When you've held your tongue for just long enough....

[Bigdog57]

My only good WallyMart gun-buying story was when I decided to get a Marlin 17V, shortly after they came out. My local store did not have them, but the "Super Wally's" across town did. So I drive over.
The young gal behind the gun counter seemed more interested in schmoozing with her equally young non-employee boyfriend, but I finally got her attention when she came up for air.
I ponted to the rifle (oddly it was in the shotgun display cabinet) and told I wanted the "Marlin 17V" rifle. She immediately says, "But those are all shotguns!"
I says, "Yes, but the rifle I want is in there."
She still can't find it - I am pointing right at it, and it takes a good two minutes to direct her to it, from all of three feet away. I am wondering if Wally's has a policy to 'hire the blind'.....
"Oh, it IS here!" she quips.
So we do the paperwork. She comments that I am the "first one to ever fill it out right!"
I told her I have LOTS of practice!
The manager comes to give his blessing to the deal and to escort me out of the store with the rifle - silly reg but I expected it. She then asks me if I want the .17HMR ammo to go with it - I told her, "No, I don't want to get you fired,"
They have a policy that NO ammo goes out with the gun - Just in case......
Well, got my rifle, bought the ammo on my side of town, and had a good range visit. I always wondered how long that gal lasted at the job......

Speaking of at the range....
I did have a weird sort of feller give me a lecture once when I was shooting my just-acquired CETME rifle - "You know, Century has this guy, named Mr. Cetme, that builds these things! See, here's his name stamped on the gun!"
I actually managed to keep a straight face as he rambled on, and I shot my new rifle.

 

[Badlander]

I was working in A mans home when I noticed his office wall was decorated with many Medals and commendations Including A letter from the secratery of defence thanking him for his years of service fighting communism. I asked him what he did. He said he was A retired insurance salesman. End of conversation. The real ones don't talk about it much.
And they do not work at Wally World.

 

[knifeguy68]

I guess I am lucky. Most of the time I buy ammo at a near-by gun shop. When I do go to the nearest Wal-Mart there is usually an older lady who knows absolutely nothing about guns or ammo, but she opens the cabinet, always has a smile then says to have a nice day. Quick and easy.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Most of the ones I have meet that did any real business for the Military, FBI ,CIA etc. Don't say much unless you ask and he knows you well.

 

[jimmertoons]

Several years ago, about 3 months after the church shooting in Colorado Springs, I was at the Walmart just down the road from that church. I bought several boxes of 12 ga slugs, and 2 boxes of Federal bulk 22LR. The clerk asked if the 22 was for rifle or handgun. I told him it was for my machine gun. He gave me a knowing little smile, but you should have seen the face of the lady in line behind me.

 

[Mike1234567]

"I think it's walmart policy to keep clueless people at the counter..."

No, they just don't pay well enough to hire anyone who knows what they're doing.

 

[Mike1234567]

I was working in A mans home when I noticed his office wall was decorated with many Medals and commendations Including A letter from the secratery of defence thanking him for his years of service fighting communism. I asked him what he did. He said he was A retired insurance salesman. End of conversation. The real ones don't talk about it much.
And they do not work at Wally World.

It's more likely that he was an insurance agent "after" his government service (whatever that was) and he just didn't want to talk with a stranger about it. In fact, he may not have been able to talk much about it anyway.....

 

[TCU]

i love that story, whereabouts is this walmart located. Next time i drive to michigan im gonna have to stop there tellin him that i am currently in defensive intel. When i see guys like that i love to play them, i act so interested and amazed in their stories and keep asking them more. Its hilarious to me, i would play that guy over and over, compulsive liars are the best. Just like almost even junior marine with less than 1 year in the corps, turned down free ride college football scholarships to come into the marine corps. I once had a PFC tell me about how him and his dad had i believe 27 exotic cars in their garage, kinda like a Jay Leno collection.

 

[GEM]

Comes from little sips of CLP and OJ on the rocks during breaks.

My favorite was a guy buying a shotgun at Cabelas. He was there with his woman - whatever. Wanted a pump because the racking would scare the BG away. Also, wanted some blanks in case the racking didn't scare them enough. So the clerk said - you should also get some rubber 00.

Couldn't stand it, so I pipe up about self-defense, pontificate on strategy, etc.

Thought they would both kill me from the glares. Later, a friend pointed out that the poor guy had probably convinced the woman do let him have a gun IF he promised to rack, blanks, etc. I messed up the deal.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

I believe this guy could be called a WALLmart Ninja.

I recently had an argument with some "Marine Scout Sniper" that could shoot a group .01 of an inch with a .223 with cartridges filled to the rim with powder at one mile kneeling. Then he told me that every 3 months he buys a new bolt for his expensive custom bolt action that cost $1,500 per bolt and has them installed by a gunsmith.

 

[Inebriated]

My former high school Chem teacher was CIA...


No really, she'd been CIA about 10 years before she moved to teaching. Absolutely the best teacher I've ever had.


Just thought I'd let you guys know what it's like to talk to someone who was actually what they said they were. lol

 

[rocinante]

I would totally cut him slack and just let it all go with good humor until he refuses to sell me something I want. He may be annoying but how you react to him reflects your character not his.

 

[J-Bar]

I'm just sitting here imagining what stories he would tell if they reassigned him to the women's lingerie department....

 

[DuncanSA]

Give the old guy a break, he probably half-believes his own stories. Unless he does something really harmful let him live on in his little dream world. I am sure you don't want to get him fired!

 

[WTBguns10kOK]

I think I must be in the minority, because one of the guys at the local WalMart here helped me get into reloading, what stuff to buy, and always talks about sacrificing goats to the ammo gods and such. He's pretty cool.

 

[mgmorden]

I remember one time at Wal-Mart I ran into a kid at the gun counter who had just turned 18 and wanted to surprise his dad and go moose hunting. So he was naturally buying a rifle and didn't know much. He then asked the person behind the counter, "what is the difference between these two rifles?" The reply he got was, "about 75 dollars."

Reminds me of way back when (over 20 years ago now) I was 8 and my mom was buying me my first gun for Christmas. She wasn't (and still isn't) into guns at all, but she did all the shopping so it was her picking it up. I was already pretty familiar with what was supposed to be bought, but my mom asked the counter associate if the 12ga or the 20ga shotgun would be a better fit for her son (gesturing towards me). Without missing a beat the sales person kindly informed her that the 12ga would likely be a better choice as the 20ga was too powerful and would have too much recoil for me.

Even at that age I was able to inform the clerk that they had it backwards and let my mom know that dad had already said to get a 20ga.

 

[mgmorden]

I'm just sitting here imagining what stories he would tell if they reassigned him to the women's lingerie department....

I'm sure he'd be telling the customers that he in completely in the know and knows exactly what Victoria's secret is.

 

[murdoc rose]

At the closest local walmart the two guys that are usually at the gun counter do know enough to at least do their jobs effectively. One of them I know fairly well and feel he is more than qualified. The older one would at least be able to help someone who didn't know anything. All the other walmarts in the area do seem to hire clueless people, I'm not sure if it was just luck or management that filled the spots here.

IMHO the ones that bother me the most are at pawn shops.

 

[lloveless]

mgmorden. I think we all know what "Victoria's secret is" since she shows it off. The geezer at wal-mart was either off his meds or needs them tweaked.
ll

 

[withdrawn34]

That is unfortunate.

I've never been preached to at my local WM. At the most, if its a guy who hasn't seen me before, he'll say "you know that is steel cased, right?" when I select the Tul in 45. They don't ask in a condescending way, just in a way to make sure I realize I am buying steel case ammo. I appreciate that, because I'm sure there are plenty of people who see the cheap price, then want to buy it without reading the box and realizing it is steel case... then probably come back to the store mad about something that is their fault.

And yes, Tul in 45 works great. Tul in 9, not so great (my experience, anyway).

 

[rbernie]

Making fun of other folk is hardly a High Road activity.