Ok, for those of you where "money is no object", kindly click the "back" button! All I'll do is honk you off (unintentionally though~!)

At the "end of rant" I added some info on where hunting is or isnt going. Consider it an after thought but one thing lead to another,and I feel it is worth bringing up.

Those of you that know "from whence I speak", enjoy knowing someone else feels the pain!!

I never touched a computer till 1998, nor had seen "the web". Since then, as I'm sure you have as well, I've found it to be TOTALLY irreplacable as far as finding information and quite often the best price of things and MORE often the ONLY place some things can be found.

I have "discovered" and recognized a "DARK SIDE" of the above..for me~!

I dont consider myself to be "new" to reloading. I've loaded varmint rounds from 17 Rem thru the 22s up to 25-06..which I THOUGHT I did successfully until lately.

Upon researching the things I "need" for loading a SP handgun round all I did was reassure myself that either I'm totally STUPID or "ignorance is bliss" sometimes.

Yes, just "how accurate" you want to load needs to be considered.. but WHOM of us doesn't want to do "his (or her) best"? Show any handloader something to make his rounds more closely identical to one another......and he's GOING TO want one. I STARTED reloading for the same reasons everyone else did. "Improved accuracy and less cost".

Completed to the degree accepted by a LOT of people, the LESS COST thingy is up for grabs in MY opinion! Along the way the line between benchrest methods and hunting methods ,if there ever was one, have become BLURRED, to say the least!!

I am ATTEMPTING to get a MOA Max ordered. Some very unfortunate occurances on Rich's end has delayed the process but that is completely understandable from my view point, but...it's given me time to second guess if I REALLY want to wait 5 months for one.

I picked the MOA, DUE TO the accuracy (and strength) it has the rep for. One only feels HE should be doing a bit MORE on HIS part to ensure that the gun DOES give him the accuracy it is noted for.

In that quest, I've run into "opinions" online about "accurate reloading" that tells me, to do it ALL, I'd have as MUCH in the dang reloading equipment as I WILL IN THE GUN.....and I doubt anyone here thinks a MOA is "cheap"!

Concentricity gauge? I've never seen one, let alone USED one. We rolled em on a piece of glass and watched the bullet tip.

Barrel harmonics? What?....I have a background of phyics and math and I don't even WANT to read that.

Neck turning tools. Three way cutters. 300 dollar powder charge weighing scales. Collet dies (custom or otherwise), guys weighing and sorting THE PRIMERS????? Sweet Jesus on the Cross!!

I NEVER sorted my BRASS by weight,(OR bullets OR primers) not ONCE. Brass was trimmed to length, HAND deburred and bullets were seated in standard RCBS (now called "wobble"?) dies as straight as my eyes and hands could set them,I played with distance from (or INTO) the lands and NO rifle I had (or buddy's that I loaded for) shot over 3/4 MOA at 100 yards, most less.

Was I just "lucky" or has this all turned into specifications "needing to be checked" that are zipadydooda short of LUNACY?

IF, repeat IF, I can get the MOA ordered this week, I'm going to go with it. It will be my first and last (old, poor) "custom ordered" firearm. One I wanted to have and use the remainder of my years. Should that happen, I'm going to ask RICH for what DIES to use.....and go back to the way I loaded for years and IF, I have problems, I'm going to bug the SNOT out of all of YOU......HA! Sorry if I have to sound conceited and say I don't think I'll have a lick of problems...without all the new and improved equipment.

If NOT on order? I'm going to say phooey on this and order a Jewell trigger for my XP-100R in 260 Rem, stick with a handgun scope (only because I just CANT bring myself to cut, thread and brake an original barrel of a gun made ONE YEAR) and grin and bear it.

End of Rant.

20 years ago I recall discussing with friends that "hunting was becoming a RICH MAN'S sport". A "newbie" could go out and pick up decent equipment and guns for less than the price of most used cars and "get into" hunting.

NOW? My friends, as much as I hate to say it, between the ever shrinking places TO hunt here, the prices of everything involved, not just the guns themselves, .........that time is here.

Neither of my two boys hunt (ages 20 and 36). None of their friends hunt.

When young and living with me, I tried, they went and had a good time, shot some game, shared some great times with Dad, but when it came time for THEM to foot the bill? Not.

I don't live in a highly populated area, as I've mentioned before. That said I personally know AT LEAST five times the people that STOPPED hunting and shooting, compared to those that started. Pretty much confusing to me since ALL of the areas you CAN get permission TO hunt are WAY over crowded here. I feel it's more that the NUMBER of deer around here has increased to the point where anyone that can pull a trigger hunts them for meat, and that's the ONLY time they shoot. Period.

The local skeet range has maybe a handful (less than 10) shooters there regularly. NONE of them are younger than 30. NONE!
I know THREE guys that still hunt varmints or ANY small game here.

Sorry for the negativity, and I know there is nothing WE (at least not much) can do about it, but the PRICE of hunting, shooting, reloading, etc.....is killing our beloved sport.

I read not long ago that the NUMBER of hunters in the US DECREASES at a rate of over 100,000 per year.....and is escalating. When you considerer that the POPULATION is going the other direction in the extreme, well.......do the math.

Without change, that spells DOOM for hunting within our children's lifetime, my friends.

Before passing away, my Dad told me that "with all the changes in the world I've seen that I don't like, my only regret in going is leaving you kids behind".

Amen, Dad!!!

No offense taken if this is deleted, Gary. It's just me ranting to someone that might care. For sure, few locally do.