Outdoor World, Ft. Lauderdale: WOW!!

Status
Not open for further replies.
L

LkWinnipesaukee

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2006
Messages
555
Location
Peoples Republic of Massachusetts
I just got back from Bass Pro Shop's Outdoor World in Dania (near Ft. Lauderdale). All I can say is holy smokes! The place itself it huge (I think it has a horizon; you cant see the other side, 160,000 square feet), but the firearm section was truly amazing. They had HUNDREDS of guns on the racks and in the display cases. It was like being at a DELI: you took a tag and they called your number, and they let you see whatever you wanted, including all the pistols banned from sale in MA: Sig 1911s, Glocks, Colts). Amazing. Now, the ammo wasn't behind the counter. No, it was right out in the open with all the other stuff. You just grabbed what you wanted: pistol ammo, shutgun ammo (by the case), and even 500 SW Mag! So awesome.

I clearly have been living in Massachusetts too long. I need to go to college here.

One thing that angered me was the completel lack of safe firearms practice. This one moron kept pretending he was at the trap range: he would shoulder shotguns and sweep half the store (and my family, which I wasn't happy about), SEVERAL times. The (gangsta-type) guy and his wife on my other side kept playing with a bunch of handguns and pointing them at me and the counter guy. Then the wife gave a P99 to their son (who had to be like, 3 y/o. Oh god...)

But all in all, that place was incredible. Is it like this in other gun friendly states?

Too tired to proof read, sorry. If there is a grammar error, my bad!
 
Your post reflects quite well the paradigm of American firearms ownership... or lack thereof. From the "Everything is in lockdown and no one even knows about it" to "GUNS GUNS GUNS w/ yahoos acting stupidly because they do not know any better" each anchoring opposite ends of the poles.

Somewhere in between lies generous availability and responsible self control.

Both being good things to behold, eh?
 
Sorry to hear about the unsafe practices, thats a big deal. But having a store like that must be nice. I wish we would get one in Portland.
 
Reminds me of today at the range. These three guys were visiting from Ohio so they just rented some .22's to shoot for fun. I dont think they had much firearms experience given they were missing the bulls eye at a range of 15ft. When I opened my case they were all gawking at my CX4 carbine. They were especailly fascinated with the .40 cal jacketed hollow points. Most of the time I was shooting they were even amazed. The gun tends to make a loud boom and it sends shell casings quite far. My guess is they were from some really anti gun area in Ohio and thier first trip to CT was a bit of a culture shock. They also gawked at the range owners AR-15 and incorrectly refered to it as an M16. One nice thing in CT a Concealed Carry is a real pain to obtain takes like 4 weeks and 90 bucks plus a class that cost 150$ but you arent allowed to post any no firearms signs.
 
If you want an experience like that and one that is much closer to home, check out the Kittery Trading Post in Kittery, ME. Now that is an impressive place. Sounds very similar to what you described. Hundreds if not thousands of guns on display. I didn't want to leave when I visited. Amazing place.
 
If you like Bass Pro (I'm not a huge fan), you're gonna love the Cabela's (I'm addicted:cool:) being built up near Concord, NH:D

As noted , Kittery is akin to Mecca for New England gun lovers!
 
I had the same reaction going into Cabellas in PA for the first time. Very liberating to take your shopping cart down the aisles of ammo, and just load it up without having to ask for help, or have it noted that you are buying handgun ammo as you do in the PRNJ :fire:
 
I live fairly close to this store and it's not as great as it seems.

I too was wowed when I first went in. What I didn't realize is that the store is technically anti in a couple ways:

1) Store policy is no carry (but here in Florida who cares what their sign says?)

2) No such thing as a high-cap magazine. Try buying a regular Glock 22 mag - it doesn't exist. Only 10 round mags.

and then these things don't make them anti, but they tick me off nonetheless:

3) Try getting help at the gun counter. No seriously, I dare you. You'll wait for ehh... an hour.... (see 4 for more details)

4) Salespeople there are hit or miss, once you miss you do not pass go, you do not collect $200.... you're screwed. However, feel content in that you can happily wait another hour and try again. Don't try to ask them for another salesperson. The response will be "They're busy. What do you want."

5) If you do get somebody who can help you, at least my experience has been they treat you like a criminal. They barely even let you touch their guns.

and then there are just a couple other things that aren't quite as bad but still are annoying like the fact that the Ft. Lauderdale store doesn't carry 5.56mm anymore and for .22lr they never have what they advertise. Like I was in there a couple weeks ago and they had a big pop-up ad for CCI Velocitor ammo. I said, "OH great! This stuff is great. Where is it?" answer: "Oh yeah that... We don't carry that." ????? why the pop-up ad then? I haven't a clue. Your guess is as good as mine.

Also they are very very sparse when it comes to defensive ammo. They seem to concentrate on hunting with very little thought as to guns could be used for defense. For example for the longest time I noticed they only carried Golden Saber ammo (which I got royally screwed with when I first started going to the store since it didn't feed right in my 9mm Kahr and I had bought a bunch - like 10 boxes (200 rounds) - which I guess was dumb of me. Guy said it would work in any gun. I was new to guns back then and didn't know that guns could be ammo picky. So I believed him. When I went back to the store, they refused to take back the unopened boxes (only a week or two later) and claimed that they couldn't be sure if I had used the ammo and I had replaced it with my own reloads/handloads. I told them that I didn't reload, they didn't want to hear it. I walked away with a lot of ammo that I never could use (fortunately my LGS helped me out afterwards).)

Also, as for some ammo (like Golden Saber, or oddly enough .22 blanks), it's not like at the LGS where you can just walk in they ask almost immediately if they can help you, and you say, "2 boxes of _______" and pay. At Outdoor World, take a number (literally) and wait in the gun line. Fortunately most rifle ammo is available in its own isle along with Rem UMC and WWB handgun ammo, but basically anything behind the counter I recommend you go to the store VERY early in the day for.

and the shooting range btw is closed there very often. Something always seems to go wrong. I'm not faulting them I suppose for trying to run a safe range, but just to let you know these are the reasons I've seen the range close in the last few months:

- Bullet trap wall collapsed
- vent system stopped working
- general repair

which are all legit reasons I suppose. I just wonder why they happen whenever I happen to show up. It boggles my mind. Either I'm very unlucky, and come at bad times, or there are some problems at that store that need to be worked out.

The above is my experience and my experience only. I haven't spoken to anybody asking if they've had the same, so I haven't a clue if I'm alone in this or not. I could be just coming at bad times.... who knows.

I guess I should be thankful I live in a state that has this sort of store, but somehow Outdoor World doesn't float my boat. At least not the Dania store. Personally I buy very little from them. I'll go in there for a box of Rem UMC (or a case) or a couple bottles of Break-Free CLP.... that's about it though these days.
 
There's going to be a Cabela's opening in NJ, but I can't see that being much fun to visit. I believe that I can't buy ammo in NJ without a FOID card, and I can't get one since I'm a NY resident, hopefully I'm wrong. If not, I'll just have to be happy with Gander Mountain here in NY.
 
Actually, Cabelas was thinking about opening one in the Xanadu complex that is being built in the Meadowlands, but decided against it due to NJ regulations. This is what I've been told by employees at the Hamburg PA store. As an aside, there is a Dick's Sporting Goods store at the Rockaway mall in NJ. They sell ammo, rifles, and shotguns. I asked the department manager why there were no handguns for sale. He said that the store was told that if they were going to sell them, they would have to provide an insurance policy for the entire mall :eek: BTW...they are not in the mall, but are located on the ring road outside the mall...:cuss:
 
Stevek, thanks for the info. I looked at the Cabelas website and it said that the Meadowlands one was opening soon, I hope they decided to move it to NY.
 
We are getting a Cabelas store by december in Hartford, CT i cant wait cheap ammo and great customer service!
 
Hi Cheese. I was thinking maybe something was wrong with me so I'm glad I'm not the only one who found our Outdoor World lacking:
I live fairly close to this store and it's not as great as it seems.
Click to expand...
Everything said was spot on. While there is a good selection of handguns there are no EBR's, AK's or anything along those lines and only a couple of lever guns. (Take away the pellet guns, muzzle loaders and shotguns and their rifle selection isn't all that big.)

Reloading supplies are a token gesture. Decent selection of hunting/rifle ammo but the prices are way higher than Wally World's. 12 round XD mags are around $35 ($18 on sale at Midway.)

It's fun though to just go and hang around listening to the bull the sales people shovel out.
 
They just opened , I think, the first Bass Pro Shop here in Southern California (Ranch Cucamunga...sp?) just the other day. I am waiting for the crowds to normalize before I take the kids to look around.
 
We`ve got a Bass Pro Shop, west side of Orlando.........Better than Gander Mt which opened on the east side of Orlando going on a year ago.
Bass Pro Shop a little pricey. Clothes, etc.
Fishing section, lots of stuff (as you would expect) but quite often stuff is on "back-order." Drive 75 miles and see how that feels.
Hunting section, not bad. Lots of rifles and hand-guns. Take a number to be waited on.
Gander, guns out in the open . No number needed for service. Store kind of
looks like a giant wal-Mart.
Can only hope we get a Cabela`s in the area one of these days.
 
Those of you who grew up around guns / in gun country, remember that to those of us who didn't, the first trip into a "real" gun store is mind-expanding, perhaps close to overwhelming. I'm glad (in a way) that now the gun store I'm in most frequently is completely *unimpressive* (weak stock, high prices). It's just that this is also the place where I have an indoor-range membership, and it's easy for me to reach. I wish they had a selection like a typical Gander Mountain or Bass Pro, or like Guns and Ammo in Memphis, or any bigger store, but they don't -- but compared to what's available in most of the world, even my dinky local shop is paradise.

timothy
 
yhtomit - I didn't grow up with guns. Sure, the first time I walked into Outdoor World it was interesting.

Overall though for gun stuff I prefer the LGS. The first time I stepped in a real gun store I got a bad impression by a guy pointing a rifle at me and the sales person saying, "Don't worry, it's not loaded."..... and me wondering if that was a good indicator that it's time to leave.

I prefer the LGS where they take safety seriously and don't treat you like a criminal. Well, I take that back, my local gun store has jokingly threatened to cut me off, "No more guns for this man!" but it's a joke.
 
If you want an experience like that and one that is much closer to home, check out the Kittery Trading Post in Kittery, ME
Click to expand...

My dad took me there when I was young. To me Kittery Trading Post=Mecca.
 
Reminds me of today at the range. These three guys were visiting from Ohio so they just rented some .22's to shoot for fun. I dont think they had much firearms experience given they were missing the bulls eye at a range of 15ft. When I opened my case they were all gawking at my CX4 carbine. They were especailly fascinated with the .40 cal jacketed hollow points. Most of the time I was shooting they were even amazed. The gun tends to make a loud boom and it sends shell casings quite far. My guess is they were from some really anti gun area in Ohio and thier first trip to CT was a bit of a culture shock. They also gawked at the range owners AR-15 and incorrectly refered to it as an M16. One nice thing in CT a Concealed Carry is a real pain to obtain takes like 4 weeks and 90 bucks plus a class that cost 150$ but you arent allowed to post any no firearms signs.


Nomad101bc

There is no way those guys were from Ohio:cuss: They might live in Ohio but I guarantee they were imported from somewhere else. They must have slipped through our screen. As a life long Ohio farmboy, I feel I must apologize for their ignorance and I will bring this incident up at the next meeting:D
 
I actually drove there today with my wife, after we saw your post. I've been there once before, and again, i was unimpressed :-( Small selection of handguns for my taste :)
But i must admit, the prices are good... GLock 17 and 19 for $499. Not bad. Guns and Knives on SR7 have them for over $600.
 
I'm with cheese and on the dania bass pro. I live by there, too. The folks on the range are pretty cool, but there's only one guy at the gun sales that knows his butt from the muzzle of a revolver. You can find a couple of good deals on handguns in there (I got a GP100 pretty reasonably there), but they stock for lawsuit prevention there: no good CCW choices in there. Everything is full size. I mostly go because it's the best indoor range I've found in the area as far as size and quality. Also, the ammo prices are only a lttle more than Wally World, so at least you don't get gouged like at most ranges. But like most other ranges down here in S FLA , there's far too many noobs breaking the four rules.
 
^^You mean the four rules all at once?

I'm not really into shotguns (yet) so let me ask you guys something. If you are looking at shotguns for shooting trap and skeet, how do you "size it up?" Are you supposed to actually pretend that you are at the range and quickly shoulder the gun and wave it around? Or are you just supposed to hold it? How's that work?


I saw a Glock subcompact on display there. Not sure on the caliber. They did have some smaller handguns.

Oh also, they're having a Glock 23 giveaway if anyone is interested.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

F
  • Locked
Another Goofy Outdoor World Experience
2
Replies
30
Views
2K
rayjay
R
T
  • Locked
Rangemaster Firearms Instructor Course, Ft Lauderdale, FL
Replies
0
Views
181
Tom Givens
T
chasgrips45
  • Locked
Wow, the boys in Washington D.C got it right! Yeah!
Replies
4
Views
786
Robert
Robert
Lennyjoe
  • Locked
Tucson Arizona Gun Show observations.
Replies
22
Views
1K
Lennyjoe
Lennyjoe
Flechette
  • Locked
So you find yourself in a 10 x10 cage with an armed maniac and no way out...
2 3 4
Replies
83
Views
5K
old lady new shooter
O
Back
Top