Bud's Gun Shop - Behind the scenes

[Deckard]

I never heard of this place before, but I just took a look at the used guns on their website and was blown away by the best prices I've seen since obamamania sent them through the roof. I thought I was just going to have to accept "less ridiculous" prices for all my future purchases as they've leveled out recently around here, but haven't dropped much at all. I was a bit stunned to see reasonable prices again.

 

[svaz]

I like "window shopping" on Bud's website - unfortunately, no money, no honey.

 

[searcher451]

I've never purchased a gun from Bud's (though I've looked at the site a number of times). This article makes me want to, however. Thanks so much for sharing it.

 

[SheepNutz]

I never heard of this place before, but I just took a look at the used guns on their website and was blown away by the best prices I've seen since obamamania sent them through the roof. I thought I was just going to have to accept "less ridiculous" prices for all my future purchases as they've leveled out recently around here, but haven't dropped much at all. I was a bit stunned to see reasonable prices again.

Even at the height of "Obamamania", Bud's still had great prices. That's when I got my full size M&P 9mm for $399.

 

[KJS]

Question from a novice

Better prices than all my local stores and no tax means that I go into my local Gander for little more than the occasional pack of paper targets.

I've only once bought a gun in my entire life (from a local Cabela's in 2008).

I hate to sound dumb around all you experienced old pros, but how exactly does one go about buying a gun from Bud's or any other online source? Is this accurate that I get to avoid sales tax? That's a nifty $28 savings right there on a $500 gun. Not a big deal, but every bit of savings helps.

Are there specific gun shops that Bud's normally deals with or do you have to shop around to see what local gun shop will do the paperwork & transfer at the least cost? With that calculation of 52,000 gun a year sold, I'm guessing Bud's is likely a place your local gun shop will likely have done business with before.

How do local shops typically feel about doing such transfers? Are they happy to do it or are they more often grumpy about the fact you didn't buy the gun directly from them at a higher price?

Thanks for any words of wisdom.

 

[docpadds]

Its really not complicated to do. If you look at this pageHERE at Gunbroker you can look up local transfer dealers. A dealer has to voluntarily list on that site so they are normally quite willing to do transfers.

Then you go buy your item, pay for it etc... and get the transfer dealer to send their info to the seller (unless they are on record already as a lot of us are with Buds and other larger places). The transfer dealer can talk you through how they like it done etc, we all have our oddities

Gun arrives, you go do paperwork etc and all things going well you go home with gun.

We do this from both sides, sale and receiving, indeed quite a few people around here buy from Buds and transfer through us because the $20 transfer is still less then they would have paid in sales tax (though technically thats something youre supposed to declare at tax time in Ohio).

 

[SheepNutz]

Well, I made my way down to the new Bud's today to check it out. Unfortunately, they didn't want me taking pictures inside, so I just snapped one of the outside (attached image). The retail store is very open and spacious, with the left side being all rifles/shotguns, pistols in the middle, and police gear/range entrance on the right. They had absolutely a ton of pistols, such a great selection. I got to handle my one of my dream pistols (DW Valor Bobtail), and really loved it. The selection of used rifles was great, with something for everyone. There was a Winchester 70 from I think the '60s that had lots of character, I really liked it. The one thing that I saw lacking in the store was a selection of new bolt action rifles from manufacturers other than Savage. They literally had over 100 new Savage bolt rifles, and maybe 10 from other manufacturers. I'm leaning toward Savage for my next deer rifle anyway, but I would have really liked a decent selection of Rugers, Winchesters, and Remingtons to compare to the Savages. As far as the range goes, they had it closed off. I think they were getting ready to do a demo in a little while, so they didn't have anyone in there shooting at the time. All in all, it's a pretty good store, and I'm glad to hear that they'll be open on Saturdays now, which will make it a lot easier to stop by.

 

[fireman 9731]

I stopped by too. Its a nice store for sure. I was actually kinda disappointed in their selection... but I always like different stuff. All the big names, Guns that sell the most, not much out of the ordinary. Top notch service though.