Not so friendly gunstores - II

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fed168

New member
To Mike: The last time I was in Blue Ridge was in 97-98 time frame, could not agree more with the comment on the redhead. It seemed that is was too much to help me. If I did run into you, you were probably the only one who did help me, no probs. The owner, Harry I think his name was, he seemed to be to busy to answer my questions, I was trying to bring him some business from an associate, acted like it was too much of a task.
Riddle of Steel: ditto on Arrington's. I can't go in there without dropping at least three figures of money. Great on customer service, fixed my Glocks with no probs, good on ammo prices and yeah, the six foot tall babe is not a bad sight either. They got the contract to outfit my department with body armor and ammo now, Al is (was) a heck of a shot... My only problem is that it is 45 minutes down 85, probably not too bad since I have to spend $$ every time I visit.
 
Fed,

Harry was the manager. Complete and total schmuck, arrogant, too. Big guy, balding, beard?

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Beware the man with the S&W .357 Mag.
Chances are he knows how to use it.
 
Well, since we are "naming names" I'll confess to a few visits to Blue Ridge Arsenal in the early 90s. Better than average selection, and back then I thought the sales droids were pretty good. If I remember correctly, it was BRA that I was in one time when an OC canister started leaking. Boy, my throat kept getting scratchier and scratchier until somebody finally clued in.

One shop in Richmond VA (don't remember the name, its on Midlothian Turnpike across the street from the state police) that caters to LEOs gave me the worst time. I came on a Saturday in the late afternoon, nobody else in there, and the counter droid watched me like I was going to steal something. No "hello" or "can I help you?", just his eyes boring a hole in my back. Jeez, if you don't want the general public in your shop, put a damn sign up!

Funny how good most retailers are at driving potential customers to mail-order vendors. Especially gun shops. For comparison purposes, go to a tennis or ski shop. They tend to be a love-fest compared to most gun shops, and even the slackers with half-a-dozen visible piercings have better manners than one finds in the average gun shop.

On the plus side, there have been several that were fun places to visit.

I agree with USP45usp; its usually a good sign when a shop has a four-legged greeter.
 
Small Class III full auto shop in Uniontown Pa, we were only visiting and I forget the name of the place but it has a big "Class III Dealer - We Sell Machine Guns" sign outside and is on one of the main routes through town. Guy was fat with a beard and tinted spectacles (rarely a good sign), the store was small and I had trouble getting around him and the .45 on his hip, particularly as he was sitting on a box of SKS's in the middle of the store. He shuffled through 360 degrees on his butt as I looked over his stock, always keeping me in his 12 o'clock. Eventually I tried to make first contact and asked if he stocked H&K products, "pieces of crap" was his not overly verbose reply. I never felt so intimidated in my whole life, I was left wondering what impression a first time buyer would have had. Went down the road maybe half a mile and there was another gun store by a gas station, it was being "minded" by 4 card playing youths, the conversation with the head youth went something like this :

"Can I have a box of 9mm please"
"You want hollow bullets or metal ones"
"Errr you mean FMJ right ?"
"Yeah the opposite of hollow, just for shootin targets and stuff"
"Errrm yes those will be fine thankyou"
"OK dude that'll be eight fifty"

Needless to say, Uniontown doesn't see much of me for my firearms needs. Gun store workers are potentially our best ambassadors, and some are superb, but why then are so many of them semi-literate slobs that you wouldn't let within a mile of your womenfolk, least ways that's the way of it around us.

Mike H
 
Ivanhoe - Southern Gun Shop? I felt the same way the few times I went in there.
The little shop right behind that place is much better - D&P. Much Much friendlier staff.
 
My recent experience with Blue Ridge Arsenal has been much better. I saw a used Savage Tactical. I asked to see it telling the sales person I was looking for a friend and would stop back with him if he was interested. He opened the action, showed the gun, and provided a lot of info on that gun and the Savage line.

Came back with my friend, he received the same great help and bought the rifle. During that visit, while waiting for the instacheck to clear, I listened to 2 salespersons selling to women. They were truthful, not condecending, nor opinionated. Overall a very good experience. Both ladies bought what they wanted with the help of the sales staff (a .38 stainless revolver, and a Ruger .22 auto), not what the staff thought was new or cool or 'the best'.
 
I do a lot of my purchasing by mail order. Still I go to one of my local gunstores at least once a week. At the wholesale place where I buy my ammo, usually there only a couple of women behind the counter. They always tell me "Just go back there and get what you want. We don't know what you're talking about anyway." Always gotten good prices and Mike gives me a discount when I buy a lot of ammo. I also have had good service at PMS Firearms in Salisbury NC. Good gunsmith there, good prices and quick service. A store in the town I work in sold and installed a Leopold scope for me within $20 of what SWFA had it for. The owner is a former benchrest competitor and a wealth of info about shooting and reloading.
Like many have said, I won't tolerate rudeness. I just walk out. Fortunately I have rarely had to do that. Later, byerly
 
Tom B, I live in Rock Springs on I-80. SW Wy. Never been to Cody, but have heard it's beautiful. Laramie is a nice little town. My wife would like to live there. I've heard there is a good gun store in Gilette, or somewhere close to there. Still have to get around to getting there, though.

Wyoming is a great state! The cold keeps the freaks (for the most part) out. Still retain most of our gun rights though. Problem is, most people have the "hunter" mentality, and so it is hard to find "assault style weapons". Hope to run into you when you get here. Good luck.
 
George, that sounds right. I've only been to D&P once, not too long after they opened I believe. They weren't too organized yet, but I got a good vibe there.
 
I learned two things when I decided to get back into pistol shooting; which, since I didn't own a gun, meant I needed to buy one.

One, there is a 'gun culture' relative to gun stores that means you are either well versed in the sport and are part of the club, or you're not.

Two, if you're not, most stores either ignore you, are condescending toward you, or, most recently, are suspicious of you.

I've seen good and bad stores in other industries, but was shocked that an industry was comprised of so many who acted as though they could care less whether they gained a new customer. I bought my first gun at the first store that treated my like a customer. Even though I'm more experienced than I was a few months ago, I was still surprised when I walked into two stores in a major metro area recently and was ignored in both. There must be a reason for this; is the industry so beleagured that these shops don't care anymore?

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"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is power. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearsome master." George Washington
 
Fed, I second your opinion of BRA and Dawsons, rude, arrogant, and let me add expensive. Potomac Arms in Alexandria has treated me well (I got a .45 Cougar there for $469 when it was "Gun of the Day" one Saturday - .45 cougars were brand new and I don't think they knew what it was), and lately I've been buying guns at Galyans - a big chain sporting goods store. They have a decent selection and the staff is friendly enough and pretty honest to deal with - if they aren't familiar with a given gun they'll find someone who is or they'll look stuff up. I'd prefer to upport a small local business, but they're hard to find and it's hard to argue with good prices and good serive. M2
 
Best gun shop ever for me was MURF'S GUNS, Duncan, Oklahoma. They let you reload shotshells (you provided the hulls) for $1 a box in the 70s. Let you handle any firearm in stock--and they had lots in stock. Honest, friendly, family-owned store. Guess the shop is still on US Hwy 81 just N of town.
 
Dawson's. Blech! Expensive and surly. Blue Ridge never made much of an impression on me either way. There definitely is a sort of good ole boy clubbiness to the whole industry, and it hurts us.
 
How can they tell if you're "in the club" or not? I have to dress nice for my job and sometimes stop at shops just to look while working. I get ignored quite often, and treated poorly when I ask questions all to often.
I have quite a collection and would venture to say that I have been shooting and have had more guns than the average gun store employee. It also burns my balls when I hear these people talking outta their butts when dealing with customers who don't know much about guns. Several times I have interrupted conversations to dispute what the numbnuts behind the counter is saying so the poor soul trying to buy a good gun doesn't get ripped.

I do like to mess with them though. I intentionally come up with hard questions for them to see if they're honest or full of crap. It's nice to see them squirm when I call their bluff.
 
When does dressing up mean you can't own a gun?

Must everyone who is a gun owner have tattoos and a "Bocephus"/ Hank Jr. T-shirt on, along with Wranglers with a Skoal can imprint in the back pocket, or a wallet on a chain?
 
Cheaper Than Dirt in Fort Worth, TX: rude and arrogant. They stiffed me on their return policy, but my credit card company refunded my money.
 
I've had mixed encounters at CTD in Ft. Worth. Once, the counter man spouted off about something he knew nothing about, but didn't come back at me when I basically smiled at called him a fool. (I wouldn't be quite that tactless.) That one we'll call a draw.

On another encounter, they were very polite, and even helpful, when it was busy.

On another, they were too busy to help me.

Just a business. They're just doing business. They're just people. Not baddies, not the salt of the earth.

In my town, we have a gun shop that I used to eschew because of their serious price-gouging and their greater-than-thou attitude to some people. I would make the 20-mile drive to another shop to make my purchases. But lately, they've employed a great gunsmith, and made large contributions to RKBA in our area. Also, they're an independent, and I feel I'd rather spend 10% more at a small independent shop than get wholesale at Wal-Mart.

So I now shop there. And you know what? I'm glad I gave them a second chance. If I can just get past my old views, I can see that they're just a small shop on main street that does the best it can, and, like all of us, occasionally misses the mark. Fact of the matter is, these people are my greatest potential allies.

Been ticked off? Try 'em again. Give our independently-owned gun shops your greatest support.

L.P.
 
Interesting posts about how people dress in gunshops.

It seems to me that gun ownership is democracy at work, transcending social groups, income brackets, etc. So of course there should be no typcial attire. I'd say that any gunshop with an implied dress code (up or down) has forgotten what guns signify in America.

Anyway, at the local gunshop in my area, the customers dress in everything from blazer and tie to buttondowns to muscle shirts to coveralls. Really, it's kind of a cross-section of society. Nobody seems to mind--least of all the clerks. Thank goodness!
 
I agree that patronizing local gun shops is a good idea. I buy guns locally, even though the price is a little more. (Not ammo though--too expensive.)

Far West Guns and Dodge City gunshop here in Santa Barbara have always treated me fair and provided good advice and service. Jerry at Far West is a competent and accomodating gunsmith. When I brought a Colt Commander in for repair, he sent it off to someone who he knew would do the best job on it for me. On two occaisions, I brought guns in and he performed minor repairs on them (thirty year old shotgun mag tube removal and pistol sight repainting) for free.

I've only ordered over the internet from cheaperthandirt.com, but my order arrived complete and with no hassles. I got an M-7 bayonet from them for around $10, used. I put in a new order (including a U.S. military surplus pith helmet for summer for $17.98) and expect delivery soon.
 
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