What's the funniest/oddest thing you've heard/seen in a gun shop?

Probably not what your looking for exactly but I saw it and for sure heard it! I was good friends with the owner of a local gunshop that has now closed. A woman in her late sixties came in with her granddaughter and was talking to a man that I’m assuming was her grandfather. She was leaning on one of the counters and let out a fart that would put most men to shame! Her granddaughter screamed mamaw! You could have heard a pin drop! I know because I was wishing I had heard that instead! They left and when the door shut behind them the whole place erupted into uncontrollable laughter! How all of the dozen or so men in that store kept it quiet long enough for them to leave is beyond me!

I've had people on both sides of the counter tell me they load their 10mm up to 41 Mag levels.

I've had people on both sides of the counter tell me that they need a 300 Win mag because it shoots a LOT flatter than their 30-06.

I once had a kid come in and ask where we kept our "stuffins". Not knowing what the hell he was talking about I asked him what "stuffins" were. He replied "those things you stuff in the shotgun shell that hold the shot". I asked him which one he needed. He replied "12 gauge". I tried to narrow it down and was told "they're all the same, I want the cheap ones". At that point I told him I would not sell him any wads. He leaves the store and a minute later comes in with his dad. His dad basically told me the same thing. At that point I told them where the wads were and let nature take it's course.

Those three stick out the most.

A guy asking where you refilled the gas on a gas operated rifle. (And where the filler cap was.)

I have heard and seen a lot of silly, weird, dumb, funny things in gun shops and at gun shows from both sides of the counter / table.

I believe the funniest thing I ever heard at a gun shop was when I was a kid.
My Dad took me and my brother to a gun shop we had never been to in SW Pennsylvania. He was looking for some particular ammo.
We walked into the store and right away we hear a gruff voice from behind the counter say “Hey there, wanna buy a gun?”
I didn’t see anyone. My Dad, looking at the rifles in a rack with his back to the counter says “No, just looking.”
A few seconds later we here the voice again.
“Hey there, wanna buy a gun?”
My Dad turns, doesn’t see anyone. Kind of has a quizzical look on his face and says “No, just looking for some (Insert name of company) .30.06 Ammo. What go ya got?”
Silence...
My Dad kind of looks about then walks over to the counter looking at the ammo behind the counter.
Again we here “Hey there, wanna buy a gun?”
At this point my Dad looks angry. He looks around but no one is there. He says “Hey buddy, where are you?”
Then “Hey there, wanna buy a gun?”
My brother and I bust up laughing. My Dad looks at us like we’re crazy then he kind of laughs.
About that time a short roly-poly man with a gruff voice comes into the store from a door behind the counter and says (in the same voice) “Hi folks, what can I do for you?”
My Dad says to him “I already told you...why do you keep asking if I want to buy a gun?”
The man starts laughing and says “ Ahh...I see you met my bird.” Then he turned to the left and grabbed this tall birdcage off the floor behind the counter and removes the cover from the cage to expose a big Mina Bird. As soon as he uncovered the cage the bird in the same voice as the man says “Hey there, wanna buy a gun?”
We all busted up laughing.

The man had taught it to say that and it repeated it often, especially when it heard the bell on the door jingle.

That memory still makes me laugh.

Liberals who realized they can’t fit a cop in their pocket.

I saw a bullpupped Moisin Nagant with bipod on the barrel on the preowned & consignment rack a couple of years ago at my preferred LGS. Then one day I noticed it was gone. I said something to the shop owner about somebody actually bought that and the reply was no, the firearm owner came in and took back everything he'd put up there on consignment saying he had to liquidate his collection ASAP to pay some home repair bill.

To each his own.

The first Saturday after Obama got elected I went to a gun show with SWMBO. There was a line halfway across the parking lot of people who knew nothing about gun but just wanted to buy something before Obama banned everything.

I remember one woman in particular (I suspect she was a Karen when being a Karen wasn't cool) holding a J-Frame and asking the dealer if it was a semiautomatic and did it have a safety?

I got on about my business

I went into a local reloading shop today. little place behind the guys house. great prices and always has stock.

I walk in and he has a few other customers.

In my best pepe la pue voice I ask him if he has any of that french gunpowder, varge'.

He rings me up a jug of Varget.

I thank him and leave.

I'm pretty sure the 2 guys in the store have a great story about a french idiot looking for french powder.

Probably one of the funniest things in one particular gun shop was me.
On several occasions I lived in Huntington Park, California, which borders on the city of Southgate, which was at that time the home of Weatherby, Inc.
The first time that I visited the place, I sauntered in from a brilliantly sunny California day into a somewhat dimmer showroom - and a quick sprint to the other side of the room!
Something huge and hairy with way too many sharp teeth and claws was right beside the door! I heard someone snickering behind me... a salesman pointed back at the door.
There stood a mounted polar bear, in all its glory.
I heard later that they moved the bear away from the door - something about patrons with weak hearts... .

Ive heard stuff so unreal or stupid in a couple shops that I simply would not buy anything from such.

Stuff so stupid.....its like my mind cant remember things that dont make sense at all......

One of the funniest I've seen is two guys at the end of the counter at a "sporting goods" store loudly whispering about the fact that a person at the other end of the counter was asking some questions of the proprietor that indicated she was very inexperienced with guns, and was trying to learn some really basic stuff from someone she believed was much more knowledgeable. The two guys had made up nick names for the new shooter, and were giggling and congratulating each other on how much more knowledgeable they were than the "newbie", and even managed to find faults with the proprietor's attempts to help the customer. It was really funny how those two guys were so much smarter than the new shooter, and then got a lot of amusement from some of the proprietor's suggestions that could be disputed. Their superiority was obvious, and a lot of fun.

I saw a guy trying to sell a lady, clearly a newbie, a .22 revolver. She kept asking if it was good for self defense, "Like, what if I have to shoot someone who is trying to get through my door?" The salesman told her that she could load it with shotshells, which would "surprise and scare" anyone who threatened her. I was going to stay out of it, but she turned to me and asked what I'd recommend. I told her to just get a .38 that fit her hand. A year or so later, I was deployed downrange, and we got word that the wife of one of the guys with us had just killed their two children...with a .38. Was it the same woman? Did the salesman see something I didn't? I'll never know.

- - - Yoda

The week after the 2008 election I saw a woman at a gun show with a revolver in her hand asking the guy running that booth if it was a semi automatic and did it have a safety. She clearly knew nothing and she wanted any gun before they all got banned.

I also remember the guy behind the table at another gun show trying to sell me some wallet that was designed to put an LCP in so you could pocket carry it and shoot it without taking it out of the wallet.

And ,of course, the Sham WOWs and beef jerky.

This wasn't funny but In 2012 I took a handgun to Specialty Sports in Colorado Springs to have some work done on it. I had already called ahead and the Smith knew I was coming.

I walked to the back of the store where he was working on a hunting rifle. He had the rifle in hand and was looking at the scope, I introduced myself and he aimed the rifle right at me. (please note I did not say "pointed it at me" I said aimed)

I stepped to the side and told him that I had the gun here to be worked on and that it was in the box with the part to be changed and that the slide was locked back if he cared to check the chamber. He aimed at me again and told me to just leave the gun on the counter and he’d get to it in a few minutes.

I stepped to the side again and said OK sure I just wanted to make sure you knew the gun was here and he did it again.

Long story short he did the work, I got the gun back in just a few minutes, the work was well done at a reasonable price AND NOT ONE DIME OF MY MONEY WILL EVER FIND ITS WAY INTO SPECIALTY SPORTS IN COLORADO SPRINGS AGAIN.

You let him aim a gun at three times without saying anything and then let him work on your gun, but you'll never spend a dime there again.
Boy you sure showed him.

Back in 2014, I was in a gun shop when I saw a coupla guys looking at a S&W 686 with a $1000 price tag on it. Asked the clerk behind the counter what was so special that it was priced $200 over MSRP. He told me "cause they don't make them anymore!". The two guys looking at the gun nodded their head in agreement. I said "B.S., they still have them listed on the website". Clerk told me he was the manager and I didn't know what I was talkin' about. I noticed one of the guys looking at the gun had a smart phone so I told him to go to the S&W website and check it out. Manager grabbed the gun and walked away. To this day I can't say for sure if he was just that ignorant or trying to pull a fast one one, because of the run on guns at that time.

38-45 Special said:

After seeing how much people enjoyed my very first post on THR, I figured I'd create a similar one. What's the oddest thing you've heard or seen in a gun shop.

Bear in mind that this refers to things that have occurred in a gun shop, sporting goods store, or even in a sporting goods section of a Walmart, Rural King, etc. or really anywhere that predominately sells firearms.

Mine would be something I heard at one of my local pawn shops (the only FFL close to where I live) a few weeks ago. I went in to pick up a gun I had ordered and was waiting on all the checks and stuff to go through when a guy comes in with who I assume was his father. Them and the owner make some small talk about this and that. As they're leaving, the father turns to the owner and proceeds to tell him about how he has a .410 Remington 870. He said "it hasn't even had a shell put in it" and how "someone offered him $1500 for it" and he told them "No deal". No hate to the guy, I just found it funny him saying both of those things, I guess because they kind of reminded me of my grandpa.

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Do I have to do the 4473 myself or can someone else do it for me?

bearman49709 said:

You let him aim a gun at three times without saying anything and then let him work on your gun, but you'll never spend a dime there again.
Boy you sure showed him.

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There wasn't any place else to go at the time.

And since over the last eight years since that happened I've spent several thousand dollars in other gun stores yeah I'd say I showed him

Not funny in a happy way, but the range I belong to sells firearms too (also my FFL). One day, my son and I were there, sitting at a table looking over our pistols. We'd just got a couple new ones in (Star BM's), and were breaking them down to make sure they were okay, before firing. The place is good like that, they wanted to ensure we got what we wanted.

In walks a guy, stereotypical "trashy" fella. Dirty, sleeveless shirt, flat billed baseball hat, pants sagging so we could all see his underwear. I try not to judge- might just be a kid following fashion. We've all been there to some extent...
Anyway, he looks over a few pistols and decides on one. He's filling out the 4473, and loudly asks for clarification on the "ever been convicted on domestic violence" question. Guy at the counter says, it's a pretty self-explanatory question. Either you have, or you have not. At this point my son is kinda wide-eyed, and we both are quietly paying close attention while not trying to stare. I notice the guy at the counter is more attentive, too.
So the guy starts asking "well, what if it was THIS way" scenarios, liking he's trying to justify something. Then he asks for another form.
Guy at the counter says "nope, we're done here. I don't have to sell you anything if I don't want to, and I'm not. And you can leave now". The 'customer' gets defensive and complains, but left.

By that point my son and I had both quietly reassembled our pistols, and let's put it this way, they were ready to be test-fired. Oh, and yeah, we went into the firing range afterwards, and they ran fine.

"Got any extended mags for a 40?"
-"A 40 what?"
"Glock"
-"You mean 40 caliber or model 40?"
"Im not sure. I just know it's a 40"
-"Well if it's a Glock 40, it's a 10mm. If it's a 40 caliber Glock, I'd have to check on it"
"I know it's bigger than 10mm"
That was last weekend...

This past Friday, ask the counter guy for some SP primers since they're behind the counter. He informs me he can only let me have 1000. Asks if I wanna know the price. I said no, unless they've jacked the price up...we both laugh. Another customer says "hey, what size are those?" I tell him small pistol. "How small? Mine's a 9mm...will they work in it?" I open the box and showed him what they were and he replies "oh, I didn't know you meant pistol pellets"

Been present for the whole its a 9mm and I need a mag.
-->OK son. What brand, or who makes it?
Guy couldn't been over 25. Don't know. Its a 9mm tho.

Went like that for a while. Rattling off makers trying to jog his memory. And him getting irritated that "its just a 9mm mag. They're all the same."

Leaving maybe 5 of us just dumbfounded and the older gent sitting on the bottom of the display laughing as he purchased a glock 21 magazine "it looks just like this"

Saw a guy dry-fire a compound bow once in Goodwill. Made a note to self then to never buy a bow at Goodwill.

sscoyote said:

Saw a guy dry-fire a compound bow once in Goodwill. Made a note to self then to never buy a bow at Goodwill.

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I saw a guy do that at a LGS in my area - but so did the employees, and they jumped in very quickly.

The salesman saying "trust me, I know what I am talking about".

See above. The local expert explaining how and why a lighter slide reduces recoil.