1 July 02

By contrast, sales information from friends in South Africa:

"We rarely see S&W pistols here at all. The P-99 made a brief appearance but did not do well. Among other things, the rear sights all wobble in their dovetail slots.

SA 1911s are hardier than Kimbers, as you noted, but the 1911 crowd here has dwindled considerably over the past few years.

Ruger autoloaders are functional in the short term, but we can't keep them running. Not a popular pistol here.

Rich people here all have Glocks, mostly G23s. H&K USPs are also popular when you can find them. The best selling cheap guns are the Norinco Tokarev clones in 7.62x25 and 9mmP and Taurus compact revolvers in 38Spl. Russian Baikal pistols are also good sellers in the low-end market. Stout, like most Russian stuff.

Mossberg shotguns also do well. By contrast, Remington 870s and 11-87s are so expensive that we can't move them. We don't even see Benelli or Beretta autoloading shotguns.

Military autoloading rifles are difficult to obtain and own here. Zastava and CZ rifles sell well, followed by Howa, Ruger, and Winchester, all bolt guns. Top calibers are 30-06, 270 and 308. Rifles in 223 caliber are shunned by everyone here, except the military.

Eldorado Starfire is the most popular high-performance pistol ammunition here. Winchester, Cor-Bon, and Federal are all extremely popular (especially Cor-Bon) but only sporadically available and prohibitively expensive.

Most popular pistol calibers are 9mm and 40S&W, with 40S&W steadily gaining ground. The 357SIG has been here only a short time but is already claiming significant market share. At the bottom end are the 7.62x25 and 38spl. The popularity of the 45ACP has now diminished to the point where it is no longer a significant pistol caliber."

/John