Do the employees at your LGS know anything about reloading?

Let's face it; there is no required experience/knowledge about a specific item needed to sell it. The only need is to read the price tag and work the register. Most counter clerks, just by being behind a gun or reloading supplies counter, are forced into being an "expert" on everything most will act as such. I have examples as to how the clerks are "experts" from the guy selling a Glock in 45 GAP telling the customer the ammo "same thing as the old style 45 ACP". As a life long machinist/mechanic specializing in auto and heavy equipment electronics, I cringe at the unnecessary tools/parts advice when I visit an auto parts store (I have corrected counter clerks, "parts men", on a few occasions and wasn't treated very well afterwards).

So to answer the question, nope. I more often than not know more about reloading supplies than the store's clerks I've dealt with in in LA County and Southern Oregon...
 
Living in Mississippi, I have found some enclaves where reloading information is shared. I live in Northeast Mississippi where the population is low, however, I have 3 stores within 30 min that sell hornady and RCBS equipment and parts, as well as extensive supplies of powder and dies. Also, as long as you use Federal or CCI primers, I can get all I want. The knowledge is decent, but there isn't a ton of caliber diversity among shop employees.... mostly.308, .30-06, .270 etc.

The only thing I simply have to order is bullets because what is stocked is mainly hunting bullets. I guess I'm kind of lucky in that regard.
Also, if I want a big order of Powder they will order it for me and skip the hazmat fee.
 
I am lucky to have a guy that specializes in reloading supplies pretty close to me. Great guy, will take time to talk to you. Shares info.
 
Employees know about as much as the average customer knows.

Reloaders are a small minority of overall gun buyers.

Some shops may have someone there who reloads, but odds are against it.

Most shops won't carry lots of equipment because they can't compete with the online pricing.

If you need questions answered, you can easily get that online too.
 
Employees know about as much as the average customer knows.

Reloaders are a small minority of overall gun buyers.
Click to expand...

Let's suppose that the statistics on American gun ownership is understated and about 50% of households own at least 1 gun.
Then, let's assume (conservatively) that about 50% of them shoot 1 or more times per year..(probably less). Then let's assume that of the 25% of the total population, that 1/2 of of the 25% mainly shoot rimfire and/or shotgun leaving about 12% of the population who shoot metallic, non-rimfire, firearms a few times per year.

Then, of that 12%, at least half or more shoot only during hunting season, (6%) and most of the rest probably buy factory ammo. I am betting less than 1% of gun owners shoot high volume and reload for economic reasons, or are accuracy addicts.

So, unless you live in an area with unusually high shooting participantion, or a really big city... there just isn't enough people to justify a brick and mortar store with a good amount of inventory.
Sure there are plenty nationally to have a good thriving Industry. And since components are consumed, most customers are repeat customers several hundred times over (like me).

Also, I don't want to run anyone down, but an hourly clerk probably doesn't have the know how, or the wherewithal to have built up the requisite experience to be a knowledgeable reloader. Just the components to do a run of 1,000 .308 rounds will cost $400 or so..not counting press, dies, etc. That's a week's pay at $10/hour. Also, most folks on this forum for instance are skilled Craftsman, engineers, pH.d economists (like me), or something like that.

So it shouldn't be surprising that usually, in the average LGS, you will be vastly superior in knowledge of reloading compared to the average gun shop clerk
 
^^^
It seems so, Mississippi.
There used to be a genuine reloading shop not far from our house.
Great.
It had rental presses of every kind set up on benches that ran clear around the shop.
And just about every kind of reloading component imaginable.
Thought I died and went to heaven.
It lasted about a year and was gone.
:(
 
There is one LGS in this area that stocks to the hilt. It started in 1947. The place has so much that you have to walk sideways in the aisles.

That said, they have lots of items to choose from, and they have two guys that run the reloading supplies. They are smart older dudes, but I still have some years on them. We can hold conversations and understand each other.

Also, they are not a bargain shop by any means.

There are other places around town that sell components (not many), but it is a waste of time to look for something specific and ask an employee.

When I was young and dumb, there were 2 men that worked for one well known shop. It was some distance for me to ride my bike, but I did. One of them told me (a kid at the time) that he and his buddy was going to open a shop that would cut my travel time in half, plus it was a half mile from a shooting range. What more could a kid ask for?

The guys wanted to start a handloading clinic and were in the process of signing up for the class. I signed up. The class was phenomenal in the eyes of a novice, kid or adult. They are the ones that got it started for me. I am not aware of anyone doing this sort of thing in a very long time.
 
Some in my area do ...and some don't ...it just depends. I have two shops in the area ...that sell a variety of equipment and they have knowledgeable people working there ...not every person in the store is the go to person / but they have expertise for the calibers they deal with.

Today there is so much good info online...manuals, etc....forums...and the equipment mfg's have good service depts ( Dillon especially ) ...that its easy to get questions answered.

I've mentored a few guys locally ...showed them my equipment, my procedures...helped them identify the type of equipment that would meet their needs. Honest input from other reloaders in your area - is often better than what you might get from a local gun store.
 
I have encountered two sales people who were knowledgeable about reloading. One, thankfully, works at a LGS less than 10 minutes from my house. (They have a range on site, and I am a regular.) There are another four or five guys there who are nice enough, and reasonably knowledgeable about other stuff, but if you ask anything about reloading, they yell for the reloading guy. Actually, I respect that more than someone who thinks he needs to spout off whether he knows something or not.

The other fellow was an older gent at a Bass Pro about 30 minutes from my house. He was a long-time reloader and spoke from experience.
 
Quote:
Employees know about as much as the average customer knows.

Reloaders are a small minority of overall gun buyers.

Let's suppose that the statistics on American gun ownership is understated and about 50% of households own at least 1 gun.
Then, let's assume (conservatively) that about 50% of them shoot 1 or more times per year..(probably less). Then let's assume that of the 25% of the total population, that 1/2 of of the 25% mainly shoot rimfire and/or shotgun leaving about 12% of the population who shoot metallic, non-rimfire, firearms a few times per year.

Then, of that 12%, at least half or more shoot only during hunting season, (6%) and most of the rest probably buy factory ammo. I am betting less than 1% of gun owners shoot high volume and reload for economic reasons, or are accuracy addicts.

So, unless you live in an area with unusually high shooting participantion, or a really big city... there just isn't enough people to justify a brick and mortar store with a good amount of inventory.
Sure there are plenty nationally to have a good thriving Industry. And since components are consumed, most customers are repeat customers several hundred times over (like me).

Also, I don't want to run anyone down, but an hourly clerk probably doesn't have the know how, or the wherewithal to have built up the requisite experience to be a knowledgeable reloader. Just the components to do a run of 1,000 .308 rounds will cost $400 or so..not counting press, dies, etc. That's a week's pay at $10/hour. Also, most folks on this forum for instance are skilled Craftsman, engineers, pH.d economists (like me), or something like that.

So it shouldn't be surprising that usually, in the average LGS, you will be vastly superior in knowledge of reloading compared to the average gun shop clerk
Click to expand...

I wonder if we should start a thread on that? I have 2 engineering degrees, though I ended up a General Contractor. Is this hobby one that can be passed from generation to generation or is some type of analytical gene necessary?
 
I'm no skilled craftsman or engineer. I'm just a dumb old manager of a hardware store with a teaching degree in industrial arts that I never used. One Daughter is a nurse, another Daughter is a Teacher and my Son works in Avionics in the Military. I guess they got their brains from my Wife. I don't find reloading to be rocket science, I think people are just too lazy or spooked by what they see as a dangerous hobby. I am constantly having guys wanting me to reload for them which I flat out refuse. I try to talk them into reloading, but to know avail. I learned through reading manuals, internet and getting bits and pieces of info from friends who reload. I can't say that I thoroughly enjoy the act of reloading, but I like the end results. Paying $9.00 for 50 rounds of .45 Colt sure beats paying 50.00.
 
I'm no skilled craftsman or engineer. I'm just a dumb old manager of a hardware store with a teaching degree in industrial arts that I never used.
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It's was an observation of what I see most often. The other reloader,which also includes many of the above individuals, is the do-it-yourself guy.

It seems trivial to most of us on here, but most people I work with would pay someone else to put in a ceiling fan, or sharpen their mower blades, or put in a new wall mount oven. Most of us would just do it ourselves, even if it wasn't something we had done before.

You are correct though, many people are scared to try ....I suppose they lack confidence and just arnt patient enough to learn how
 
Of the 3 to 4 lgs near me, the one closest to me has an operation in the basement where they make re-manufactured ammo. I've never seen their ammo for sale outside their store, but the guys that work say they mostly sell to other FFL's, but long story short, they do know their reloading, especially the owner.

I've not really discussed reloading stuff with clerks outside of my localest LGS, but I'll say that the big store 40 mins south of me I know no one would know much about reloading.

Seems the smaller the store, the more knowledgeable the employees are on reloading... if they are nice enough to chat with you and not acting like A-holes trying to get you out of their hair ASAP.

All the guns stores I see sell some reloading equipment, not necessarily everything one would need to start reloading, but I know their bread and butter is selling guns and ammo.

P.S. And I think it's also worth noting that the lgs that makes reloads in their basement, well, all I hear is that their reloads aren't that good. I'm guessing that the guys I've seen who do the reloading don't get paid much and don't care about the quality of ammo they're putting together.
 
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I'd expect a retail clerk at my LGS to know as much about reloading as I'd expect a clerk at Home Depot to know details about wiring a house. You can't expect much of someone making $10 to $12 per hour. Just because someone works at a gun store doesn't mean they are knowledgeable about everything related to guns.

You're much more likely to hear terrible advice rather than something useful.
 
Perhaps a thread on member's "qualifications" would be interesting. I'm a life long machinist/mechanic with a high mechanical ability (55 years with a 5 year stint in motion picture lighting). Last 25 years as an Auto Electrician/Heavy Equipment Electronics Specialist/Mechanic. I worked on Heavy Construction Equipment mostly on their electronics. The theoretical aspects of reloading seems overly simple at times, but not so simple for me to forget to pay very close attention to what I'm doing...
 
I posted some of my observations or thoughts in an earlier post. But here are some other things to keep in mind.

I dare to say that most people on this thread very much enjoy reloading. We have some different reasons for why we do it and enjoy it, but there are three main reasons: Economics, performance, and the persuit of perfection.

The guy who is purely in it for Economic reasons can find most of what they are looking for in a reloading manual and selecting components based upon costs alone.

The guy who is focused on perfomance won't find many of his answers in manuals, selects only quality components, and does extensive testing..... this is where most of us on this forum seem to reside. We do consider economics as well, but not at the expense of accuracy.

The persuit of perfection guy is in his on class. This is the guy who has worn out a barrel trying to find a load. Or has broken graines of H1000 in half to get the powder charge within 1/100 of a grain. It's a level of obsession where the reloader is never satisfied. Its a separate category from the perfomance guy in my opinion because this guy probably doesn't do much shooting outside of testing and won't stop at a 1/8 moa load even though the X- Ring is 1/2 moa and trigger time would be more beneficial than shaving off another "0.05 off his groups.


Anyway, I digress, I suppose you could also say that most car salesman are not dragster mechanics, and the guy at NAPA may not know anything about turbo installation. So probably isn't unique to reloading.
 
Several LGS in my area carry no reloading supplies or equipment. They perceive it as competition for the ammo they sell.

Several other LGS carry the most basic reloading equipment and some supplies but no powder or primers. They know squat about the reloading process beyond barely scratching the surface.

Finally, there a two LGS that really know their stuff and carry a full inventory of equipment, powder, primers, cases, and supplies along with firearms. They view reloading as one more way to get you into their store where you may impulse buy a firearm, cleaning, or other shooting supplies. Smart.
 
I buy my bullets from a small LGS. They cast their own. There's actually two near me. Other 2 shops sell some reloading stuff, but I seldom go to them.
 
I must be lucky, I have all different types of shops near me, Pintos is a small Ma' n Pa' type shop, old-school, dear heads on the walls, old ammo boxs, all kindas of odd stuff for anything gun. Plenty of reloading gear and knowledge.

Sportco in fife has a good array of components and the occasional employees who know what they are doing.

Fall city firearms has some components but the fellow who runs it is usually to busy to chat.

There is the tacticool shop on front street is full of great kids and gear but they generally think reloading is for old guys.

Three forks reloading is a good haul but he is a reloading shop. Great stuff.

Then there are bass pro and cabelas which are fine...sometimes.
 
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