With the exception of a smaller, sporting goods chain buying group show (Worldwide), the trade show season has come to an end. All that remains is the NRA Annual Convention (and product exposition), this year held in Pittsburgh over the weekend of April 16; I want to issue a very sincere invitation to all of our friends and customers who go there: please come by and take a moment to (re)introduce yourselves! We'd be particularly happy to put a face to a name/handle of those who regularly participate on our Message Board.

     As many of you guessed (or at least, came close), the new ammunition introduction, by Hornady, I alluded to was a .17 caliber rimfire based on the Long Rifle case, as opposed to the 17HMR introduced last year, based on the Magnum case. Much to our chagrin, our guns will be ready well in advance of the ammunition, which is currently expected to hit the shelves in the early fall.

     I want to be very candid with all who might want to purchase one of our minis which will be chambered for this round. Our experience with the 17HMR has shown that we have great difficulty in stabilizing this round, and there's no reason to think that we'll have much better luck with the newer, as yet unnamed version. While we have tweaked and tested a variety of different twist rates and machining dimensions and tolerances, many of the rounds we fire hit their target at an oblique angle to the line of fire, resulting in a 'keyhole'. This can be frustrating to those looking for a crisp concentric circle. While we will not stop trying any 'fixes' which we might learn (I've been advised of a new one we're working right now), we have been advised that there are probably several fundamental issues we're unlikely to overcome, our best efforts notwithstanding. These include

• an apparent inherent stability issue with the particular boattail design of these bullets; while it may contribute to ease of production/loading, I have been told that it is anathema to efforts to produce straight, stable flight,
• the fact that our barrels tend to be very short (typically 2" or less), which gives us a very limited opportunity to stabilize the bullet before it leaves the barrel, and
• the fact that our barrels tend to be very short, which means that the bullet frequently can't absorb all the explosive energy (particularly from a magnum shell) - and generate the velocity which would go a long way to enhancing bullet stability.

     These are my understandings and neither I nor my team are ballistics experts. I imagine this will generate at least a little discussion on our Message Board, which I will watch with great interest. And then, there are those of you who will argue that tumbling bullets are far more effective personal protection rounds . . .

     I hope to see many of you next month.