Good gun shops in Houston?

[Nathanael_Greene]

I've got to tag along with someone on a trip to Houston in the near future; I'll have a free afternoon or two.

Can anyone recommend any good gun stores or pawnshops in the Houston area?

Thanks, wise High Roaders!

 

[publiuss]

Collectors Firearms on Richmond Ave. is a great place to browse. They have everything you could imagine, friendly staff but not so great prices. Stay away from Carter's Country, staff is a bunch of know it all jerks who have the real knowledge of your typical know it all,...nada.

 

[S&W 910]

none really,i'm from houston and buy all my guns online

if you're just looking,Collectors Firearms is a nice place.i refuse to buy anything from them do to their extremely high prices

 

[PotatoJudge]

So long as you don't plan on buying anything:

http://collectorsfirearms.com

The only time I buy anything down here is at the shows. Haven't found a good shop locally, though I've only checked out a few places.

 

[MPanova]

What part of town are you going to be in Houston is HUGE lol

If you plan on being in the south west/Sugar Land area check out Fountain Firearms. Great group there and fairly decient prices. I normally buy my guns from them and it runs me about 20 bucks more then the gun shows or online would so thats worth it to me.

http://www.fountainfirearms.com/

 

[Lashlarue]

Carter Country, and Jim Pruett Guns and Ammo, reasonable prices at both, look for Carter Countrys ad in the Thursday Chronicle.Forget about Gander Mountain most of their stuff is highly over priced...although its a great place to browse they have just about everything.

 

[Monkeybear]

There really isn't a "good" Houston gun store. I drive out to Tomball if I can and go to Tomball Pawn. Its a long long drive though.

Try collectors but be aware that their prices are high and that their friendly customer service is selective. They have quite a few sales men and most of them in my experience are only friendly if you look like money.

Fountain is a cool shop to browse around but once again your customer service is going to depend on who you talk to.

Jim Pruett's ain't bad but the selection is a little thin to warrant a special trip, then again I have not been down there in a while.

 

[TehK1w1]

+1 on Tomball Pawn, it is not really "in houston" per se, but it is a great little shop. (although I once had a guy behind the counter tell me that he could not legally TALK to me about handguns if I was under 21 )

 

[budder]

Here's another vote for Collector's, but only because of their selection. Their prices are really high and the service there hasn't been terribly good to me, either.

 

[phantomak47]

How about NONE!!!


There aren't any good gun shops in Houston, Collectors prices are a joke, Carters are usually high and Gander Mountain has used guns priced higher than what they should be brand new.



This is the city of the FFL transfer.


I could buy guns in BOSTON MASS cheaper than I can in Houston, now what is that telling you?

 

[wdlsguy]

What kind of stuff interests you?

 

[lanternlad1]

Carter's is high, but they're getting better. If you go to one, go to the original location on Treaschwig Rd in Spring. That's where Old Bill and his sons work. I don't see Old Bill much anymore, but Bill Jr is always there. I've heard Carter mostly hires friends and relatives to work at his stores - which is why the service sucks - they don't have to worry about getting fired. The service gets better as they get to know you.

I LIKE TOMBALL PAWN A LOT. It is probably the best gun store I have found. Relatively friendly staff. You can tell by the SCORES of people buying there (not just looking, but BUYING) that they know how to run a business. Keep prices low enough to move merchandise, and don't treat customers like crap. It's not hard, but I'm surprised at how many little stores don't do this.

Gander (in Spring, anyway) IS expensive on many things, but I've found a few deals there. I picked up a LNIB Kel Tec P11 for 150.00 there once... Good tacklebox gun.

Academy is also a good place to look. Plus, you can check their prices and stock on the 'net.

 

[springmom]

Carter's is high, but they're getting better. If you go to one, go to the original location on Treaschwig Rd in Spring. That's where Old Bill and his sons work. I don't see Old Bill much anymore, but Bill Jr is always there. I've heard Carter mostly hires friends and relatives to work at his stores - which is why the service sucks - they don't have to worry about getting fired. The service gets better as they get to know you.

Carter's on Treaschwig is where we shoot all the time, and where we have bought many guns. They put stuff on sale; whether it's useful to you on a given day or not is up to your own needs, of course. The staff has only one time been unhelpful, and they lost a big sale that day as a result. But generally they're always willing to help and also willing to let you "drool on the counter" and if you then want to take a look at something, they're there to help.

Billy's there most every day, and so's Doris, too.

It's worth a trip.

Springmom

 

[Ian2005]

I'll vouch for Fountain Firearms on Hwy 6. - there's an older guy named "John" I beleive that sold me my rifle. Nice bunch. +8 on Collectors, nice to touch, but not to buy (mostly used stock anyway).

 

[browningguy]

Collectors is a place you have to go look, don't plan on buying though. They have absolutely the largest selection in Houston (particularly C&R's, high end .45's, engraved guns), but generally priced well above everyone else.

Carter Country often has good sales, I've never had a problem with them. Tomball gun is reputed to be a good place but I haven't made it out there yet.

 

[wally]

How about NONE!!!


There aren't any good gun shops in Houston

Generally I'd have to agree, but we have well above average gun shows. Occasionally Carter's will have a sale that beats the gun show prices, but generally everything is 15-25% higher there, pretty much every other store is higher than Carter's except for Academy's limited selection.

If a gun show is in town I'd suggest going there instead of any of the stores unless you just want to look, Collector's is very good for looking.

--wally.

 

[springmom]

We've certainly gotten some nice guns from the High Caliber Gun Shows down at the convention center....things that neither Carter's nor anyone except Collector's would even ever get (like my sweet little 66-3 ) For just looking, which was what the OP was after, I'd agree about Collector's. But many of the local stores get good deals from time to time.

You just have to do what we do....haunt the places until you find them And yes, sometimes the best answer for Houston is www.gunbroker.com rather than any of the local places.

Springmom

 

[MPanova]

Ya the High Caliber Gun Show normally has the best deals in Houston and its usually from dealers that are not from Houston

Carters is way to high, just got this weeks flyer in the mail not only that the guys working there will push either glock or sig depending on what movie they watched the day before

If you can't make it on a week end that the show is going on then try out Fountain or Tomball Pawn if one of them is close to ya. If you are not from Houston you might not want to venture out to far from where you're staying because traffic and road construction are a nightmare for those not from here who are used to it. A 30 minute wait in traffic to get 2 blocks on a freeway at 1:30 in the afternoon on a Tuesday is not fun :banghead:

 

[Monkeybear]

If you are just going to one store, and you are planning on buying, go to Tomball Pawn. +1 on the scores of people that you see buying there. Jim Pruett's had one gun priced almost $300 more there than Tomball quoted me to order one.

If you are planning to buy and you are going to multiple stores then just go to all of them. Gander might have the P345 priced high but have the GP100 at a fair rate. Carters might have the GP100 priced too high but have a good price on a P239. Fountain might have the P239 priced though the roof but have a fair price on a P345. Pruetts will have everything priced too high except the Taurus guns. And if you ask him anything he will tell you to get a Taurus. Again I haven't been there in a while.

I usually like Carter's Country and have had mostly good customer experiences at Gander.

 

[MPanova]

Where is this Pruetts place?

 

[geojap]

This makes me love McBride's, TexGuns and Heritage Firearms in Austin just that much more now.

 

[bshepherd]

I used to live near Carter's Country on Treaschwig. I have bought a few guns there over the years, and the prices are OK. Most of the time you can get a bit better price at a gunshow, if you can find what you are looking for. The staff can be a bit slow, but usually I would just browse. When I wanted to see something I had to wait a few minutes, the place can get busy. I did find a used 95% S&W 13-3 3" for $250 there about 3 years ago.

 

[frostbiker]

Pruett's is on Hwy 290 at Huffmeister. Turn right at Huffmeister and left before Fleur de Lis. He's usually got a deuce and a half or his red H1 Hummer parked out front.

 

[john paul]

pruitt's is big on tacticool but have a pretty good shop. collector's is a must just to wander around and drool. i can recommend a good one out in the woods in cleveland if you're coming down 59 but most are just hit and miss!