Hi. The reason I used the Clint Eastwood movie title was because recently, that's the way I felt.
Here I was, visiting my LGS, emailing him, and calling a couple of times over the period of the last month. I have purchased quite a few rifles from him, he knows me by name and is a super guy. Has always given me a super deal. Throws in cartridges, powder etc with the deal. However, my recent requests for him to find me a Savage in 204r (with all the Savage p/n, etc) have been unanswered. I know they are out there and almost bought one from Buds, with free shipping. I felt like yelling "PLEASE take my money!!" I PREFER to spend my $ with locals.... There is a shop in Jacksonville, FL that advertizes heavily on the radio. They say they are 'one of the biggest gun stores in the USA, with over 7000 firearms in stock', and they do INDEED have a LOT of guns. I called and when asked if they had a Savage M12 in 204r, they just said: "nope". I asked ANYTHING in 204r? "Nope". Not even a "we'll see if we can get you one....". So, after all this craziness and hording ends, I'll remember where I want to spend my $. Seller's market at the most extreme....

So, I went to a different shop nearby. Nice young man behind the counter. I asked him if he could get me a 204r. I gave him the model # I was most recently researching and in 10 minutes, a Model 12 was on the way.
At first, I was looking at a Model 25, since my M25 in .17 Hornet shoots so sweet. However, I have a couple of Model 12s and really like them.
So my question to the folks here.... Will the 26" bbl of the M12 offer much additional fps over the M25's 22" bbl????
I have a Oheler 35P, but don't use it much.

I've stocked up on bullets, powder, and have some nice dies, including a nk sizer. All I need is the rifle. Also accumulated 200+ rounds of factory 204r. It seems to be everywhere around here......
thanks in advance!

ron