Walmart gun dept. is now boring!

[Warp]

Walmart IS America - there's just so many who don't want to embrace what we really are.

Saying Target represents us is just shilling for a better image - as a sharply dressed anti gun nation.

Is the gun department in Walmart boring, yes. It always has been. Trying to compete on the firearms level to attract "Target" gun buyers failed - because it's an edge market. Most Americans aren't hunting geese with tacticool shotguns, their kids don't plink rabbits with AR 22's. Americans by and large are usually about 40 years behind the cutting edge of guns being made, or fielded in the armies of the world.

That is exactly the reason for all the hate for AR's - but as time changes we are going to see them continue to grow in market share. 25 million prior service men and women generally come from -? America, not the big cities, and they are bringing home what they learned in the service about the AR. And generally, grandpa, it's not that big a deal. Maybe better - is what they are saying.

And it's their grand daughter telling them.

Nobody likes to admit it - but Walmart is a mirror of who we are as a nation. Goes to service, too. There's another view of what constitutes service - I work retail - and I get upscale customers in like last night, who wanted me to 1) sell him a bolt for his diesel fuel injection system that he knew was missing, and 2) guarantee it would fix the drip of fuel it was making onto the exhaust header.

I couldn't do that. Poor service on my part, I guess. I suggested he park it at his mechanic to get it fixed before it caught fire. Nahh, more poor service on my part. I didn't fix his problem. People think that they can get high level skilled service by simply insisting on it from anyone. I say their expectations of what constitutes good service are what the problem is.

Walmart is a SELF SERVE store - expecting good service means you need to pick up your end of things first -

What?

AR15 pattern rifles are the best selling rifle type in the country. They are currently the most popular rifle in the country. Go to matches and events and courses and classes and law enforcement agencies and gun stores and ranges and you are going to see two things over and over and over and over....AR15 type rifles in 5.56/.223, and Glocks.

 

[Delford]

Ive found 22 several times in the last six months. Also at Bass Pro and Academy. Also at a local gun store for .10.5 cents a round. The above places were $.06.5 cents a round max.
My WM that sells guns had an Ilion, NY built Remington 700 ADL with scope in .30-06 for $378 and a Marlin .45-70 lever gun for $589.

 

[jrdolall]

I agree that the AR is the top rifle style now but people that are really into ARs, competition or whatever, aren't going top Walmart to buy them. After SH nearly everyone was looking for an AR and Walmart is where they were finding them.
Walmart cashed in after Sandy Hook and sold huge amounts of those guns as well as accessories and ammo. Within one year those sales dropped by over 50% and continued to dwindle until they made the decision to discontinue them. They did not make a knee jerk decision like Dick's but a business decision based on plummeting sales.
Five years ago the local Walmarts had a display of several different black powder rifles. Now all they carry are the blister pack combos. I doubt it was politically motivated.
Walmart stores do not have "gun people" working so they have no real expertise to help people make an informed decision. Of course they don't have underwear and produce experts either.

 

[Warp]

I agree that the AR is the top rifle style now but people that are really into ARs, competition or whatever, aren't going top Walmart to buy them.

They used to. Not long ago the best deal going for the gold standard AR (Colt LE6920) was Walmart. I think it was $1,080 IIRC. Online they were more. I'm talking just 3-4 years ago, 2012. Before Sandy.

After SH nearly everyone was looking for an AR and Walmart is where they were finding them.
Walmart cashed in after Sandy Hook and sold huge amounts of those guns as well as accessories and ammo. Within one year those sales dropped by over 50% and continued to dwindle until they made the decision to discontinue them.

At that point there were online retailers selling them for less. Colt lost their exclusive military contract to FN (or however that worked) and was in financial trouble, seemingly compensating for that, at least in part, by having Colt rifles, for less money, in all kinds of distribution/retail channels. The go-to for a good deal became grab-a-gun, not walmart, because they were under $1k.

They did not make a knee jerk decision like Dick's but a business decision based on plummeting sales.

Perhaps so...because their price was no longer the best...I'm sure they didn't sell as easily.

Walmart stores do not have "gun people" working so they have no real expertise to help people make an informed decision. Of course they don't have underwear and produce experts either.

Well...given what "expertise" you usually find at the local gun store, that is probably a good thing lol.

 

[rduchateau2954]

Can't remember the last time I went that far into Walmart. If a 5 quart jug of oil wasn't $9 cheaper I'd never go. Even then I shoot around the side, sneak in the lube shop, and pay at the auto counter like a properly clothed, nose breathing ninja.

 

[wabashman]

My local Wal-Mart still stocks ARs, mini 14s, tactical shotguns and the normal bolt actions.

They do not nor have never sold any reloading or magazine items. Would be nice if they did though.

 

[mf-dif]

I never thought of walmart as a "gun store". No one I've ever talked to at the counter knew anything, and basically functioned as a "picker". A whole bunch of "i dont know" answers. Follewed closely by, are you going to buy it?

 

[Carne Frio]

They just finished a huge remodel of the firearms display area.
It is about 4 time bigger. They only have the airgun and
FUDD guns, now. But, they have a bunch of them; at least
100 on display. And no bulk ammo.

There is a Sportsman's about 2 blocks away that has double the guns and lots of the tactical types and good selection of bulk ammo.

F walmart

 

[Miked7762]

Walmart CEO Douglas McMillon told CNN that “Our focus in terms of firearms should be hunters and people who shoot sporting clays, and things like that. So the types of rifles we sell, the types of ammunition we sell, should be curated for those things.”

From The Walmart Guide to Holiday Gun Buying, which seems to be a pointless article assuring investors that Walmart only sells hunting firearms. So were sales slow, or is the company bowing to the will of investors? Preemptively getting out of the 'controversial' guns before another Trinity Church lawsuit?

I haven't noticed any change in ammunition sold, but it's been hard to tell with the shelves still being so empty.

 

[TimSr]

The post panic glut of AR type weapons is pretty real, and is marked buy a freefall in pricing. Makes sense to me. Same thing happened with .223 ammo. It maye be the most popular, but it doesn't mean its still the fastest selling. I bought 223 dies and bullets to load during the panic shortage. Now I can buy .223 cheaper than I can load it. Any company that jumped on the panic spike in demand and overstocked got stuck with inventory they are either still sitting on, or had to sell at or below cost.

I've never considered Walmart to be anti-gun, and I still don't. Their explanation makes sense to me, and its pretty much what I predicted. Walmoart still has a huge online business which is where they handle the slower moving inventory that would otherwise take up display space. I recently discovered the hidden world of Walmart relaoding supplies.

 

[old lady new shooter]

Boy, are you guys ever spoiled!

Wal-Mart here not only doesn't sell guns, they don't sell ammo either, have to drive pretty far to one that does.

 

[Panzerschwein]

I went to Walmart yesterday and wandered over to the gun desk to gawk at the guns in the case. True to what I've heard in the past, there were no more AR rifles there. Now I google the subject and discover that it was a decision made back in August to longer sell AR and similar MSRs. But what I also noticed while at WM is that there were also no longer any tactical style shotguns. They used to have those, but not anymore! The only thing even remotely "tactical" was a wood-stocked Mini14 rifle. Other than that, everything look very politically correct.

Hmm. Funny.

And here I am thinking ARs and blocks of black polymer are boring.

 

[Warp]

The post panic glut of AR type weapons is pretty real, and is marked buy a freefall in pricing. Makes sense to me. Same thing happened with .223 ammo. It maye be the most popular, but it doesn't mean its still the fastest selling.

Well, factory 5.56x45/.223 remington still costs as much as, if not more than, it did in November of 2012. I guess if you adjust for inflation it might be down a little bit in price since then but absolute dollar figures it's the same or a tic higher.

 

[Tommygunn]

Huh........
I must be the only one who bought my Colt M4orgery at Wal-Mart.
I'm embarrased......shoulda bought it at a local gun shop .... even though it would have been the exact same thing.

 

[jmace57]

Walmart IS America - there's just so many who don't want to embrace what we really are.

Nobody likes to admit it - but Walmart is a mirror of who we are as a nation.

Now I'm depressed

 

[barnbwt]

Walmart doesn't sell ARs because they can't get ARs made in China.

Sorry, it is what it is. Life was said, after Sandy Hook they were eventually undercut by online dealers without overhead, and unless they started sourcing them more cheaply from Norinco (which they can't), there was no way they could compete.

As far as boring; Wal Mart is boring, and always has been. ARs are now boring. Americans are boring and have been for generations. Whatever.

"While previous generations have started and ended wars, the one thing this generation excels at is being bored. And they are becoming bored faster, and by more interesting things, than ever thought possible."

TCB

 

[bluestarlizzard]

Huh........
I must be the only one who bought my Colt M4orgery at Wal-Mart.
I'm embarrased......shoulda bought it at a local gun shop .... even though it would have been the exact same thing.

You may be forgiven if you purchased an odd assortment of household goods and electronics at the same time.
You get bonus points if the cashier got weirded out by the selection.

 

[MAKster]

That and just variations of Savage Axis, Remington 770's,783's, and Ruger Americans.
It's sad when a Remlin M336 and Ruger 10/22 are the standouts.

But I did discover they had some .22lr hidden under the knife display. Snagged 3 boxes of Winchester 555! First .22's I've found at Wally in 5yrs. And the most in 8yrs.

And that is how it always was at Walmart until just a few years ago. They only sold AR for a couple years.

 

[Traffer]

Recent Purchase

I bought a Mossberg 702, 22 Automatic Rifle from Walmart about 3 months ago. The gun department where I live is total chaos. Nobody knows what guns they even have in stock. And in order to find out how much they charge for their guns they have to physically scan them. Even though they are in the back in boxes. So to find out if they have something in stock they have to check in the back, and to find the price they have to open the box and scan it. When I bought mine I had to come back the next day because there were no associates working at the time who could do a gun purchase and background check. I came back the next day and it took another 2 hours to finally get out of there with the gun. It did however "ring up" for less than the posted price. Got it for $99. So to me it was worth it. I have been back at that gun dept many times since and nobody knows what is going on. I think that Walmart is just kind of neglecting their gun departments and when the stocks are drawn down they will stop selling them. (Just my opinion)

 

[JackSprat]

The Ripley Walmart here in Jackson Co. WVa sells guns,ammo,and reloading components,but they don't have a great selection.They never have the guns as cheap as I read about others buying at Walmart,but they do carry a pretty good selection of budget rifles,and shotguns,and rimfires,I think about the only guns they carry with wooden stocks are the lever actions,and some of the pump shotguns.

 

[jack44]

They don't even carry black powder gun here

 

[Officers'Wife]

I went to Walmart yesterday and wandered over to the gun desk to gawk at the guns in the case. True to what I've heard in the past, there were no more AR rifles there. Now I google the subject and discover that it was a decision made back in August to longer sell AR and similar MSRs. But what I also noticed while at WM is that there were also no longer any tactical style shotguns. They used to have those, but not anymore! The only thing even remotely "tactical" was a wood-stocked Mini14 rifle. Other than that, everything look very politically correct.

OK, why go there for guns? I mean Walmart is for disposable kid's clothes, cheap toys and camera batteries. If you must shop at a chain for firearms go to Rural King where they have a selection and you have a better chance of a clerk that knows what he's talking about.

 

[Warp]

OK, why go there for guns? I mean Walmart is for disposable kid's clothes, cheap toys and camera batteries. If you must shop at a chain for firearms go to Rural King where they have a selection and you have a better chance of a clerk that knows what he's talking about.

Probably most of us don't need the salesman/clerk to know anything, because we know what we want/know more about what we want than they do anyway.

Not everybody has Rural King. I'm not sure I've ever even seen one

 

[alexander45]

To be fair ars are rather boring it's the same bloody gun made by 300 companies the same damn way just with a different trim package, I have only really been surprised by walmarts guns twice once was the first time I seen a savage rascal i and how well equipped that little youth rifle came (acutrigger, decent peep sights) and a marlin 1895 in 45-70 kinda a odd ball gun considering the amount of floor space they had for guns that was directly after they sold out the ars

 

[Warp]

To be fair ars are rather boring it's the same bloody gun made by 300 companies the same damn way just with a different trim package, I have only really been surprised by walmarts guns twice once was the first time I seen a savage rascal I found it how well equipped that little youth rifle came (acutrigger, decent peep sights) and a marlin 1895 in 45-70 kinda a odd ball gun considering the amount of floir space they had for guns that was directly after they sold out the ars

lol, no, they aren't all made the same way...that's why some are good and many are not.