Walmart goes AR.

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Turns out that there where two versions of the television, and the version that Walmart carried lacked several features of the version Best Buy was carrying.
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Lacking a digital output on a TV is different from a firearm that's potentially unsafe. Most every electronics maker does a similar thing with their products and retailers... it makes price shopping more difficult (can't price match something that nobody else carries).

Walmart does have special runs of guns, but it's usually just a minor feature tweak, not anything substantial.
 
The stories about Walmart selling seconds normally originates with gun shop owners that can't compete with Walmart's pricing. The version I hear is normally something like "my brother-in-law is a Walmart manager and he told me....".
 
Lacking a digital output on a TV is different from a firearm that's potentially unsafe. Most every electronics maker does a similar thing with their products and retailers... it makes price shopping more difficult (can't price match something that nobody else carries).
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Thats the point I was making. Walmart's products aren't QC rejects, they are different models that are built to a certain set of specs to meet a certain price point. Personally I'd rather buy elsewhere and get products with all if the features they are supposed to have, instead of buying their cheapend versions.
 
Personally I'd rather buy elsewhere and get products with all if the features they are supposed to have, instead of buying their cheapend versions.
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I'm still not sure why you would consider some other version "authoritative." Firearm manufacturers make special run products for distributors all the time (look at all the Lew Horton guns S&W has made). Are they somehow "less" than the standard model? The features it's "supposed" to have are the features it was specified to have. Otherwise you can jump all over the assorted Browning Citoris for not having the nicer wood or finishes of the more expensive models.

My Walmart 597 has a camo stock; the "regular" one is just black or gray synthetic. Otherwise they're the same exact gun... one isn't missing features, it's just a different feature. Ditto the occasional gold trigger or other minor thing.

A variant is a variant. Buy your guns where you wish, but before writing off the special run models as "cheapened" it might be wise to consider where the differences actually lie. Usually they're extremely minor.
 
Walmart goes AR. Reply to Thread

I do not like or shop at walmart, period. But that's me. I do know this about wm, they deal directly with the manufacturer. Basically they'll tell the manufacturer if they want their product to be sold at wm, they have to sell it at a lower wholesale to wm than enyone else. That way, wm can offer that product to the consumer at a lower price than they could find anywhere else.:mad:
 
I'm still not sure why you would consider some other version "authoritative." Firearm manufacturers make special run products for distributors all the time (look at all the Lew Horton guns S&W has made). Are they somehow "less" than the standard model? The features it's "supposed" to have are the features it was specified to have. Otherwise you can jump all over the assorted Browning Citoris for not having the nicer wood or finishes of the more expensive models.
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I was referring to Walmart's products as a whole. That's why I said "products", and not "guns". It's hard to cheapen a lot of the guns in today's world, since most of the lower end models that Walmart typically offers are about as cheap as it gets.

However, if all of the various electronics stores out there sell the same television with the same set of features, and Walmart sells one that looks similar but has fewer features to meet a certain price point, I would definitely refer to the version that everyone else sells as the "authoritative" version. The Walmart version is a look-a-like that has an inferior feature set to meet their price point.

Distributors like Lew Horten usually do the exact opposite of Walmart. They offer special runs of guns with more features than the normal catalog models. They don't try to pass them off as the same thing you can buy elsewhere, they make special note that it's a distributor exclusive. They also sell their special runs for a premium over the baseline models.
 
Could this also be like buying a John Deere riding lawn tractor at Lowes or Home Depot vs the John Deere dealer? I know they look similar, real similar, but they are two totally different animals.
 
from what i have heard with the wallyworld firearms some of the shotguns are made with plastic parts. i was at a gun shop near me when a gunsmith took one apart an showed us the difference. i wonder what the AR is made of?
 
I bought a special run 700 SPS Varmint .308 from Dicks a couple years ago and it would shoot under 1 MOA right out the box it also had a olive drab stock which I wanted over the regular black stock.........no regrets:)

I also bought a 700 ADL .270 with a camo stock special Wal-Mart run it will shoot 1 MOA right out the box.......I guess I got screwed with the special runs.............
 
a few years ago there was an on going thread about walmart ammo. how walmart made the companys lower their prices by using cheaper materials to make their ammo. what a pure line of BS, no this board has a whole sectio n on what walmarts have what ammo so people can stock up.

now people are saying the same thing about firearms and how walmart forces companys to eliminate features or use cheaper materials to make their guns. another line of pure bs. no gun maker is going to ruin their reputation by cheapening their products (except for the company that owns remington, marlin, h&r, etc).....but they just lowered their quality for everyone, not just walmart.

as for tv's being cheaper here or there and the model numbers being different. the scoop on that is so other stores that say they will honor competition prices dont have to because 1 number or letter is different in the serial number.

people can believe what they want but no gun company is going to produce a cheaper model for just 1 company it would be too expensive to have a special line and their reputations are worth more than a few plastic parts.
 
from what i have heard with the wallyworld firearms some of the shotguns are made with plastic parts. i was at a gun shop near me when a gunsmith took one apart an showed us the difference.
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Had the gunsmith ever heard of the 870 Express? It has a plastic trigger group and is sold through every regular retail channel, as opposed to the higher end Wingmaster, which (for a while at least) maintained the metal trigger guard.

It wasn't a Walmart specific change, even if he told you it was.

As several of us have noted, the "lower quality/lesser features for a lower price" at Walmart is a myth. There's plenty of low quality junk and de-contented value models you can get at that local gun shop without having to resort to Walmart.
 
Where are all of these gun shops?? around the corner from the blacksmith across from the ferrier?

I see very few gun shops left and they are so rediculously overpriced.

wal-mart, academy, big5, cabelas and bass pro shops are my "gun shops".
 
LOL Ricky Rick

Okay I had to laugh... At Ricks comment since we have a small blacksmith at the end of the road, my fiancées father is a ferrier, and we have two small gun shops half a mile away. We live 45 min outside the DC beltway, but in general he has a good point in that Bass Pro and Cabellas have really dried up the diversity of LGS choices.

If you grab a copy of the previous book I mentioned, THE WALMART EFFECT, it does a really good job of describing how they indirectly force manufacturers to cheapen their products. I believe LawnBoy mowers was a good example and some sprinkler company that used to make those little tractors that walked the garden hose.

I doubt it is as big of a deal with firearms as they really don't stock that many, however I have noticed they generally carry in the store the lower end Rem 870 Express and Rem 770.
 
I doubt walmart is receiving any type of defective or second hand rifles that didnt make the cut. But I will bet my money that alot of their products are cheaper because they have cheaper parts. It's like going to a home depot vs a plumbing supply store, same faucet is cheaper at home depot but has plastic bushings and washers, go to the plumbing supply store and you'll see all metal.
 
I saw one of these yesterday and did a double take, I went back to check the price and it was around $874. If I was that interested in the AR platform I probably would buy one of these from Walmart.
 
SFAIK, any given WalMart uses floor space on a dollars per square foot per month basis. That applies to arts and crafts, sewing, sporting goods...

And enough WalMart gripes. If you want one of their guns, fine. Otherwise, go elsewhere.
 
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