Southern Ohio Gun (SOG) just shut down???

[Redcoat3340]

Was checking on some dealers to see what sort of C&R stuff was floating about and when I clicked on SOG there's a message saying

Thank You for Your Business!
SOG will be shutting down our website Today December 4th.

We appreciate all your business over the years!

Thank You!

Interesting. Anyone know the story? Or just web sales just ain't paying their way?

 

[Jeff Burgess]

Dunno but back in the day I ordered countless number of guns from them.

 

[Dr.Rob]

SoG was a go to for a LONG time

 

[Deanimator]

I noticed there was just about nothing on their website recently.

 

[AZAndy]

There's nothing in the local paper's business section about it. (Lebanon is a small town and is covered by the Dayton Daily News.) Maybe the owners just decided to retire.

 

[Jeff H]

I haven't really used them much but our local C&R guy in the shop will be sad. He ordered a ton of stuff from them.

 

[boom boom]

Was checking on some dealers to see what sort of C&R stuff was floating about and when I clicked on SOG there's a message saying

Thank You for Your Business!
SOG will be shutting down our website Today December 4th.

We appreciate all your business over the years!

Thank You!

Interesting. Anyone know the story? Or just web sales just ain't paying their way?

The great number of milsurps of the WWII and early Cold War era has been squirreled away by individuals in the U.S. and recent treaties like ITAR have made it more difficult to import them to the U.S. Samco Global went bankrupt, Interarms is a shell of what it was, Mitchell's Mausers are running dry, Springfield Sporters got out of selling whole rifles over the mail, etc. The U.S. military crushes its surplus AR's and destroyed a bunch of Garands, M14's, Springfields, etc. by demilling them during the Clinton years. The surplus part is down to a trickle from what it was.

Similarly, the great stores of surplus ammo that made shooting a lot of these cheap are either getting to be used up or hoarded, and might not exactly be that safe to fire--hangfires, changed powder burn rates, deteriorated in storage, etc.

Even the big parts houses such as Sarco. Apex, and Numrich are running low on a lot of parts due to folks buying them up to resell them on Ebay or Gunbroker at a higher price.

At a certain point, dealing in surplus is like a mine--when the ore plays out--it is over.

 

[dogtown tom]

….. Mitchell's Mausers are running dry......

NEVER!!!!
Any day now Mitchells will be selling Spetzaz marked Mosins…..you know the last ones ever.

 

[boom boom]

NEVER!!!!
Any day now Mitchells will be selling Spetzaz marked Mosins…..you know the last ones ever.

Yes, possibly made from their leftover parts from their .22 mag rifle. But they will have shiny finishes and good looking stocks.

 

[GBExpat]

Their looming shutdown has been apparent to me for a couple/several of months, now. Their recent spate of regular sales emails (and what they contained for sale) was the giveaway for me.

I, too, purchased a lot of stuff from them during the early part of this century ... but I found that I had to be too careful (and lucky) to continue that on a regular basis.

For example: I doubt that they ever managed to sell even a single round of milsurp ammo that sported a corrosive primer. All of the milsurp ammo that they offered for sale was non-corrosive. Huh! Imagine that.

That said, I am still sad to see them go.

 

[giggitygiggity]

Good riddens. They were, by far, the worst surplus retailer from whom I purchased (reference my thread regarding bayonets I bought from SOG from about a year ago). They calculated shipping after orders were placed, and would charge an extra fee for delivering to rural addresses. They also charged extra for credit card usage. Furthermore, the advertised condition of products was often better than the actual condition. I’ve bought from AIM Surplus, Classic Firearms, J&G Sales, and individuals; all of these sellers provided me with items in the advertised condition, if not better. Furthermore, I knew my grand total at the time of checkout. Although I do not know the reason behind SOG’s closure, I would not be surprised if it shut down because it was outmatched by superior retailers like the aforementioned.

 

[Dr.Rob]

J&G sales got a LOT of my money on the 90's

 

[GBExpat]

<chuckle> I wonder how many vendors have had their names memorialized by inclusion in the vernacular of their customers ... albeit infamously in SOG's case.

 

[AZAndy]

J&G sales got a LOT of my money on the 90's

They're within walking distance of me, so I've done my part to keep them in business as well.

 

[Jeff Burgess]

I gave J&G a lot of business also when I still had
My C&R

 

[Baron66]

Local shop by me just closed as well - probably because of the cold gun market.

 

[swede4198]

They're within walking distance of me, so I've done my part to keep them in business as well.

Any chance you walk over and see if they are closed for good?

 

[Slamfire]

Local shop by me just closed as well - probably because of the cold gun market.

It will get hot again, as we get close to the next Presidential election. Too bad the current guy in office has not changed the ITAR regs and loosened import regulations. I miss President Reagan, I went crazy over the mil surplus that came in during his administration.

Back then, this was $100.00. I wore the black paint on the bolt, cycling and shooting the action.





I center bedded the barrel and glass bedded the action. You can see a line of epoxy around the receiver ring. Before I did that, the thing would not hold a 8.5" by 11" target at 100 yards. Afterwards, it was a 3 -4 MOA rifle. Its two groove barrel is the best Lee Enfield barrel I have for cast bullets.





I found a correct bayonet.



Those were the days!

 

[AZAndy]

Any chance you walk over and see if they are closed for good?

I was talking about J&G. Since you're in Dayton, you could stroll by SOG a lot more easily than I could.

 

[Jeff H]

I was talking about J&G. Since you're in Dayton, you could stroll by SOG a lot more easily than I could.

Yeah, but why would anyone bother. AIM Surplus is right down the road in Middletown and is a far better place to shop anyway. Time to let SOG go.

 

[dieselchief]

aw man, I suppose I wont be able to buy any 8 track tapes anymore either. dc.


ps I liked surplus before the importer stamp days. (when a good Brazilian mauser was half of a ruger/howa or a third of a win or rem.) after age caught up to my eye sight none of it seemed worthwhile.

 

[MAKster]

The glory days of importing low priced WWII surplus rifles is over. These old bolts are finally drying up. Some people act like it is a conspiracy that bolt action rifles that haven't been standard issue for any military of significance since the 1950s are no longer available for wholesale import. I doubt there is enough inventory left to support a surplus-oriented retail business anymore. Places like Classic Firearms and Aim Surplus are selling mostly new production now.

 

[Deanimator]

Places like Classic Firearms and Aim Surplus are selling mostly new production now.

They're also a good place for police surplus handguns and long guns.

 

[Figboot]

I never actually bought anything from SOG. I tried once and the website said that an FFL holder had to do the actual order rather than me ordering and just selecting an FFL to do a transfer. I'm sure that lost them quite a few sells so it's likely their own fault they're closing.

 

[RWMC]

I remember buying Russian SKS from Sog when they were $80 for one with a hard Woodstock and $100 for one with a laminated stock. I asked one of the salesman how many Russian SKS's they had. He told me, " Sir we have enough Russian SKS's for every man woman and child in the state of Iowa!" We both had a good laugh about it!

I also remember buying Molson Nagant model 91-59 for only $40 apiece and the M 44 carbine's for the same price. And how about when the Turkish Mauser's were only $37.95 each! Sog was my go to place for when my customers wanted military surplus. I'm glad I had lived and sold guns during this time because I made a lot of good friends in the process. It was definitely the golden age of military surplus! Sad to see it gone. Here's to you Sog and all of your sales people!