Gun Shop Stories

Most fun one, walked into a shop I frequented and saw a guy I had seen in there a lot trying to get the shop owner to reassemble a Phoenix HP22. Shop owner didn’t know how but was willing to have a gunsmith do it for a fee. I taught them both how to use the barrel as a spring container. Bought that same pistol a couple years later for $75.

<----kitchen table dealer for eleven years.

Two years ago I had a guy purchase a gun online, choosing me for the transfer. The day it arrived I emailed him pickup info with a map to my house. He arrives, rings door bell and when I open door he is twenty odd feet back from the door, halfway to the street and continuing to back up......."Im afraid!" he says. "Of what? I ask. "I never bought a gun before!". The rest of the transfer went much easier.

A real estate agent was murdered in a city just to the north a few years ago, so quite a few real estate agents started buying guns. Lady had bought a gun from Buds, chose me for the transfer and when she came to pick up she called me to ask that I put my dogs in the back yard.... "I'm deathly afraid of dogs" I'm wondering how she knew I had dogs, but I woke them up, shooed them into the back yard and went to the front door.........no one there. She calls back "I can hear your dog barking at me".......I ask "where are you because you aren't at my house". Turned out she was seven houses away. But it gets better.........filling out the Form 4473 she gets to Question 10b and writes "India" and draws her own check box.....and puts an "x" inside.

Early nineties, obtained an FFL, and ordered my very first gun - for myself. SKS's were fresh on the market and going cheap so I bought an early Chinese all-milled-parts. No internet package tracking then and not even a credit card. Had to mail a money order off and wait. Finally the UPS guy arrives with my long-awaited box and literally as he is stepping down from the truck handing the box to me the freaking bottom came out and the SKS shot out to hit the gravel of my driveway muzzle first.

He was mortified, I was horrified, but once I picked up it, brushed it off to reveal not so much as a scratch we both had a relieved laugh.

Sure wish I had bought a few cases of them back in the day when I consider what they're selling for now. Same for the Spanish FR8's.

Oh a whole list. Gun stores are some of the worst sources of information I have ever encountered by owners and employees. Just goes to show, just because someone has a FFL, doesn't automatically make them knowledgeable of the craft.

One time I went into a large "tactical" style store that sold firearms, knives, plate carriers for the typical mall ninja. What weren't there were milsurp rifles, hunting rifles, or anything that would be used for hunting. An employee at the knife counter was asked a firearm question. He responded rather correctly "No ma'am, I just deal with knives, I don't know any useful information about firearms." The next week that "knife counter guy" was at the firearm counter telling a customer that every Glock spends 2 years submerged in salt water to "test the finish" before they are even sold. He was also telling the customer that Alabama was a permit less carry state (which we aren't). And if that customer bought that firearm they could get a holster, ammo, slap it on and walk out the store that very day. Wrong information from the very start.

Back in the early-90's a friend an I were in an LGS that had a Mak90 with a bipod sitting out on top of the display case (when they were $149). A couple of the local thug gang-bangers come in and one asks, "Is dat one dem that goes 'uh, uh, uh, uh, uh'...?" (while making a Tommy-gun shooting gesture with both hands).

Guy behind the counter responds, "You mean fully automatic??. Uh, no...".

"What y'all got that goes 'uh, uh, uh, uh, uh'...?"

Shopping used guns at Gander Mtn here in Colorado. I heard the guy behind the counter tell an obviously new hunter that the 30-06 he was looking at wasn't enough gun for elk here. My eyes rolled so hard they almost fell out of my head.

Bloomsburg has a new video about wanting to ban the ones that go uh uh uh uh uh bah bah.
Spent millions upon millions of dollars and he dont know the difference between Simi and full auto.

Caplock said:

Shopping used guns at Gander Mtn here in Colorado. I heard the guy behind the counter tell an obviously new hunter that the 30-06 he was looking at wasn't enough gun for elk here. My eyes rolled so hard they almost fell out of my head.

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Reminds me of one time I was in Academy. A woman was looking for a deer rifle for a 14 year old. The clerk said 30-06 was the only rifle they carry in store strong enough to take down "southern white tail." I made the recommendation of a 243 Winchester and left the store.

dogtown tom said:

<----kitchen table dealer for eleven years.

Two years ago I had a guy purchase a gun online, choosing me for the transfer. The day it arrived I emailed him pickup info with a map to my house. He arrives, rings door bell and when I open door he is twenty odd feet back from the door, halfway to the street and continuing to back up......."Im afraid!" he says. "Of what? I ask. "I never bought a gun before!". The rest of the transfer went much easier.

A real estate agent was murdered in a city just to the north a few years ago, so quite a few real estate agents started buying guns. Lady had bought a gun from Buds, chose me for the transfer and when she came to pick up she called me to ask that I put my dogs in the back yard.... "I'm deathly afraid of dogs" I'm wondering how she knew I had dogs, but I woke them up, shooed them into the back yard and went to the front door.........no one there. She calls back "I can hear your dog barking at me".......I ask "where are you because you aren't at my house". Turned out she was seven houses away. But it gets better.........filling out the Form 4473 she gets to Question 10b and writes "India" and draws her own check box.....and puts an "x" inside.

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Well you got my attention, had to look that one up. What would have been the correct response for her.

whughett said:

Well you got my attention, had to look that one up. What would have been the correct response for her.

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Asian (according to the US gov)

I have a bunch but my favorite was something that happened when I was a kid.
My Dad took me and my brother out with him to look at hunting rifles in Pennsylvania. We went to a store that I had never been to and as soon as we walked in we heard this gruff man’s voice which sounded like he smoked way too much.
We heard “Hi there, wanna buy a gun?”
My Dad responded “No, we’re just looking around.”
There wasn’t anyone behind the counter or in the store. We wondered where the voice came from.
We here it again “Hey there, wanna buy a gun?”
My Dad looks around, looks at me and my brother and kind of laughs and he says “No, we’re just looking around.”
The we hear it again.
“Hey there, wanna buy a gun?”
Now it’s getting a little weird.
My Dad says “Hey buddy, where are you?”
Then we hear a door slam in the back and then a short chubby man walks into the store from the back behind the counter and he says (in the same voice we heard before only with a little more bass) “Hey there, didn’t see you pull up. What can I do for ya?”
My Dad says “Like I said before , we’re just looking around.”
The guy gives my Dad a funny look and then he smiled and said “Oh, you must have been talking to my bird.”
He reached around the curtain through the door he came into the store through and picks up a bird cage with a Myna Bird in it. The curtain was blocking us from seeing him and the cage. Then the bird says “Hey there, wanna buy a gun?”
Man, we must have laughed for 5 minutes after that. The man had trained the bird to say things to customers when the bell rang when people came through the door. The bird sounded almost like the man that owned store.
Later on the bird said something about “Savage barrels being the best“ and that “Smith & Wesson makes mighty fine revolvers”. That was a funny experience for a ten year old.

20 some year old kid says “Do you have any six barrels?”

clerk looks puzzled and replies “Are you talking about a gun with a six inch barrel, or a a six shot revolver?”

The kid didn’t know how to answer.

When I was fixing up my dad's shotgun, went to the place down the road.
"Hey, I know you have odd parts lying around sometimes. I'm looking for barrels for a Savage 311--"
"Cool! Lemme go look in the back!" Stands up.
"--in 16 gauge."
Sits right back down. "Good luck!"

A gentleman was purchasing a firearm when he inquired if it came with a spare clip.

This isn't clip/magazine snobbery, let me stop you right there.

Turns out the firearm didn't come with a spare clip...

...because it was a Mossberg 500.

Was at LGS and the clerk trying to sell a 12 ga shotgun tells customer that porting will tame recoil by %75. I kept looking and strolled out.

I went to the only LGS for 50 miles a couple of weeks ago with my girlfriend and working the gun counter was a young and attractive college-aged girl. My girlfriend is wanting to buy a handgun and has fired nearly all of mine and is down to a couple of models. Usually when we look at guns in a shop, there is a testosterone-pumped young guy spouting nonsense. Having a young woman there totally put my girl at ease and they had a great time chatting about firearms and fondling different models. The young lady didn't say anything dumb and was very helpful.

It was pretty awesome. Sorry, no horror stories lately.

In fact, the last time I was there by myself, I bought reloading manual. The bearded millenial behind the counter actually knew quite a bit about reloading and hunting. I went in there looking for a specific powder for my new .30-06 Ackley Improved and he actually had heard of it. The last guy I talked to when I went looking for .450 Bushmaster rounds had never even heard of .450 Bushmaster.

dogtown tom said:

But it gets better.........filling out the Form 4473 she gets to Question 10b and writes "India" and draws her own check box.....and puts an "x" inside.

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To be fair, that is a bull*** question with no good answer for a lot of people. 10a is even worse. I'm a bit surprised actually that those haven't been challenged in court yet.

Was in a shop looking around when an older woman comes in with a rifle case. Says her husband passed away and she wanted to sell his rifle. Owner opens the case and there's a very nice wood stocked Ruger 10/22 in there with a decent scope.

He tells her that it's an oddball gun, not very popular, but he can give her $25 for it. That's $25 for the rifle, scope, and case.

Unfortunately, she takes it. I walk out, disgusted.

Another place, the owner and coworker smoked heavily in the small store, there was always a cloud and a funky smell in there. Good prices, good stock, and during the ammo shortage, he never overcharged, but you had to take a deep breath before entering and try and hold it as long as possible.

The owner also felt free to shout out his political views, which Attila the Hun might have found a little too far right wing.

Speedo66 said:

Was in a shop looking around when an older woman comes in with a rifle case. Says her husband passed away and she wanted to sell his rifle. Owner opens the case and there's a very nice wood stocked Ruger 10/22 in there with a decent scope.

He tells her that it's an oddball gun, not very popular, but he can give her $25 for it. That's $25 for the rifle, scope, and case.

Unfortunately, she takes it. I walk out, disgusted.

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I think I would have been tempted to enter a bidding war even if I didn’t need or want it. It wouldn’t matter that I pissed the shop owner off because after witnessing such a thing he would never have got any of my business under any circumstances.
Choice B would be say nothing until the woman left and then inform him he’d convinced me he was one dishonest SOB and I would be sure to let the word get around about the stunt he had just pulled.
I despise theives regardless of the method they use.

I think my favorite was the night the man brought a shotgun in using two hands. One hand held the barrel, action, and stock. The other hand held a glass jar with all the small parts he couldn’t figure out how to reassemble.
Roy has it all back together in short order and made it look as simple as tying your shoes.

dogtown tom said:

Asian (according to the US gov)

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I’m glad you answered that. I was wondering.

Speedo66 said:

Was in a shop looking around when an older woman comes in with a rifle case. Says her husband passed away and she wanted to sell his rifle. Owner opens the case and there's a very nice wood stocked Ruger 10/22 in there with a decent scope.

He tells her that it's an oddball gun, not very popular, but he can give her $25 for it. That's $25 for the rifle, scope, and case.

Unfortunately, she takes it. I walk out, disgusted.

Another place, the owner and coworker smoked heavily in the small store, there was always a cloud and a funky smell in there. Good prices, good stock, and during the ammo shortage, he never overcharged, but you had to take a deep breath before entering and try and hold it as long as possible.

The owner also felt free to shout out his political views, which Attila the Hun might have found a little too far right wing.

Click to expand...

I think I would have offered her $100 just to piss the guy off. Taking advantage of widows is about as low-class as it gets.

The 1st I didn't see 1st hand, but was told by my brother. A guy goes into a gun shop and asks the clerk if they have any 357 Sig ammo. The clerk says yes and walks to where the ammo is on the shelf and asks the customer how much he wants. The customer pulls 2 empty magazines out of his pocket and says, " Well one is a 10 round magazine, the other 13 rounds, I'll take 23 rounds".

I was killing time in the local Walmart hunting and firearms section while my wife shopped between Christmas and New Years day in December 2007. The phone rang and the clerk picked up the phone. I could only hear one end of the call, but could tell someone had gotten a new rifle in 7mm-08 for Christmas and was looking for ammo. I could tell the clerk was confused. He eventually replied, "Sir, all we have is '07 ammo right now, we'll get in the new '08 ammo sometime in the next couple of weeks."

The last was relayed to me by a guy who worked his entire life in various gun stores and pawn shops locally, he has since passed. He had an older gentleman, a preacher, who picked up an older shotgun at a great price from the pawn shop. As he was buying it he was trying to figure out how to sneak it in past his wife.

Weeks later the preacher was back in the pawn shop and the manager asked him how it went getting the shotgun past his wife. The preacher replied, "I decided I couldn't tell a lie, I'd just walk in with it and tell the truth. When I walked in the door my wife looked up and saw the shotgun and asked me if I'd killed anything. I answered, Nope, didn't even get a shot"!

Have a clip/magazine story. Perusing one of my local shops where the clerks know me by name at this point. And older man comes in and asks if they have any empty clips for his rifle. The co owner doesn't bat an eye since the customer is another regular, "Yeah I got some in back, sit tight I'll bring a box up." Another customer tried his hand at the "actually they are magazines." Older customer doesn't miss a beat "Really? You know of an M1 Garand that takes magazines?! I would love to see it." Took a couple of us and some quick phone searches to show the "actually" guy what an M1 clip looks like.

This is my favorite, told it before. I traveled between San Antonio and Austin quite a bit. I would stop at Cabela's to browse.

A guy is at the counter with a woman. He tells the clerk he wants a pump shotgun as if he racks it, the sound will scare the bad guy away. He then says he also wants some blanks if the rack sound doesn't do it. The clerk replies that he should buy some rubber buckshot. I speak up and say: "Intelligent tactical babble and use force wisdom". Pure looks of hatred come my way so I retreat.