ACE Hardware sells guns?

[Lightsped]

A coworker of mine said he bought a Ruger Mk II at ACE Hardware not too long ago. I did not even know ACE Hardware sells guns. Anyone here have any knowledge of this?

Should I check Lowes and Home Depot for a gun section???

 

[pax]

I think most ACE Hardware stores are independently owned, not owned by a big company. That'd mean whoever the local owner is would make the decision about what's on the shelves. If the owner is a gun nut like us, well, it wouldn't be surprising if his store stocked guns (hey, it's hardware, ain't it?)

The big box stores, on the other hand, are definitely corporate entities. Less flexible, but cheaper.

pax

Hunter's Seventy Seventh Rule: The measure of the menace of a man is not what hardware he carries, but what ideas he believes.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I remember when Western Auto and Joe the Motorist's Friend used to sell guns.

Hell, I remember when Sears used to sell guns.

 

[AR-10]

Lowes. BWAAhahahaha!!!!

If they sold guns (they don't) you'd never find anyone to fill the paperwork out.


As a matter of fact, I was in an Ace hardware in Wisconsin a few months back, and they had a very nice firearms section. In my town, True Value is the hardware store with all the firepower.

 

[Browns Fan]

I can remember shortly after seeing Dirty Harry for the first time, walking into a K-mart (imagine that!), and drooling over a S&W 29. In Cleveland, Ohio, too!

 

[keyhole]

Don't forget Otasco! I bought some guns there, and IIRC my first gun came from a Western Auto.

Damn, I miss the old days!

 

[Standing Wolf]

I bought a Ruger Mark II .22 caliber pistol a week ago in an Ace store in Gunnison, Colorado for $90 less than I'd have paid at home. The firearms section was way in the back of the store, and the selection left a great deal to be desired, but the fellow who did the paper work seemed to know what he was about.

The Ruger has a terrible trigger and gave me lots of failures to extract. I've gone over the reassembly directions again and again, and it's still in parts. It's the last Ruger anything I'll ever buy.

 

[cordex]

Wolf,
Any chance you want to ditch the MkII for a song? *grin*

The Ace Hardware in Mooresville, IN used to carry guns, but they recently moved the gun portion of the store into the shooting range that they set up. Pretty nice selection. Good people.

 

[GoldenLoki]

Ace in Overton, NV has a large gun section just inside the front doors. Knowledgable staff, large selection of long and hand guns. Best of all excellent prices.

GL

 

[tcdrennen]

I bought my first gun (Stevens-Savage 94Y single shot 12 ga.) at the Pep Boys in Downingtown PA when I was 13. Paid them $7.00/wk for 7 weeks on lay-away, and they handed me the box when I made the last payment. Bought my first rifle for $15.00 a couple of years later from the guy who had a booth at the Downingtown Farmer's Market: walked in, handed over the cash, took home the gun. It was POS semi-sporterized Terni Carcano in 6.5 Italian which provided me the opportunity to completely strip, clean, polish and re-blue the metal, while finishing the 'sporterizing' of the stock. Good learning experience, but the gun was worthless even for plinking, and Norma 6.5 Italian was expensive even then.

That was in the mid-60's. I still have both guns but haven't fired either in decades.

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

My Ace Hardware stores don't sell guns here...

But I do have an auto parts store, Checkers, that was advertising shotgun shells for hunting season. That's been one of the "What are they doing selling that there" type reactions. Surprised, but happy, if I need shells very suddenly, it's down the street!

 

[dinosaur]

Lionel trains and guns in the local hardware store at Christmastime. Great for kids (of all ages).

 

[Dan Morris]

Not here, knowledgable gun shops are fast disapearing!
Dan

 

[mtnbkr]

My local ACE Hardware sells guns too. Prices aren't bad. A coworker who used to work at this store told me the owner would order anything I wanted if I just asked. I need to keep that in mind...

Chris

 

[Smoke]

Local Ace hardware is the ONLY gunstore in town. Good selection. Very good prices. Their "main" store in the major metropolitan area 30 miles away is exceptional. Better than any of the "gun stores" found in that city.

The only hangup is they want $100.00 to do a transfer.

 

[El Tejon]

My father purchased my second firearm from ACE in Indianapolis. First one came from Service Merchandise.

 

[TallPine]

StandingWolf:

Is that the Ace Hardware / Napa Auto Parts store on Tomichi St (Hiway 50) ?

Been gone a while ... everything's probably all changed around there now. I used to live a couple doors down from the owner of the Ace/Napa store. Oddly enough, the owner of the Coast to Coast hardware lived a couple doors on the other side.

Fullmer's True Value out on the west end (where the hiway starts to turn) used to have a pretty big gun and sporting goods section.

 

[RTFM]

I have a Hawthorne Model 807 (made for) Montgomery Ward (produced for Hawthorne by Colt (The Colteer)) .22 LR single shot bolt action.

Still shoots great, and purchased for Montgomery Ward, in N.H.

RTFM

 

[ToxicSteel]

I bought my first gun (Stevens-Savage 94Y single shot 12 ga.) at the Pep Boys in Downingtown PA when I was 13. Paid them $7.00/wk for 7 weeks on lay-away, and they handed me the box when I made the last payment. Bought my first rifle for $15.00 a couple of years later from the guy who had a booth at the Downingtown Farmer's Market: walked in, handed over the cash, took home the gun. It was POS semi-sporterized Terni Carcano in 6.5 Italian which provided me the opportunity to completely strip, clean, polish and re-blue the metal, while finishing the 'sporterizing' of the stock. Good learning experience, but the gun was worthless even for plinking, and Norma 6.5 Italian was expensive even then.

Ahhh... if only the Pep Boys around here still sold such things. Now you can't even find the right oil filter let alone a firearm.

 

[Mal H]

Our local ACE Hardware sells guns and ammo. Not the best of prices though.

 

[RON in PA]

Remember Woolworths? Back in the 1990s it was a good place to purchase milsurps. Got a Swedish Mauser and a M1 carbine. And this was in a mall in the Philadelphia suburbs.

 

[bigmtnman]

I've been into the Ace in Loveland. Looked, but never bought anything as his prices are a little high. Good selection, though.

http://www.allaboutloveland.com/profiles/orchardsace.html

 

[RustyHammer]

Believe it or not, kids, there was even a time when SEARS & ROEBUCK used to sell them by mail order ..... oooooo OOOOOOOO oooooooo.

Now turn off your 3-d video graphics cube and crawl into your space blankets.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Remember Woolworths? Back in the 1990s it was a good place to purchase milsurps. Got a Swedish Mauser and a M1 carbine. And this was in a mall in the Philadelphia suburbs.

And now that Carbine is mine! Bwahahahaha!!!!

Aside from those guns, I got my No.4 Mk.I in the Woolworth's in the Plymouth Meeting Mall, and a Swede M-96 in the Woolworth's in the King of Prussia Mall. The Plymouth Meeting Mall also used to have a tobacconist who sold guns. "T" and "F", but no "A".

 

[45King]

It's a sad commentary on where we are that many people would be surprised to know a hardware store sells firearms. Shoot, in the town I grew up in, there were NO gun stores, but guns and ammo could be purchased at feed and seed stores, hardware stores of all types (chains & Mom 'n' Pop,) and even gas stations. I recall both Western Auto and Ace as having good selections of guns. The best deal I ever got on a new gun purchase with a trade-in was from an Ace Hardware in Lakewood, CO, in 1980. Traded a 5 year old Contender w/standard .44 Mag. bbl for a new S&W M19, nickel, 4" bbl, with only $45 boot.

It would be an interesting research project to find out how many dedicated gun shops there were vs. stores that sold guns prior to enactment of GCA '68. The difficulty would be in determining the latter--lots of places that sold guns probably went out of business prior to '68, not to mention after.