11 « March « 2024 « Daily Bulletin

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March 11th, 2024

BargainFinder 442: AccurateShooter’s Deals of the Week

At the request of our readers, we provide select “Deals of the Week”. Every Sunday afternoon or Monday morning we offer our Best Bargain selections. Here are some of the best deals on firearms, hardware, reloading components, optics, and shooting accessories. Be aware that sale prices are subject to change, and once clearance inventory is sold, it’s gone for good. You snooze you lose.

NOTE: All listed products are for sale to persons 18 years of age or older. No products are intended for use by minors.

1. Palmetto State Armory — Semi-Auto 12ga Shotgun, $199.99

⏺ Great owner reports on versatile, sub-$200 shotgun

This might just be the shotgun deal of the decade. Right now you can get a reliable, optics-ready 12ga semi-auto shotgun for just $199.99. The 8-pound G-Force GF99 DLX Shotgun features a 20″ barrel, full Picatinny rail, and ships with a 5+1 magazine. Weight, unloaded, is 8 pounds. Read the very positive reviews from verified buyers: “Won’t find a better gun for the money… reliability [and] usability 5 stars”; “Cycles perfect. No jamming… go for it”; “Not one malfunction… I’m 100% happy with the purchase.”

2. MidwayUSA — BOG Tripod + Electronic Muffs Combo, $139.99

⏺ Save $70 on outstanding tripod and electronic muffs combo

Here’s a great combo for PRS/NRL shooters and/or hunters. You get the excellent BOG Deathgrip Tripod AND Caldwell E-Max Electronic Muffs for just $139.99 total. Plus you get free shipping this week from MidwayUSA. The BOG DeathGrip Tripod has rugged aluminum legs and a patented hands-free clamp. The bipod head pans 360 degrees with cant adjustment. The 3-position leg angle lock allows bipod use in standing, kneeling, and prone positions. The comfortable, low-profile E-Max Pro electronic muffs have a 23dB noise reduction rating (NRR).

3. Powder Valley — Hodgdon and Alliant Powders in Stock

⏺ Ultra-popular Hodgdon powders now available at good prices

This is your lucky day — many super-popular Hodgdon powders are in stock right now at Powder Valley. That’s right, you can order Hodgdon Varget, H4350, and H4831SC right now. And other Hodgdon powders are available starting at $32.99/lb. Plus many popular Alliant and IMR powders are in stock at Powder Valley including the outstanding Alliant Reloder 16. NOTE: If your favorite powder sells out, Midsouth also has Varget, RL16, H4350, and other top choices in stock including 8-lb jugs of H4350 and H4831sc for $390.99 ($48.87/lb).

4. CDNN Sports — Walther .22LR Pistol + TrekLite Safe, $289.99

⏺ Combo Deal — rimfire pistol with Hornady compact LockBox safe

Everyone should have a good .22 LR rimfire pistol for training and fun shooting. We really like the Walther P22 Target Model. This has excellent ergonomics and a nice trigger. With its forward compensator, this pistol has almost no muzzle flip, allowing very rapid shot strings. Currently you can get this P22 pistol plus a Hornady TrekLite Lockbox XXL portable gun safe — all for just $289.99 at CDNN Sports. Get the Lockbox via Walther mail-in rebate. CLICK HERE for Rebate INFO. NOTE: If you already have a .22 LR Pistol, CDNN has the gun+safe combo offer with other Walther 9mm and .380 ACP handguns.

5. Creedmoor Sports — Canvas Shooter Coat, $120.00

⏺ Save 20% ($29.95) on very good canvas shooting coat

Creedmoor Sports makes some of the best shooting coats you can buy. Right now the popular Deluxe Canvas Shooting Coat is 20% off. Regularly $149.99, this is now on sale for $120.00, a $29.99 savings. This coat is very popular with High Power shooters, and Garand/Vintage military rifle shooters. Act soon as this discount ends on Tuesday 3/12/2024 at noon CST.

6. GunZoneDeals — MTM GV-30 CaseGard Gun Vise, $35.99

⏺ Great price on versatile, well-designed gun vise

Here’s an excellent gun vise on sale for just $35.99. The versatile MTM GV-30 CaseGard Gun Vise supports rifles and shotguns for cleaning/maintenance. High and low forks allow level or angled gun placement. The rubber-padded rotating stock clamp provides a firm hold. The base has 14 different compartments for tools/solvents, plus 11 slots for jags, brushes, and screwdrivers. On the side are tabs for two cleaning rods. This GV-20 vise is made from rugged, solvent-resistant polypropylene plastic. If this sells out on GunZoneDeals, Midsouth has the GV-30 Vise for $38.00.

7. Locked&Loaded — CCI Blazer 9mm Ammo, $219.99 1000 rds

⏺ Quality 9mm brass-cased ammo at a super-low price — $0.22/round

CCI makes very reliable pistol ammo with reloadable brass cases. Right now you can get 1000 rounds of CCI Blazer 9mm FMJ ammo for just $219.99 at LockedLoaded.com. That price works out to just $11.00 per 50-round box — a fantastic price. This very affordable 115gr Blazer 9mm ammo is excellent for practice/training, and it is more reliable than commercial reloads.

8. Amazon — Caldwell Pistolero Handgun Shooting Rest, $22.39

⏺ Handy adjustable rest fits nearly all types of pistols and revolvers

A small compact rest definitely helps with handgun load development and accuracy testing. A good choice (at a great price) is the Caldwell Pistolero shooting rest (#ad), now just $22.39 on sale at Amazon. The Caldwell Pistolero rest is durable, and the support surfaces will not mark your pistols. The hand support is comfortable to use. With 5 inches of rear pad movement and and 3 inches of vertical adjustment in the front, the Pistolero rest accommodates virtually all handguns, providing a stable shooting surface.

9. Amazon — GuardTech Plus Gun Cleaning Kit, $43.50

⏺ Excellent full-featured cleaning kit for all types of guns

This big GuardTech Plus Cleaning Kit will work for rifles, pistols, and even shotguns. You get a big selection of brushes, jags, and mops that fit calibers .17 to .50. In addition, there are picks and tooth-brush-style brushes for cleaning your action, plus a pull-through cleaning rope. You get all this, in a nice fitted hard case, for just $43.50 on Amazon. Choose green case (as shown), or black case.

10. MidwayUSA — Wheeler Bore Lapping Kit, $21.89

⏺ Simple, inexpensive method to enhance factory barrels — Save 54%

This kit can help polish a rifle bore to remove factory machining marks and reduce fouling. With this kit you coat bullets so they can perform a lapping function as they are fired through the barrel. This Wheeler Lapping Kit consists of three 1 oz. jars of silicon carbide abrasive pastes (220 Cutting Grit, 320 Smoothing Grit, and 600 Polishing Grit) and two steel application plates. NOTE: We do NOT recommend using this kit with high-quality, hand-lapped barrels from makers such as Bartlein, Brux, Krieger, and Shilen.

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March 11th, 2024

Smith & Wesson Stock Jumps Nearly 30% This Past Friday

On Friday, March 8, 2024, Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ: SWBI) stock had a HUGE increase, with the SWBI stock price rising 29.39%. That’s a massive gain in a single day. Why the huge price spike? S&W sales volumes and revenues were up — WAY up. The latest corporate report revealed big revenue gains in Q3 2024, which dramatically out-paced expectations. Interestingly, S&W’s major revenue gains were from increased long gun sales, not more pistol sales. In addition, experts predict a big increase in overall gun sales during this election year, as buyers fear new restrictive gun laws.

Yahoo Finance reported: “Shares of Smith & Wesson Brands (SWBI) soared on better-than-expected third-quarter results. CEO Mark Smith said … that the company expects ‘the firearm market to experience healthy demand through the 2024 election cycle’. [SWBI] stock was also upgraded to Buy from Hold at Craig-Hallum, which argues the company is entering the election cycle in ‘optimal position’.”

Click Image Below to View Smith & Wesson Stock Price Analysis Video Report:

Yahoo Finance’s Josh Lipton and Julie Hyman discussed the stock’s surge in a 3/8/2024 Yahoo Finance Live webcast. Here is a partial transcript from that Yahoo Finance video:

JOSH LIPTON: We’re going to start here with Smith & Wesson. You could see that stock is skyrocketing in today’s trade.

Net sales, they’re up about 7% to 137.5 million. Gross margins also better than the Street was looking for. And on top of that, we get an upgrade from the team at Craig-Hallum…They take their target to 18… They also, Julie, talk about the upcoming election. They say that should give the company momentum.

JULIE HYMAN: Yeah, we tend to see firearm sales go higher ahead of elections, ahead of Democrats being elected in office because of fear about new gun legislation although that mostly has not come to fruition. But those are the cycles we tend to watch. I thought it was interesting, I was looking through the conference call, handguns are not where the sales activity was from. So handgun sales were actually down. Average selling price of handguns were down.

It was long guns that were higher in both amount of sales and average selling prices. And I don’t know– I mean long guns is a big category. I don’t know if we’re talking about demand from hunting, from sports, from whatever. But whatever it was, they saw an increase.

JOSH LIPTON: Yeah, they didn’t break it down. It is the election. Just to put some more numbers on that, they note that during the 2020 election, which allowed the company, they said, to generate more than a billion in revenue, $4.15 EPS and almost $300 million free cash flow.

Smith & Wesson Company Profile Video

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March 11th, 2024

Shooting Factory Ammo? Find the True MV Speed in YOUR Rifle

muzzle velocity applied Ballistics MV chronograph

If you are planning to shoot a PRS match with factory ammo or use factory ammo when hunting, you should definitely check the ammo velocity in YOUR rifle. Otherwise your ballistics come-up tables could be all wrong. It’s not uncommon to find that the actual velocity in YOUR gun is NOT the same as the listed velocity on the ammunition package. We explain why in today’s article…

Why You CANNOT Rely on the MV Printed on the Ammo Box!
When figuring out your come-ups with a ballistics solver or drop chart it’s “mission critical” to have an accurate muzzle velocity (MV). When shooting factory ammo, it’s tempting to use the manufacturer-provided MV which may be printed on the package. That’s not such a great idea says Bryan Litz of Applied Ballistics. Don’t rely on the MV on the box, Bryan advises — you should take out your chrono and run your own velocity tests. There are a number of reasons why the MV values on ammo packaging may be inaccurate. Below is a discussion of factory ammo MV from the Applied Ballistics Facebook Page.

Five Reasons You Cannot Trust the Velocity on a Box of Ammo:

1. You have no idea about the rifle used for the MV test.

2. You have no idea what atmospheric conditions were during testing, and yes it matters a lot.

3. You have no idea of the SD for the factory ammo, and how the manufacturer derived the MV from that SD. (Marketing plays a role here).

4. You have no idea of the precision and quality of chronograph(s) used for velocity testing.

5. You have no idea if the manufacturer used the raw velocity, or back-calculated the MV. The BC used to back track that data is also unknown.

1. The factory test rifle and your rifle are not the same. Aside from having a different chamber, and possibly barrel length some other things are important too like the barrel twist rate, and how much wear was in the barrel. Was it just recently cleaned, has it ever been cleaned? You simply don’t know anything about the rifle used in testing.

2. Temperature and Humidity conditions may be quite different (than during testing). Temperature has a physical effect on powder, which changes how it burns. Couple this with the fact that different powders can vary in temp-stability quite a bit. You just don’t know what the conditions at the time of testing were. Also a lot of factory ammunition is loaded with powder that is meter friendly. Meter friendly can often times be ball powder, which is less temperature stable than stick powder often times.

3. The ammo’s Standard Deviation (SD) is unknown. You will often notice that while MV is often listed on ammo packages, Standard Deviation (normally) is not. It is not uncommon for factory ammunition to have an SD of 18 or higher. Sometimes as high as 40+. As such is the nature of metering powder. With marketing in mind, did they pick the high, low, or average end of the SD? We really don’t know. You won’t either until you test it for yourself. For hand-loaded ammo, to be considered around 10 fps or less. Having a high SD is often the nature of metered powder and factory loads. The image below is from Modern Advancements in Long Range Shooting: Volume II.

muzzle velocity applied Ballistics MV chronograph

4. You don’t know how MV was measured. What chronograph system did the manufacturer use, and how did they back track to a muzzle velocity? A chronograph does not measure true velocity at the muzzle; it simply measures velocity at the location it is sitting. So you need to back-calculate the distance from the chrono to the end of the barrel. This calculation requires a semi-accurate BC. So whose BC was used to back track to the muzzle or did the manufacturer even do that? Did they simply print the numbers displayed by the chronograph? What kind of chronograph setup did they use? We know from our Lab Testing that not all chronographs are created equal. Without knowing what chronograph was used, you have no idea the quality of the measurement.

5. The MV data may not be current. Does the manufacturer update that data for every lot? Or is it the same data from years ago? Some manufacturers rarely if ever re-test and update information. Some update it every lot (ABM Ammo is actually tested every single lot for 1% consistency). Without knowing this information, you could be using data for years ago.

CONCLUSION: Never use the printed MV off a box of ammo as anything more than a starting point, there are too many factors to account for. You must always either test for the MV with a chronograph, or use carefully obtained, live fire data. When you are using a Ballistic Solver such as the AB Apps or Devices integrated with AB, you need to know the MV to an accuracy down to 5 fps. The more reliable the MV number, the better your ballistics solutions.

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BargainFinder 442: AccurateShooter’s Deals of the Week

1. Palmetto State Armory — Semi-Auto 12ga Shotgun, $199.99

2. MidwayUSA — BOG Tripod + Electronic Muffs Combo, $139.99

3. Powder Valley — Hodgdon and Alliant Powders in Stock

4. CDNN Sports — Walther .22LR Pistol + TrekLite Safe, $289.99

5. Creedmoor Sports — Canvas Shooter Coat, $120.00

6. GunZoneDeals — MTM GV-30 CaseGard Gun Vise, $35.99

7. Locked&Loaded — CCI Blazer 9mm Ammo, $219.99 1000 rds

8. Amazon — Caldwell Pistolero Handgun Shooting Rest, $22.39

9. Amazon — GuardTech Plus Gun Cleaning Kit, $43.50

10. MidwayUSA — Wheeler Bore Lapping Kit, $21.89

Smith & Wesson Stock Jumps Nearly 30% This Past Friday

Shooting Factory Ammo? Find the True MV Speed in YOUR Rifle

Five Reasons You Cannot Trust the Velocity on a Box of Ammo:

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