Yesterday, I saw that Henry Repeating was hitting the Mare's Leg market. I am about ready to completely give up on the .357 Magnum Rossi Ranch Hand, and get the Henry .22 for a fun "Shits and Giggles" plinker.
Here is what is going on- Rossi announced the Ranch Hand almost a year ago. A few .45Colt and .44Mag versions have come in country. I have SEEN a .44 Mag, seen reviews of the .45.... but the .357 appears to be vaporware. The Rossi supposedly has scope mount holes under the rear sight. So I call Rossi yesterday (since there is no email addy on the Rossi website)to see when the .357 is going to be at distribution. I am on hold for 25 minutes before I give up.
I email Henry to see if there are scope mounts for the Mare's Leg. I get an email from the President of Henry Repeating, Anthony Imperato, in less than 24 hours with a response. Yes, the .22 is grooved for scope mounting, and the .45 is drilled and tapped. Oh, and the Mare's Leg seems to be in distribution and for sale on Gun Broker.
I have interacted with Mr Imperato on a message board before, and I have the utmost respect for him and his company 'voting with their feet' by moving out from the oppressive regime of New York City, and into the slightly less oppressive New Jersey.
Lesson for companies that want my money: DO NOT ANNOUNCE VAPORWARE (do you hear me Charter Arms and your Rimless revolver?), and be responsive to the customer. When you have products ready to ship, announce them. In the days of internet marketing and lightning fast word of mouth, you do not have to wait for the SHOT show to announce products.
After my Saiga 12 Ga is off Layaway, a Henry Mare's Leg in .22LR is going on order.
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It's frustrating to see a company hype up a product to see if the demand is there before producing it. It leaves the consumer if a fog of questions. It also means losing out on a large amount of impulse buys and essentially wasting your advertising dollars when the hype fades before your supply hits the shelves. I don't know of any other industry that does this so regularly. Kudos to Henry for seeing a supply gap and filling it. If only it would have been with that .357 you've been questing for.
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