Gander Mountain in Richmond/Ashland, VA

[RNB65]

The new Gander Mountain store is open. I stopped by there tonight. Nice looking store. Lots of long guns but a surprisingly small selection of handguns. The store staff attacks you as soon as you step foot in the door and try to give you a GM hat in return for filling out a credit card app. I declined.

Prices are obscenely high. And not just gun prices, but everything in the store. There were a lot of people in the store, but I didn't see much buying going on. There was no one at the checkout registers other than board looking clerks. I don't think Green Top and DeGoffs have too much to worry about.

It was worth one visit, but it will be a long time before I go in there again. There was nothing in that store that I can't find for 20%-30% less elsewhere.

 

[Redneck07]

The agressive sales pitch pisses me off too. I like to be left alone when I first walk into a store.

The GM up here in Kingston, NY is pretty good. They have a good selection of long guns and handguns.

 

[Dgreno]

Thats not cool. I will be going out there this coming week to check them out. I am hoping they can find a GM special Taurus for me...

 

[Dgreno]

Thats not cool. I will be going out there this coming week to check them out. I am hoping they can find a GM special Taurus for me...

 

[chris in va]

Not sure on the new stuff, but I know for a fact you can haggle on the used firearms.

Case in point, a used Mossberg 500 had been sitting in the rack for a couple months, priced at $219. I pointed out a brand new one they had was $199. After a couple calls to the manager, they gave it to me for $169 *with* the 1 year free service.

But you're right a lot of their stuff is fairly high.

 

[pete f]

Ganders can be good or bad on prices, I just bought some more Carhartts work pants for 29 bucks a pair, well short of the going 36 to 40 dollars a pair.

same with canvas shirts, just bought two for 19.99, well under the 50 dollars Columbia likes to get.

 

[JohnBT]

Well heck, I was going to stop by for a look on my way to Green Top. Maybe I won't waste my time this morning.

I think the radio ad yesterday said GM has 2,000 guns. Whatever it said, Green Top has 4,000 with lots of turnover.

John

 

[dust_101]

GM tends to be high on most all prices, but if you look around you can find some things on sale or deep enough discount to warrant a purchase. As for firearms, when a new store opens they send used firearms from the other stores to help stock the new store. They just opened 5 new stores including the one in VA so every store lost inventory trying to bulk up the new stores. ....and you can bet they didn't send their best stuff.

The only good way to get to the good stuff in the firearms is to know someone who will bring things out of the back. Or you can bring in something to trade, they were paying 70% off blue book based on condition, and a bit more if you were trading in on another firearm.

Just have to learn how to work the system. ...and to know you can get things cheaper elsewhere.

 

[frank23185]

Greentop "ain't" exactly cheep either.

 

[VTKFJoe]

They advertise a price guarantee so I took them up on it. I went in on Wednesday this week and saw that the WWB 9mm was $22 - I told them I could get it for $15.72 up the street, the very nice and proffesional clerk at the ammo counter placed a call to Walmart (didnt need to tell him what up the street was, everybody knows Green Top doesn't have it for that price) and even though he didn't get an answer at the ammo counter (shocking) he honored the price.

Everything was very expensive except the $349 Sig p225s which are calling me... hopefully after they are around for awhile they will get some more used stuff and maybe they can balance out with GT - who knows maybe both will become more affordable. Well, a guy can dream can't he?

 

[usp9]

Up 95, the Gander Mtn. in Frederickburg has been a great place for me. You never know what you'll find. So far the good news;

They price match ammo
HK P7 PSP w/ four mags for $550
LNIB Sig P232 for $315
HK USPc $600
$350 Beretta 84 w/ three mags
...several others too.

I shop down at Green Top too. Give the G.M. a chance. Competition is good,and may bring some surprises.

 

[45Badger]

Greentop "ain't" exactly cheep either.

You're not kidding! I heard and read about Greentop for months, so decide to visit. Good size inventoryt, but nosebleed prices on used guns compared to local availablity. Maybe they dicker with regular customers, but the prices on their tags sent me packing.

 

[Stover954rr]

RedNeck: I know what you mean, I live down in Fishkill NY, and made my first trip to the GM in Middletown. I thought I was going to the "walmart of Firearms" But my local gun shop had them beat on EVERYTHING!

 

[Conqueror]

It would LOVE an aggressive sales staff. At my local GM it takes like 45 minutes to get any service at the gun desk, and the service you get is half-assed.

 

[JohnBT]

"Maybe they dicker with regular customers"

I don't know, I've only been going to Green Top for 30+ years.

I don't really dicker. For instance, I found a nice field grade Winchester SX-1 with a MOD barrel and stage three trigger with a price tag of $499. I went to the manager and asked how much. He looked at the computerized inventory on the register and said $449. I bought it.

The managers do the dickering on the used guns.

I pay cash for new guns and ask for some ammo or cleaning supplies or something. This doesn't work too well if you're using a charge card and they have to eat the card fee out of their end of the deal.

Yeah, GT has gotten expensive, but they have a huge selection of models, barrel lengths, etc. If you don't see what you want, ask, it's probably in the back and they can look at the inventory on the register and tell you.

I didn't get by GT or GM today. Tomorrow I think I'll stop by Runion's in Harrisonburg and Dominion Outdoors in Stuarts Draft (or Fishersville if the new store is finished.) Maybe Nuckols in Staunton, too. I'm not driving all the way to Harrisonburg and back every weekend to visit my folks at the home without hitting some gun shops.

GM can wait.

John

 

[akodo]

my local gander mountain just ended an add where those same sig 225s, turnins from some eurocountry, were going for $299. I only stopped at one store, and it was after the add expired, and they didn't have any.

I will say the 1 year guarentee is really nice....

truth is, the one I stopped at had a handful of ruger min 14s for 1000 plus change, and some ARs for high 800s (and I think the AR's are more gun for your money anyways...) However, they had a very nice on the exterior used ruger mini 14 for under $400. I want to say $350ish but I don't recall for sure. Normally I think if a deal is too good to be true, it probably is, as in, the gun has some functionality problems, etc...except with that gunsmith pre-inspected, and the 1 year warrantee...I start to think it cannot be that bad, and if it is it gets fixed for free.

 

[bender]

the Cabela's I go to has the same "credit app / free hat" guys standing inside the front door... but I've always just walked by them, and they never bother me.

 

[cpttango30]

Shoot I was in there Gander mtn in Fredericksburg today stood there for 1 hour trying to find out if the gun smith was going to be in today.

I just found out that in VA you have to have 3 forms of ID to buy an AR.

 

[tinygnat219]

GM is ok, I don't buy anything from them since they are expensive. I haven't bought anything from GT either. Their prices are also no different than Northern VA. If anyone's looking for a good deal and lives in the Northern VA area, look up Joe Elarde, he's a kitchen table FFL and works out of his home in Leesburg. He's often at the Fredericksburg, VA and Chantilly VA shows.

Great guy, he can beat GM, GT, and any of the other local stores by 100-150 dollars on most guns. Granted, he doesn't have the overhead, but he's willing to dicker on most anything.

 

[lee n. field]

Prices are obscenely high

Stopped by the local Gander Mtn. to buy a Ruger Mark II magazine. They wanted $30. Ruger's SRP is $23.something.

 

[Scotttb]

Surprised to find that Gander Mountain gun prices are VERY high. I'm very new to the gun game but have found DeGoff's to have the best prices and nicest salespeople. Price example.... S&W 38 Airweight hammerless... DeGoff's=$400, GT=$425, GM=$500. Another example... Kel-Tec P3-AT... DeGoff's= $280, GT=$330, GM=$320. Bersa Thunder 380... DeGoff's=$230, GM=$300+ Can't recall any other specifics but it's apparent that DeGoff's is undercutting everyone and the dude's in there were the nicest I've come across in a Richmond gunshop. That's my worthless 2 cents. I'm buying gun-related stuff from DeGoff's and fishing-related stuff from GT. Bass Pro and Gander Mountain can send me their flyers and if there's a must have for a cheap price, I'll take it. Otherwise it'll the locally owned boys at the same or cheaper prices. Thanks.

 

[GarandOwner]

Greentop "ain't" exactly cheep either.

Not only that, but I heard from a friend of mine (close friend, not a business friend) that works at a different local gun shop, that if they get a trade-in, and it is "almost new", they will put it on the rack with a Brand New price tag and sell it for the same price as a new one. I do like how they keep quite a bit of reloading supplies in stock, which is decently priced.

I think the used guns category is a hit or miss no matter where you go. Some people just dont know the value of certain guns is what I think. Case and point:

Down here in Florida,

Local gun shop #1: I was in a gun shop a few weeks ago and the guy had a Springfield M1 Garand for $635 It was a 2.5 mil serial range and had a the 44 barrel on it and lockbar sights. I checked the numbers and the bolt, barrel and receiver all matched up. If I use CMP's description, it would rank either a service grade or correct grade (depending on the internals)......I am still kicking myself for not buying it

Local shop #2: Has a re-arsenaled Springfield M1 Garand 50's manufacture, would rank prob between a rack grade and service grade, mismatched wood, he wants $2000 for it. When I heard this I politely smiled, handed it back, and said no thanks.



I havent been to Gander Mountian yet, but Im sure I will swing by when I come back to Richmond in November.

 

[CajunBass]

I've bought several guns at the GM in Fredericksburg. More at Greentops in Ashland. Some at DeGoff's in Mechanicsville, a couple at "The Range" in Stafford/Fredericksburg, and a few more at Clarke Brothers in Opal. I really don't see a lot of difference in the asking prices at any of them. A few bucks here on one thing, a few bucks there on something else it seems to me.

I don't owe them anything, they don't owe me anything. I buy where I see something I want at a price I'm willing to pay.

The GM in Fredericksburg has the same hat for credit card application deal. I just wear a cheap Bass Pro Shops hat, and I don't walk very far before one of the employees will offer me a much nicer GM hat in exchange for it. I've got three or four of them around here now. I'll have to dig up a BPS hat the next time I drive down to Richmond.

 

[mmike87]

Their prices for used guns are about the MSRP of a new one. Check out the prices of CPO SIG pistols. Absurd.

 

[wally]

A couple of years ago I started getting flyers about Gander Mountain specials, which I'd though was strange since I've never seen any around here. Then one opened in Sugarland. Flyer in hand, I went to check them out. Was some good deals on ammo in the flyer, so I got what I could, but never went back as random checks on a few things I usually buy were all more expensive than at Academy. Never got any more flyers with "specials" either.

--wally.