SITREP

By Dan Shea

We’ve had some calls.

Some of you weren’t happy with the paper that SAR changed to in the last issue, and we don’t blame you a bit. We didn’t like it either.

In these hard economic times, businesses get thrown curve balls and changes that are unavoidable. We at SAR have prided ourselves that for almost 12 years, and over 140 issues, we’ve knocked one out every 30 days without fail. That’s one of our goals, along with bringing you the best info in the small arms community. (We were a week late once during the fabled Ice Storm of 1998 when we were without power for two weeks up at the old place in Maine. New England was locked up solid, but we got the issue out anyway!)

As to the last issue, after we had sent the final disk to the printer, everything was ready for proof then going to print, then we got a bizarre phone call. Our printer of almost 12 years had pink-slipped their entire staff and were closing their doors. Most of us were at SAR-East so this was definitely “panic time.”

We went into full tilt problem solving mode, and went to printers who had quoted us in the past. We found one in Missouri that was competitive and could gear up and get us on track using the final disk we had. Unfortunately, they didn’t have time to order in paper for us in our normal weight and finish – but they did have enough of one type on hand to get the job done on time and get the issue to you, the reader, within our normal delivery time. We won’t be back to our normal paper until the September 2009 issue.

So, off went the disks and the proofs, the crazy back and forth communications started, and you received your issues right on time. The only real difference that might be noticeable as we get the print runs in the groove is the shipping is being done from Missouri instead of Tennessee. This is a more central area to mail from. This means the traditional “last deliveries” that are USPS in Texas, will be earlier, and some on the East Coast may be a few days later. Well, that’s what we think is going to happen, anyway. I am sure that readers will let us know.

On the good end of all of this, the new printer is able to give us all color pages! Jeff Zimba is ecstatic on this and plans to stretch his legs a bit on the layout. Taking color pictures and dropping them to black and white tends to wash them out a bit, so we hope to have not only color pictures, but to have them crisper as well – other than black and white historical pictures that are old and faded, of course.

Speaking of historical pictures, in this issue we continue in our tradition of The Interviews, with Dangerous Dave Cumberland, the famous “Old Western Scrounger.” We have broken this interview into two sections so we can present more of this conversation with a truly interesting “Old Timer” from the gun culture.

We have also picked up some new writers that have diverse backgrounds and experiences, and as always, SAR continues to bring you new, exciting information about the world of small arms.

While we work into the Fall of 2009, we are planning a diverse and inclusive series of articles that cover the interests of our readers. Rest assured that there are many of us out here gathering information, vetting it, chasing photos, and working to bring the best information on small arms possible to you, every thirty days…. Tick-tock, tick-tock…

-Dan