Since it's my day home between trips, I figured I'd get to all of the PMs/DMs, and other questions that have piled up while I've been on the road most of the last ten weeks.
This one involves the PMs/DMs about HOWA rifles, resulting from some images people saw of me with a mule deer I took using a Nosler M48. A rifle I put together and sighted in with one day's notice. Time only allowed for one range session and no trigger adjustment.
Here's the deal with the Howa agreement. Legacy Sports Intl, is the owner of the majority of North American distribution for HOWA rifles. Weatherby has an exception to the Legacy Sports distribution rights, as they have used HOWA actions for their Vanguard series since 1971, pre-dating the Legacy Sports distribution agreement.
The multi-year contract with Legacy Sports normally gets renewed in the summer. This year they asked for some added time to work on budgets and forecasts before signing a renewal. Given our 15-year relationship, granting them whatever time they needed seemed like the professional thing to do.
Cutting to the chase, Legacy Sports' ownership group from Australia declined a renewal. They notified me of their decision last week. The timing of their decision creates a hassle to find out of their decision in the middle of our busy season. But, it gives us a chance to test a lot of other rifles, even our first muzzleloader hunt two weeks ago in New Mexico.
What rifle company we will eventually end up with, if any, I'm not sure. I probably won't know for a year or so. We didn't have a specific rifle company the first four years of our show, so maybe that's what we'll be back to. The National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers meeting was in Phoenix last week. Seems word was out that we would be shooting different rifles going forward. Many companies reached out to me, which was nice of them to do. A lot of different rifles are on their way; mostly all short-action chamberings.
If you see us shooting other rifles this season, that is the explanation. It's hard to get rifles dialed and triggers set with the few days we have in between hunts, but we'll get it worked out. It'll be interesting to shoot other brands of rifles, given I've been shooting Howa rifles since 2011.
Maybe I shouldn't have sold all of those Remington, Weatherby, Tikka, Ruger, and other brands that I disposed of over the years. Since none of them were threaded for a suppressor and I am an avid convert to hunting with suppressed rifles, I suspect I'd probably not be using them today.
A Nevada mule deer taken last weekend with a Carbon 26 Nosler, Leupold VX5 scope, 120 grain Nosler E-tips.
This one involves the PMs/DMs about HOWA rifles, resulting from some images people saw of me with a mule deer I took using a Nosler M48. A rifle I put together and sighted in with one day's notice. Time only allowed for one range session and no trigger adjustment.
Here's the deal with the Howa agreement. Legacy Sports Intl, is the owner of the majority of North American distribution for HOWA rifles. Weatherby has an exception to the Legacy Sports distribution rights, as they have used HOWA actions for their Vanguard series since 1971, pre-dating the Legacy Sports distribution agreement.
The multi-year contract with Legacy Sports normally gets renewed in the summer. This year they asked for some added time to work on budgets and forecasts before signing a renewal. Given our 15-year relationship, granting them whatever time they needed seemed like the professional thing to do.
Cutting to the chase, Legacy Sports' ownership group from Australia declined a renewal. They notified me of their decision last week. The timing of their decision creates a hassle to find out of their decision in the middle of our busy season. But, it gives us a chance to test a lot of other rifles, even our first muzzleloader hunt two weeks ago in New Mexico.
What rifle company we will eventually end up with, if any, I'm not sure. I probably won't know for a year or so. We didn't have a specific rifle company the first four years of our show, so maybe that's what we'll be back to. The National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers meeting was in Phoenix last week. Seems word was out that we would be shooting different rifles going forward. Many companies reached out to me, which was nice of them to do. A lot of different rifles are on their way; mostly all short-action chamberings.
If you see us shooting other rifles this season, that is the explanation. It's hard to get rifles dialed and triggers set with the few days we have in between hunts, but we'll get it worked out. It'll be interesting to shoot other brands of rifles, given I've been shooting Howa rifles since 2011.
Maybe I shouldn't have sold all of those Remington, Weatherby, Tikka, Ruger, and other brands that I disposed of over the years. Since none of them were threaded for a suppressor and I am an avid convert to hunting with suppressed rifles, I suspect I'd probably not be using them today.
A Nevada mule deer taken last weekend with a Carbon 26 Nosler, Leupold VX5 scope, 120 grain Nosler E-tips.
