Supporting local gun shops

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I typically find that, when buying new, I do better enough online to go that route.

But I buy used far more frequently, and find deals locally to be as good, if not better, than online, and I can actually inspect the firearm I'm getting. In addition, very few of the guns I've bought recently were ones I was actually seeking out. In the last two weeks, I came across both a 3-inch Taurus 85 in stainless, circa 1989-ish, and a stainless Charter Arms Undercover, circa 1984-ish (I didn't even know they made them in stainless then.) Both were well-priced, seldom-shot, and tight. They both shot well at the range the other day.
 
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The local store may not be responsible for the sales tax, but I still have to pay it, so I most certainly factor that in.

Full retail plus sales tax normally isn't much of a winner in my book.
 
Around here, the local gun stores tend to have marginal selection and INSANE prices.

That having been said, there's a local CHAIN called Fin, Feather, Fur Outfitters which actually has a good selection and reasonable prices.

Other than them, there's nobody North of Akron that I'd waste time on. And the two down there can have some pretty breathtaking prices, but offset that somewhat by having excellent selection.
 
Most of time , I get locally . Sales Tax , shipping , shop fees and I want to handle 1st = local .
I am in California - and that changes . Right now they passed a law thing about powder - so I don't know if powder will be available or Reno here I come .
I do have to buy 50 AE bullet of web , The 4 shops close won't carry them , but sell cartridges at over a buck each .
 
The last gun I bought was second hand from a club member.
But I have recently sent neighbors to local shops.

I have not ever ordered a gun off the internet with a fee to dealer to register it, although I got close on one last year.

My M.O. has been to ask FLD what he could obtain a Brand X for. He did not charge much markup for a gun he was not going to have to inventory and wait for a customer to come along for. Not much more than the usual fee, in fact.
And I always made it a condition of sale that if the gun had to go back on warranty or out for customizing, that he would ship it at his business rate so I would not get ripped off by FedUp or have to deal with a hysterical postal clerk.
 
I just buy from whoever has the best price. I will say that in most cases, it still results in me supporting my local gun shop in the sense that I use them for the transfers when I buy guns online. Local gun shops usually can't beat most big online dealers (yes, I am sure some of you have scored amazing deals locally), but local shops are worth visiting because they can have interesting used guns that people bring in.
 
I live "in town" in a big city. That $600 gun you talk about that is $700 in your local shop...is. $1100 in these shops. And I hear people walk in and talk to the sales help and buy them at that price. The customer has done no research and decides to buy a gun. I heard a salesman sell a thousand dollar scope to a guy with a cheap rifle that was going hunting the first time. They don't NEED business from people like me.
 
I've discovered the same thing, bought an FNS-40 with night sights from Palmetto for $400 out the door. Local gun shops want $550 + fee's for the same gun.

Bought a Walther PPX 40 cal from CDNN for $335 out the door. Local gun shops want $400 + fee's.

Its a very easy process, buying on-line.
 
Agreed, buying online couldn't possibly be easier. Click gun, click FFL, pay, wait.

That said I'd never buy used online (outside of a $98 Mosin back in the day). I've been tempted many times by Buds police trade in M&P pistols, but I am not lucky, I'd get one roughed up all to hell and have to deal with refusing and Buds customer service...no thanks.
 
Back when I was more actively collecting military arms, I bought almost all of them online. But that was usually a specific gun, not taking potluck from a batch of surplus guns right out of the crate (although that could be entertaining from time to time.)
 
I use to manage a GS and our policy was if we could get the same gun you bought elsewhere we would not do the transfer. Exceptions were made for good customers. With online gun sales and ammo and everything else GS are becoming shooting ranges and expensive ones at that. 25 per hour is steep and that cost will slowly rise over time. I personally think online sales are not long lived, one more mass shooting where the gun(s) were bought online will be the end. Not supporting your LGS which is brick and motor store will kill that business and you have no one to blame but you. My store we charged 5 bucks for unlimited range time and ammo sales were great along with more time in the store to sell more guns. Now, people walk in shoot and are gone, lack of inventory due to the online competition and ammo is tough to come by in any quantity. One store was allowing only ammo sales for range time. If I wanted to buy and wasn't shooting they would not sell it. Support your local gun shop and help them stay in business.
 
Predator55 said:
I use to manage a GS and our policy was if we could get the same gun you bought elsewhere we would not do the transfer. Exceptions were made for good customers. With online gun sales and ammo and everything else GS are becoming shooting ranges and expensive ones at that. 25 per hour is steep and that cost will slowly rise over time. I personally think online sales are not long lived, one more mass shooting where the gun(s) were bought online will be the end. Not supporting your LGS which is brick and motor store will kill that business and you have no one to blame but you. My store we charged 5 bucks for unlimited range time and ammo sales were great along with more time in the store to sell more guns. Now, people walk in shoot and are gone, lack of inventory due to the online competition and ammo is tough to come by in any quantity. One store was allowing only ammo sales for range time. If I wanted to buy and wasn't shooting they would not sell it. Support your local gun shop and help them stay in business.
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True but not all stores are operated equally. Some of these good deals online are from gun shops that are local to somebody, albeit usually larger ones, but they have grown that large for a reason.

Other shops, like the one by me that wants $40/lb of powder and hire somewhat rude and incompetent employees that feed misinformation are stores I won't patron unless I'm either very desperate or they have something that nobody else does.

Free market capitalism will correct itself as long as this business isn't regulated out of existence.
 
I check prices local vs online and also factor in sales tax, shipping which is usually free and transfer fees. Taxes here are approaching 9% so that easily covers any transfer fee. I also purchase most ammo and components online. To me I have no loyalty, beat the online price or not. May sound cold but look at popularity of amazon.
 
The left wing talking point of buying a gun on-line and having it delivered to your door is an outright lie. They feed off of ignorant people that will believe it.

When someone tries to feed me this crap, I tell them that I've bought 2 guns on-line, which have to be transferred through a dealer. Then they're like "oh".

Why should on-line sales be banned, when the process is the same as being in-store?
 
I buy both ways. I've been known to buy one or two locally just because I wanted it right then. Didn't bother to check online prices until after I got home. I've never paid a lot more locally. But I did walk out w/ the gun that day and was shooting it that afternoon.

Usually I do my research online and then see what prices are locally. If they have it locally and it isn't that much more I will buy. Usually they don't have it locally so I buy online. When looking for old lever guns it's all online purchases. I don't even waste my time looking locally. I would just be wasting time and gas.
 
My interest is in older S&W revolvers. I prefer to buy locally, but with four gun shops and two pawn shops within a mile of my house, the pickings are pretty slim. So most of my acquisitions are online and gun shows. But I still make the rounds locally every two or three weeks. I’m not very fond of the online stuff because the shipping and transfer fees ad $60 to $75 to the cost of the gun and I can only hope that the sellers description is accurate. My biggest problem with online purchases is that none of the FFLs in my area will accept a gun from a non-FFL.
 
Generally I look to my FLGS first. I'm lucky in that my big local shop generally has stuff priced close to online. If you add in shipping I'd generally only save $20-30, sometimes not even that.

The only time I've gone for an online purchase was when I've been looking for a specific and hard to find firearm that the shop couldn't promise to get me in any sort of reasonable time frame.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
 
We're fortunate to have 3 good LGS' in the area, that I'm aware of. Their prices may not always be lower than what I can find on the internet, but they're usually close. Throw in the ability to actually see and hold a gun before ordering it and the feedback from knowledgable employees, I tend to go to them first and order online if they can't get what I'm looking for or if an online retailer has a deal that's too good to pass up.
 
I would prefer to support my LGS, and there are two where I shop the most. One is the only nearby shop that sells reloading supplies, and his prices are reasonable for that stuff, and his selection (for my purposes) as good as what I can find online, but his gun selection is geared mostly to hunters, as is his selections of loaded ammo.

The other LGS is run by a retired Special Forces armorer, and he is the go-to guy around here for build parts, plus he's as knowledgeable as anyone you'll find on military hardware. His ammo prices, though, are a bit steep and I find it difficult to buy from him, mostly shotgun shells. For a box of 25 game/skeet loads in 12 ga., his prices run $1.50 to $2 /box more than the local box store (we have Dick's and Academy here, GM and Cabela's is an hour away). This guy will, however, make a fair deal on most long guns and handguns, and I've gotten good deals on consigned used guns from him
 
I prefer to shop locally, unfortunately there aren't a lot of options here. Only a few local shops and a couple of bigger places. We do have one shop that is a Davidson's outlet and is also very friendly to transfers, so that helps. The local stores we have here aren't bad to deal with, and when you factor in shipping have ok (not great, but acceptable) pricing.

I have only purchased a couple of firearms through the net, oddball stuff you don't see everyday and one that was just too good a deal to pass up.

I like to be able to check out whatever I'm buying before I put my money down, so I will probably buy most of my stuff locally as long as I have the option to do so. I also like to have someone to yell at if I get a lemon......:evil:
 
I prefer my LGS over buying online, not only for guns but for most gun-related purchases. As I have about 7 or 8 LGS in a 30min radius and many of those offer very good prices, most of the times it is even cheaper at the LGS than online.

At my favourite LGS, the owner is as honest as you could imagine - if he can't compete with a price someone else offers by a considerable margin, he will actively tell you and offer to order it to his store (it is much cheaper to ship to a dealer than to a private individual in my country). He doesn't even charge anything for this service. This honesty and service is the reason, I really like coming back and don't mind paying a little more on some items - you have to keep guys like him in business
 
When it comes to buying firearms I will always give the local shop first chance. In fact my last purchases were from "the little guy". I won't purchase a firearm unless I can touch and feel it. Not interested in buying a pig in a poke. Too much hassle getting any problem resolved.

When it comes to reloading components and gear, there aren't any dealers nearby that stock anything other than Lee equipment and MAYBE a few boxes of primers.

For components and equipment I don't bother anymore shopping local. I get what I need from Sinclair and Powder Valley. Sinclair stocks the quality of equipment I want and I order enough on each shipment from Powder Valley to spread the Hazmat Fee around. It averages $0.50/unit (pound of powder or bo of primers). Even with shipping factored in I save many hundreds every year over what it would cost buying locally IF ANYONE HAD STOCK.

Around me, the LGS's have collectively shot themselves in the foot when it comes to reloading components.
 
My local shop has a moderate inventory but the prices aren't even close.
They charge $50 (I believe) for a transfer as well.
There is a kitchen table FFL down the road from me that'll transfer all day for $25 and if you're transferring a couple at a time he charges on transfer fee.
 
My LGS isn't worthy of my business. They are heavy into Browning, spotty on everything else. $50 FFL transfers from dealers.
 
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