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

[dave77]

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.

Hopefully it will not stand up in the courts. Even the Seattle Times is saying it's a bad bill.

"But HB 2118 pushes gun control to a level of punishment for legitimate businesses. The bill would require gun dealers to run annual background checks on their employees, carry $1 million liability insurance, install steel doors or bars at the business, and meet onerous requirements for storage and security systems with audio and video surveillance. Gun dealers would have to digitally archive some video for two years. Dealers would also be required to file annual reports with the state that attest to their compliance.

This bill would impose costs on small firearms sellers that could force them out of business and open even wider the black market for gun sales.

Some lawmakers may not like the selling of guns in Washington, but it’s a legal business. The Times editorial board praised the Legislature for enacting laws that banned the sale of assault-style weapons and ammunition over the past two years. But HB 2118 unnecessarily tightens the rein on gun dealers while using the public’s safety as a smoke screen."

https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/ed ... o-dealers/

[Ernie]

Have a good LGS in town, only one left. I have a good relationship with them and give them most of my business but there are things they don't sell that I get online. There is a Rual King but it is difficult to speak to someone as they only have one person working the department and they won't deal or take trades. Walmart I avoid unless there is no other option.
NCG has a great point about gunsmiths. We don't have any local anymore and the LGS doesn't even recommend anyone now. That is concerning.

[Mags]

I don't think we have many small mom/pop life style type LGS left in the immediate Portland metro and suburban communities, at least not on the west side. A few strip maul gun shops have survived, but the few I've visited are price gougers. The best gun and ammo prices right now are in bigger chain stores, at least here it's that way. Sportsman Warehouse has the best prices for guns and ammo overall, followed by Cabela's and Coastal Farm. A couple of the smaller chain stores like Big5 and BiMart have decent prices, but limited product selection.

[HenryFan]

PJM - What a lucky day!

[BrokenolMarine]

We have two local gun shops in the area. The first one I visited I first found on line while still in Virginia completing the sale of the farm there. Tina had visited the new farm in Oklahoma and the seller had told her that there was a "moderate" problem with Feral Hogs. I had located a Rifle on line at that local shop that would be perfect, and it was at a fair price. I had seen the damage online the Feral Hogs could do. Once we made the move to my daughter's on the Oklahoma / Texas border, we drove up to South Central Oklahoma so I could look at the new Farm and we stopped in the gunshop I had seen on line, located in the nearby town.

The man behind the counter seemed annoyed that I disturbed his reading of the comics, but reluctantly put down the paper and got up to see why we had interrupted his morning. I asked about the AR10 they had online and they still had it. The price had been reduced by $200. I looked the gun over and I told him I'd take it. When I gave him my IDs, and completed all the paperwork, he said the address I had put on the forms didn't match my ID. I told him we were in the process of moving. "Just put your old Virginia Address on the forms, no one will know."

"I sold that house and don't own it anymore, I can't do that."
"Sure you can, I'll give you new forms, you fill them out, and sign them, pay me, you are out the door, no one is the wiser."
"I sign the state and federal forms with false information, that's TWO felonies."
"Nah, It's all good."
"I'll come back when I have an Oklahoma Driver's License in a month or two, after the house closes."
"That rifle probably won't be here."
"Then I'm not supposed to own it."

I came back about two months later and the rifle had gone down another $200 in price, I used my new Oklahoma Driver's license to complete the forms and Comics Guy didn't remember me. I added a box of 25 rounds of .357 hollowpoints for my EDC handgun. $50. He still acted like the Customer in the shop was an annoyance. I haven't gone back to the shop and won't.

The other shop in town is warm and inviting, and every time we have been in the shop, the folks are friendly and helpful. We have both taken our CCW classes from the wife of the owner and enjoyed them immensely. They have handled multiple transfers of firearms from a friend in VA who is thinning out his collection and prefers to sell the guns to me than those he doesn't know. Although the HUGE gun store in Oklahoma city has better prices, we have bought a couple handguns from this local family owned shop to support a local business. I bought a Ruger Wrangler 22 for myself and a Kimber Micro 9 for the wife.

I agree, we Need to keep these smaller local family owned stores in business.



BTW, the seller of the farm "thought" that I wanted there to be FERAL hogs on the property so he lied and told Miss T there were. There are feral hogs in Oklahoma, and there are Feral hogs in the South Central Oklahoma, but haven't been Feral Hogs in our area. He wanted that sale.

[HenryFan]

Devil Dog -

If I sense that a store, a LGS or any other business, doesn't want my patronage, I don't go back. I understand your position.

[BrokenolMarine]

Devil Dog -

If I sense that a store, a LGS or any other business, doesn't want my patronage, I don't go back. I understand your position.

That shop is located on Main Street, downtown. Prime location.
It should be doing a booming business... but doesn't. Gee, wonder why?

[HenryFan]

That shop is located on Main Street, downtown. Prime location.
It should be doing a booming business... but doesn't. Gee, wonder why?

I doubt the guy behind the counter knows why either.

[BrokenolMarine]

One of my favorite memories from my childhood, involves a local gun shop. I was living in Florida in a very small town located ON a river. My stepfather worked for the UNION, IBEW, and we lived right on the River. Across the bridge was a small gunshop and he had taken his little Cowboy 9 shot 22 to the gunshop to have the hammer mounted firing pin built up. The guy called late in the evening and said the gun was ready. I was about 12 and my stepdad told the gunsmith he would send me down the next day with the money to pick up the gun, HE had to work from 6am to 6pm to finish the tower they were building. No problem. (early 70s, they would have had a stroke these days.)

I walked in the gunshop and the first thing that hit me was the smell. Leather, hoppes, and gun oil. Overlaid with the pipe smoke. The old man was never without that pipe in the corner of his mouth, unless he was reloading custom ammunition at the old single stage press at the back of the shop. I instantly fell in love with the place. I picked up the gun and paid for it, but went over and sat on the stool in the corner and watched the man work. I had been taught all my life that quiet was the way to learn.

Customers came and went, the stories were amazing, and they were all full of life and funny. I slipped back up the next day for an hour or so, and the day after. The old man never said a word. His dog started to lay at my feet for a rub and a pet now and then. Toward the end of the week he looked over, and said, "If you are going to hang out, make yourself useful, take that broom and sweep up that side of the counter."

The next day there was a rake leaning against the side of the front door. "Both sides of the drive." By the time I had finished it was noon, he crooked a finger and we walked behind the shop to the house he lived in. The wife had fixed grilled cheese and soup for lunch. Not the last meal I took with them. Turns out he had called my stepdad and he told him I was fine to hang out there, and to put me to work. I sat by the fireplace that winter and watched him scope rifles, bed match rifles, and make custom holsters and slings. "Throw another log on there sonny," was a phrase I got used to hearing. I asked questions now and then, but never too many.

He couldn't legally put me to work and pay me a wage, he paid me in 22 ammo for my single shot. I swept, raked, cleaned gutters, took out trash, and picked up trash that drivers threw out the window.

I still fished with my friends and ran my boat up and down the river, but I spent a lot of time in that gun shop during that two years we lived there. When we finally left, the gunsmith's wife got tears in my hair. I think I left some on her apron. I learned a lot during that time. Mostly about the way you should treat people.

I can still summon the smells of that shop late at night when it's quiet and the house is asleep. Leather, hoppes, gun oil and pipe smoke.

[North Country Gal]

Marine, thank-you for sharing that. What a wonderful story from a time when the world was a very different place for kids. I grew up in that era, too, and looking back, we kids had an amazing amount of freedom compared to kids these days.

I remember us running around the neighborhood with BB guns, pellet rifles and sling shots and no one questioned it at all. We were just being normal kids, right? Later we would ride our bikes out into the country taking our 22s with us for an afternoon of shooting 22s down at the creek. Just what kids did in our small rural town in those days.

I'm sure that somewhere in this country kids still do this, but you'd have to search hard to find that place. I often look back, now, and wonder how it all disappeared. Not getting political, here. Just being grateful that I had that freedom.