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

When 30 rd AR mags and 223/5.56 ammo were scarce after Sandy Hook, I stopped in a LGS just to see what was there. It was more of a hunting/ outdoor shop but they did sell guns.
At this time I was still in the military, and I was in uniform when I stopped in.
I looked in the glass case and saw an old used GI 30 rd mag. It had a price tag of $99.99
I asked the guy if he was serious, and what makes that mag be worth that price.
Keep in mind that I am standing there in a US Army uniform.
He told me "THAT IS A MAG THAT THE FULL AUTO GUYS USE"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I haven't stepped foot in that shop since.

One of the gunstores I used to frequent had some wall mounted trophies next to a busted chronograph also on wall mount. One of their customers had shot it with his 338 lapua. Apparently it wasnt his first 'friendly fire' kill . The gun store had said they next chrony he shot, they were mounting it for him.

A guy who turned out to be drunk, came in and asked to see a Benchmade Infidel. (Out the front knife for those unfamiliar) He was trying to “catch” the blade as it popped out. He succeeded on his first try before anyone knew what was happening and basically ran out the door leaving a pretty good blood trail. Never heard from him again

Another drunk guy came in and started looking at ammo and must have passed out standing up because he fell face first directly into the ammo shelves and knocked himself out cold. The police and EMS exited him from the building.

First thing in the morning at a pawn I worked at, two guys came in. One of them went to the pawn counter which was in another section of the store with only one employee the other one came and started perusing the guns. All of the sudden we all heard a crazy commotion coming from over in the pawn section and our employee over ther came on the intercom that she need some help and everyone in the store but me went to see what was going on over there. I didn’t move an inch and stared down the other guy looking at the guns and got real shifty and turned around and left and grabbed his buddy on the way out. Sometimes things don’t work out the way you plan them.

That’s just a few.

I was working at Cabelas at the gun counter and we had many funny stories. But my favorite was when we had this guy mid 50s come in with a friend. He was talking loud and spewing false information. Then goes on to say that he didnt even need a gun. He could hit a person at 300yds running with a crossbow. At this point he drew a crowd of us and we were laughing. He then informed us that he was a black belt trained by Chuck Norris himself and we shouldnt laugh. Needless to say, we did not sell him a gun that day. He came in again another day and was arguing with a co worker for awhile. He was mad cause we refused to sell to him. Dude was not right in the head.

I went to the lgs that had a range a few years ago. I had to wait as a group of NEW security Guards were in training. It was obvious that none of them had any knowledge about guns and it showed in their shooting skills. Later after the class was over they all met in a small room adjacent to the range for a informal meeting. I happened to be in there talking to the owner.
One of the group was telling all the others how the Glock was the Best gun ever made and how Taurus sucked and all the other newbies shaking they head to yes.. I then asked him which model of Taurus was he referring to. He then said it did not know. I asked him if he ever owned or even shot a Taurus and he replied No. I then asked him how he knew all of this. He replied "from the internet",

I've heard a lot of weird and wild whoppers about various guns and skills in the LGS. However, the most headshaking one that made me the most nervous was right before the 2016 election. A regular at the counter was with his son. His son, a nice enough young man, had joined the service but was most likely offered an exit as not being cut out for it. I'm sure this bummed him out because he had expressed interest in going into the private security sector after his tour. Anyway, he was talking about posting up on his roof election night because he knew that as soon as Clinton won (which most people assumed at the time), she would send in the Blue Helmets to start collecting guns. He even had a sign he posted in the lawn to warn them with range dialed in to take his shots.

The dude was dead serious.

This one happened more recently as I was perusing the LGS.

The door rang open and two guys walk in. The first says, “Good afternoon fellow patriots,” in a slightly loud and pompous sort of way.

I have a thought about whether I want to be present in the store with these two but curiosity got the better of me.

The second fellow peruses around and sees a Chinese copy of a broom handle Mauser on display. He says something like, “I have got to take a look at this. I am one of only two Waffen SS re-enactors in GA and this would go perfect with my uniform.”

Saw a guy bring a rifle in with a scope that he had tried to clean the fog off of the lens. He had unscrewed the Ocular off and had stuck a cleaning rod with a mop on it through the scope. You guessed it. No more reticle. At least he did it to a cheap scope.

earlthegoat2 said:

I am one of only two Waffen SS re-enactors in GA

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That’s kind of like eating at a McDonald’s a civil war battle was fought at...

Sooo not being there in person I’ll tell the story as it was told to me..

A friend (John ) was shot in the back at Sportco by a salesperson unloading a customer pistol that was being looked at for some reason.
Poor old John was kneeling down looking at a pair of boots at the end of an isle when the shot rang out and the pain felt from the Bullet ricocheted off the floor penetrating his back.

There’s a Lawsuit of course....
J

I have 2 Smith Corona o3a3s made within 2 months of each other. I bought one on pristine original condition and the other my uncle sporterized in his basement. Not bad but not returnable to the original condition.

I wanted a thumper for our bigger black bear and went to my LGS to talk to the gunsmith. My intent was to get th sporterized rifle bored out to .35 Whelen, or at least inquire about the feasibility. As I walk in the smith is loudly bragging about how he can turn any Mosin Nagant into a 1000 yard rifle. Oooookay, red flag number 1. I talk to him about my intentions and he takes instant offense to destroying a piece of history
And finally responds "How would you get the rifling in there once you bored it out". My response was simple.

I was looking for a good gunsmith to do that. And then I thanked him for his time

Not really funny, actually I found it to be downright despicable. Owner of a gun shop trying to make a sale to somebody thst didn't know better. It was a mismatched Luger that had been nickel plated. He proceeded to tell this guy that "only high ranking officers were issued the nickel plated Lugers." That happened in the early 80s, and while the place is still in business, I've never been back there since.

I remember walking into a shop and hearing a lady argue with the owner that her gun was a Civil War relic. She was sure it was very valuable. It was a Walther model 4.
I stopped at a store one time to see if they had 6.5 Swede ammo. The guy at the counter said "sure", then handed me a box of 6.5 Carcano. I handed it back to him and said this was the wrong stuff. He then told me that he was the store's gunsmith. He doesn't keep up with all those foreign guns, "give me a Winchester or Remington, and I know how to take care of it."

Glockula said:

As I walk in the smith is loudly bragging about how he can turn any Mosin Nagant into a 1000 yard rifle. Oooookay, red flag number 1.

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I was going to say maybe he was an Armorer for the Finnish Army RIfle Team, until I saw his comment about "How would you get the rifling back in......".

Well, this one's odd, dangerous, but happy ending.

I was working in the range, musta been 1985 or so. Lady calls up. Her hubby died, he had this gun, can she bring it in to see if its ok before she disposes of it (presumably to a relative). Sure, no problem, bring it in. So she asks how late we're open as she has to get a taxi. Time was ok, we're open to 9pm.

Lade comes in holding a cloth sack and whips out a skinny barrel model 10, loaded and cocked! Jeebs Leweebs!

The revolver was quickly grabbed from her hand, with finger between frame and hammer. A quick apology to the lady, and we made things safe. Unloaded, tried out, and as many a Smith had back then, the hammer would "push off" if you put a bit more pressure on it. Double jeebs leweebs!

After that lady left, we all commented... if that (still waiting outside) taxi driver had hit the railroad tracks a little rough... it could have been a real mess someplace inside that ride. The things that happen in a gun range... !

We had a few ND's, hadda toss out folks for the same. You just can't police every move by every body all of the time.... Had a few ND injuries, out in the parking lot of all places. Had two intentional deaths, then we learned to spot 'em, prevent 'em. Yah, profiling. Gotta.

Oldschool shooter said:

Not really funny, actually I found it to be downright despicable. Owner of a gun shop trying to make a sale to somebody thst didn't know better. It was a mismatched Luger that had been nickel plated. He proceeded to tell this guy that "only high ranking officers were issued the nickel plated Lugers." That happened in the early 80s, and while the place is still in business, I've never been back there since.

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I've heard the same thing applied to nickeled WW2 1911 bringbacks as well. Saw one in a LGS the owner was trying to sell to the counter guy, claiming only Patton's personal security detail had the "shiny ones"....

Don’t forget ..IKE

I had an argument with a guy about 38 cal. ammo. I usually shoot 38 super in a few semis. It seems I always get deals at my gun club, guys buy 38 super. thinking it is a suped up 38 special. Well a local guy, famous for reloading and target shooting tells me 38 Special is the same as 39 super! I just say OK, no argument from me!

1563621 said:

I had an argument with a guy about 38 cal. ammo. I usually shoot 38 super in a few semis. It seems I always get deals at my gun club, guys buy 38 super. thinking it is a suped up 38 special. Well a local guy, famous for reloading and target shooting tells me 38 Special is the same as 39 super! I just say OK, no argument from me!

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I love those kind of guys. I always try and keep a $50 or $100 bill in my wallet.

I would have slapped down a $100 and ask if he wanted to take the bet. It's an easy way to make money.

Funny and slightly psychotic. Our area got hit pretty hard when hurricane irene hit, there was a huge influx of out of state (massachusetts) road workers that flooded our tiny lil town and a couple of heavily tattooed hispanic guys came into the general store/gun shop and the gun case caught their eye, they were giving off a gangbanger vibe and before somebody calls me racist it wasnt because they were tatted and hispanic, they were talking like hoods and making gang like innuendos, probably just stupid who knows. All I know is the owner didnt care for it, he was in a lil step up through a door that deceivingly looked like a closet but was an office and was listening to them from concealment. He came down out of his lil hobbit hole and grabbed a 12ga off the rack and mockingly repeated some of their slang verbiage back to them and pointed the barrel up their nostrils and gave it a rack with a menacing look on his face.

Those guys looked drained pale and beat feat with immediacy...

A couple weeks ago I stopped into a place to look at their reloading stock. Primers were thin and a guy was looking at the primers they were selling by the tray. The store hadn't taped the ends of one tray and several primers fell onto the carpet. As the guy got on his knees and started picking them up, an employee that was in the aisle said;
Don't worry about them, we'll vacuum them up.
Another time at the same store, I assume 2 middle-eastern guys were look at the AR-15s. One of them kept asking the guy at the counter about if they could shorten the barrel and motioned cutting off at the end of the hand guard. The counter guy kept insisting that they would have to apply for a sbr tax stamp . I kind of wondered if they was messing with him or if they were serious. As they didn't seem to connect with what the clerk was saying. But it left for the imagination to wonder.

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

My reflection in a glass window.

I have made runs to the gun shop in my "lawn working clothes" looking like an extra from a Mad Max movie.

You know, a lot of those dumb gun store questions turn up on the gun boards and are treated seriously; trying to straighten ignorant people out.

I had an argument with a guy about 38 cal. ammo. I usually shoot 38 super in a few semis. It seems I always get deals at my gun club, guys buy 38 super. thinking it is a suped up 38 special. Well a local guy, famous for reloading and target shooting tells me 38 Special is the same as 38 super! I just say OK, no argument from me!

First match I get from Google on "38 special 38 super" is "38 Super, also known as . 38 Superauto or . 38 Super Auto, is a pistol cartridge that fires a 0.356-inch-diameter (9.04 mm) bullet. It was introduced in the late 1920s as a higher pressure loading of the .38 ACP."

There was a .38 Special revolver cartridge loaded with 200 grain bullets marketed as .38 Super Police, but the monicker fell out of favor due to confusion with the .38 Super Auto. That was like, 1920s? Apparently the occasional confusion is still around. Someone may have heard their grandad talk about shooting .38 Super (Police) in their .38 Special revolver.

Some people, the only thing they know about guns is what they overheard and usually misunderstood from scuttlebutt in the gunshop or barbershop.
I have had to purge a lot of that misinformation from my mind over the decades.

I walk into a local gun shop and ask for .38 Super. I would expect them to know .38 Super = .38 Super Auto and not .38 Special.

kcofohio said:

Another time at the same store, I assume 2 middle-eastern guys were look at the AR-15s. One of them kept asking the guy at the counter about if they could shorten the barrel and motioned cutting off at the end of the hand guard. The counter guy kept insisting that they would have to apply for a sbr tax stamp . I kind of wondered if they was messing with him or if they were serious. As they didn't seem to connect with what the clerk was saying. But it left for the imagination to wonder.

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I saw a similar thing at the local Cabelas a while back. Two obviously Middle Eastern guys, dressed in polos, slacks, hard shoes, way too much cologne; looking at cammo clothes. Somehow I don't think they were heading up to the Kaibab after mule deer. Mrs. Oulaw75 was with me and although she normally would be lecturing me about jumping to conclusions, outright insisted I call an acquaintance who's FBI and let him know what we saw.