Black Friday gun deals abound
The Washington Times says that the FBI performed 154,873 background checks yesterday as the long drought of the available guns seems to have ended. They report that it’s three times the number of any given day over the last year;
The actual number of guns sold was likely even higher. The FBI only tracks background checks, not sales — and weapons buyers can purchase more than one weapon at a time.
In the first ten months of this year, the FBI performed 17,238,102 background checks, which gun dealers say is actually a slower market, The Huffington Post reported. The panic-buys of 2012, fueled by President Obama’s vow to crack down on gun violence via more Second Amendment regulations, has cooled off slightly, they say. So they’ve ratcheted their marketing for this year’s holiday season, with Black Friday price-cuts abound.
I’ve noticed that the guns I’ve been looking for over the last year are appearing more often on Guns America and Gun Broker. I even picked up ammo for my .338 Lapua Mag for about half of what I paid for it seven months ago. Prices haven’t come down to the level they were in the Spring of 2012, but they’re getting there.
But I got an mail ad for a Black Friday sale from one of the ammo dealers and when I went to their website, most of the ammo I was looking at was out of stock still. So, I guess it’s not over yet.
Category: Guns
I’m still surprised that .45 ACP is as rare as hen’s teeth, and you’ve got a better chance of laying your hands on a pile of .17 HMR versus .22 LR. But yeah, prices are, for the most part, coming down, and that includes for the weapons as well.
I pretty much stocked up on ammo last year, but lately, what seemed like enough last year doesn’t feel like enough this year.
Did you guys hear about that Aussie farmer who had an ‘arsenal’ of guns (348, I think) and 4.2 TONS – not pounds or rounds, TONS – of ammo stored on his farm?
That’s where all that stuff went. That selfish man went on a bulk-buying spree and deprived you of your share. 😉
Jonn and everybody, try Ammoman.com . IUhave been using this company for several years. The prices you see includes S&H. They offer different amounts of ammo that you can buy. I have had no pombels with them. Joe
Oh, Jonn T-Rex died off millions of years ago. This from a guy that has a 9.3×62 (366 caliber) . I at least have Black Bears and Mountain Lions around me. Joe
“… the long drought of the available guns seems to have ended…”
And ammo. Breezed through the ammo aisle in WalMart last night, and saw plenty of .40 S&W in the cabinet. Time to review what I’ve got on hand, and start grabbing a couple-three boxes every payday.
I need help.
Dylan is a great shot. He has completed his indoc period with his Red Ryder and I am ready to buy him his firs 22.
Of course, I would like to get in on the action.
What make and model should I purchase?
Why not start with a crossbow? Bass Pro Shops has one for ‘youth’ sized people.
http://www.basspro.com/Parker-Challenger-Crossbow-Package-for-Youth-and-Ladies/product/120829053338653/
Handled the same as a rifle, ammo can be recovered and reused, and no license is required.
EX-PH2,
I am dead set on that classic 22 rifle that every young American should be trained on.
Dylan has a bow and is pretty good.
So … Again make and model please …
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!
MCPO,
If he’s a young ‘un, look at the Chipmunk or Cricket or Henry. (Might be some brand/manufacturer overlap there, I’ve been out of that market for DECADES.) Built smaller for the little’uns, and all single-shot bolt actions.
If he’s a larger kid, I’d recommend any name-brand bolt-action. Marlin, Ruger, Remington, etc.
My advice: Skip the semi-autos.* Bolt actions, loaded one round at a time, causes them to focus on making each shot count, rather than on tearing thru that 10-round magazine in 2.5 seconds ’cause it “sounds cool.” (Besides, there’ll be plenty of time for that later!)
*And if you DO get a semi anyways, find one that holds the bolt open after the last round. I loves my Ruger 10/22’s, but I hafta be sure to count my rounds fired so’s I don’t pull the trigger on an empty chamber. Not good for a 22s’ breech face.
I agree with Eagle, the Cricket is a good learning model, although I trained all my kids with a Ruger 10/22. I taught them to count their rounds, if you start young it seems to make it instinctual for them.
To Jonn, .338 Lapua is on my want list! Ammo prices still suck out here on the left coast, although I get .40 for free they have started really limiting how much we can sneak away with from the range.
MCPO:
Just to clarify (in case you don’t already know): Pulling the trigger on an empty chamber on ANY .22 — bolt or semi-auto, rifle or handgun — causes the firing pint to strike the breech face (instead of the cartridge rim). Once or twice won’t hurt anything. But do it enough and it will deform in the chamber mouth enough to prevent extraction of the spent brass. The extractor claw just skips over the rim, leaving the empty in place. And when you go to chamber the next round, it jams against the stuck brass.
It can be easily repaired by any competent gunsmith, but it pretty much shuts down shooting until then. No fun. So train junior not to pull the trigger on an empty chamber if he can avoid it. Then he can spend his allowance on ammo instead of the gunsmith.
Oh, and you can still dry fire a rimfire for practice. They make plastic “snap caps” — little dummy rounds — that protect the breech face from damage. Or you can just use spent brass.
MCPO…just stopped by the local gun shop this morning with the 13-yo girl child and while she says she wouldn’t shoot anything at this point, she loved the Cricket and (to my relief) the Sharps survival .22.
The boy (and you) would be better served to have something he can learn to shoot but more importantly, not outgrow. For that, get a 10/22 or the Browning semiauto.
Better still, consider a .17 HMR as well.
Master Chief, I had a lovely Thanksgiving, thank you.
I suggest that you get Dylan a Buntline Special and tell him to not shoot himself in the foot. You can get it with a shoulder stock, and it’s single action so he has to take more time and care when shooting.
http://www.uberti.com/firearms/revolver-carbine-and-buntline.php
Either that or get him a two-shot Derringer and ration the ammo.
@ MCPO
I would pick a Savage Mark II in 22LR
http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/model/MARKIIF
The one I linked is the plain one with a synthetic stock and open sites. You could also get a Savage Mark II with a target barrel or wooden stock.
Another vote for the 10/22. They’re about as reliable as a ball peen hammer, and have more after market goodies than Harley.
As I well know- the receiver housing is about the only “stock” item remaining on mine.
I’m rather partial to old surplus military training rifles. I’ve got a US Property marked Mossberg model 44 with a hooded front sight. I once shot a dime sized 10 round group at 50 yards with that thing.
I say the good’ol 10/22, but I’m also partial to my Winchester 9422, and there’s nothing wrong with a Henry .22 lever action, either!
I learned to shoot with a Mauser that my father brought back from WWII. Looked just like the German service Mauser 98, but it was a single shot, .22 long rifle caliber. If that wasn’t cool enough, he had the bayonet for it, too. Still have it, wouldn’t sell it for anything.
*OOP!* I forgot to reset my screen name after replying to that cockroach turd, vwp!
MCPO, some good advice above, but allow me to come down on the side of a good bolt action .22. Now, I am partial to Remington, and the first “family” gun we got was one. Now, it wasn’t mine but family as I was about 7 or so, but it was what Dad used to teach me to shoot. It became the standard gun for squirrel hunting, plinking, and the killing of nasty small- to medium-sized varmits. In fact, with subsonic .22 it can be used even in a suburban environment with few any the wiser. I still have that gun. My first official gun was a 20-guage shotgun when I was about 11 or so for hunting. Replaced not long after for deer hunting with a Marlin .35Rem. If you don’t go bolt, consider the lever action as like a bolt it will encourage making shots count.
Wow. Thanks. Many good recs.
Looks like Ruger 10 22 is a solid rec.
What model is best semi auto?
bolt action CZ452 Scout.
Semi Autos, especially one as reliable as the 10/22, will not help develop patience on shot placement, since you’re just a trigger pull away from banging home another shot.
My Dad used to take the five of us boys to the town dump on Sundays after church to shoot rats with a Remington 514 B/A SS. You miss, you lost your turn. Still have that 514.
Master Chief–I still give my vote for the Browning SA-22. My father bought one when I was a kid (they weren’t cheap, even then) but it’s by far the best .22 semi-auto I’ve ever fired, even including the 10/22.
The Browning goes for about $600, although I’ve seen them used for as little as $450 (and I’m kicking myself for not getting it.) That’s the kind of rifle you use for a lifetime and pass it down.
Just in time for the first anniversary of the newtown massacre! How many children will be massacred next time ?
Wow dude, you’re dumb. Never seen such an irrational fear of inanimate objects in my entire life.
@26, can you be any more of a dumbass mouthpiece (or is it dumbmouth asspiece?) for the dim-o-crap party?
The Sandyhook shootings happened on December 14th. The person who committed the crime was kept out of a hospital because of policies set in place by the Democrats. He stole the weapons that were used and killed the person they belonged to.
It was not the guns, but the criminal, that killed the children. Blaming the guns would be akin to blaming cars for drunk driving, a pen for misspelling a word, or spoons for making you fat. It’s not the inanimate object, but the person using the object.
If you think otherwise, then you definitely have read too much Harry Potter and/or Democrap talking points.
MC,the Ruger 10/22 is a .22 caliber semi-auto with a 10 round rotary magazine. It’s a fine trainer, plinker, and varmint getter right out of the box. Modifications are nearly endless, from tacti-cool to target (my personal choice) and anything in between. It’s scalable, so as the lad grows new furniture is just a website away.
I’ve seen the bolt-semi Ford-Chevy argument many times, and each has merit. But for a first time trainer, simple is best, and a 10/22 with a decent scope and a good instructor is a hard combination to beat.
He doesn’t actually care about the killings or what caused them, not so long as the kids weren’t “minorities” which are going to (somehow) usher in his progressive utopia at some future point and make his own useless existence somehow less pointless and stupid. Not that he can pronounce, much less understand the concept of, demographics. He just spouts out one lefty hot button issue after another without applying any kind of thought process.
Lefties are just counter-tribalists at heart, and vwp is the kind of useful idiot that they use to drown out any reasoned or rational discourse with monotonous sloganeering. I suppose he thinks that tactic ought to work here, since in his experience it has worked with all the mindless lefties he associates (and by that I mean panhandles and smokes pot) with. His stupidity comforts me to a large extent, since I am certain that one of us could convince him to walk in front of a semi without expending much effort.
@26 I’ll answer yours with one of mine. How many psychopaths are deterred by your gun-free zones?
Chief,the single shot bolt in youth size. I suggest that you have him a better rifle thru a test you devise.
@26–dunno scooter–the only mental case here who would even remotely be capable of such an act here is you.
Ass for you VWP, target shooting requires fine motor skills and mentally ding and doing all the things the body has to do to the bullet in the X-ring.THE legal firearms ownersdo not shoot other humans except for self defenseor to another person. Most times just showing you are and ready defuses the situation.No matter what scares you or what you believe.The firearm wiil harm anyone. Please to a range with a good teacher. VWP , you just might like in spite of your pervious ideas about shooting. Joe
Vwp, you and your ilk are among the most idiotic, intolerant fools in Human History. You and your ilk are what Vladimir Lenin referred to as “useful idiots”!
Gun Control Laws and the politicians that pass them do little more than aid, abet, and embolden violent criminals by assuring them that law-abiding people will be conveniently unarmed VICTIMS. Just look at the facts, which just like logic (and working for an honest living), are something you and your fellow fools are very allergic to! VA Tech, the theater in Aurora, CO, as well as the schools shot up were “Gun-Free Zones” something guaranteeing an armed psychotic coward a resistance-free shooting gallery! With rights come responsibilities, something I and all other law-abiding Gun Owners take seriously. All of the mass shooters in the past gave off warning signs which were ignored, another sign that we can’t trust the Government to take care of us! As for you, why don’t you take a one-way trip to Cuba or North Korea and renounce your US Citizenship once you’re there?
Come on, guys. vwp is just another skanky, greasy, weed-toking asshole with a brain the size of a pea who gets his jollies from yanking your doorbell and then running away. S/eh/it/whatever wants your attention and gets it by saying something stupid and then runs and hides, like the no-balls coward IT is.
Name one time vwwtfp has actually answered any of your rebuttals, never mind even put one coherent sentence in a post.
The pattern is fly in, drop a turd or two and run like hell. Bully, bully, bully and wait until the snapping and snarling begin while that scumbucket hides in the bushes.
Problem is that if IT pokes the watchdog often enough, IT will get the unpleasant results. Look at what’s happening to psulie-o the uncoolie-o the bitchy boy toi-boiar. Yeah. You got it.
This is all designed to rile you, nothing else. Don’t feed that skank’s fucking ego. Not worth it.
VWP. You know nothing about responsible gun ownership. You know nothing of honorable service or the what it takes to wage war. And clearly you have too much time on your hands while contributing little here and perhaps even less to society.
KMRIA!
So that is your anwser at least he got it on sale on black friday when the next one with an assault rife blasts a school full of children to pieces as they scream for their mommys!
It’s pretty clear that #40 is a segment in the Human Leftist Centipede, just behind Insipid…
Thru out history the left has always been right and the right has always been wrong! Sam adams and tom paine were not conservatives and george washington was are trotsky, giap or lin piao! Buchanan was a conservative not Lincoln! Conservatism has a long history of treason and evilness from the loyalist in 1776 to are very own day of traitors like reagan and bush t ted cruz and tea bagger racists! John brown was the patriot lee the traitor! Southern ignorant white trash say they will never forget on their bumber stickers. They are right they should never forget that they LOST!
Vwpissbucket, did you even make it to the fourth grade before you dropped out of school and started drawing welfare? The Sandy Hook shooter murderedhis Mother, who tried to have him committed before he went on that rampage in that school, which is a “Gun-Free Zone” just like VA Tech. You forget that these crimes get committed in violation of laws that alreadt exist, laws alone do not prevent crimes, they have to be enforced. Millions of legally owned firearms ARE NOT used in any crime whatsoever every day, you’re just too big of an idiot to see past your hate and prejudice you possess against those of us who work to earn a living and pay the taxes that end up in your welfare checks every month!
You lose again.
@42 VWP
1.Stop drinking smelly water.
2.“Never Forget” is typically in reference to Andersonville.
3.Please stop butchering the English language. Best bet is to type whatever the hell you are trying to communicate into a word document. It won’t really help your logic but it will make my head hurt less if your grammar and spelling isn’t an insult to literature as a whole.
@1: Sparky; we have everything but .22LR. If you need .45, do a road trip over here and pick some up 🙂 9mm is still a little iffy at times, but everything else has come back and the prices are getting back to reality. As for firearms prices……all those assholes that were charging $2000-$2500 for a standard AR-15 in the Spring and Summer; I hope you bastards lost your ass, because you thought you could be all sorts of greedy, now that AR prices have come back down to normal.
So the pest had himself Joe Teti cocktail again? Drinking his own drug-polluted urine? No surprise there.
I recently got a letter from Henry Rifles stating that their distributor network is well stocked on nearly every model that they make.
The Henry .22 Carbine lever gun is a great starter for a kid. I doubt that it could be beat, dollar for dollar.
@43…yeah, ain’t that a bitch? No .22 ANYWHERE in town I looked. Oh well, the girl wants to drag the family to a movie today and Jittery isn’t that far away.
Ex-PH2, he guzzles bong water in between glasses of Kool-Aid when he’s not sniffing glue behind the bus stop!
Proud: 🙂
Thought you might like that one, Ma’am!
@46-:we got lucky yesterday at the Bass Pro in Little Rock. They had 333-round boxes of .22 for $18, limit one per customer- luckily there were three of us there
For on-line ammo, go to gunbot.net and place your order.