Worst lines you've heard from gun sellers?

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One guy was telling a woman that she should buy the HK P30 over the HK P30L (longer slide/barrel) because she doesn't have to pull the slide back as far. He didn't want to listen when I said you pull them both the same distance back.
 
Not a counter guy, but a customer, looking into a display of handguns.

I overheard him whisper to himself, almost reverently.... "NINE Millimeter? That thing rip yo' XXXXXXX arm off."

Clerk to a female customer..."Now little lady...You get one of these and if anyone so much as looks at you wrong, you just keep pulling the trigger 'till the gun goes "click."
 
Gander Mountain about 8 or 9 years ago..... I was looking at a gun (I think it was a Ruger Single Six). I went home, thought it over, and then drove back about a week later to purchase. The price tag had gone up by $50. I asked why and they told me that it comes with one year of free gun smithing and cleaning now.
 
1) Gun clerk told me I need to buy a particular different 10/22 when I was looking for a wood stocked model because this other model had "4 quad rails and a laser." No sir, it has 4 rails. Or, alternatively termed, A quad rail.

2) Shopping for a subcompact 9mm, single or double stack. Another customer comments "Oh don't get that, you don't need a 9mm. Just get a 380, you can slip them in your pocket." Twice. I mean, whatever floats your boat, but let me buy what I want.
 
I had a dealer screaming cuss words at me in the middle of a gun show because I pointed out the rare Winchester 71 Carbine he was trying to sell for $4,000 was in fact a 71 rifle that had been cut off and the front sight poorly put back on.

The barrel muzzle was purple from over heating when they put the sight ramp back on.

I just got out of there fast.
The guy had that crazy eye, foaming at the mouth look!!

rc
 
During the panic "Price are never coming down". I heard that from dealers as well as people on gun forums.

I once asked how to get the hand guards off a particular model of AR and the guy condescendingly said "Why would you ever need to get the hand guards off?" As a former Marine I had to cringe.


I also heard one Walmart clerk discussing his future shotgun purchase with the other clerk. The one was telling the other that it was hard to find a 2 3/4 inch 870 pump. The second guy says "well why don't you get the 3 inch since they have so many of those?" The first guy is adamant with his reply "Because I don't want to have to shoot 3 inch shells." I explained how it works and I got a blank stare. I'm not sure he ever got it.
 
At Bass Pro...
Guy asking about reloading powder and what reloading book he should buy.
Counterman: "You don't need a book. Just fill the case with powder and shake out the excess until the bullet fits in the case".
Customer: "Oh! Well that seems easy. What powder?"
Counterman: "Doesn't matter. Just pick one. They all work about the same."
Customer: "Well that's easy then. Thanks!! Have a good one!"

That customer and I had a nice discussion after he walked to the powder isle. He was brand new to reloading and wanting to reload 7mag. Imagine if he'd picked up a pound of H110.....or any powder really.
 
This isn't from sellers but I have had several people ask me if my 1873 Winchester is a .30-30.
 
I remembered an interaction that smacked more of stupid business practices than sheer gun stupidity.

I was in a Wal-Mart store and asked the department manager (I knew who he was, as I've seen him there before) if I could check out the Marlin 336W they had. It was 8:20PM, and I know they do not sell either firearms or ammunition after 9PM. The manager told me he could not open the cabinet or allow anyone to handle any firearms because it was "too late" and, should a sale become likely, the background check would not come back in time. Mind you, the last two or three background checks I've undergone have been settled within ten minutes.

I told him they should have a sign to go along with the "no firearms or ammunition sales after 9PM" one that reads something like what he was saying, such as no firearms will be shown after 7:30PM or whatever.

So, he could have let me handle the gun, possibly liking it so much I'd make it a point to come back first thing the next morning and buy it, or he could have simply turned me off to the idea of ever buying one there again (I've bought two firearms there before, both admittedly inexpensive .22LR rifles.)

Needless to say, I do not have a Marlin 336W rifle.
 
Deputy Bruce writes:

It seems like every time I want to buy a weapon it is a rare piece and I have to pay more for it. seems like when I sell it it is not rare at all.
Click to expand...

Reminds me of a musician's joke (I used to study music.)

A fellow asks a musicsmith what the difference is between a violin and a fiddle. The man replies: "It depends on who's selling it. If I'm selling it to you, it's a violin. If you're selling it to me, it's a fiddle."
 
Anytime a salesman tells me "you don't want That, you want This"

At a small local shop/range I walked up to the counter and asked for 357 sig ammo to use on their range. One of the counter guys looks at my glock hardcase and then at me and says I shouldn't even bother with that caliber as it's too rare. I should be using .40. He then tries to sell me a glock 23. I explain to him that I in fact have a glock 23 in the case but purchased a replacement barrel. He got kind of upset and rolled his eyes.

Same shop another salesman didn't want to open the case so I could look at a p95 because 9mm isn't a manly caliber and wanted me to purchase a very used .40 that was overpriced.

Another thing that comes up a lot for me is "brand x is actually the same thing as a brand y but sold much cheaper under a different name" Usually this is with cheap Chinese optics and knives.

Gun shows are the best place for these guys as it is one of the few venues where a guy can sell snake oil and then skip town.
 
Good friend works at LGS. Was chatting with him one day about a future purchase,when I hear the other counter guy tell a customer that"porting will reduce recoil on a shotgun by 60-65%:eek:. We both gave each other the"holy crap look". My friend corrected the misinformation quickly.
 
At Walmart.
"Do you have any 16 gauge?"

"No, never. Sixteen gauge is illegal. We never carry them."

At a gun shop,

"Do you have any Federal shot shells?"

"We don't carry those off brand shells, only Remington and Winchester."



Always a real treasure walking into gun stores. :banghead:
 
Some of these really could be justified, with more detailed information including the location and local laws...........

Most, not so much....

If ya'll think some of these are doozies, you should hear some of the things we as dealers hear from "customers".. :banghead::confused::what:
 
"One time I had a seller at a gun show ask me: Why is it that every time someone picks up one of my guns they open the slide or cylinder and look in the chambers?... Duh!"

I picked up a small auto and pulled the slide and out pops a loaded HP round. OOOPPPS! Yikes!! That's why I look.
 
I was looking at a Mosin Nagant 91/30 in a pawn shop. A refurb-certainly nothing special. A lady new to firearms came over and asked what it was. The clerk proceeded to inform her that it was a joke of a rifle that the Germans laughed at during the war (these were his exact words). He then tried to sell her a k98, with all evidence of Russian capture. It embarrassed me a little, so I decided to show some pictures to the lady of german soldiers with 91/30 snipers and talk with her about the rifle, showing her that the Germans actually didn't think it was a joke, pointing out the merits of it in severe weather, etc. i gleefully got myself kicked out of the store and happily have never returned.
 
I was in a Gander Mountain Avon Indiana once....

Middle aged man and obvious wife at the gun counter speaking with a clerk about 25 years old. The Misses was looking for a personal protection piece and apparently not very familiar with firearms, with her husband simply looking on so I guess he didnt know much either. The clerk kept pushing a Ruger SR9C and some sort of small Glock 9 mm on them. I watched and listened as the clerk exclaimed the Glock was perfect as it was the most reliable firearm ever made. She handled both and did not have the strength to move either slide easily. She could not have charged the Ruger at all in my opinion if her life depended on it.

Any way I got the husband's attention and pointed to a Smith Bodyguard .38 revolver and simply stated, "your wife should hold one of those, all she has to do is pull the trigger." The clerk cheerfully responded, "you may be right, but I dont know much about revolvers!" He turned to get another clerk to talk to them about revolvers. To his credit, the clerk wasnt upset so I guess they dont pay commission? Anyway I found it strange he didnt know much about revolvers. Whats to know?
 
Some of these lines are cracking me up!

heaven forbid we disparage a firearm at the gun table while a fellow 2A enthusiast is about to be taken by a shyster. Knowledge should be shared.

Rc, think of how you would have felt later if you had kept your mouth shut and that poor fellow took that "rare" rifle home?

I think about every firearm I have handled from one particular location, is either "rare" "hard to find" or "high end". I smile each time.
 
I once went into a gun store where a clerk was trying to convince a first time buyer to get a Glock. According to the clerk, whenever a new model comes out they submerge a few in a salt water tank for a YEAR as part of their test.

Added onto this, this same clerk was at the knife counter in the same store a week later saying he didn't know anything about guns and shouldn't be answering gun questions.
 
From the 19 year old whose dad owned the shop who was trying to sell me a a breech loader that was so worn and loose it would barely lock up. So loose you could slide a penny between the breech face and barrels if you moved it.

"...based on my experience, and I've shot a lot of guns that were loose..." :what:
 
Seems it doesn't matter whether the LGS or Big Box store, the majority of salesmen/saleswomen do not know their product/laws anymore. A Wally World gun counter salesman here in Maine informing a customer that the rifle (AR style) they wanted to buy could only be sold to a police officer or current military member. No qualifying ID, NO firearm sale period.:banghead: Or at a Dicks sporting goods "The ammo is gone off the shelves because the military is buying it all up so the public has no ammo an cannot shoot our soldiers when they come to take the country over.":what: Just two of the many I remember off the top of my head.
 
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