I've been wanting to obtain some weapons for personal protection / home protection for a good while now. You see, I happen to be disabled, and want to at least feel like I am more in control of things and less vulnerable to attack, and less of a target for those who would take advantage of those like me who are at a physical disadvantage.
In pursuing my interest in weaponry, I went target shooting with a good buddy of mine and his son-in-law. We shot a Ruger P89 9mm, a Smithfield XDm 40, a small 380, the brand of which I forget, as well as a semi-automatic 12 gauge, also of unknown brand. There were a couple of .22 rifles involved somewhere in there, but my favorite was the XDm. I was instantly hooked, and got excited about getting my first weapon.
My buddy let me take his Ruger home to clean (I offered), after showing me how to field strip it and reassemble it. I did take it home, and thoroughly enjoyed the process. That will be one of my favorite parts of having a gun collection (second of course to target shooting) - cleaning and maintaining the firearms.
Anyway, I digress. There is a popular gun shop with a shooting range nearby, but they are known to be about the most expensive place to purchase firearms in our area, so since the local Wally World superstore sells shotguns and rifles, I went in there instead to see what they had to offer. I saw an all-black, menacing looking pump-action 12 gauge shotgun in their display rack, but it had a longer barrel than what I was looking for. The fellow behind the counter said that they carried a shorter version of that Mossberg, but they were out of stock at the time, but should be getting more in soon. I decided to wait and get the shorter version when they came in.
About a week later, I went back in, and they had the shorter barrel version back in the display rack, so I asked the nice girl behind the counter if I could look at it. She apologized and said she had to call an assistant manager to open the case because she didn't have a key to open the firearms cases. Go figure. :banghead: So after waiting for him to arrive, I looked at the gun and decided I'd go ahead and make the purchase (what I didn't realize at that point, being the gun newbie that I am, the shorter weapon I had in my hand was a 20 gauge, not a 12 gauge. DOH! - more on this later), so long as they had one new in the box instead of the one in the rack. He disappeared to go check the inventory, and another assistant manager arrived, I suppose to watch over the opened case of guns. The first assistant manager returned with an H&R (note: NOT a Mossberg) box, with the right price and the right description on the box. He opened the box to let me inspect the gun, and I saw that it was indeed a black pump action 12 gauge shotgun, but it was not completely assembled - the barrel was not attached, but other than that, everything looked fine, so I told them I'd go ahead and make the purchase.
The first assistant manager taped the box closed, and I began the computerized application, after being sternly warned that only I could answer the questions (even though I was the only one there - well, my wife was in the general area, but she wasn't standing at the computer with me) or it would be considered a "straw application", and everyone in the store would be fired - not really, but it seemed to be of supreme importance to the assistant managers involved. Since neither of them were totally familiar or comfortable with the process involved in the sale of a firearm, they enlisted the assistance of yet another (third) assistant manager to make sure everything got done correctly while I finished the application. In the process, they needed to get the serial number off of the receiver, so they cut open the box again and got what they needed, and taped the box closed yet again.
After completing the application, being approved, and selecting a cleaning kit, Rem Oil, barrel cleaner, and some ammo, I paid for my new boom stick and headed out the door, escorted by assistant manager #1 carrying my boxed weapon to the front door. After placing the box in the trunk, my wife and I headed out for a night on the town, unaware of what was to come.
Upon returning home later that night, I had received no less than 10 calls with 2 urgent messages left from two of the assistant managers that assisted in the sale of the shotgun, urging me to call them as soon as possible, because they didn't have me sign two forms needed to make the sale documentation complete. One of them said I would receive a $10 gift card because of the inconvenience, and that they apologized for my inconvenience. Even though it was after 10:00 pm, I called the number they left for me to call, and was told, of course, that they were not in, and that they would be in the next day.
I opened the shotgun box, and began assembling it. I put the barrel on, and that is when I noticed it was the longer of the two weapons I saw in the display case. I suppose I should have taken a better look at it when I looked at the gun in the store, but the barrel length difference was not obvious being that the shotgun was not assembled. To compound the situation, the two weapons were priced $30 apart, the shorter gun being the lower price of the two. The shotgun I paid for had a price tag on the box that was the lower price of the shorter gun, and clearly identified it as a 12 gauge, so I wasn't paying particular attention to the length of the barrel.
When I returned to the store the next day to sign the job-saving paperwork and exchange the gun, I told the assistant manager (one of the 3 stooges from the night prior) about the switch-up, and that I would need to swap out the weapon. He told me that only the general store manager could authorize such an exchange, and that the general manager would not be back until the next day. So, since I was there anyway, I asked to see the shorter gun, just to see how it handled compared to the one I was sold. Come to find out, the shorter gun was a 20 gauge, not a 12 gauge
. Now I was starting to get really frustrated. I told the assistant manager that it would be a return instead of an exchange, because not only did they sell me the wrong gun, but they didn't have anything I would want to exchange it for. He reiterated that it would be up to the store manager to decide if he would take the gun back. Since I could see it would be like trying to milk a tomcat demanding to get the poor sap to give me my money back right then, I got the general manager's name (let's call him Joe) and direct number so I could call him in the morning to make sure he was there before I made the trip. Again. I returned home to disassemble and re-pack the shotgun.
The next day, I called Joe and told him I was coming to the store, and he said a manager would have to walk the weapon into the store for me. OK, fine. I arrived at the store, and told the greeter that I needed her to page Joe X. Her face went pale, as if I had asked her to summon the devil himself. She did, very carefully, as if she were afraid I was about to throw a live grenade into the store prompting a "Code Blue".
Shortly after the page, assistant manager #4 walked up to me, and we proceeded to my truck for him to carry my gun back into the store. At that point, he said that he and the store manager would have to find out from corporate and the ATF what they needed to do to return the gun, and that we needed to leave the gun in my truck.
At that point, we went back into the store, sans shotgun, and waited on Joe to come see us at the entrance.
Joe finally arrived, and said that it would take at least an hour to an hour and a half to get everything processed, so they would "let me go home" and that they would call me when everything was settled. At that point, I was really disgusted, but I sure didn't feel like sitting in that store for another hour and a half, so I headed home.
No sooner did I hit my driveway, than my phone rang, and it was assistant manager #4 on the line. His first words were "Mr. Katana, unfortunately we will not be able to accept your shotgun for a return." I was about to unload on him when he continued "but we are going to give you a gift card in the amount of what you spent on your gun." I asked "Tax and all, right?" "Yes sir Mr. Katana sir, and we apologize for all of the inconvenience." I laughed all the way to the store, did my best to keep a straight face as I signed for the gift card, and chuckled all the way home. I couldn't believe it. Wally World was in the business of handing out free shotguns! I called my buddy whose Ruger I cleaned and told him about what had happened over these three days, and he almost dropped his phone laughing so hard. I subsequently have shot 15 cartridges worth of bird shot into a stump in the woods in my back yard to see how it shoots. Works great.
Sure it's a Chinese made H&R, but I've read a lot of favorable reviews of this piece, and of course a few negative ones, but I don't think I could have gotten a better deal. I'm going to shoot a few boxes of various kinds of shot and slugs to make sure it is sound before tearing it down, doing a little filing on a couple sharp edges, and taking the appropriate parts to a local shop that does metal plating and have it plated with electroless nickel. I'm working on finding an 18.5" barrel to have plated along with the other parts, so I'll have what I wanted to begin with, and be able to interchange barrels depending on what I'm doing with it.
I know, I know, but hey - the plating job will cost half of what I paid for the gun to begin with, but I was refunded the full purchase price plus $10 for my trouble. Like I said in the title of this thread - sometimes the little guy wins!
**UPDATE** - 07/06/2011 - Went to the local gun shop today, talked to a salesperson / shotgun expert, held and cycled both an 870 Express and a tactical version ($379 and $549 respectively), the actions of which my H&R is a virtual identical twin to, and found them to be a bit lighter, the finish a little smoother, but in all honesty, I can't see myself buying much more than a brand name for the difference in price (had it not been free), plus I like the stock on my gun better - a little more "padding" to it. They didn't have a marine version in stock, but he said he would be glad to order me one for $649.
I think my decision's made. He offered me a Benelli Nova H20 Pump for $599, and it has a totally different, higher quality feel to it - if I had to choose either gun, I'd definitely go for the Benelli I.S.O. the Remington if I were to have to spend +/- $600. Anyway, now I'm even happier with my gun. In addition, I finally found a source for the 18.5" barrel, but they are backordered, and have been for a while, so for now, it's time to put a couple hundred shells through Wally and see how he holds up!
In pursuing my interest in weaponry, I went target shooting with a good buddy of mine and his son-in-law. We shot a Ruger P89 9mm, a Smithfield XDm 40, a small 380, the brand of which I forget, as well as a semi-automatic 12 gauge, also of unknown brand. There were a couple of .22 rifles involved somewhere in there, but my favorite was the XDm. I was instantly hooked, and got excited about getting my first weapon.
My buddy let me take his Ruger home to clean (I offered), after showing me how to field strip it and reassemble it. I did take it home, and thoroughly enjoyed the process. That will be one of my favorite parts of having a gun collection (second of course to target shooting) - cleaning and maintaining the firearms.
Anyway, I digress. There is a popular gun shop with a shooting range nearby, but they are known to be about the most expensive place to purchase firearms in our area, so since the local Wally World superstore sells shotguns and rifles, I went in there instead to see what they had to offer. I saw an all-black, menacing looking pump-action 12 gauge shotgun in their display rack, but it had a longer barrel than what I was looking for. The fellow behind the counter said that they carried a shorter version of that Mossberg, but they were out of stock at the time, but should be getting more in soon. I decided to wait and get the shorter version when they came in.
About a week later, I went back in, and they had the shorter barrel version back in the display rack, so I asked the nice girl behind the counter if I could look at it. She apologized and said she had to call an assistant manager to open the case because she didn't have a key to open the firearms cases. Go figure. :banghead: So after waiting for him to arrive, I looked at the gun and decided I'd go ahead and make the purchase (what I didn't realize at that point, being the gun newbie that I am, the shorter weapon I had in my hand was a 20 gauge, not a 12 gauge. DOH! - more on this later), so long as they had one new in the box instead of the one in the rack. He disappeared to go check the inventory, and another assistant manager arrived, I suppose to watch over the opened case of guns. The first assistant manager returned with an H&R (note: NOT a Mossberg) box, with the right price and the right description on the box. He opened the box to let me inspect the gun, and I saw that it was indeed a black pump action 12 gauge shotgun, but it was not completely assembled - the barrel was not attached, but other than that, everything looked fine, so I told them I'd go ahead and make the purchase.
The first assistant manager taped the box closed, and I began the computerized application, after being sternly warned that only I could answer the questions (even though I was the only one there - well, my wife was in the general area, but she wasn't standing at the computer with me) or it would be considered a "straw application", and everyone in the store would be fired - not really, but it seemed to be of supreme importance to the assistant managers involved. Since neither of them were totally familiar or comfortable with the process involved in the sale of a firearm, they enlisted the assistance of yet another (third) assistant manager to make sure everything got done correctly while I finished the application. In the process, they needed to get the serial number off of the receiver, so they cut open the box again and got what they needed, and taped the box closed yet again.
After completing the application, being approved, and selecting a cleaning kit, Rem Oil, barrel cleaner, and some ammo, I paid for my new boom stick and headed out the door, escorted by assistant manager #1 carrying my boxed weapon to the front door. After placing the box in the trunk, my wife and I headed out for a night on the town, unaware of what was to come.
Upon returning home later that night, I had received no less than 10 calls with 2 urgent messages left from two of the assistant managers that assisted in the sale of the shotgun, urging me to call them as soon as possible, because they didn't have me sign two forms needed to make the sale documentation complete. One of them said I would receive a $10 gift card because of the inconvenience, and that they apologized for my inconvenience. Even though it was after 10:00 pm, I called the number they left for me to call, and was told, of course, that they were not in, and that they would be in the next day.
I opened the shotgun box, and began assembling it. I put the barrel on, and that is when I noticed it was the longer of the two weapons I saw in the display case. I suppose I should have taken a better look at it when I looked at the gun in the store, but the barrel length difference was not obvious being that the shotgun was not assembled. To compound the situation, the two weapons were priced $30 apart, the shorter gun being the lower price of the two. The shotgun I paid for had a price tag on the box that was the lower price of the shorter gun, and clearly identified it as a 12 gauge, so I wasn't paying particular attention to the length of the barrel.
When I returned to the store the next day to sign the job-saving paperwork and exchange the gun, I told the assistant manager (one of the 3 stooges from the night prior) about the switch-up, and that I would need to swap out the weapon. He told me that only the general store manager could authorize such an exchange, and that the general manager would not be back until the next day. So, since I was there anyway, I asked to see the shorter gun, just to see how it handled compared to the one I was sold. Come to find out, the shorter gun was a 20 gauge, not a 12 gauge
. Now I was starting to get really frustrated. I told the assistant manager that it would be a return instead of an exchange, because not only did they sell me the wrong gun, but they didn't have anything I would want to exchange it for. He reiterated that it would be up to the store manager to decide if he would take the gun back. Since I could see it would be like trying to milk a tomcat demanding to get the poor sap to give me my money back right then, I got the general manager's name (let's call him Joe) and direct number so I could call him in the morning to make sure he was there before I made the trip. Again. I returned home to disassemble and re-pack the shotgun.The next day, I called Joe and told him I was coming to the store, and he said a manager would have to walk the weapon into the store for me. OK, fine. I arrived at the store, and told the greeter that I needed her to page Joe X. Her face went pale, as if I had asked her to summon the devil himself. She did, very carefully, as if she were afraid I was about to throw a live grenade into the store prompting a "Code Blue".
Shortly after the page, assistant manager #4 walked up to me, and we proceeded to my truck for him to carry my gun back into the store. At that point, he said that he and the store manager would have to find out from corporate and the ATF what they needed to do to return the gun, and that we needed to leave the gun in my truck.
At that point, we went back into the store, sans shotgun, and waited on Joe to come see us at the entrance. Joe finally arrived, and said that it would take at least an hour to an hour and a half to get everything processed, so they would "let me go home" and that they would call me when everything was settled. At that point, I was really disgusted, but I sure didn't feel like sitting in that store for another hour and a half, so I headed home.
No sooner did I hit my driveway, than my phone rang, and it was assistant manager #4 on the line. His first words were "Mr. Katana, unfortunately we will not be able to accept your shotgun for a return." I was about to unload on him when he continued "but we are going to give you a gift card in the amount of what you spent on your gun." I asked "Tax and all, right?" "Yes sir Mr. Katana sir, and we apologize for all of the inconvenience." I laughed all the way to the store, did my best to keep a straight face as I signed for the gift card, and chuckled all the way home. I couldn't believe it. Wally World was in the business of handing out free shotguns! I called my buddy whose Ruger I cleaned and told him about what had happened over these three days, and he almost dropped his phone laughing so hard. I subsequently have shot 15 cartridges worth of bird shot into a stump in the woods in my back yard to see how it shoots. Works great.
Sure it's a Chinese made H&R, but I've read a lot of favorable reviews of this piece, and of course a few negative ones, but I don't think I could have gotten a better deal. I'm going to shoot a few boxes of various kinds of shot and slugs to make sure it is sound before tearing it down, doing a little filing on a couple sharp edges, and taking the appropriate parts to a local shop that does metal plating and have it plated with electroless nickel. I'm working on finding an 18.5" barrel to have plated along with the other parts, so I'll have what I wanted to begin with, and be able to interchange barrels depending on what I'm doing with it.
I know, I know, but hey - the plating job will cost half of what I paid for the gun to begin with, but I was refunded the full purchase price plus $10 for my trouble. Like I said in the title of this thread - sometimes the little guy wins!
**UPDATE** - 07/06/2011 - Went to the local gun shop today, talked to a salesperson / shotgun expert, held and cycled both an 870 Express and a tactical version ($379 and $549 respectively), the actions of which my H&R is a virtual identical twin to, and found them to be a bit lighter, the finish a little smoother, but in all honesty, I can't see myself buying much more than a brand name for the difference in price (had it not been free), plus I like the stock on my gun better - a little more "padding" to it. They didn't have a marine version in stock, but he said he would be glad to order me one for $649.
I think my decision's made. He offered me a Benelli Nova H20 Pump for $599, and it has a totally different, higher quality feel to it - if I had to choose either gun, I'd definitely go for the Benelli I.S.O. the Remington if I were to have to spend +/- $600. Anyway, now I'm even happier with my gun. In addition, I finally found a source for the 18.5" barrel, but they are backordered, and have been for a while, so for now, it's time to put a couple hundred shells through Wally and see how he holds up!
Last edited:
