Michael Bane

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2013 SHOT Show – Day Two With Michael Bane And Ed Head

January 17, 2013 by

Michael Bane and Ed Head return to report on day two of the 2013 SHOT Show for the Outdoor Channel. Among the firearms discussed are the Armscor MIG-22 which is an AR clone in .22 LR and the Beretta Nano which will be coming out with various colored frames.

They both agreed that the overriding theme of this year’s SHOT Show was fear. That is, the fear of what would be coming out of Washington. However, after Obama made his speech yesterday, they sensed a rise in optimism along with a sigh of relief.

Some SHOT Shows feature a lot of new innovative product introductions. This isn’t one of them. Ed said the industry seems to be on an even keep with nothing really different. It was more about introducing different colors, sizes, and styles of existing products. Both Ed and Michael agreed that there seems to be a renewed interest in reloading all of a sudden which they attribute to the ammo shortage and proposals coming out of Washington. They will cover this in more depth tomorrow.

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2013 SHOT Show – Day 1 with Michael Bane & Ed Head

January 16, 2013 by

Michael Bane is covering the 2013 SHOT Show for the Outdoor Channel along with his friend Ed Head of Gunsite Academy. Among the firearms they discussed were the Sig Sauer MPX, the new Ruger Guide Rifle in .375 RM, the Rock Island 1911 in .22 TCM, and the Smith and Wesson M&P 10 which is an AR in .308. They did notice a trend of a lot of red dots being made for handguns along the ammo shortage.

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More Confirmation Of The Vitality Of The Firearms Industry

March 22, 2012 by

Sturm, Ruger announced today that they were suspending the acceptance of new orders because they had already had orders for the first quarter of over 1 million units. If one needed more confirmation that gun sales are strong and that gun ownership is expanding, this is it. While there is no breakdown of the orders, sales of Ruger’s pistols for the concealed carry market such as the LCP, LCR, and LC-9 have been strong. As Michael Bane has noted many times, these pistols are very popular with Gun Culture v. 2.0 who want a pistol for personal protection.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Reports Strong First Quarter Bookings

March 21, 2012

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE: RGR), announced today that for the first quarter 2012, the Company has received orders for more than one million units. Therefore, the Company has temporarily suspended the acceptance of new orders.

Chief Executive Officer Michael O. Fifer made the following comments:

The Company’s Retailer Programs that were offered from January 1, 2012 through February 29, 2012 were very successful and generated significant orders from retailers to independent wholesale distributors for Ruger firearms.

* Year-to-date, the independent wholesale distributors placed orders with the Company for more than one million Ruger firearms.

*Despite the Company’s continuing successful efforts to increase production rates, the incoming order rate exceeds our capacity to rapidly fulfill these orders. Consequently, the Company has temporarily suspended the acceptance of new orders.

*The Company expects to resume the normal acceptance of orders by the end of May 2012.

The Company will announce its results and file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the first quarter of 2012 on Tuesday, May 1, 2012, after the close of the stock market.

I know it borders on rudeness to keep poking the gun prohibitionists in the eye with the truth but I hope Josh Horwitz chokes on this press release.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I am a very happy shareholder in Sturm, Ruger and Company)

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2012 SHOT Show – Day 2, Downrange TV

January 19, 2012 by

Michael Bane continues his video coverage of the 2012 SHOT Show. Some of the items he featured for Day 2 are the Heizer Double-Tap derringer, lasers from Crimson Trace, Windham Weaponry, the Sig 938, and a knife from Remington that uses 1911 grips.

Speaking of Heizer, when I was in St. Louis over the holidays I passed a small industrial building near Arnold that said “Heizer”. I am wondering if this was where the Doube-Tap is made or some facility. I’m thinking a request for a factory tour may be in order.