Least favorite place to buy a gun...

Dick's.

They're appropriately named.

To elaborate, almost every time (3/5) I've been there, I've had to distract one of the sales clerks from what must have been a very important text messaging session. Once distracted, they let me know just how important their texting was by being rude, cutting me off, and generally being unhelpful. I asked one clerk if he could special order a Marlin .45-70 and he dropped a 3-ring binder with various catalogs in it in front of me, huffed at me, then walked back to his corner and went back to texting. 3 different sales people, 2 different stores. On top of their high prices, I have a very hard time convincing myself to return to Dick's. Their "on sale" ammo is still more expensive than the regularly priced stuff at WalMart or my local gun shops. The only good deal I've ever seen there on ammo is Hornady LeverEvolution .45-70 ammo for $29.99 a box.

Different stores have different people woring in them. Its not as common to have a good experience at chain stores, but its just as common to be treated like a moron at the local gun store. I have found that shopping around ocasionally I find the offensive worker that used to be at a particular store has left to agrivate coustomers in a different department. One of my favorite places to shop is a local farm supply store, and the person that usually is working when I stop by is a young girl. She isnt the most knowledgeable, but is as helpful as she can be, and very interested in the shooting sports. In the last year or so, that store has gone from a minimalist gun counter with a few shot guns and a few 22s to nearly as well stocked as some LGSs, and even better than alot of them.
Sometimes the stores corperate rules are loose enough that if they get a good worker, and the coustomers give them a chance, it can evolve into a pleasant place to shop for your shooting needs.

The gun show. They're almost always heavily overpriced. Very, very few deals to be had. I've only bought 1 gun there, ever, and that was my Mosin Nagant. I got a smoking deal on it from a private seller who was walking around with it.

Online. By the time you pay shipping and FFL fees, wait for a week or more for the vendor to ship and UPS to deliver....... The smaller the dealer, the worse it is.

I bought a M1A Scout Squad from a small online vendor because he actually had one in stock on March 26th. After promising to get it out on the 28th, he actually shipped it on the 31st and it is due at my FFL on April 7th. When I called to ask when it might ship he seemed miffed I would bother to call him after his response to my email asking when he planned to ship it. It said, "Its on the way, just have a little patience". He lied. It didn't ship until the following day. When I called him on it, his response was, "Things happen".

Another vote for the gun show. It just hasn't worked out for me. Ever.

I would have to say my local gun store, l just won't do it..... he the owner is just to busy he thinks walks around with a scowl . The help is ok, and get treated worse than the cust barely. No I'll got through a ACT OF GOD!! many times over just not to spend my hard earned money there.

AMS Guns in Woodinville.

I was looking at an expensive pistol pistol under the glass. Asked the owner what would happen if I failed the NICS check and she said they would keep the money and the gun. I told her if I ever bought there again I would make sure they ran the check before I gave them any money.

They also charge ridiculous prices. I went elsewhere and found a better deal and passed the NICS check and everyone was happy. Now I only go to the other store to look but not to buy.

Gun shows

Guns Galore in Fenton, MI. Yeah, I live in GA but I used to live in MI. The reek has followed me all the way here. If you have ever been there then you know what Im talking about.

AS a seller, a prospective buyer indicating he may not be able to pass the NCIS would make me a bit uneasy..... It wouldn't be unheard of for someone to suddenly 'change their policies" regarding a customer that made them uneasy for whatever reason. An FFL can refuse a sale for any reason....and someone indicating a potential problem with the NCIS may be the only red flag that potential seller needed to hear.....

Anthony Arms in Pittsburgh.
There reputation for being rude precedes them. Just type in their name in a search engine.
They are the only FFL that is close to me, so I had to use them. Never again.

Gun shows.

I go in with a pocket full of money but just can't get past the high prices and attitudes.

So, I leave the gun show and stop at my LGS on the way home, buy a box or two of ammo and see what he has on his racks.

I suppose my least favorite place would be out in the parking lot of a gunshow. It's usually against the rules of the show, it could be some sort of "sting operation", it's rather annoying; and even if it's totally legitimate, I really don't feel comfortable doing business that way. If your interested in buying or selling, wait until we're inside the gunshow to make the transaction.

Aside from being a "rule" at some shows (none here in SD I'm aware of) how does doing the deal inside the door any different than at your car? Do you feel a need for "witnesses" to the sale or purchase? I guess I don't understand the difference in a face to face sale inside or out....explain?

Cabelas. Most guns at my local Cabelas (Hamburg, PA) are overpriced,

"take a number" system it very slow, as it their paperwork processing .
I DID find a bargain last Saturday, but it took me nearly 2 hours to put 1 used revolver on layaway, over 90 % of it waiting.

mark

Saturday, but it took me nearly 2 hours to put 1 used revolver on layaway, over 90 % of it waiting

Click to expand...

Last gun I bought there was 15 - 30 minutes, tops, from entering the store to leaving.

'Course... it was a Tuesday night about 8:45.

Gotta expect a rocky time if you show up at tourist destination sporting goods emporium like that on a nice spring Saturday.

WalMart. If you want to purchase a firearm from someone who has no idea what they're talking about, WalMart would be on the top of that list.

Sears&Roebuck. I had to look it up in the catalog. (I don't know why, I had the catalog number memorized by then since I'd been drooling over it for a year or so.) Then get my mother to call the order in. Then I had to wait THREE WHOLE DAYS for the Sears truck to drop it off at the house.

Longest three days of my life.

It was a long time ago.

Auctions

It takes forever. The prices are sky high. And the auctioneers don't know a thing about guns. I still remember the last time I went to one and the idiot auctioneer was botching up every description, mixing up his cue cards with the wrong firearms, it was pathetic.

I laughed myself silly one time when he picked up a shotgun and declared in an imposing voice "this here rifle is a four-five-dash-seven-zero-GEE-VEE-TEE!(saying GEE VEE TEE with awe like it was the extra special edition or something and makes it worth more money) What do I hear for this beautiful rifle?"

Gun show prices(find most attitudes okay)/hate the carnival worker feel I get from them though(im sure they are on the road alot)

Walmart attitudes for the most part

Dicks lack of knowledge(although I do my own research), hard to find anyone to help you but mine is new and they do try(not rude).

Local gun range/pawn shop
I shoot there because it is cheap but man these guys are unprofessional. They are not rude directly(nasty) but dropping the F bomb 4-5 times in 3 min in front of ladies is pretty bad. I wont bash them because I do like their range but they prey on new buyers as someone not new wouldn't step foot in there to buy a gun.

All gun salesmen are salesmen so you hear alot of ignorant BS at most gun shops.

Academy Sports & Outdoors was the worst I've experienced so far. It took a long time to get any help. I walked right in and told the clerk I wanted to buy a rifle, but I waited while he showed some people a bunch of handguns, and he then showed a couple of other people guns who came in after me -- they were just browsing -- before finally helping me. The clerk wasn't a big supporter of the RKBA either -- When he was running the NICS check I commented how it is a shame that a man can't just pay money and buy what he wants without getting the government involved, and the clerk said "there are too many crazy people out there!"

However, Academy did have the best price on a Marlin 795, so I put up with it and probably will again if I need another .22, or if I ever decide to get one of those smoking deals on a Stevens .270 when they have them on sale for $150 or whatever.

You guys who say that gun shows are a bad deal must not know the right way to do it. You are probably just walking around looking at all the dealers' stuff. Everybody knows that gun show dealers have jacked up prices... I don't pay them any mind and usually won't even stop to show them anything of mine if they ask to look, because I know they will just lowball me on it. I am there for the private sellers walking around. And occasionally there are some guys with tables, usually more small-time guys, who have some awesome deals mixed in. You just have to know how to quickly move through the aisles, filtering out the BS, while keeping an eye out for anything on the tables that looks interesting, and keeping the other eye on the guys walking around in the aisles, to see if they are carrying anything you are after.

I have got some KA deals from little small time vendors and private sellers.

If we want to talk about overpriced and rude lets talk about Gander Mountain. That place is a JOKE!!!

Especially for used guns, make my least favorite the internet - you can't give it the once over ahead of time - and even though many places allow a three-day inspection, they do already have your money and if you return it, you are out 2 shipping charges and the FFL transfer

I've bought guns from Gander, Walmart, mom/pop shops, pawn shops, individuals, and auctions, and the major thing always is Caveat Emptor. That said, my least favorite transactions have to be pawn shops who only seem interested in moving inventory, even using misinformation/customer ignorance.