Worst lines you've heard from gun sellers?

At Sportsman's Warehouse:

Clerk: It's a great gun, you can hit a penny with it at 1,000 yards.
Customer: Yeah I read that on the internet! Some guy on that one site did it. Really cool. How is it so accurate?
Clerk: It's 'cause the .338 La-pew-ya bullet doesn't stabilize until 300 meters, but past that it's a laser beam.


At various gun shows

Customer #1 to Customer #2: Sure you can reload .38 Special with those .357 Sig dies, Sig made 'em! Those will do any 357/38 cartridge out there.

Table guy's daughter: Do you need powder?
Me: I'm looking, but haven't seen any priced right.
Table guy's daughter: Oh, dad's got cheap prices! Commere!
Me: Uhh... he bought that at Bi-Mart and marked it up $12.
Table guy shows up: No I didn't!
Me, pointing to a price sticker on the 1lb of W296: Yep, you did.

Table gal: This is the LAST BOX of CCI Stinger in Oregon.
Customer: But that table has a whole case of 'em for sale.
Table gal: Those are the Mexican Stingers. I've got the ones they make in New York.

Me: That seems a tick high, can you come down some?
Table guy: There's a shortage of brass ya know, and this isn't the disposable brass. You can reload this.
Me: I can buy Hornady .204 off the shelf for a buck a shot, and you're asking a buck and a half per case.
Table guy: So? Federal makes all their rifle brass on a lathe. That Hornady crap is just punch-pressed.

"The ammo is gone off the shelves because the military is buying it all up so the public has no ammo an cannot shoot our soldiers when they come to take the country over."

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I'm pretty sure I've read that either here on one of the other forums I read.

spazzymcgee said:

I had this kid tell me this morning that his Marlin 336 in .30-30 was the gun that won the west, and that it could kill elephants and whatnot. I just said "Okay, thanks." and went along my way. So THR, what's the worst line you've ever heard come from someone trying to sell you a gun?

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I'm sure it could kill an elephant. It's all about the shot placement.

I walked into the biggest local shop after moving to the area and asked if they carried reloading supplies. "No...it's really not worth it. You won't save any money loading your own ammo."

At Cabelas gun library, looking at the Redhawk 45 ACP/Colt, and then at my 1911: "Why do you keep the hammer cocked back?"

"I don't have that"

I've had terrible information from gun shops. I got into shooting about 6 years ago. I was interested in doing some longer range shooting out to 600 yards. I'm a guitar repairman and have been playing for over 20 years, so I understood that a decent gear setup can help the learning experience.

When I went to a shop to buy I told them what I wanted to do and asked for suggestions. The first response was "Can you shoot at 600 yards now? If not it doesn't matter what you get!" The next thing I was offered was a $2000 AR. I stated that I was thinking of a bolt gun instead, and I was told "You have to be able to sling a lot of lead fast to get good!"

Somehow I ended up with a 300WM and a 4-16 scope and proceeded to develop the worst flinch ever, not to mention going broke on ammunition. After reading a bunch of forums I ditched that rifle, bought a CZ 22lr, and practiced technique for 3 years straight. Now I'm doing a 4 inch group at 250 yards with that 22 and learning more on my own.

I saw, with my own eyes, the local pawn shop sell an AK at the peak of the dark years to a gentlemen after telling him it was the last one the shop had and that the shop had no idea when the next one would be available, if ever.

ten minutes later after customer had left, pawn shop owner tells counter dude to go get another AK from the back.

Brilliant marketing.

Now, what you really want are these .38 special 90 grain Hornady critical defense loads. You don't want to buy 9mm. Even 9mm hollow points just zip right through people with minimal damage. The .38s explode. They were designed to do that. When I trained FBI agents and US Air Marshals at Qantico that's what I taught them.

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Old guy in the ammo department at my local Cabelas.

Saw a buyer desperate for a 44 mag trying to talk his girl into buying it for him, why he couldn't buy it I can only guess. She's fondling the gun and the guy behind the cunter says, "It really doesn't kick much."

The last gun show I went to a couple months ago I was looking over an LCR in .22 mag. The dealer says, "that 22 will just piss em off."

Some HI-larrious classics here !!
Anyway, about 10+ years back,we had a small local shop run by a cool, knowledgable guy, and his son, who was also a cool guy, but sort of on the slow side.
One day my brother and I are in there just browsing and shooting the breeze with the son when a customer takes interest in something, so we move off to the side and let the son try and work a deal. The guy is asking a series of questions that the son is struggling to answer intelligently.
The guy finally asked where it's made, and the son says in sort of a "just between you and me" tone, "maaaan, ain't nobody really knows where NONE of em's made!"
My brother and I about busted a gut trying not to laugh out loud, and to this day, we still occasionally toss that line out !!

After he stopped laughing (he had even made a point of getting his co-owner at the other end of the room involved in the laughter), he told me that the pistol I asked if he could order for me was junk, they didn't even make them anymore and what I really needed was one of these.

In that simple exchange, he turned down business and alienated a customer.

Heck, he did not know this but the only reason that I stopped in at the new LGS on my way back home was to support the place. I was even prepared to pay a bit more. I was already an oldhand at sourcing & purchasing firearms online.

I thanked him for his time and left (never to return), went home and sourced & ordered a new one online ... I had it within a week.

Used....only 50 rounds through it. Like every used gun everywhere.

OH_Spartan said:

Used....only 50 rounds through it. Like every used gun everywhere.

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Really? Well, not 5 minutes ago, I was coversing via PM with a guy on TheOutdoorsTrader, who's selling a gen2 G19, and he told me the pistol had about 1000 rounds through it. Lots of pistols really DO have just a few rounds through them, and lots of sellers readily admit to higher round counts on the classified sites.

Went to the range. Two guys show up...one selling, one thinking.

The rifle was a Lazzeroni ( sp?) not sure of caliber.

Seller says" the bullet is so fast you have to aim low because it has "lift" and rises"

Wanted to puke and had to bite my tongue.

I'll say this, that was the LOUDEST rifle I've ever been around. Muffs over plugs did not help. I stopped shooting and moved well behind the shooting line till they decided to leave.

Mark

On Gunbroker, lots of 'new' guns that I bet aren't.

Without intending to offend salesmen of any stripe, I have learned:

1. All retail stores - and salesmen [including saleswomen], and vendors at gunshows - want to sell what they HAVE and can move and profit from; not what the buyer wants. Yes, there are some exceptions and I LOVE them.

2. Salesmen in general are not overly knowledgable about what they sell. Mostly, they are briefed by the catalog and advertising. Some are experts in some items, some are well versed in specific aspects. But don't expect a national class three gun shooter to know anything about muzzle loaders or safes. No one has a vast grasp of everything.

3. Based on 2., a retired Green Beret - who may or may not be a retired Green Beret - may not know much about the suitability of any particular arm for A particular purpose. Military troops are normally issued weapons and ammo; they don't design them. Very seldom do they get to choose them.

I served with a Marine sergeant who claimed to have shot a Water Buffalo with a LAAW rocket once. (I wasn't there, but I think he probably did.) That doesn't make him an expert hunter in any sense of the word. This applies to retired LEOs and others.

To be fair and transparent, don't ask me for advice about bird hunting shotguns. I can recognize them on sight - most of the time - but my experience with shotguns is limited to short barrels and slugs or buckshot.

I think the best - goofy - line so far has been the one about 'opening guns and checking chambers'. Falls under the heading of 'not familiar with the subject'.

On a similar note, I once had a gun show vendor criticize me for checking the chamber on a rifle with my little finger. His rationale was I "... might have water on my finger."

My personal feeling toward 'worst sales pitch' was and is, "It's NEW!" I think typically referring to design, but who knows?

"Thats a used ar and the guy just ran one magazine through it."

Who buys an ar and shoots just one magazine through it....

roval said:

"Thats a used ar and the guy just ran one magazine through it."

Who buys an ar and shoots just one magazine through it....

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I bought an AR new, shot 60 rounds through it, and sold it.

Enough to tell me the money was better spent on a better rifle, I just had to be patient and wait for it (banic time)

Recently picking up a rifle from a regional sporting goods store on an FFL transfer. "222? You'll never find ammo for THAT!" I reload, but he had 5 or 6 boxes of Prvi Partisan on the shelf 6 feet away.

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I haven't heard too many. Only one that sticks out was an obviously inexperienced clerk at Walmart.

A woman came in looking to buy a shotgun for her 10 year old son to hunt with, and wanted to know if she should get a 12 gauge or 20 gauge. The clerk responded "12 gauge. The 20 gauge will be too powerful for him."

This wasn't a clerk, but another time I was in the gun department (again - Walmart) and there was the magazine stand there that had a book/magazine there that had the title "The Ultimate Rifle Accuracy" with a guy looking through a scope on the front cover. A young guy I'd say 17-19 came by with a friend, looked at it, and said "Well of course it's accurate. He's got a friggen scope on it. There's no way he can miss with that.".

roval said:

"Thats a used ar and the guy just ran one magazine through it."

Who buys an ar and shoots just one magazine through it....

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*raises hand* I'll admit I fell victim to the "Obama's gonna ban em!" hype. I'm mostly a pistol shooter. I bought an AR15 back in 2008 that's had around ~28 rounds through it. One box of 20 and then a handful more testing out some handloads I made. Heck I've got another one in .300 Blackout that I built up about 3 or 4 months ago just wanting a project that has yet to have a single round through it.

roval said:

"Thats a used ar and the guy just ran one magazine through it."



Who buys an ar and shoots just one magazine through it....

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There are a few recent builds in my safe that have only had one mag run through them for basic function testing. I don't consider them fully tested by any stretch. But time is at a premium and it's been months since I shot them. They would be the first ones to go if I had to sell any firearms to pay the bills.

Every gun that I can remember selling had less than 100 rounds through it, including my AR pistol. It only took a mag and a half to realize that a handgun was better suited for any line of defense I might need. If I didn't like the way a gun handled and felt in my hands within 100 rounds, I sold it. If I did like it for those 100 rounds, I probably still own it...

Many years ago, long before the 'guys' started stalking the WalMarts for 22LR I was buying a bulk pack to take to the range. The clerk asked "Are you using this in a pistol or rifle?".
I just looked at him and said "The box says LONG RIFLE". He nods knowingly and says "Store policy to ask."

P5 Guy said:

Many years ago, long before the 'guys' started stalking the WalMarts for 22LR I was buying a bulk pack to take to the range. The clerk asked "Are you using this in a pistol or rifle?".
I just looked at him and said "The box says LONG RIFLE". He nods knowingly and says "Store policy to ask."

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Wait...what? I think you meant to post this in the "worst lines from customers".

Clearly there are a whole heck of a lot of pistols that shoot .22lr and a whole lot of people buy a whole lot of .22lr for pistols.

This would be reported as a buyer who doesn't know handguns can fire .22lr.