Houston Gun Stores, I just dont get it.

Texas is not as Pro Gun as I would like and Houston Proper is not pro gun at all. Our downtown mayor factory churns out "elected officials" that are as anti gun as they get. I believe our Beloved Dictat... I mean, current Mayor is even in bed with Herr Bloomberg.

As for the shops... I usually skip them and go for the gun shows. I purchased a gun from one of the vendors at a gun show that actually has a storefront in Houston. I keep looking for a reason to be out in that area and check them out. Hopefully they are as good as they were at the show.

But you are correct. I have not found a Gun Shop that I could call home. And I would love to find one.

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I agree with you, having lived in the Houston area for five years, and in TX all my life. Dallas has what you are looking for, in a store called Bachman Pawn and gun. "Dallas you say, but I live in Houston!!" However, I'll wager Houston(and TX) has something that Mass. doesn't. GUN SHOWS, lots of them, and often.
The big one, held twice a year, is in Reliant Hall Jan 20&21. Pasadena Convention center has one about every 2 weeks. Bachman, and several other big gun stores do the Reliant show from all over the state.
I'm still looking for that "perfect" gun store in Houston to throw all my money to, but until that store arises, I'll be shopping my local gun shows.

Dan

Most of my firearms purchases.....

are online. Gunbroker or Auction Arms. I believe that's the only way to get a bargain anymore.

Just be careful that you don't buy a firearm from a Texas dealer online. If you do, you'll have to pay shipping AND sales tax.

Also you should check out CDNN Sports in Abilene, Texas. You'll have to download their catalog and then open it with Adobe Acrobat. They have the best prices I've seen. Lots of police trade in handguns. Lots of new handguns and long guns. All at very reasonable prices. I think they'll ship a handgun to your FFL dealer for 10.00. Even if you add sales tax, I still think they have the best deals.

Gun shows - best prices in TX. Stores really don't compete. In fact, some of the big box stores are better on generic types, like Glocks or SW revolvers than the stores.

Check out Tomball Pawn in Tomball for good prices and service.

Of course, attend the gun shows, too.

Harold Mayo said:

Check out Tomball Pawn in Tomball for good prices and service.

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+1 I buy 90% of my guns at Tomball Pawn. They are great people to deal with and they have very good prices.

Yes, as others stated - go to the gunshow.

I am lucky - in College Station - Champion Firearms has pretty decent prices - MUCH better than any I have seen in Houston. In Dallas, there are some decent prices I suppose, but the dealers like Bachman Gun and Pawn give better prices on their stuff at the show than they do in their store. I've bought from him at both his store and at a show before.

The Reliant show is probably the biggest in TX. And, it is coming up soon. I plan to go there myself. The George Brown convention show is the 2nd biggest in Houston. Many of the same dealers from the Reliant show come there - Bachman is 1 of them.

I can usually save another $30 or so at the show from the Champion proces. But by the time I pay gas, parking and the entrance fee - it comes out about the same. Now, if I am going anyway - then its worth it. But to go for a specific gun that they have at Champion already, I just buy my gun from there.

U want a price shock - go to Collector's Firearms. U need to be high on crack to pay some of those prices

prices are high because of supply and demand, in that they will eventually get what they are asking or run it on sell at end of year.

For very popular guns try chain sporting goods stores like Academy, my G23 was 499.00 there. Carter's has some good sales occasionally. I have had my best buys at gun shows though.

You can also try used firearms

I've found that both Carter's and Gander Mtn (Spring store, at least) sometimes have pretty good prices on used guns. You have to look and be willing to wait if they don't have the gun and/or price you are looking for, but don't forget to check 'em out.

I've gotten several of good guns that way: a Sig 230, a T/C .50 cal caplock, a Marlin .30-30, a SW J-frame in .38, and a Remington 700 in .243.

The shows are the best bet for large selections, but even there you have to be careful if you want a good price. I've seen the same gun priced +/- $100 from different dealers at the same show downtown.

price around. sportsmans' warehouse, academy, online, gunshows. At times anyone might give better buys than others on different items. Online is the fastest, to check prices. As one knows, we are in a free-enterprise system. I have seen where I bought my revolver, they had the one (model/barrel length) I wanted, while others didn't. Also, they had another model, I was going to buy, for twice the price, of another vendor. Their are those who just deal with one gum shop, nothing wrong with that. Its just, todays shops (mon and pop) are far and few.

You have to remember that most gun owners in Texas don't go much beyond the basic hunting rifle and shotgun set up. Wal-Mart, Academy, Oshmans', and others all carry that basic stuff as well as gun stores. Those are the high volume gun retailers, not the small gun shops. Add to that Bass Pro Shops and Gander Mountain as well now.

Carter's Country is close to high volume, but you just need to shop them. Some stuff they have great prices on, other stuff not. I have bought 2 or 3 pistols from them and gotten good prices. They put sale ads in the Chronicle all the time and those can be great prices.

The gun shows are the best for pistols. There are 3 or 4 pistol dealers who sell new pistols at the shows based on volume. These will be the best prices you will see anywhere in the area. AJC Sports out of Clute (near Freeport) is one of them. Once you go to a show and sign the card, you will get mailers or email.

The Main Gun Show Promoters in the area are: (do an internet search, they all have web pages)
Houston Gun Collectors Association
The Real Gun Show
The High Caliber Gun and Knife Show
Saxet Gun Shows (mostly in Conroe these days)

So I stop by the new Bass Pro today. A new Glock 19 is at $549. Down the road at Sportsmans Warehouse is the same gun at $495. At the show tomorrow, there will be a slew in the $450s.

Although I did get swept with the new G19 by the old upscale geezer - yuppie sportsman. How do you describe these guys. Definitely with money, posturing and macho at the counter about stopping power and handguns while they are being ripped off on price - indicating they know nothing about the market. "WaahhhLLLLLLLL - if you need more than one shot, you ain't doin' yer job!"

Should have heard the clerk explain the laser options for the Glock - yuk, yuk.

In Houston you'll definitely generally get the best prices at gun shows, but watch the ads, sometimes the stores have a good sale. I recently got a new Ruger MKII stainless slabside target model at Carter's for $239+tax! (when I bought one new at a show six years ago as a gift for my best man after my wedding it was $265+tax I've regretted not buying two at the time ever since) Haven't seen a new MKII at the shows in quite some time, used plain ones have been generally priced higher than this because folks don't want the magazine disconnect which makes an already PITA takedown/reassembly proceedure even more hassle with having to have an empty mag in and out of the gun at the appropiate steps to change the hammer position.

--wally.

+1 on Tomball Pawn. A few months ago, when everyone seemed to be wanting MSRP (or at least $500) for the new Taurus PT1911, they had a few for $439.00 in stock.

Overpriced

Carters Country is Overpriced. I get better prices from my 2 local shops in Texas City - T's guns and Shooters Corner.

Haven't tried a local show yet but might soon with all the excess cash I earned over the holidays.

Probably get a SIG 239 - no SIG's in my stable yet.

FYI, The Real Gun Show January 6&7 at the Pasadena Convention Center.
http://www.realgunshow.com/

http://www.highcalibergunshow.com/Schedule.htm

The Big show at the Reliant Center later this month:
http://www.hgca.org/show_info.htm

Most of my pistols and new rifles were bought at gun shows. Some were bought at shops if I thought the price was good.

I orginally got my Ruger 22/45 Target model at Carter's for about $200. This was 10 years ago. Got my Marlin 39A there as well. Selected models are priced well, but you have to shop.

I have not been to any Houston gun store's, however I do have a friend that lives there, and he speaks highly of Jim Pruett’s Gun store. Again, I have not been, that is just what I heard from a friend.

Actually, I'd comment that overall, there are some outstanding "buys" in the greater Houston-Harris County area...

You gotta shop around and in some cases, try to negotiate the price...quite a few of the "quality" shops will work with you, depending on the item.

Know your item/market value.

High-volume items, like Glocks as an example, are always "draws" to certain seller's facilities...

Check on after-sale service, if you need it...if you do, and "they don't", you got problems.

In this market you can find the neatest and hard-to-get stuff...but for a shop to stock "everything"...there are certainly issues of overhead.

Personally, I've always done OK at Carter's and the same for Collector's Firearms...but the items I usually like aren't always "high-volume".

Remember...if the posted price on an item isn't to your liking, ask...you might get some latitude.

Generally, the older, established businesses, such as Collector's, or Fountain Firearms...have been around here for a long time and have worked hard to build a reputation for honesty and fair-dealing...

If you want an older, unique weapon or one that is out-of-production or simply previously-owned, this is usually a good market also.

But, on any given day...somewhere in th' country...there's always somebody who has "something" cheaper if you got all th' time in th' world to find it...

I travel around a bit thru work...usually visit gunshops in my off-time when I can...to me, we ain't sittin' too bad...

I have not been to any Houston gun store's, however I do have a friend that lives there, and he speaks highly of Jim Pruett’s Gun store. Again, I have not been, that is just what I heard from a friend.

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I have only been there once as it was on the other side of town. The displayed prices were not very good, but he did have a lot of stuff to choose from and some good brands though. At that time, he had a 44 mag pump action rifle that my Dad and I were looking at. I forget the manufacturer.
Anyway, he might have had deals on some stuff and he might work with you on the price, but we didn't talk to anyone. He did seem to be doing good business though.

Houston experienced "natural selectiion".

I remember when it was not uncommon to be able to find small to medium gun shops around the different communities. In fact we used to plan Saturdays to hit several of the gun stores to see what was new on the shelves. Some specialized in reloading, some in police and para-military and others for hunters and outdoorsmen.

Well first came the great FFL shake-out of the '90s of the smaller FFL dealers. Then came the rise of the big box retailers like Walmart that bought popular models by the trainload and sold at rock bottom prices. The Gun shows got bigger, and then the internet took off. The result was the small gun shop could not compete with the prices of the big box or the inventory of the gun show or internet. So only the strong has survived.

The encouraging thing of late however is the trend of the Big Boxes to discontinue gun sales. This may once again open up opportunities for small and medium sized businesses that are gun oriented in communities once again.

first, get with the gunshows, they will all have their store guys, represented here. then you can go to their stores, when you want to , also , don't forget Academy, and Gander mountain. Also i have picked up the occasional great deal at Carter's country and Fountain firearms. there is also Republic arms off of the north loop. but the store dealer guys, that set up shop at the gunshows, usually that is where you will get the best deal. Also one more; A-gun shop, north of I-10 on hwy 6, he usually has some pretty good, pistol/revolver deals.