Gun Packaging

[GunFit]

This is just a silly life observation:

It is funny that the majority of guns you can purchase NIB come loose in a cardboard or plastic box. Some don't even come in a box. You can open the box (one that generally won't stay shut anyways) and pick up the gun without anything tying it down.

On the other hand, any toy that my son gets is locked down with an assortment of theft prevention devices and tie downs that require various tools, knives, and a Master's degree to get out of the packaging. Then my son spends more time playing with the packaging than the toy.

Of course, guns at stores are securely locked up behind a counter, in a safe, a locking rack, or some other means while also under camera and staff supervision. I just found this amusing the other day when I opened a box for a toy we got our son a day after I purchased a rifle.

Life is fun.

 

[M-Cameron]

its all about marketing....

toys need to be attractively packaged to show off the product and catch the eye.....no kid is going to see a plain cardboard box on a shelf and beg their parents to buy it.


...and no one has ever bought a gun because it came in a pretty package......so they can afford to toss them in a plain cardboard box.

 

[eye5600]

its all about marketing....

Or maybe about shoplifting. Bubble packaging is used to make an item bigger so it's harder to conceal. It's made tough so you can't easily pocket the item and leave the plastic behind. Guns don't need bubble because the have to be (or should be) secured by other means.

But, I agree with the OP that it's somewhat ironic.

There are special tools for getting into packaging. Check the catalogs for old people (like me ) I even saw one to cut the vacuum sealed plastic on a CD.

 

[CoRoMo]

...loose in a cardboard or plastic box. Some don't even come in a box.

I've never purchased a new gun that 'didn't even come in a box'. I did buy a used pistol once from a pawn shop and walked out the door with it in my hand, no box, no bag, no gun lock.

New guns:
Mine have come in a cardboard or plastic box, yes, but the box is fitted to the gun, so I don't consider it 'loose' in a box like a pair of shoes. Shotguns have come disassembled with each portion in a fitted compartment within the greater box. Almost all the guns I've bought were in plastic bags, to keep the oils/grease from soaking into the cardboard/paper documents I guess. Some have even been set within a carry case of some sort, all within 'the box'.

 

[GunFit]

Like I said, it was an amusing observation (to me). I have seen some guns that come in a very nice, lockable case.

 

[TexasRifleman]

and no one has ever bought a gun because it came in a pretty package

Always a few exceptions

 

[GunFit]

Those survival packages always tempt me. I really don't know why either...must be good marketing.

 

[JohnBT]

I don't even want the gun, just the yellow box in the pic.

 

[russ69]

Years back most guns came in a flimsy cardboard box and the gun was just tossed in, maybe with a little wax paper wrap. Today most come in much better packaging. When guns were 200 bucks a cardboard box seemed appropriate. Now that most guns are 1000 bucks or more, a better package seems like money well spent.

 

[Dr.Rob]

All that extra packaging is waste unless you're buying an investment piece or it ships in a gun case.

 

[Willfully Armed]

Years back most guns came in a flimsy cardboard box and the gun was just tossed in, maybe with a little wax paper wrap. Today most come in much better packaging. When guns were 200 bucks a cardboard box seemed appropriate. Now that most guns are 1000 bucks or more, a better package seems like money well spent.

I can buy a $100 Crickett, $200 KelTec or $300 Taurus, it comes in a cardboard box.

I can buy a $2300 Noveske. It comes in a cardboard box. Oh, and I get a sticker too


Packaging means squat. My Walther p22 came in A nice partitioned foam lined case.
I like HKs cases too.
Springfield and S&W cases are generic and that brown paper wrapping is redonkulous.
The new glock clamshell is better than the Tupperware.
Ruger plastic is a little loose.
DPMS handles hurt, but its a solid case.
OLY ARMS is flimsy.

 

[browneu]

Bravo Company uppers come in a box with bubble wrap. But you get some stickers and a hat.

 

[FROGO207]

All I want to pay for is the actual firearm I will skip the box and SWAG that comes with it for the better price upfront.

 

[tyeo098]

My CZ75 came in a nice black plastic snap case...
Manual and extra mag and everything. I liked it

 

[JohnBT]

"My CZ75 came in a nice black plastic snap case"

I have one, it's an okay size. I've had it 11 years and never used it. Same for the BHP case and all the others. Never used them. Into the closet forever.

I have plenty of real gun cases and range bags for travel. And I have a closet full of new gun cases and boxes and cases and more cases under the bed. But you never know I might sell a gun and people are obsessed with getting the original packaging.

And so many of the cases are oversized suitcases. It's wasteful and the city recycler won't even take them.

 

[medalguy]

Another consideration. I recently purchased a nice somewhat rare Smith & Wesson pistol and paid over $1000 for this one. The selling dealer just shipped it to my FFL loose in the original box, not wrapped to protect the box at all, and when it was received the nice original box was beat all to heck by the pistol rattling around in the box for several days. Destroyed part of the value of having the original box, doesn't it? Wonder why the shipper didn't bother to wrap the pistol to protect both it and the S&W box.