what sucks now is that additional 11% excise tax on all guns and ammo. I want to get the new S&W 1854 in 30-30, but hate to pay 225 tax on it. I even got hit with that tax buying a black powder pistol last year from a company in SoCal.
It's absurd...I picked this rifle up yesterday, it just got out of jail. They actually have to run a background check in California for ammo purchase, but if you can find ammo on the shelf at an FFL, you can buy it from them (after they run a background check), and then on top of it we get the pleasure of having 11% tax added to the already high .0975 tax we already pay, making it an astronomic 20.075% tax...if you pass the background check...this is akin to getting kicked in the teeth when you're on your knees.
Unfortunately, nobody has Weatherby 270 mag ammo in stock...so I won't be able to use it this week...so I stopped by Sportsman's Wharehouse in Rohnert Park. They didn't have any Weatherby 270 mag, but they did have some 300 Win Mag, so that's what we're gonna hunt bear with this coming week, on a piece of property my hunting partner is taking me to see that has a nice size boar he's been getting on his trail cam. We both have a bear tag, and I pick up a Remington 700 chambered in 300 Win Mag, so I bought it...what started out as $61, ends up as $81, after the absurd tax! (and a background check, which should be illegal). To make this all worse, CA passed a bill that goes into effect January 1st, stating we need to have all barrels run through a background check to purchase...the overreach of this administration is unfathomable...
I'm picking up my 60s Remington 700 chambered in 300 Win Mag today...and hopefully hunting on Wed./Thurs. afternoon/evening. Both of us have a bear tag, valid in any zone of CA until the end of December.
PS - this Weatherby 270 Mag is a 1976 Bicentennial model, built in South Gate, CA, where I grew up working for my family's liquor store. Roy used to frequent the gunshop next store, and I graduated in the Bicentennial Class of 1976. This is a special rifle to me, and I wish I could use it for a bear, but don't have any ammo for it just yet until I get some dies and brass!
EDIT: The good news is that I have a box of Peterson brass for 300 Win Mag, and dies already, so I will not be caught in this position again where I need to buy ammo. However, it seems to make sense to have components on hand, as I will for Weatherby 270 Mag. Unfortunately I don't have any brass for Weatherby 257, 270, or 300, nor do I have dies, so it looks like 300 Win Mag is in my future for the time being.