Do you like your local gun shop?

[9MMare]

Yes, very much. They have always been very helpful to me and my shooting partner. They have never been condescending and they encourage women shooters. I hang out and listen and they dont mind. They discuss any questions I have about self-defense in general, not just guns.

They have lots of guns to rent, which I did before buying mine.

As for prices, they're not bad. But I'm not much of a gun buyer, just a shooter.

Edit: my gun shop is also my local range...does that make a difference? It's also where I go to shoot.

 

[GrammatonCleric]

LGS

I must admit that I don't like any of my LGSs. I am an Indianapolis resident, and we suffer a severe dearth of even passable gun stores. The one Naptown resident in this thread said it best earlier when he mentioned a certain unnamed shop. I have to travel at least 30 miles one way to find a decent store. Woe unto us Naptowners.

 

[Nanook]

Yes, I do have a great local gun shop. It's a small two person operation, and both people are good to deal with.

The owner will order anything you like, that he can get. He'll also do transfers at a reasonable price if you buy something out of state.

He also does Gunbroker sales, so he has the best of both worlds going. A good guy, and loads of fun to talk with. He sells all kinds of guns, with no preconceptions of say, hunting vs. ARs or whatever.

I can heartily recommend him, and do all the time. So much better than dealing with the mega stores.

It's comical to be on a first name basis at a gun store, almost like Cheers. "Norm!"

 

[onebigelf]

A few weeks ago I would have said no. I had just purchased a new firearm from them 10 days earlier and I purchased a rifle they did not carry from an auction site. I went in to see about having it shipped to their FFL and was told that they have a graduated scale for the charge depending on what the gun was and that that particular firearm would be $60 for the transfer fee! Needless to say I used another shop. This weekend I went to the range next door to that same dealer ($60 transfer). I had a minor problem with my firearm (turned out to be a screw in the optics mount that had backed out) and the gunsmith from the shop walked over to the range, checked it out, fixed it, and refused to charge me. So now I'm conflicted! Bad treatment/great service, same shop...

John

 

[Deanimator]

I don't like any gun store in the area north of Cuyahoga Falls.

All of the gun stores here north of there are either:

1. insanely over-priced
2. stocked mostly with boring (to me) firearms
3. staffed by obnoxious buffoons who let their neer do well buddies hang around and do their Andrew "Dice" Clay impressions

If I actually PLAN to go to a gun store, it's to Dick's Gun Room or Pro Armament, both in Cuyahoga Falls.

 

[USAF_Vet]

So I have decided I really like my LGS. They remember their customers, the counter lady called me by my first name today. Granted, I was in there on Friday, but still, not what I expected. I went in there to put a shotgun on layaway, all of $79.50 but I didn't have the cash on hand. For a sub $100 gun, layaway. Not only that, but they take me out to their range and test fire it. Nice. Well the older than dirt single shot 20 gauge has some issues, the recoil loosened the fore end and it slipped off. Not a big deal, but they gave it to their in house gun smith to fix while it's on layaway. Excellent customer service for a POS gun. Gotta love it.

 

[rml4uk]

Although there are several gun shops near me, I would say "my" gun shop would be Buds (THE Buds). Some might argue it's not local because they do so much business online, but there is an actual brick-and-mortar store in Lexington and I love going in there! They could arm a decent size army with all the guns they have in stock. Not to mention all the accessories they sell and the really nice indoor ranges (reactive steel and paper). Unfortunately they do jack up ammo prices a little, so I get that at Walmart or online, but as everyone knows, you can't beat their gun prices. Most of the staff is also very knowledgable and friendly.

It doesn't hurt that I've been in a lot recently so the staff is starting to recognize me.

 

[ADKWOODSMAN]

I've had great success with my local shop. I have been buying from them for over 40 years. I compete with them at shoots and we are good friends. They are just local people and not really business people. If they put a selling price on something 5 years ago and it doesn't sell until that is the price.

I had occasion to visit a large gun shop in the Buffalo, NY area. I have never been treated so well in my life--even the local guy isn't out going like these guys.

They answered all my questions and even let me buy extra primers (during the shortage a couple of years ago) because I was so far from home.

You never know.

I do see the side of the, old guys could care, in a shop I visited near Burlington, VT--it was like he was doing me a favor.

 

[CAR-AR]

I finally got a great LGS close to the house. It's a one man show but that makes it even better. We took a while sizing each other up but it was worth the wait. Where else can I fondle guns, talk politics, fondle guns, shoot the bull about the old days, fondle guns, fix my AR on a Saturday, did I say fondle guns?

I make it a point to almost always buy something, doesn't have to be a lot, but just something like optics, mags, slings, etc.

I need to drop by tomorrow to shoot the breeze.

 

[ahil925]

The gun shops are alright, just higher priced then I'd like. One seems to cater toward LE more, has a large bit of case area dedicated to "LE-Only" discounted firearms. The other has a classy feel to it. One seems to go out of business and reopen on a weekly basis. Another is pretty much a hole in the wall next to a pawnshop with very limited selection. Last time I took a tour of them all were overpriced in my opinion ($75-$150 over MSRP at times).

Then again, surplus/mail-order and the internet has skewed my perception of what firearms are worth.

The ones that really piss me off are the Benny's Pawnshops. Massively overpriced, unwilling to discuss prices, and staff don't know squat about firearms. Wanted $400 for a Ruger Security Six who's finish was so heavily worn you could have mistaken it for a dirty stainless (it wasn't). Upon examination the Cylinder was locked up, wouldn't budge, and it looked like some one had tried to pry it open with a tool. At another Benny's they wanted $270 for Remington 870 20ga. It was covered in surface rust and the stock was covered with rub marks. Guy behind counter was willing to lower the price to $250.

I remember going to Benny's as a boy with my father, used to be reasonable. Don't know what changed with them.

 

[cyclopsshooter]

Speaking as someone from behind the gun counter I go out of my way to greet and bs with the 20-30 something customers come into the store (college town)
I well know that there are sales to be made with them, about 1/3 have pretty good firearm knowledge and I enjoy talking with them. The down side is that many don't have money and are just curious and want to drool- I have to talk to 10 students to sell one gun- (i was a poor student once and sympathize with their frustrations)

You younger guys keep in mind that the older guys typically dont follow the tacticool stuff or the latest polymer pistol- combine that with talking to ten people of a cashless demographic to sell one or two guns...
Furthermore, that friend they are bsing with has probably spent thousands of dollars at the store and they know each others firearm tastes- Just sayin... the kid that come in will be "can i see that one, can i see that one, can i see that one?" "Oh, sorry, I'm only 20..."
On a final note, 9 out of 10 customers say "no thanks, just looking." when asked if they have questions. I know because I ask irregardless

No doubt though, some stores do suck balls

 

[AR-yoter]

Hooked on Toys in Wenatchee, WA.... guns are only marked up 10% not too bad for this area and its one stop shopping hunting, camping, fishing, boating..

 

[goon]

I am fortunate... there are a couple pretty good LGS's in my hometown.

One is larger, sells more and buys more I think, and generally has prices just a little higher than the other. Their customer service isn't as good. At times you might have to stand at the counter and wait for someone to come and help you out. They're not exactly unfriendly or unfair, but they're not exactly always right on top of it when it comes to selling you a gun or some ammo either. Still, they guarantee used guns for 30 days and have a large selection of used guns to buy and new guns to slobber over. I stop in a lot and buy sometimes.
The other is an Army-Navy store with a gun department. The owner can be a difficult at times but the manager of the gun department is a personal friend and a very good guy. He takes people to the range on his lunch break to familiarize them with guns at times. Another employee there is a very experienced shooter and retired PA State Trooper - he also knows his stuff. Other part time employees come and go but as long as they have the help of the more experienced guys to fall back on for help, they're largely OK. Their prices are generally a little lower than the big store "down the street" and the service is a little better, but the selection isn't as vast. I buy there when I can and stop there as often as possible to BS about guns, the opposite sex, politics, and to sling rude jokes at the employees (who sling rude jokes back at me).
There's a small overpriced place on the outside edge of town. I stop there from time to time and have gotten some ammo there but never any guns. I'm just not impressed with them. They don't bring anything to the table that I can't get from the other places. They'd have to have something I really couldn't live without for me to buy there.
There's another tiny hole-in-the-wall place about twenty miles away that's the best for transfers I've found. I like the place just because the owner gets in "different" guns from time to time... like Uberti Colt Conversions or a Spencer replica. Gun prices are OK, ammo prices are generally too high, and the owner's daughter is freakin' hot!

Based on this info... can you guess where I'm from?

 

[nwilliams]

I really like one of my local gun shops, the other one not at all. The guys that work at the one I like have been there for years and they treat me like a friend not a customer, I go in there all the time just to hang out even if I have no intention of buying.

The other gun shop is real small with a poor selection of guns and seems to cater more to LE and the people that work there are a bit standoffish.

 

[RichBMW]

I guess the best local gun shop in the Tampa area is Shoot Straight. Great prices when they have sales and the sales force is very courteous. The place is huge, about the size of a supermarket, and there are probably 20 to 25 salesmen/women on duty. And they have an indoor rifle/pistol range right in the store. I took a "New Shooter" and my "Concealed Carry" classes right in their in-store classroom (taught by an excellent teacher who is a member of the Tampa police swat team.) I've tried some of the smaller places in the Tampa area but I found the prices high and their patience with a new shooter with lots of questions (like me) to be very limited.
And Walmart...I buy most of my ammo there and purchased a beautiful Henry 22 lever action and a Ruger Mini 14 there at prices far better than I could find anywhere else.

 

[steelerdude99]

My LGS is where I shoot (the Range Stafford VA). Good folks. They don’t have the biggest inventory, but often have used guns at decent prices. I look over their inventory when I go shooting and occasionally see a deal.

chuck

 

[mgmorden]

Nope, can't say that I do.

There are 3 local shops to me.

One is a very small shop that is mostly a gunsmith business with a few extra things. His gunsmithing services aren't priced too bad (the same can't be said of the for sale merchandise), but the gunsmith/owner has a BAD attitude problem. Everything he might work on is a great favor to you and you should be happy he's even taking the time to see you. Eventually he hired a clerk to deal with the customers as his people skills are just not there. The clerk is nicer, and has a decent gun knowledge, but something just don't sit right with me about him. Just seems "off".

Gun shop and range a little further down the road: prices on guns and ammo are INSANE. For new guns expect - no joke - 15 to 20% over MSRP. I can't believe they sell anything, but somehow this place is always crawling with people. That's actually a good thing IMHO, as some of the smaller shops if you're the only customer in the store just browsing the staff seems to regard you with suspicion for some reason. Haven't ever bought a gun or ammo from this place - doubt I ever will - but I do buy some accessories. Holsters and such. They often have good prices on used magazines (in a big bin - no labels - just search through and if you find one you can use it's $10). Their range is also excellent - $5 to shoot all you want to. $5 gun rentals so long as you buy their ammo to shoot in their guns. In think the range is what keeps the shop full.

The other local shop I don't get to as often. It's the closest to my house, but farthest from where I work. I can't make it there on a weekday and they close so early on Saturdays that I only make it up there a few times per year. Their prices are ok-ish. Ammo is a bit high ($25 for a box of 9mm Makarov last time I was there - ouch), but their gun prices are a little less than the other shops in the area. Sadly though, their accessories are mostly static items that never seem to change. Their "reloading section" currently has the same 6 or 7 trays of shotgun primers in it that it had there 2 years ago. Never seen another thing appear on that shelf. Same couple bottles of powder too. I've never seen another customer in that store at the same time that I was in there. They really seem to move virtually no inventory - makes me wonder how they're still in business.

Also, I don't know what it is, but ALL of the places above have the same dank, concrete floor, dimly lit appearance. I swear some better lighting, actual tiles on the floor, and just a general clean up of the place would bring more customers into some of these places. Make it feel like a real place of business rather than some back alley that you accidentally wandered into.

 

[vikinggirl]

Local gun shop that had an extremely helpful older gentleman owner went belly up!

Only big chain stores close to me now.

I drove to a 'local' shop on the other side of town, and after pointedly standing at the counter for an eternity <eek! A lone female - surely she's waiting for male accompaniment> someone finally approached. In a sneering tone "what are you here for? You want to buy a gun? (snicker) I informed the counter person that I was interested in looking at sporting clay guns. After showing me two he excused himself and walked away to attend to someone else. (it was not busy, other counter people were free) I left.

Sadly, I had a much different experience when I took along a friend's husband from the Army for shopping. They were falling all over themselves to show us guns. (admittedly a different store, but still a Mom and Pop place) Apparently single females are scary!

 

[goon]

vikinggirl - that kind of treatment is a shame. While I was at a LGS yesterday, a young woman came to the counter wearing a sweatshirt from the same university I attend. She was looking for a trap gun and knew what she needed. She was talking to the salesperson (a knowledgable and pretty decent guy) about sight pictures, how the stocks on field guns, skeet guns, field guns all differ, about how she didn't want longer than a 28" barrel - in short, she knew a hell of a lot more about them than I do and she knew exactly what she wanted.
Good thing for that shop that they have employees who aren't consdescending idiots toward female shooters.

 

[Johannes_Paulsen]

There's a gun store within 2 miles of my home, but I don't particularly like it. Selection is poor, and just as Dryft experienced, when I went in there to ask some questions, they acted like I was really putting them out.

I have had nothing but good experiences with Ace Sporting Goods in Washington, Pennsylvania. It seems as though whenever I'm looking for something in particular, they seem to have it when none of the other stores (including Cabela's) has it. The staff is professional, knowledgeable, and polite. One of their salesmen went out of his way to answer Mrs. jkp1187's questions, both about the gun and holster selection for a woman when she was there. I therefore don't mind driving 45 minutes to shop there.

 

[jhb]

to the op, it's exactly like you described, in florida. some shops are all old timers. others are regulars only.

new comers or walkins are treated poorly at best, and some shops even ignore them compeltely until they just leave. and i don't mean gangsta looking troublemakers or crazy eyed nutcases, i mean regular joe types who have never gotten into firearms before. which makes me think maybe bad gunshop attitudes have helped fuel anti-gun sentiments/attitudes in some regards?

i dislike most of the local shops. some are better than others obviously and some employees at each shop are better than others. most have more than a few know nothing arses, loud mouth types. also at least one who doesn't want to talk at all, or answer questions, and acts annoyed by real questions, and having to do his job.

i avoid gunshops for anything i can get on the internet, meaning anything but guns. yes i know i can get guns on the internet, but the ffl's down here have banded togther to make it a real pita on doing transfers, and a lot refuse to do them. maybe i'm wrong for doing this on ammo and accesories via the internet, but i find it easier, but more importantly a much bigger selection and much better pricing, even with shipping charges.

i often wonder if it's the business and all the nutcases, idiots one has to deal with that turns some gun shop workers and owners into such anti-consumer types?

 

[Broken Anvil]

Can't stand it. We have one large gun shop left in Baton Rouge and it deserves to die and let the big box stores fill the void. They have no interest in anything except your wallet and good luck if you have a problem with a firearm you bought there. The so called "gunsmith" on site won't even come out to speak to you, he just sends a shop flunkie out to tell you to "send it to the factory, not my problem". I shop on Gunbroker and the internet, anything else I can get at Cabelas, Bass Pro or Academy Sports. It's a crying shame the local gun shops have gone away but for some it's good riddence.

 

[DammitBoy]

Jim's?

 

[arflattop]

Absolutely. It's very small, but they'll order anything you want, and their prices beat anything I can get online or otherwise. Owned and operated by some local LEO's. I consider myself fortunate to have them 15 miles away.

 

[bsg]

i pulled up to this metal shack amongst others like it; typical industrial area. i didn't know what to think. there was a banner hanging lazily atop the entry that said "GUNS."
when i walked in to this dive... i instantly remembered that feeling i got as a kid when the traveling carnival came into my town; excitement!

it was bleak looking inside... except for the guns; w german Sigs, the new Glock 17, old Remington Wingmasters that dripped with patina, guns and more guns, Steiner binoculars and 2 smiling faces that stared toward my direction from the other side of the counter. an HK Benelli M1 Super 90 sat on top of a wooden box next to a cup of coffee.

yup, i had come to the right place! to make a long story short, i found some great friendship at that "dive" and still miss those wonderful people that kept that place going. we sat many a time discussing and solving the world's problems, while neglecting our own. there was always time for coffee and visiting. it was truly a "gun shop" and there was no mistaking it for a "store."

E Mark Felix and his dad Herb left california for las vegas and along with them went my best wishes. i'll never forget them.

i don't expect to find a place like that in this day and age. but i have found a pawn shop that treats me well, that is local to me. i've done some out of state transfers with Alamo Jewelry and Loan with no glitches. i found an older pristine (1983) w german P220-E .45 ACP at Alamo which i could not afford.... Josh offered me a layaway arrangement i could not say no to. a european magazine release P220 has long been on my list and this one will soon be in my safe.