Whats with Florida gun dealers?

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speedracer211

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Okay I have moved to Florida about three months ago from Pittsburgh. Their I had great local gun dealers with thousands of guns and great prices to boot. Their ffl fee for doing the transfer on guns I bought off the internet was $15-20 depending on how they felt that day. Now I move to Florida. The shops are open until 6:00p.m. what the heck is that my shops in PA were open untill 9:30 and one was even open until 12:00 at night. I looked at the few guns they did have locally and it was only a handfull maybe 100 at the very most and were way way overpriced. I then ask and called around to other dealers to ask what their transfer fees are $50-$85 was the average. So they have less guns, higher prices and their transfer fees are out of this world. I can't find a local real small time guy with an ffl to handle the transfer. So it looks like I will be building lots of ak's over the next few years. Even the gun shows I went to were a joke. The prices were terrible the selection was pretty good, but not at the prices they were asking. I am not looking for a great deal and do all I can to support my local shop, but when I can get the gun shipped nib from buds for $250 and the local guy wants $350, I think something is up. So anyone in the Sarasota, Ft. Meyers, Tampa Bay area that knows of a good shop or a small town guy with an ffl please let me know. All of Florida cant be this bad. Dont even get me started with the range fees.
 
Well I hate to agree with you, but I do...

I asked the local dealer about his prices, he said well they are MSRP...:barf:

I think they cater more to the buyer who doesn't know the market, just the ones that watch the news and then want to go out and buy a handgun...

Ranges often want you to shoot their ammo...so a hour at the range is a $50 dollar event.

I know of one good dealer about 100 miles away, and it's often worth the drive to make a purchase...

Look around maybe you will get lucky and find someone to work with.

:D
 
The one local range is $50 initiation fee, $100 annual fee and $50 per family member and $5.00 per person per range fee. Can bring ammo.

The other is $30 initiation fee, $12.00 for range time regardless of time spent for only 1 person, must use their ammo and their targets which are 3 for $1.50-$2.50.
 
Welcome to Florida. That about sums it up. Good gun laws here, but everything is expensive, and getting higher.

Everything here from real estate to gasoline is more expensive. In recent years, prices on everything have skyrocketed. The lower priced gun dealers are all out of business. I think it is because we have seen a massive influx of people from New York. They move here, and are used to the high prices "back home" and don't bat an eye at the prices here.

Join a shooting club. Mine charges $120 a year, unlimited use, no fees.
 
The one local range is $50 initiation fee, $100 annual fee and $50 per family member and $5.00 per person per range fee. Can bring ammo.

The other is $30 initiation fee, $12.00 for range time regardless of time spent for only 1 person, must use their ammo and their targets which are 3 for $1.50-$2.50.
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Florida Panhandle here,l the only range within an hour of me is $500 initiation fee, $100 annual fee, and if 1 of the existing members doesn't want you to join you can't join. Man I really need to find some affordable property (oops we are talking about Florida here probably not going to happen).
 
Stay away from ShootStraight if you are looking for deals, or just fair treatment

There are dealers in Orlando that do transfers for around $30 which seem to be the national average
There's one in the Orlando area that does them for $10 for regular customers with CCWs
You mentioned doing AR builds check out Anvil Arms in Lakeland, they may also do cheap transfers
 
No I dont want some cheese with my wine. However I just wasnt sure if it was just a thing in my neck of the woods here or all of Florida was like that. I do plan to move back to PA in the next few years. I talked to the guys from Anvil arms a month or two ago at a show and plan to pick up a few lowers from them since they are within an hour drive. I am not sure if they would do a pistol transfer for me though. Thanks for all of your input so far guys, I have really been trying to find a local club. BTW the realestate down here is great compared to PA for a buyer. As a seller the real estate in florida is terrible.
 
Wain Roberts would be a good place to go and Kastle Keep on Ulmerton in Pinellas Park. Also, 2nd Amendment Armory in Brandon on Hwy. 60 just outside Tampa. They have done transfers for me for $25 and that is about the best fee you will find here. Florida Ammo Traders on Johns rd. just north of the Tampa airport is also a good place and A-1 Pawn on Hillsborough ave. in Tampa.

Guncrafters in Ruskin has a pretty laid back pistol range. The cheapest membership is $25 to join and $6 every time you use the range. Its never crowded and so far I havn't seen any Bozos in there. One major draw back though is its only 35 yards.

There are good gun shops here you just have to weed out all the worthless and greedy ones. One other thing, be careful who you complain to about Florida. People here get irritated by all the Northerners coming down here and telling them how much better things were done up north. I was born and raised up north and I even find it irritating especially the obnoxious New Yorkers.
 
So they have less guns, higher prices and their transfer fees are out of this world.
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One reason why I buy a lot of guns online.

I’ve been shooting as long as I’ve lived in Florida –20 years – so I don’t know any better.

As with many other things over the years you find a way to cope. There’s a little hole-in-the-wall pawn shop on Busch Blvd. I use for FFL, 25 bucks. A friend of the family has 19 acres where we set up a little homemade 50 yard range, it costs the price of gas to get there. And when that’s not available there’s the Tenoroc range outside of Lakeland, for $5 I can use the rifle range all day.

Yeah, FL's not the best place for gunning but it's not the PRK and it's nice to look forward to winter. :D
 
Lemon State

Florida is one of the richer states, so everything here is a bit more expensive. But I have recently been to gun stores in PA and WV and their prices were higher, acctually. A Ruger GP100 was $599 but here at the local BassPro it is $499. Remington Express .357 mag was $49 and here at BassPro it is $29. BassPro has good prices, but I can't say I've seen good prices elsewhere in Florida. A transfer is $20 or $25 where I live, can't remember. I'm not complaining about that sum.

You can't really hunt in Florida because it's so over-crowded by people and the swamp is gators and flying pests. People here buy guns for home protection and cc. Unused to hunting, like myself, we are suckers for what gun store owners tell us. I might buy over internet again. I'm not a rich retiree.
 
Welcome to Florida. It was not always that way. Just seems to be in recent times that is the case. And I suspect that is not the case in the more rural areas.

I do a mostly Internet buying now, but the ATF is making all kinds of crazy rules and the FFL's are just stuck in the middle.

There are good deals at some fun shows, but it is hit and miss. You definately need to know your stuff to seperate the good deals from the rip offs.
 
I've found some local shops that sell at fair prices, and down in Broward county the ranges still let you bring your own ammo. Most charge around $10 for a lane, some have a time limit, some don't. I don't use any Palm beach county ranges after they adopted the "must use our ammo" policy. I could live with that once in awhile, but the range ammo they use is the worst crud ammo (PMC made in Korea) you can get.
Most gun shops know that savvy gun enthusiasts can buy off the web and will deal if they know you know. Some just want to sell to suckers I guess. One store nearby wants $50 plus 10% of the value of the gun plus tax for a transfer! But several will do them for $25-$30 or so. It's all in finding the right places.
 
Thanks for the info guys. I was at a conference this week in Indian Rocks and on the way home found a few nice fun shops. I live in Bradenton.
 
Before 'yall start knocking FL as being expensive, compare your home town nationally on a COL site..you will see that FL is not far from the national average on many things..East South Florida is about ten per cent more than the Southwest coast. Clearwater is one of the most inexpensive towns in FL. For the guy who said that gas was expensive..Southwest FL gas prices (where the OP is inquiring about) is consistently a couple of cents below the national average. BTW..gas is roughly the same as it was in the seventies..when taking inflation into account..Until recently, coastal real estate was vastly inflated. :eek: Rent prices have dropped considerably. Between Fort Myers and Sarasota, there is a public outdoor range that was recently renovated. They put millions into it, but it is still $3 a day..that's a day! Fort Myers is located in a county of over two million..there are only a few dealers. Some of them don't even answer their phone..weird..one local shop is even closed on Monday's..hmm..I shopped at four or five shops, looking for a Colt and nobody had one..One thing I found to be equally weird is the fact that there are dealers that are selling weapons as new.. that show visable signs of wear! When I mentioned it, they said that "this is the last one, and we test fire everything"..doesn't sound new to me..anyway, Bass Pro is the way to go..they have the best selection and they stand behind their guns. Bass Pro Shops will beat any other regular price, including MSRP. The gun shows here are horrible. They don't offer the latest in ammo. Only one or two vendors offered good selections. Everything else looked to be picked through..now they charge eight bucks for parking. I'LL NEVER GO AGAIN.
 
What gun range between fort Meyers and Sarasota? I have a nephew in the Coast Guard Stationed in Ft. Meyers and my wife and I visit him frequently. As for the gun shows. They are equally as bad in Florida as they were in PA. After talking to forum members on another forum it seems to be a trend everywhere that gun shows are not the place to get a deal or anything below msrp. Many more ak parts kits in PA due to the fact that a local vendor would go to everyone. Besides that the ammo is more expensive at a show then at Wally World for the same thing. I use to go to buy ammo now it is cheaper to go to wally world to buy it. Gun shows for me are still fun to try to hunt down a deal, but they definitely are not like they use to be.
 
I went to a gun show about two months ago. I think it may have been my first and last. It was ok, but I guess I expected more. :rolleyes:
 
Having been transferred to FL a few years back, I was surprised by the variation in Gun shops and gunshows.

Prices are crazy. I try to wait for a sale. Ranges have odd rules depending on location and what they had to compromise to exist.

Airconditioned indoor ranges are tough to find. Outdoor ranges are usually far away.

In Jax, I check out St. Nicholas Guns and Shooters. Just discovered Wild West Guns n Gold. Bass Pro and Gander just moved into the area. Wild and crazy prices are common. Make offers.

In Jax the Gun show down town at the county fairgrounds is decent, the one at the Shriner's is ...not.

http://www.stnickguns.com/
http://www.floridagunshows.com/Schedule.htm

Geoff
Who is still exploring. Life if tough.
 
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