if I hadn't gone to purchase a gun. Something very strange is happening out here. I can only hope that it is a local phenomenon, but I fear that is much larger. Please inform your readers so that they can find out for themselves.