Local Gun Shops

[HenryFan]

These days, it seems Local Gun Shops (LGS) become less common each year. I think on-line vendors (Midway USA, Brownells and others) have made it so convenient (large selection of items and the ease of shipping to my residence) they have made it hard for the LGS to keep pace.

I too use the large on-line vendors but whenever possible, I try to buy from my LGS. Things such as a box of ammo or a bottle of Hoppe's #9 bore solvent (my favorite aftershave) so that they have an extra buck or two of revenue that day.

It may not be of any significance to the LGS but when the small LGS is gone, the shooting public is at the mercy of price gougers.

Am I wrong on this, it this too simplistic?

[daytime dave]

I frequent my favorite local gun store as much as possible. I also advertise for them. My favorite is at the upper right corner of the forum. Woods & Waters.
If I need it, I wait until I'm at camp and get it from them if at all possible. I try to get all my tackle there too. If I'm in town but don't need anything, I just stop in to say hello.
I know what you mean by online purchasing. Having someone bring it to the door is hard to beat.
So far, I stay local with my firearm and fishing needs. I can't imagine how difficult it is trying to stay afloat with a small business these days.
I did what I could when they had to resort to outdoor, one at a time, sales during Covid. I bought some new stock then. I wasn't the only one.

It's not simplistic at all. You are correct. Most of the time, the small business is much more knowledgeable than the employee that may or may not be in a large, box type store. That knowledge and advice alone is often worth going local.

[HenryFan]

To find an LGS with inventory and also, a real gunsmith (not an AR assembler) is like winning the Lotto these days.

[HenryFan]

Occasionally, Palmetto State Armory (PSA) will offer a deal on rimfire ammo with free shipping. That is hard for me to pass on. Even though I don't live terribly far from the Columbia, SC PSA store, it saves me a gallon or two of gas.

Specifically, the PSA deal I look for is CCI Standard Velocity @ $39.99 per brick with free shipping.

I have a couple of rimfire rifles that use too much ammo and I have to keep some on the shelf.

[Hatchdog]

I rarely order anything from on line dealers. I used to order my match bullets from Grafs and Sons as they had a great price and flat rate shipping. I was going thru enough of them to make the on line purchase worth it. Otherwise I buy local but these days I’m not buying much. Like most of us I really stocked up on everything during the covid shortages and well stocked. But when I need something I will shop local.

[GunnyGene]

Several LGS's within a few miles of me. Many have been in business for 30 years or more, and there's a couple new ones that have opened in the last 5 years. None that have gone out of business that I know of. All seem to be well stocked and profitable.

[North Country Gal]

We have two shops in our little town and we know the owners and all employees by name and they know us. They know what kinds of guns I like and will sometimes give me a call when they get one of those in. They will order guns for us, too, but they give me the right to refuse anything, even new guns, if the gun does not pass my inspection when it arrives. Have never had a bad experience with either shop. They respect us and we respect them. That's what comes of establishing a personal relationship with local merchants.

The other place we buy guns is at local gun sows, but again, we know most of the folks behind the tables. At times, they ask my help to identify certain guns or even how they should be priced. Again, establishing personal relationships with local merchants is gold.

Now for the bad news. The one thing that we desperately need in our area is a real gunsmith. By real gunsmith I mean someone who can be trusted to do custom work as in re-barreling, re-chambering, restoring/not hacking old guns and so on. I mean someone who actually has a lathe and knows how to use it. The old smiths are long gone and no one has replaced them. Not so much of an issue with new modular guns, but a serious issue for old walnut and steel vintage guns. I suspect this is true across most of the country, now. Gunsmithing is a dying profession for sure.

[Steve51]

The local gun shops I used to visit are gone now. A few years ago, Illinois implemented very stringent regulations on gun dealers and many of them closed up their shops. Since I live near the Indiana border, the shop I used the most moved to Indiana.
It is very difficult to run a business in Illinois now, especially if it is a small operation.

[Hatchdog]

Our state House and Senate (Washington) just passed a bill nicknamed the FFL Killer bill. And our governor will giggle when he signs it. A few highlights are all guns on display must be locked up, all guns must be stored in a fireproof burglar proof safe anytime the shop is closed. 24/7 video and audio monitoring of the shop including all doors and windows and stored for two years. 1,000,000 in liability insurance. Bars or cut proof screens on all doors and windows. The crap goes on and on but you get the gist. So for our few remaining independent gunshots around here it’s going to get tough to stay in business.

Please don’t take this down a political path, I just wanted to chime in on the original topic of LGS sales and how tough it’s going to be for ours to stay in business. Thanks.

[Vaquero]

Only one real gun shop in town here with a couple of pawn shops that sell guns along with their other stuff.
There are two others that I try and visit at least once a month or every other, but they are in town other smaller towns.
One is about 30-35 miles SW of me and the other is about 45 miles SE. These both sell loading supplies and is where I buy 95% of my powder and primers. Most of the bullets come from online sales as I can usually find much better deals, but do occasionally grab a box of bullets from them.
We do have an Academy store and have been scoring some SPP's of late there. $8 per hundred with a 400 limit. I've got those back over the 5000 mark.

RP