I just recently had the opportunity to purchase a new Savage Arms Model: 93R17BTV IN .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire (HMR) rifle.

    I had been shopping for a rifle in the .17 HMR category, but had been unable to find a gun dealer that had one in stock not at Bobs Sporting Goods, Wal-Mart, Fred Meyer or at either local gun dealer.

    Then, out of the blue, there came a Cabelas flyer in the mail with a .17 HMR on sale. I fell in love.

    I immediately called Cabelas in Lacey, only to find out that they had sold out their entire inventory on the first day of the sale. Not one to give up easily, I called their headquarters in Nebraska and spoke to their gun buyer who informed me that it was not their policy to issue rain checks. Well, after several minutes of begging, he relented and said that the next time they got the gun in the warehouse, that he would send it to Lacey and hold it with my name on it, at the sale price.

    Two months later, he called me and said that he had shipped the gun and that the store was holding the gun for me. Boy, was I happy.

    I drove to pick up the gun and it was a beauty. It has a thumb-hold stock, which is wood laminate with a satin finish. More importantly, it has a stainless bull barrel with a high luster blued finish and an AccuTrigger.

    The AccuTrigger has an adjustable trigger pull of 1.5 pounds to 6 pounds, which is a real plus when varmint shooting.

    The rife came with a 3-to-9 power Bushnell scope, a five-round clip and a tool for adjusting the trigger.

    The .17 HNR bullet and casing are only a little over 1.25 inches long, and yet the .17 HMR V-MAX fires a 17-grain bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2,550 feet per second. It will drive nails out to 250 yards. You still want to avoid a heavy cross-wind, but on a decent day, its super-flat trajectory will do the job.

    There is absolutely no recoil to this weapon, I mean none.

    The manufacturers suggested list price on this gun is $425, the Bushnell scope that came with it is just over $100, but the price of the gun on sale was $359, including scope.

Shrimping on Hood Canal

    I spoke to some of my friends who went shrimping in Hood Canal this past weekend and they had a great day on Saturday and a not so good day on Sunday. They also learned some new tricks, which Ill tell you about soon.

Thanks

    Thanks to Dr. Sonny Park of Astoria for translating the Japanese characters on the big yellow buoy found two weeks ago it said Inland Fishing Corp. and was a moorage buoy.

Ron Malast can be reached at 665-3573/raiders7777@centurylink.net