Arrogance at a local gun shop...

Status
Not open for further replies.
"mass produced pistols/handguns are dangerous"? What planet is that clown from? I've got 2 semi custom revolvers but everything else is off the shelf so I must be in for a BIG surprise someday when I go to the range with my "junk" S&W Para Ruger
well you get the idea. What a maroon!!!!!
 
I hope you guys jumping on the OP's bandwagon aren't the guys that whine when you can't get any ammo when people like me buy 15K rounds and clean someone out.:neener:

In all seriousness, it's his business, he can run it his way. He may have seen what I've seen, someone buys all the ammo in one shot, then the next 8 people whine that he doesn't have any ammo.
 
I just stopped into a gun shop today, to look around. I'm looking for a stripped Stag lower, and asked if they sold them. Pop comes out and tells me Stags are all lefty's. This is the same place that had Beta mags listed for around $1000 after the ban ended. Today they were $350ish.
 
I dunno what to say.
The guy that owns the shop I do work for has a simple view.
Put enough money on the counter he will sell you everything in it and turn over the keys.
He and I differ on only one thing.
If a guy wants to special order he makes them wait because he insists on putting the special order on the monthly truck delivery to save the shipping costs and he is reluctant to do fee basis ordering.
If a guy wants it bad enough I will order the item right there and then as long as the customer understands and is willing to pay the shipping, and I will do this on flat fee plus shipping.
I also only use Distributers that are willing to ship United States Postal Service and only charge the exact shipping amount rounded.
 
I hadn't shot much as an adult and decided I missed shooting. I also wanted to have something around the house for some protection. I checked things out for a while and the first gun I decided I wanted was a Taurus 445 2" 44 special. I went to the first local place and told the guy what I wanted. No one else in the store. He kind of shrugged his shoulders and said they were hard to get and expensive. I left. Similar experience at the next place. 3rd store I went into I told the fella what I wanted. He looked in a book and in a few seconds said he could have one for me in a couple of days and quoted me an out the door price. I told him to order it right away. I've bought nearly all my guns from them in the last 6 years or so. 4-5 rifles, 7 handguns and 3 shotguns. In fact I'm picking up a Ruger 22/45 Monday. It's really something when you're standing there with money in your pocket, they have no other customers and it's too much trouble to sell you something.
 
What a jerk!

It's funny how people think their Bushmasters are the best and everything else is :barf:. I built my own bare bones AR with a kit from model one. The first time I shot it, I took it to an outdoor gun club and started shooting, then rapid firing the crap out of it.

Well, this guy (turns out he is the club prez) comes over and stands there watching me, I start to feel uncomfortable, so I asked him if everthing is alright and he says "yes, I was just making sure that you are not firing full auto". I said no, but do you have experience with AR-15's? Yes, he replied. I asked why does it sound like this spring is going to pop out of my stock. He tells me that is the design of the gun, I said okay and went back to shooting.

He leaves and comes back with his fully equiped tactical mall ninja Bushy AR-15, and on his 3rd shot of the first mag, he has a FTE :neener: it was in there good too. :D
 
I guess a few of you have run into the same thing.. Ended up picking up 500 rounds at Cabelas yesterday. A buddy had a $10 coupon also. So I ended up about the same price and got a free ammo box. I half tempted to go back to the shop this week and mention Cabelas has a lot more in stock. :D
 
Years ago, I was in a local Gunshop in Ft. Worth, when a kid probably 18-19 comes in and asks for some 12 Ga. shells. His father is taking him pheasent hunting in the Panhandle and he needs some shotgun shells. The salesman looks around to some 3" mag loads of #2 Win mags he's had on the display table for like 3 years, now marked down to only $21.95 a box and tells the young man he has just the thing for pass shooting those pheasents "cause they fly high and fast". The kid said he needed to go home for more money, so I slipped out the door with him and talked to him in the parking lot. Told him 6's would be fine for shooting pheasent over dogs and the $5.95 a boxers would be fine also. I wrote down what he needed and sent him to What was then a Whites auto store that had them on sale 2 miles away. He was very thankful and said this was important to him since his Dad didn't live with them and he didn't want to look like a goof. Then he ask me in that way thet anly a kid can "why did that guy try to screw me over?"
 
I had a Gander Mountain salesman who opened the slide of several pistols to show empty, hold slide, push slide release, and slowly return slide into battery for my inspection.

Now this was fine until he got to the Glock. He tried and tried to get a thumbnail under the slide stop. He would not hand it to me open and after at least a minute, I said "just pull on it !".

He was mad at me because I knew there is one way to get all semis I know of to close.
 
Well it just happened to me...

and I'm so pissed I wanted to wring this fool's neck. :fire:

I live in Honolulu and I decided to go back to MAGNUM FIREARMS just for kicks. I'd been there some time ago and got a very cold reception then. But, I decided to chalk it up to the employees having a bad day. Well, I walk in there this morning to check up on thier holdings and ask a couple of benign questions. I had the intention of picking up an AK and wanted a little more input on the People's Republik of Hawaii and the local AW gun laws, most of which I knew already.

NOW GET THIS, the state has a 10 round Mag limit law so Hi caps are out of the question unless they are blocked. The AK, that was my first mistake, this fool had on the wall he let me handle. As I did I asked a few questions about it and the magazine it carried. "What is up with the 30 rd Hi Cap if state laws limit them to 10, is it blocked?", I asked. Numbnuts repies, "No, if you buy from us I'll throw in the mag, we can skirt the laws." Now, I'm no fool but I just stood there dumbfounded that he would actually patronize me like that with an obvious aura of contempt that I would even bother him. I think he did not want to be bothered by someone who ONLY wanted a "cheap" $600 rifle. They are too busy sellin AR's, tricked out Kimbers and had a flippin wall full of .50 cal Snipers. Hell, the very first question he asked me is if I had a valid Rifle/Shotgun permit, which as irritating a question as that was I can understand that since they need to get serious with Paying Customers pirmarily.
At this time he took a phone call and I proceeded to talk to another employee, I think a co-owner, about Hawaii magazine laws and what this nutjob just said. Before I could even finish my conversation the first imbicile hangs up and says, "we don't have time to go over all the Hawaii gun laws, look them up on-line." Short of acting like a complete and utter fool, I said, "Roger that", and walked out. I will never EVER darken thier doorway again and sincerely hope one of them reads this board, if so... I hope you all go broke as hell. :cuss:

Sad thing about it is these guys do phenomominal business, especially with local law enforcement and military members which I am one. Its a shame one of the better gun shops on the island must be owned and operated by a bunch of :cuss: holes like them.
 
No skirting of the laws..

required for a normal capacity (20, 30, 2 gazillion) for any magazine that doesn't fit into a pistol.

Currently, HPD recognizes that there are AR-15 pistols and therefore interpret the laws as prohibiting greater than 10 rounds for AR magazines. However, they do not have a problem with 20 or 30 or whatever round magazines for AK-type variants, Ruger mini-type family of rifles, or a variety of others.

Art Ong is the owner of Magnum Firearms, you should visit his webpage (www.magnum50.com) and link onto the Adversiter article about 2/3 the way down the page. It will give you some perspective on his view.

PM me if you would like some suggestions for other sources of firearms. There are 5 other gun shops on the island.

migoi

I can also send you a synopsis of the Hawaii Firearms laws by email if you want.
 
Last edited:
Tanaka

I'd find the local Highpower Rifle folks and go shoot with them. Usually a friendly and helpful bunch. Try [email protected]. He's on Hilo. He might know some shooters.

I'd be unhappy with that reception myself, but it can happen anywhere. Find a competition bunch to shoot with and see where THEY buy their stuff.

There has to be a happy shop and a happy range full of folks somewhere out there.
 
Seems stupid to me why someone wouldn't sell as much as possible. Its just ammo, you can get lots more fast. Ah well.

The only gun shops I've been to in my area have personell that seem to expect that you already know whatever you need to know. They don't ask if they can help. You have to talk to them. Expect short answers and disinterest.

Gander Mountain has one extremely helpful gun counter guy. He knows a crapload and can prove it. If he doesnt know, he'll find out right now. But its still Gander Mountain.

The gunsmith there treated me like dirt when I was looking for a set of scope rings. I still dont know why the salesperson made the gunsmith help me. All I was looking for was a set of leupold rings of the lowest rise possible. Couldn't find 'em.

Gunsmith explains to me that Leupold doesn't use the weaver rail system. I knew that. Explains it again. Turns out I still knew it. Finally I give up when he begins the explanation a third time.

Hate bad customer service. No excuse for it.
 
Not the same really but a local store will not display their prices. And when you do want to look at something it's like it's a bother. As best I can tell he hates people browsing. Fine I can browse at Gander Mtn where I've bought two, another much more polite competitor that's less than two miles away where a friend's wife was treated very well, the gun show etc.

If it hasn't got a price on it, you don't want to sell it.
 
The only real bad experience i've had at a gun shop was at sportman's warehouse once. I went in and was looking at the handguns. They were kind of busy so one of the managers or something came over to the gun counter to help out and he was helping a guy out with some glock questions and this manager guy didn't know anything at all about the gun but he was trying at least. all he told the customer was "this is the mag release and the trigger was the safety" and none of that even had to do with the man's questions. Anyways he finishes up with the customer and comes over to me and asks if i need help. i ask him if i can take a look at one of their pistols and he asks me my age. I tell him i'm 20 and he says that i cant handle them unless i'm 21. I know that's the policy but I've never had a problem with it before. so whatever no big deal, i tell him i'll just keep looking. i was fine with that, he was just following policy so i wasn't upset. he proceeds to start talking down to me like i'm an infant who has no idea about anything. he even started talking slowly like i wouldn't understand him otherwise. After seeing his response to the man before me I knew he wasn't all that knowledgable about firearms and guns have been a passion of mine since i was really little. i've never had anyone act like that before and i got pretty mad. I hold no ill will towards Sportman's Warehouse and I still shop there, haven't had a problem since.
 
These are the people who make me miss my FFL

These are the people who make me miss my FFL. When I had my FFL, all I had to do was call and order. I note these know-it-alls at Bass Pro in Auburn Hills, MI. I shop there as an absolute last resort. When I enter the store, I know what I want...the product I have in mind. If I want answers, I'll ask questions. If I give simple declarative comments such as I'd like 250 rounds of 9mm, I simply want the ammo, not their suggestions that Remington is unreliable and I should purchase Win Clean.

Doc2005
 
The tale of two gun stores

Store A: 'Professional' outfitters. Seem to do alot of work for the locals and the County on their equipment. All of them seem to have the classic machismo attitude. I incorrectly called a magazine loader a 'speed loader' and recieved a 5 minute dissertation on proper terminology. I pretty much only go there when I don't feel like driving far for a quality range.

Store B: Family owned and semi-operated. Very friendly and helpful. These folks will answer all the questions you have. They may periodically interject their preference but I've never heard them disparage any manufacturer or product. Very friendly enviornment and just some plain good folk. They get 99.5% of my business.
 
A simple sign could have solved the problem.

Limit ONE (or whatever number) box per customer.

If he had been asked why only the one box limit a simple reply of "It's my last case and I don't know when I will get anymore, so I want to give all my customers an opportunity to get some."
 
I guess we're really fortunate around here, as there's several small(er) gunshops in the area. There's a Gander Mountain just up the road, and that's handy for "little things" like cleaning supplies or oddball ammo. And my buddy and I do browse there, but their selection is getting thinner daily (probably because, while they used to stock quite a few guns, they didn't really have any variety, only a small # of models/calibers.) GMs prices on new guns aren't totally insane, but used guns are way overpriced.

But, we take a "tour" of most of the local shop (withina about a 30 mile radius)...Neither of us has alot of money, so we're often just browsing. But, everyone is more than happy to let us do so, and answer questions if needed. And, my buddy has picked up a couple of really good deals (we have somewhat different interests...the stuff he likes is quite different than the stuff I like). We wandered into a shop we'd never been to before (it's one of the farthest away) one day, and I was over looking at the rifles, while he was looking into the case full of handguns. He struck up a conversation (after intorducing us both) with the "counterman", and just as I walked over the guy said, "well, we just got this in trade, maybe you'd be interested". He reached under the counter, and pulled out a walnut box. He opened it up, and inside was an immaculate condition, older .22 target pistol (Colt Woodsman? Hi Standard?...I've forgotten now.) The box was completely handmade to hold the pistol, cleaning supplies, spare magazine, etc. The box alone was a work of art. Then he told us he was asking $725 for it. My buddy couldn't get his credit card out fast enough (we both knew the gun alone was worth about $100 more than that! a Later check of the blue books showed it as worth about $900, in its condition).

So, the moral of the story was, sometimes if you "make nice" with the guys running the place (dunno if he was the owner or not), and act reasonably you might see something that no one else gets to see. Had we not gone in and introduced ourselves, and explained the types of things were were interested i, i doubt we'd have ever even seen that gun.
 
ebd10 said:
I've got you all beat. When it comes to arrogant gunshop owners with over priced inventory, there are only three words necessary to define those characteristics in the Portland Oregon area: The Gun Room.

The owner is the guy that the local liberal media calls when they need some gunshop owner to support their howls of anguish about Oregon's gun laws (extremely permissive). Naturally, whatever he stocks is the best, most accurate firearm on the planet. I went in there once (before I knew better) looking for a .22LR handgun. I ask this moonbat if he had any Ruger MKII's. He immediately scoffs at the notion that I would buy "a piece of junk like that" and directs me over to a couple of used High Standard pistols. Both are Supermatics that look to be about 90%. He advises me that these pistols are from the 60's and are the best .22 pistols ever made. I tell him that I was looking to buy a new one, and that $1100 a piece was a little rich for my blood. "Besides," I added, "if I wanted to buy a High Standard, I'd buy a new one. They're making them in Texas now." He again scoffs and declares the new ones to be junk. Since I was looking to spend significantly less than $1100, I just thanked him and left, never darkening his doorway again.

The funny thing is, even though the owner has the personality of a brillo pad, and the charm of a bull shark, that place still does good business.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I got suckered by him when I was new to the gun world. I decided to visit his store since it was reasonably close to my home. Had gotten into me that I wanted an inexpensive .22 semi-auto. Went over there, looked around, was interested in the Ruger MkII as well. His were selling for about $500, but he dismissed them as garbage. He of course said, "now what you want, is this little beauty here. Normally they go for about $400, but since this one doesn't have much of the bluing left, I can let you have it for $150". What I ended up getting was this semi-accurate French "Unique Model 52" that has about a 3 inch barrel, *extremely* crude sights, and manages about hour of angle accuracy. Maybe day of angle accuracy.....

Of course, I've since learned that those guns (in this condition) actually go for about $50.... I've never darkened his doorstep since.
 
Rationing the ammo is something that I have seen before and understand. A local shop got about 100 Yugo SKS's in for a big sale and they had to ration their 7.62x39 to 100 rounds per customer to make sure they had ammo to go with their guns.
Raising the price on a customer while he is standing there is a blatant attempt to screw someone over.
Spend your money somewhere else.
 
ebd10, I too have sworn off The Gun Room. I've gone in there several times for one thing or another and invariably had my intelligence questioned - maybe for good reason, since I kept going back. But they're only a mile away and they do have a good selection of "stuff."
The final nail in their coffin came though, when I went in asking for some Wolf .22 cal. target ammo. I was told, "We don't carry that s**t here!" He then turned away and continued sweeping the floor. I not only will never go there again, I wouldn't pee on his door if the place was on fire.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

B
  • Locked
Local Dunhams (Rant)
Replies
4
Views
800
MikePGS
M
M
  • Locked
Wolf Performance Ammunition
Replies
16
Views
795
bsf
B
K
  • Locked
Ammo
Replies
0
Views
390
kelo4u2
K
T
  • Locked
Local gun shops... Outrageous prices
Replies
22
Views
2K
NewShooter78
N
castile
Over heard at a local gun range.
2 3 4 5 6
Replies
138
Views
5K
wesmonster
W
Back
Top