Gun Shops Suck (except when they don't)

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I like the guys at Tex-Guns since they tend to cater to cruffler types with a good selection of surplus rifles, but their prices are still pretty high and they just instituted a "no credit cards/cash only" policy that will probably be the final nail in their coffin.
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OH NO! Don't they know that domestic terrorists deal in cash only?:eek:

The DOJ said so...
 
I have had mix results with LGS but they tend to be pretty good in my area. I live in suburban Maryland and prices are high compared to online but I would expect them to. I use my LGS for everything except reloading and C&R guns. My favorite is in Brutonsville. The owner and his son work there, nice people who know how to take care of the customer. Last week I was looking for a pink cricket for my daughter’s birthday. He ordered it, told me it was cheaper online (I knew that but it was nice to hear). Told him I needed a case and sling to go with it, he said he would take care of it. I bought my Ruger 357, Ruger 22, a few rifles, and BP rifles. I have other LGS that are closer and cheaper but these guys know how to take care of me the customer.
to make it a perfect LGS for me I would like:
1) to be able to get to within a foot or two of his rifles so I can see them. The rifles are about 6-7 feet away and I can't tell much from that distance. He has the room but I am sure he has his reasons for putting them way behind the counter. Seems like there should be a way to lock them down, and let customers get fairly close.
2) No smoking in the store. I have allergies and cig smoke in a confined area can set me off. Someone likes to smoke in there. His store, he can choose to allow it but I don’t go in there as much because of that.
 
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FINALLY got a nice shop near me. Prices are inline with everyone else, so no great deals, but they have a great attitude and a great indoor range attached. I'm almost brought to tears of relief when I see it.
 
After frequenting gun shops for 25+ years, I find it difficult to find a salesperson who doesnt throw off some kind of "weird vibe". I'm sorry, but its either the standard "macho", the classic "Rambo", the studious "I know everything about everything", the overcompensated "nerdy", the not-so-feminine "chick with a bang stick", the grumpy old "ex-cop", the tatooed teardrop "ex-Gangbanger" or the owner who wants you to "buy-and scoot" type. I worked behind the counter for a short time, and tried to NOT fall into those categories when showing guns to people. I think this vibe reeeally makes new people interested in buying thier first gun, and getting into shooting uncomfortable...This is a bad thing. Sorry guys, just what I've observed.
 
I have two very local gun shops (not including the couple pawn shops who have a lot of guns) and one semi-local shop.

One of the local shops sucks because the owner is so damn rude to everyone. He never has anyone in the parking lot because everyone is afraid to go there. He does most of his sales online. The other two places are fine and staffed by great people.
 
One of the local shops sucks because the owner is so damn rude to everyone. He never has anyone in the parking lot because everyone is afraid to go there.
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There must be one in every town! What I don't understand, why would someone in business be so mean and rude to everyone?

Jeff
 
I had a gunstore in N. Illinois that didn't suck at all, decent prices on guns, a very good range with reasonable rates, and the people who worked there were good guys. Then I moved to SE Florida and could not find any of the above at any gunstore. Then I moved to AZ and now I again have not only a good gunstore, I have a choice of which one to go to.
 
I love my lgs. Sometimes I go just to hang out. The guy that owns it is real cool, and doesn't pressure you into anything. When he's not busy he likes to just shoot the breeze.
The guns are always priced 30 dollars more than Buds gunshop, so that by the time you pay his ffl fee, you might as well just bought it there.
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We must go to the same shop.
 
I just experienced my first bad gun shop with one that I found is about 10min from where I live(never knew they were even there)... went in there and one guy kinda had the "you're not going to buy anything so I'm going to be short with you and ignore you when I get a chance" thing going on. I wasn't buying anything, but wanted to and it wasn't in stock.

I called them with the model number of the 22/45 I wanted and they said to check their online store.

I checked it, it said to call the retailer.

I called back... he said they must not be able to get it.


OK. I get that, but just the way they acted about it bugged me. Not "sorry, it looks like our distributor can't get it and we're not set up to get it from anywhere else." It was "We don't have any, you'll have to buy something else."


So I went to the Vandalia Range and Armory(www.vra-ohio.com) 35min away and they didn't have the exact model I wanted(5.5" barrel, non-removable grips), but they had the 5.5" with removable grips for a competitive price with Impact Guns($20 more)... So they got my business.

The VRA range has a ton of helpful people working there(I think every one of them is ex-police or military), they are very good at making sure you get the pistol YOU want... Mike there said he was glad to see me renting a new gun every weekend to see what fit me best... too many people go in and just want to buy one, but don't want to know how well it works with them before buying.

The only problem I have is that their range fees are pretty expensive compared to what I've heard other people pay at other ranges($300/yr for one person or $500/couple... If you are NOT a member, then it's $14/hr for pistol lanes. Members have them free. There are other member benefits too IIRC, but for now I'm paying every time I go). That said, I have never once felt uneasy or unsafe at their range... based on some of the stuff I've read on here that seems to be a rarity.

They have range masters constantly on duty who are good about spotting the newbies and teaching them the basic safety rules and keeping an eye on them. My wife even got some free instruction from a guy named Steve since we were the only ones on the range on the very first Sunday we went to shoot ever.

In my opinion... that kind of customer service/assurance is well worth the money.

The only other problem they have is that they are sometimes SUPER busy... but that is a great problem for a gun store to have and I don't want to knock them for providing great customer service and them reaping the rewards of that. I'll gladly wait 5-10 minutes for someone to be available to ring me up at the cash register. Oh and I'll also gladly park 500ft down the road because the parking lot is slam full:what:
 
I go online and look at buds, summitgunbroker, and JG sales. I get a price on the firearm I am wanting then I add the cost of shipping and transfer to it. I then go to the local gunshop and inquire on the same firearm. If they come within 20-50 dollars, depending on the gun, then I will have them order it, or buy it from them. If its a 1000 dollar gun I will push the upper limit to 100 instead of 50. Thats my redneck psuedo-scientific method. I have only had to purchase three firearms online, the rest have come from two local gunshops over the years and a couple from wally world.
 
Im still real new with owning a gun and visiting the LGS. The one we have near here has a nice selection of rifles and handguns (although Saturday they had sold out of a lot of their selection), and consignment guns. They also have bows and a guy that works on and fixes them in there as well.

I like their range and wish I could shoot for 5 bucks a day but I wouldnt have that much ammo with me right yet to shoot all day so it works for me and is priced good.

They are very patient with us looking and holding the different guns and we were looking for a nice gun for our son to use because he wasnt doing so well shooting my .40, and I feel they took the time to let him feel it out and pick the one he really liked. He also go two free range visits with the purchase of the S&W 9mm and hes doing very well with it by the way.

I just found out we have another LGS close to us and Im hoping that it is as good because they deal in reloading equipment as well and I think I will be venturing that way before long as well.
 
For Central Oregon:

Small shops - Great people, fair prices, usually some sweet local made accessories like holsters and such. Usually willing to do special orders and run around if needed. Usually a fair amount of trade-ins and consignments as well, which can be a money saver, and you can haggle them down sometimes too. The downside, occasionally you catch someone who treats you like trash if you're there just to look and the selection of in stock inventory is usually tiny. I like to at least fondle a gun before I buy it, so that makes it hard for me to buy from them sometimes, especially if it's a gun new to market.

Big shop - HUGE inventory of guns and usually friendly staff that doesn't care if you're there just to look because its not their money anyways. The prices that I have compared in the past were only $10-20 more than what I could find online for a brand new piece. Downside is they don't do used guns or consignments, have a less than stellar selection of holsters (nothing locally made) and other accessories and you can't haggle them down.

I would love to have a shop with a range and rental guns you can try. You SC boys know how to do things right. :)
 
orionengnr said:
OP--when I retire, I'm moving to your part of SC :)

In the mean time, my small mom n' pop LGS is treating me just fine. If you are in the DFW TX area, check them out.
www.sportingarms.com
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orionengnr, I don't travel much. Haven't been to Dallas in maybe 20 years, but if I get back there, I'll pay a visit to SportingArms.

flatlander937 said:
They have range masters constantly on duty who are good about spotting the newbies and teaching them the basic safety rules and keeping an eye on them. My wife even got some free instruction from a guy named Steve since we were the only ones on the range on the very first Sunday we went to shoot ever.

In my opinion... that kind of customer service/assurance is well worth the money.

The only other problem they have is that they are sometimes SUPER busy... but that is a great problem for a gun store to have and I don't want to knock them for providing great customer service and them reaping the rewards of that. I'll gladly wait 5-10 minutes for someone to be available to ring me up at the cash register. Oh and I'll also gladly park 500ft down the road because the parking lot is slam full:what:
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flatlander,
Sounds like your LGS is a lot like mine. When I took my boys to the range last week, the range master pointed out to me how one of them was limp-wristing the 1911. No FTFs, but still bad technique. (Of course I had taught him better, but it had been awhile since he had been to the range, and bad habits can creep up without enough correct practice). Anyway, I appreciated the range master's friendly advice. Not at all arrogant or bossy, just a regular person trying to help.

And the place is ALWAYS busy on Saturday's. Even week nights, it can be crowded in both the store and the range, especially Tues and Thurs (Ladies Night).
 
I have a small gun shop that last year moved a lot closer to me, I had been meaning to stop in and check them out, finally did so after the move and now I check with them first on stuff. He has one strange little quirk though, if you have a firearm shipped to him and didn't give him a chance to meet or beat that price, he charges you more for the transfer. I don't know how much more as I've never run into that problem as he's done great by me so far, just called him looking for two handguns that no one else local has except for Cabela's, and his regular price on the Ruger P95PR15 is the same as Cabela's "Sale" price and he's about $10 in gas closer to me! He also stocks surplus ammo for my Mosin's and builds AR's, so I think I'll be spending a lot of my gun money there.
 
I had a fantastic lgs when i lived in SoCal (oak tree gun club) and moved th San Antonio Texas and the gun shops are awful. The only one worth a dam is powder horn. Not a big selection but great service.

I miss oak tree :(
 
I frequent several shops around my town. Some for reloading stuff (but their gun prices are high), the other has given me what I feel, are great deals on used guns. Another one has given good deals, so much so that I try not to just stop by without some cash because they seem to bend over backward for me and, I don't feel right turning my back on 'em.

I guess I'm blessed. My brother was thinking of buying a firearm so we went into the one store and he looked at me and smiled when we were greeted with a "Norm!" moment. Yeah, I know the faces, and most of the names. :cool:
 
My local range/shop lets you shoot pistols all day for $10 and rifles $14. you can come in the morning, leave for lunch, and come back again in the afternoon and you still pay the flat rate.

Employees are very nice and always helpful. The range is clean and the sales floor is well-lit and maintained. Prices aren't that cheap, but its ok because I usually buy my firearms used from other sources
 
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