Survey: What I like/dislike about my gunshop/range.

Are you satisfied with the service at your local gun shop/range?

  • Yes

    Votes: 68 73.1%

  • No

    Votes: 25 26.9%
  • Total voters
    93
  • Poll closed .
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There are quite a few shops within an hours drive from my house. But the 2 closest ones are near indentical to 40SW descriptions. One is boutique and the other is bubba...and i prefer bubba. The guy at the bubba shop knows me (and several of my friends) when i walk in the door. Says something every time..usually along the lines of "been pissin' the neighbors off recently". Has everything from new to milsurps. Can go in and shoot the **** for hours and he doesnt have a problem with it. Just the way i like it. A freind of mine took his Mini-14 into the boutique for a rear sight installation. They screwed it up and still tried to charge him for it :barf:. Another occasion where me and a two freinds walked in to do some window shopping. It was close to closing and we were browsing around, when one of the guys there walked up to us and basically gave us the "if your not gonna buy anything then leave" crap. I think Ill stick to bubba :cool:
 
Hogfan1911 said:
Great place, isn't it igpoobah? Worked there for ~3 years. If I had to find a complaint (other than having to mow all that grass), it would be not being able to practice drawing from a holster. Not much of a complaint, considering.
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Funny you should bring that up. The first time I went there was over 10 years ago. I had just gotten my CWP and was intent on practing holster draws and quickly squeezing off a few rounds. They put a quick stop to that!:cuss:

It irritated me and I never went back, until last weekend. I'm older now and over it I suppose. I didn't mind at all this time and I will be back. I still look forward to getting a place out in the sticks and having my own range!:cool:
 
My range is fairly good. I have one gripe, everyone seems to be the "vice president"
 
My local shop back in California (Victor Valley Shooters in Apple Valley - never felt like posting the name before, but screw it) sucked. Two old holier-than-thou type guys run the shop - both drink heavily of the .45ACP Kool-Aid ("blow ya clean in two," etc, etc) and are not very well-versed in firearms law at all. I was told that it was illegal to import any handgun into California when I asked about having a Mak obtained for me. Guess the pawnshop a couple blocks away is under grand jury indictment by now then... :scrutiny:

Prices were high across the board - when I saw a CZ-75B priced at $519 (in mid-2005 no less) I nearly choked - and their general attitude was sorely lacking. Avoided the place, made do with the guns I had, bought my ammo at Walmart and all was well.

There was also a tiny little hole-in-the-wall shop in a strip mall in Victorville with a lot of beat-up old pieces of crap for sale at collector's prices - and allegedly, they were all fantastically rare and eminently collectible, even the Marlin 60s :rolleyes: - who didn't look like they'd made a sale in five years. Everything was literally covered with a layer of dust. Wanted $275 + tax + BG check for a Mak. Yeah... that was my first and last time there.

No range (at least not that I went to - there is a gun club in VV, just through the pass from AV, that I visited once but never joined) just lots and lots of BLM land.

I now live in southern Utah, and the local shop is fantastic - friendly and knowledgeable staff, a wide variety of new and used firearms (they're also a pawn shop) ranging from O/U shotguns to AKs and Mosins, and a decent range of accessories and ammo. Very fairly priced - a few weeks ago I snagged a gorgeous un-rearsenaled CZ-52 with walnut grips for about $150 :D and a couple of boxes of milsurp ammo for maybe a buck more than online - and transfers are average at $25.

They're great guys. When I was in to buy the CZ they had an M82A1 sitting on the counter that they'd just taken in from someone, and they let me pose for a picture with it. Them suckers are heavy.

Only thing I wish they'd change is a better stock of .22s and milsurps - but this area is pretty Bubbafied and I can understand that sales of non-Remchesters in "funny Europeen cal'bers" might not be brisk enough to justify the floorspace. They do have a couple of Mosins and 10/22s, so hey.

Local range is either a hillside (my town) or a free public range/recreation area in the "main town," which is decent enough aside from having no shade whatsoever.

Anyone know if Hurst Sports Center in St. George is worth a 40-minute drive? They advertise heavily, but their prices seem average and I've no ideas what kind of selection they have as far as non-Remchesters go. Would be interested in PMs from anyone living in this area :) Help a red-blooded ex-Californian get to know the place, eh?
 
Gunshop? Don't really have one. Been to a couple that will never be "my" gunshop. One used-to-be family-ish bubbe-gone-big that is now run more tightly and has two huge stores. Great stores, but the prices are not great and while the gun counter folks are cool, the store policies are slightly less so. Still, it's always a fun trip. Uh, and they're two hours away. Nice drive, but still.

Then there's the ancestral store, across the street from Grandma's house. Opened up three or four years after Grandma and Grandpa moved in--in 1953, I believe. Haven't had a chance to buy a gun from them yet. Smaller, real friendly, but I mostly only get to go there on Saturdays, when the rest of the county also goes there. Yep, they're an hour and a half away.

Just haven't found a local store yet that I like. Stopped by one today that had good gear but not so great on the guns. Mostly low-end stuff. Nothing against low-end, but right now I'm looking for a mid-range clays gun. In my book a good shop ought to have several mid-range choices, not two.

Ranges: Like it, love that they have all the clay sports, love that they have fairly extensive hours, love that they also have handguns and archery for the husband who is more into those (I do shotgunning, and a tiny bit of rifle, maybe more in the future). Wish there were more women there. But the guys are friendly and welcoming. It seems pretty busy with all kinds of folks, but I'm a woman and on my own (the husband does the babysitting when I shoot) and so I mostly watch and listen to the older guys who are always there and have good advice for me. I love it, and although the last time I went I didn't get to shoot much at all (gotta get a better gun), I had a great time and learned a lot, listening and watching and trying a coupla guns. Yeh, I like the range. Haven't gotten to listen to old guys talking and giving advice since Grandpa died seven years ago. Wish there were more women, but I guess that is a common problem.

But as far as the range goes: good equipmen, good people, an old cash register and a good front porch in front of the five-stand course. It's about as good as it gets.
 
Knowledgeable staff,
Absolutely no pressure to buy today,
Nice modern indoor range,
Decent prices
 
All the ranges in my area are pretty expensive, like $17.

The most convenient one for me has a so-so selection, and not so good prices (e.g. $585 for a G19), non-negotiable.
 
My local gunshop is great. The one I normaly go to is the smallest one in town, I think, and has no attached range.

The people there know much, much more about guns than I do.

They stock an excellent selection of high quality guns, and also have decent but inexpensive guns.

In spite of being small, they have everything from civil war muskets to inline black powder rifles to bows and hunting vests, vintage and modern pistols, etc.

They know who I am, address me by name, and remember what guns I have bought from them.

All the long guns are on the wall where I can look at them and touch them without having to try to get someone's attention and assistance first.

They have a good selection of ammo so that, for instance, I can get 45-70 loaded for deer, loaded for elk, or loaded for very large/dangerous game. At the biggest gun shop in town, I only have two choices in 45/70 ammo, but at this place I have five or six.

They've never been condescending to me, and are very professional. If I don't know what something is, they explain it calmly. (for instance, the first time I was ever there i asked if .223 was a centerfire or rimfire cartridge. They were able to treat this as a reasonable question, and show me what one looked like).

I have been pleased with every transaction I have ever made with these people.
 
Gun range

I use the Arkansas Game and Fish gun range at Mayflower, Ar. I like the range and the way it is laid out, but I do not like not being able to shoot rapid fire. (1 sec. between shoots.) Sometimes I feel like just letting loose, but I can't do it here. I know they do it for safety sake, so I will continue to go. :fire:
Oh, yeah. The cost is only $2, and they supply the targets. How's that for cool?
 
I have 2 gun shops near me

One is rather large and has a great selection but prices are a bit high and there are never enough employees to handle the volume of customers.Almost no Milsurps. They also prefer to sell new over used and will sometimes walk right by someone browsing the used racks to help someone looking at a new gun.

The second shop is a longer drive and a smaller shop but they primarily deal in used guns. Employees are very friendly and helpful and willing to answer any quiestions you may have. prices are reasonable and some good bargains can be found there. Decent milsurp selection and they are willing to order you something if they dont have it in stock. Also they carry bulk ammo made by a local reloader at good prices(shame it sells out so fast tho in the not so popular calibers) The first gun I ever Purchased from a gunshop came from them and i would not hesitate to give them more of my buisness.

There used to be a very small shop in my town where my father bought me my first rifle when i was 12. great guys and a friendly atmosphere. sadly they have closed down but they are still listed in the phone book at a different address that appears to be just a house.

My pistol permit instructor is also an FFL who will order whatever you need and if you refer 3 people to his class he will let you make 1 order at cost no matter how much you buy. hopefully will be buying a .45 from him soon!
The local range is good as well with reasonable fees and no range nazis to harass you altho safety rules are strictly enforced. only downside is the one shot per second rule but if i want to do rapid fire i just shoot on a friends property anyways or go to a unoffical range out in the woods but there you have to watch out for the moron atv riders who think that riding between a group of shooters and a target covered backstop is a good idea!
 
My local range is run by the Forestry Service. It's pretty good. There's no range staff there, so there's no silly rules (like no more than one shot an hour or some garbage). Just the standard common sense safety stuff. It's clean and well maintained, although kinda small. It only has 6 stations and only goes out to 100 yards. It used to be free, but now they charge $7 a year, paid at the local ranger station.

I have two gunshops in town, and one pawn shop. There's one gunshop and one pawnshop in the next town 25 miles away and there's another gunshop that I go to about 70 miles away in the closest "big town".

The two gunshops in town are way overpriced and very rigid. One sells mostly sporting rifles, but has a decent number of semi-auto handguns and some revolvers. The other shop has a few more milsurps, ARs, AKs and the like. They also have more used handguns than the first guy. The second guy is a bit more "user friendly" too. Both seem to have the atmosphere of a members only "gentlemen's club" though. I often feel like I'm bothering them when I go in there, although I can catch the second shop on a quiet day when I'm the only one in there and then he seems friendlier (maybe he's just bored).

The shop in the next town over is great. The owner is also much younger than the owners of the two shops in my town. I really think the generation thing makes a big difference. This guy is very friendly, it doesn't seem cliquey, everyone seems open and helpful. The guy doesn't spout a lot of BS about why you don't want what he doesn't have either. In fact he's very professional and often complimentary about the items I've brought up. They are much more Black Gun oriented too.

The shop in the "big town" is also really great. Same environment, very friendly and open. No BS. This guy is also relatively young. He has an indoor range but I've never used it.
 
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