Tell me about local Houston Tx gunshops

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Dang it guys, why don't some of you guys read the previous postings before adding your crap (TEX).

Monkeybear wrote: "I already have personal experience with the big dogs Fountain, Collectors, Gander, Carters and Jim Pruetts. I think we all do so no real need to discuss those unless you have a funny/interesting story." So lets not tell him stuff he already knows and has asked us not to talk about.

Plus I told you Sportsman Outlet burned down-- Please understand you can not go there to shop anymore, it burned the F$#% down.

And as kjeff50cal said, Rebel Arms has been gone for over a year, great info there Tex.

And Ammo Dump, my original post said it is closing in a week or so.

And great info about the places we can not go because they are closed. Wonderful insight into what the original poster wanted, more worthless information. We/I want information on places I can go tomorrow and check stuff out.

Thanks Monkeybear, good thread. I hope it did you some good.


Some of you guys need to get a clue and quit wasting our time by not reading what has been posted or was asked for by the original poster. I will quit ranting know and go soak my head :) in a cold beer on the lake. LOL
 
Jim Pruetts shop is nice and could be a top shop in Houston, but they are overpriced, someone here on the THR shopped for a USP and saved like $150 buying it at Tomball pawn, instead of Pruetts.
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That might have been me. Pruett's wanted $950 for a P2000sk and I got a used, looks new, one w/night sights for $619 at Tomball.

Thanks for the responses guys, I will try to make it by some of the ones I listed and see if I can share my experience here.
 
IMHO, gunshows are the only place to buy guns in Houston. The HGCA shows are the best, followed by High Caliber at GRB, and in distant third and fourth place are HIgher Caliber and The Real Gun Show in Pasadena. The Pasadena shows are much smaller but parking is free. Saxet shows in Conroe used to be OK when they were in Spring, haven't been to one in a very long time, since Conroe became as close as they get.

Occasionally Carter's or Academy will have a sale that beats gun show prices but not often. You do have to know the market at gun shows as for every good deal there are three bad ones.

Ironically its the larger dealers from the Dallas area that set the low "to beat" prices.

--wally.
 
I made it by Republic Arms today. Gentleman there made me a very reasonable offer on shipping a firearm. I was pleasantly surprised. I have not yet mailed the handgun in question but if he dose good by me, and I have no reason to doubt him, I will likely purchase my next suppressor and Glock from him.

Shop is a little small. Some used Sigs, lots of Glocks, some neat rifles and NFA items. Ammo and accessories. Its a little small but for me it was worth the visit. If you find yourself in the area I recommend taking the time to stop and take a look.
 
Monkeybear:

Fountain Firearms and AmmoDump are essentially the same place...

The worst customer service you can imagine -- with prices being just as bad.

My new Xd-45 was quoted to me for $615 if I remember correctly.:what::what::what:

I paid $475 final price online.

$21 for 20 rounds of 7.62x54R ?????? Paaalease.

Every handgun I asked to hold was '$hitty' compared to the $999 Sig Sauer P226 (pre-owned).

I laughed and said I hated Sigs (even though i really dont) and he DID NOT LIKE THAT. haha:evil:
 
McKnife- I was in Fountain Firearms just today, I picked up a very nice Marlin 60 with a hand checkered beech stock, adjustable sights and in what looks to be very lightly used condition for $65. You can read about it in the Marlin section of Rimfire Central. My fiance likes the gold trigger.

7.62x54r ammo was closer to $8 for 20. A bit high perhaps but no where near the $21 you are claiming.

I talked to a gentleman there for perhaps half an hour about different CC options. He recommended that I either carry one gun that I said I owned or another that they did not have in stock.

I believe I may have seen one expensive Sig, though I may be confusing it with another store I went to today, but it was had an expensive Robar NP3 finish job done on it.

He let me hold a Dan Wesson Commander Bob Tail in 10mm, I almost drooled on it.

Some guns are priced a little high and some are priced a little low. Same with ammo and accessories. No NFA items. Great selection all around.

He was completely courteous as a young male idiot asked to see a firearm and rapidly pulled(halfway) and released the slide for a full straight minute. He was kept his silence and when the time came discouraged the youth from returning.

All in all I had a great experience and walked away with a great deal to boot.

I am not sure what happened with your experiences at Fountain but mine was great.

pix1358071296.jpg
 
I think a good question is why isnt there an all around gunshop that has consistent and good prices in Houston? I understand that there isnt a perfect gun shop, but come on Houston has population of gun owners, unrestricted retail area and space for a quality operation. Opinions?
 
phantomak47- man I wish I knew. Maybe they just don't sell enough of them. Think about rent, electric bills, and insurance and then think about how much they make on each gun. Now go into any gunstore in Houston and see just how many guns are being sold when you walk in.
 
Maybe they just don't sell enough of them. Think about rent, electric bills, and insurance and then think about how much they make on each gun. Now go into any gunstore in Houston and see just how many guns are being sold when you walk in.
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this hits it right on the head.

Back before Jerry Fountain died i over heard him quote an old saying about gunstores "wanna run a gunshop and have a million dollars at the end of a year? start that year with two million in the bank!"

there WAS a long drawn out reply here, but i feel i should summarize it instead

the majority of the gun buying public (esp in places like houston) are uninformed, lazy, and frankly sheep, that will in todays world, probably be able to count the number of times they entered a REAL gunshop (as opposed to the likes of Gander, BPS, Cabela's, the gun counter at Academy, etc) on one hand. and think that b/c "joe's gunshop" wanted more for a 10/22 or 870 Express than "big box X" that joe is a rip off artist.

comes right down to it, unless there is a specific niche to be filled (such as being the only shop selling EBRs, or filling the void when an old shop closes, [for reasons not related to sales volume] ) owning/opening a new gunshop is either an expensive hobby, or a sucker bet.

and frankly there are currently no commercially viable niches to be filled in the houston area.
 
MonkeyBear,

Did you find that Tomball pawn had good prices and a good selection? I havent been down there yet although they did quote me some prices which seemed pretty good. What can you tell us about this place?
 
Sorry about the directions. Yes, Shooters Station in Conroe is West of I45.
 
Yes, Tomball Pawn is THAT good. Call 'em. If they are within an hour's drive, it's worth it. You'll save that much.

Academy is OK. Problem: they can not special order. However, check online - they seem to have a larger catalog of firearms than they have in stores. Don't know if stores can get everything that the online catalog shows or not. Worth checking into.

If you are in NE Houston, check out a newer gun range in the Crosby/Baytown area: www.basctx.org. Doesn't sell guns, but it is a place to shoot - and thpse are getting scarce!!!

A nice lady owns Pig Supply in Highlands. Her prices are on the higher end of average, but she is knowledgable. Moderate selection of guns; good selection of common SD ammo.

A friend who is a HPD officer says that Prodefense down on the Gulf Freeway is great. He also said do not visit Central Police Supply - every gun-wise cop knows to stay away from that place.

There's a couple more to add to the list.

Quoheleth
 
Tomball Pawn is 2/3 pawn shop and 1/3 gun store. It has a nice/interesting selection of rifles and shotguns with a few ARs and AKs and even a Romanian PSL a while back. Might have been a real Tiger but I'm guessing PSL. I don't know about the one in the picture, I don't think its the one I saw.

It has a nice selection of pistols, not quite as complete as say Carter's but still lots of stuff to look at like this 10mm Witness on gunbroker. You may find that they are missing some things that most gun stores would carry and vice versa. Try finding a RIA 1911 in Houston.

I hope they don't mind me borrowing this picture.
Picture_028-567x390.jpg



If I had some cash burning a hole in my pocket and I wanted to buy a gun without having anything particular in mind, I would go to Tomball Pawn first unless I wanted a suppressor and then I would go to Republic Arms.

phantom- I will try to make it down there and see what its like.
 
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Carters Country in Spring has good deals now and then, but a lot of the time they are way over priced. Their range is ok, my biggest complaint is that there are morons there shooting who have no business handling firearms, let alone shooting them (gun safety). Their pistol range is strange in the fact that the plywood over hang is way too low, I have shot through it on several occasion, because I am 6'2" and its basically in my way. I guess they dont want people shooting high and over the berm, but its ridiculious how low it is.


Gander Mountain is good for a laugh as most of their prices are jacked up high, the one in spring is never stocked well and they dont even have a basic selection of ammo.
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I'd have to agree with everything you've said and also add that Carters is a great place to go if shotguns (not tactical/self defense) and deer rifles are your thing. They cater to hunters. The evidence is in the range prices. "Normal" hunting style rifles are $8, handguns are $10 or $12 I don't remember which, and "evil" semi auto rifles are more. They have a small selection of reloading components. As for the range safety it seems to depend on when you go, Sunday mornings and during the weekdays are pretty good but yeah, the RSO's tend to be young and not very interested. Weekends are the worst times to go. The target hangers are always in disrepair. They use chicken wire strung between landscape timbers and the chicken wire doesn't last long.

Shooter's Station is a nice little shop with a decent, small indoor range. Someone mentioned high prices. That may be as I haven't been in a while, but when I was a regular there a couple of years ago the prices were pretty good. I've bought several guns from them. Danny (the stocky one) and Ben are good guys.
 
Try finding a RIA 1911 in Houston
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just a note: fountain had two, last friday. and based on what i have gathered about most houston gun shoppers teh same two are probably still there.
 
I have to agree with Phantomak47:

The best gun shops that I have ever been to still where in the (cringe all of you Texans , Cringe) the Northeast.
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I was once in either Vermont, Maine, or was it New Hampshire. But I was with my ex-gf at the time and we were driving into this little town during the winter. We saw an old mom and pop gun store. Man, that place was jumping! Crowds and crowds of people everywhere. Inside the store and outside the store. I looked and saw the words "Guns" and then "Sale." Everyone from 5 to 95 years old were in there. It wasn't too big of a store. Maybe about the size of Carter's Country. But, boy, did they have guns galore!!! Guns, and guns, and guns EVERYWHERE you looked. Old. New. Rifles. Handguns. Shotguns. Anything you could think of! But the best part was the prices!!! Dirt cheap! And I mean DIRT CHEAP! I remember seeing an AR for around $475!!! I was sooooo tempted to buy one, but my ex-gf talked me out of it! :( I am bashing my head against the wall to this day! I wish that I could remember were it was!
 
I was once in either Vermont, Maine, or was it New Hampshire. But I was with my ex-gf at the time and we were driving into this little town during the winter. We saw an old mom and pop gun store. Man, that place was jumping! Crowds and crowds of people everywhere. Inside the store and outside the store. I looked and saw the words "Guns" and then "Sale." Everyone from 5 to 95 years old were in there. It wasn't too big of a store. Maybe about the size of Carter's Country. But, boy, did they have guns galore!!! Guns, and guns, and guns EVERYWHERE you looked. Old. New. Rifles. Handguns. Shotguns. Anything you could think of! But the best part was the prices!!! Dirt cheap! And I mean DIRT CHEAP! I remember seeing an AR for around $475!!! I was sooooo tempted to buy one, but my ex-gf talked me out of it! I am bashing my head against the wall to this day! I wish that I could remember were it was!
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There are a lot of diehard gun owners in the Northeast, but most people wouldnt know that due to the laws (although Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire are different animals than other Northeastern States) and the general perception of the area. In Maine, there is the Kittery trading post, it has probally 8-10 isles of used guns where you can actually handle guns with out having ask for them, its a great shop and their prices are pretty good.

My favorite store was outside of Boston believe it or not, Four Seasons firearms, its a hole in the wall, but if you go on a Saturday morning you will have anywhere from 5-10 people in line ahead of you buying guns. They usually have 5 people behind the counter and a very nice selection of handguns and tactical rifles. I bought my new sig from them a few years ago for around $675, all of their prices where very close to say, bud's firearms if not as good.

Although I do miss those gun shops, I don't miss the restrictions in Mass with regards to compliant pistols.

After being in Texas for a few years, I do love it and wouldn't move back.

Has anyone noticed that Carters has had "better prices" on some of their stuff lately?
 
Just a clarification about the indoor shooting range off the Gulf Freeway outside Friendswood I mentioned in an earlier post. It does not sell guns anymore. Something to do with an ill owner, but the range is open. $10 to shoot, no rifles (except .22) and no .357 or .44 mag loads.
 
local gun shops

I've been to that Ed's Firearms place, and he has a lot of tactical guns and stuff. He has every Glock, Sig, and Springfield Armory hand gun you could ever want. he's a law enforcement dealer for most brands. I have purchased several guns from him and he beats everybodys price in town. I got a card from him and this what it reads:

Ed's Firearms, Inc
10212 Georgibelle Dr #200
houston TX 77043
832-567-4010 or 713-984-1485
 
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