People who work at gun stores

[twoblink]

This happened to me on Thursday...

"Hi my name is *** let me know if there's anything I can help you with."

"Yes, I'm looking for either full wadcutters or at the very least semi wadcutters in 38 Special, I didn't see any on the shelf, so wondering if you guys are out or there might be some in the back?

"Did you say wadcutter? I don't know what that is..."

"You've never heard of wadcutters?"

/Sarcastic tone

"NO. Is that a word you made up?"

Sigh... I walked away.. tough week.

 

[RX-79G]

Wadcutters aren't tactical. If you could attach them to a picatinny rail or fire them from an AR he would have heard of them.

 

[John G C 1]

I was in a gun store in Grand Rapids, MI on friday and a guy was telling the clerk that he was not "one of those people who waste time trying to put holes in a small circle on paper". The clerk seemed to agree.

Then the first guy went on to tell a story about how he and a buddy spent the day shooting up an old tree and watching the pieces of wood fly into the air when they blasted it with their guns. The clerk really liked that story and said he would like to stop out where the guy shoots.

They reminded me of two 15 year olds.

 

[BigBore45]

I got one for ya from last weekend. Can I see that used revolver. Hey you should have your gunsmith look at this before you sell it,. The timing is extremely far off.

Counter guy: what timing you didn't shoot it how could you know.

Me:. No the cylinder rotation is lagging behind.

Counter guy: it's supposed to do that.

Me:. Let me talk to your manager.

The owner straighted it out and was talking **** on his " gun Smith"

Lol its all the time. No body is mechanically inclined anymore.

 

[C.R.]

I guess I am exteramly fortunate, a friend of mine who I have known ,I dont know how long,got a job in a gun store. Now once in a wile I get the chance to "field test" guns,and supressors and things.... they get something new in at the store, my phone rings "You gotta check out the new..." Life is sweet !

 

[LoonWulf]

Most gun stores these day are "stores", the people that work there might be enthusiasts or they might not. Very few of the up front counter folks have any repair experience, and many are really only familiar with a few types of guns. Be nice, take the time to talk to them, pass on a little knowledge, and they are usually pretty receptive....or they are just 9-5ers

 

[jeepnik]

Can't count the number of times gun shop "experts" have tried to tell me how it is. In most cases I've been using firearms longer than they've been alive. Since I'm usually not in a hurry, I love to yank their chain. The looks on their faces when I tell them they shouldn't be working with firearms until they learn a little about them is priceless.

The one thing I won't stand for is a gun shop employee giving bad information, or trying to sell something that is obviously incorrect to a customer. I will, and have, stepped in and explained to the customer that the employee is full of cow manure.

 

[Dog Soldier]

You can not hire experience for these minimum wage jobs. Most of todays store owners don't care if his employes know anything about shooting sports. If they can process a credit card and sometimes make the correct change.

 

[bannockburn]

LoonWulf

Most gun stores these day are "stores", the people that work there might be enthusiasts or they might not. Very few of the up front counter folks have any repair experience, and many are really only familiar with a few types of guns. Be nice, take the time to talk to them, pass on a little knowledge, and they are usually pretty receptive....or they are just 9-5ers

Or else they normally work in the fishing department and they're just covering in guns til the sales clerk gets back from lunch.

 

[LoonWulf]

Good point

 

[jhb]

box stores are worse than the lgs...which is shocking. who could be worse than the lgs with zero knowledge, zero customer service and just a bad stink of bad attitude floating above and around the joint. somehow the bass pros and gander mountains, academys, etc. are even worse.

i now use a lone gunsmith ffl who likes transfers cause he doesnt do retail. took me many years to find him. ill never go back to the lgs or box stores or gunshows filled with the same dealer clowns.

 

[Robert]

Having worked behind a gun counter I will tell you that gun owners are just about as ignorant on firearms as the people they complain about.

To echo what was already said, retail wages do not attract most truly knowledgeable folks. The people that work behind most counters are doing so for a meager pay check.

 

[Cannibul]

Having worked behind a gun counter I will tell you that gun owners are just about as ignorant on firearms as the people they complain about.

To echo what was already said, retail wages do not attract most truly knowledgeable folks. The people that work behind most counters are doing so for a meager pay check.

Yah beat me to it. I spent 13 years behind the counter and I've seen some truely stupid customers.

My last job selling firearms was 1993, I was making over $10 an hour. Most people behind the counter now are making less than that.

 

[22250Rem]

I've run into some inexperienced folks behind gun counters. But I look at it as they are getting a learning experience. We all had to start someplace in the learning process and I'm sure they will soon learn that lots of their customers don't know much and they can't believe everything they hear at a gun counter. But they're probably interested in guns if they're behind that counter and little by little they will become more enlightened. So I generally give 'em a break; hey, they're newbies but they're learning.

 

[hdwhit]

"Did you say wadcutter? I don't know what that is..."

...

Sigh... I walked away.. tough week.

I don't expect a near-minimum wage clerk to be an expert on the merchandise he/she is selling. I figure if the clerk can get the stuff from behind the counter, ring it up, process the credit card and get it all in a bag without spilling any of it, they've earned their $7.25 an hour.

The clerk admitted he didn't know what you were asking about. I figure that's someone who isn't consumed with their own ego and thus presents an opportunity for us as gun owners to demystify guns and gun terminology.

 

[zb338]

I would like to give all you guys a like on that. I could fill a book with gun store stories. The last one I
can tell, was going in a gun shop and asking the kid if he had a box of 8MM Mauser ammo. The kid
said "Is that something new? I never heard of that one". I said if you were around in WW2 about
17 million German soldiers had a box or two in their pockets.

Zeke

 

[Shaq]

You are expecting way too much from minimum-wage employees. Why not just describe the ammo/bullets you want & see if they have them? I worked in retail firearms sales for 6 years. I had extensive product knowledge, but during that time in three stores, I only met ONE co-worker who was knowledgeable.

 

[Snyper]

Since I'm usually not in a hurry, I love to yank their chain. The looks on their faces when I tell them they shouldn't be working with firearms until they learn a little about them is priceless.

We like to yank the chains of customers who act like they know it all too.
Remember that the next time you go in a store and need something
I could easily help you find it, or just as easily tell you we don't have it

 

[OcelotZ3]

Makes me really appreciate the few stores we have in the area. The counter folks are very knowledgeable.

 

[highlander 5]

I've thought about a job as a clerk/counter guy but my problem is I tend to over explain the facets of firearms,reloading and the like. Figured I wouldn't last long as I'd spend to much time with 1 customer making sure that the made the right selection ammo choice etc.
45 years of owning rifles,handguns and various reloading equipment gives me a bit of an edge. Have to admit shotguns I lacking.

 

[morcey2]

I don't mind someone who doesn't know the answer and also knows that they don't know the answer. They're the ones that go "I don't know. Let me grab someone who does." It's when people start BS-ing or pulling things out of .... thin air that I get upset. That doesn't just go for employees, but for other customers. I usually won't get involved unless someone is creating a potentially unsafe situation. Like telling a customer that the Russians designed the mosin to fire 7.62x51 NATO along with 7.62x54R. "They were smart that way." They'd have to be real smart to come up with the specs on a cartridge that wouldn't exist for another 60 or so year after the design of the rifle. Or that you only need an earplug in your ear that isn't on the stock of the rifle/shotgun. Or that "Real Men" don't need hearing or eye protection. Or that it's safe to fire 20 gauge shells in a 16 gauge shotgun and that's the reason that you never see 16 gauge shells anymore.

Matt

 

[Dog Soldier]

Gentlemen it is your job to educate the customer. You are not being paid to condemn the source of your income. If you are intrusted by investors to stand behind the counter you are to represent the owner's best interest. The store invest in bricks and mortar and inventory to sell to the public. The public is your customer.

 

[Old Dog]

Here's my thing when it comes to retail: It is NOT the clerk's job to educate the customer (sorry if any of you Best Buy employees are offended). It is the customer's duty to already be educated so all he/she has to do is find the best price on the desired goods.

Is this our monthly thread on stupid stuff heard/said in gun stores? Shucks, we could write a book about this stuff ... But, in the words of one of my bosses, "It is what it is." If you expect a minimum wage employee in a retail store to educate you, or even know as much as you do, about a given product, then you probably deserve whatever happens next with any product you purchase. If you, the consumer, goes into any sort of business and the sales clerk knows more than you about the product you desire to procure, you're already in trouble.

I don't go into gun shops or big box retailers with gun counters expecting to learn anything from their employees.

 

[230RN]

Oh, I'm pretty forgiving about stuff like that. A long time ago (early 1970s) I worked at a Skaggs in Boulder between real jobs.

They rotated personnel through the various departments --kind of a cross training thing. They had a gun counter they call the "Lobby" for some reason and when the Lobby manager found out I knew something about guns I got stuck there for good... or evil... anyhow, that was my place in the store. Let's face it, if a customer had asked me about bra sizes when working women's wear, I'd have looked like an idiot, too*.

One thing I'm curious about with the OP is why he wanted either wadcutters or semi wadcutters. They're kinda-sorta almost two different things. Wad cutters are for paper punching (they cut a nice clean hole for scoring purposes) and are pretty lightly loaded with about a 146 gr hollow-based bullet.

Semi wad cutters will cut fairly clean holes in paper, too, but are generally more powerful and "usually" weigh the standard 158 grains, are "usually" gas-checked, and are a bit more suited for hunting and SD.

Not that "full" wadcutters can't be used for defense**, but their essential mission in life is a bit different from semi-wadcutters.

Kinda curious about that in the OP,

Terry

* Even if they had asked about "bullet bras." Remember those?

**Especially if loaded backwards by handloaders.

 

[Arizona_Mike]

Clerk at a gun store was trying to tell me that the intensity knob on a red dot adjusted the dot size. I resisted the biology lesson and just told him "they all do that". He was also telling me that only difference between the Aimpoint Patrol Rifle and Carbine Optic was the mount (pushing the latter). I walked away.

Mike