I fully support my local gun dealer and wish more would do it also. If the LG does not remain in business, many of the things we get from them will be more difficult to locate.

The local gun dealers will generally carry a better quality gun than the chain operations and will be far more knowledgeable about guns. They have to compete with the chain store in price as well as doing so with less advertising.

If I buy a new gun, it will be from a local dealer.

I also buy a lot from pawn shops but they are used guns and when possible, I will buy used from the local dealers.

They have been there for us and we need to be there for them.

I am lucky, I have several gun shops near me, some are better than others, but I do most of my shopping at 1 shop, especially used guns. The gentleman is friendly, highly knowledgable, and great prices on new or used guns. I have bought guns online when there is something he can't get or is too expensive in his shop. But out of the many firearms I own, I have purchased over 60 of them from him. I've never seen him steer somebody wrong on a gun purchase.

OP, you should look at Sound Pawn in Everett. Prices aren't bad. The guy who runs it is very nice. His FFL prices are much lower than other shops in the area.

Adventure Sports in Lynnwood is okay for new guns. I liked them better when they were located in Edmonds. A little pricey but good customer service. Now, you walk in and see alot of black.

In my area, there is only store I can call a "local FFL dealer" surrounded by big name places like Gander Mountain. Gander's prices are high on new and used guns but they will match a price if you find the exact new gun for sale cheaper on a web based store. My biggest complaint about my local FFL is this; three guys behind the counter - one is such a nice guy and so friendly but he talks way too much while people are standing in line. The owner (when he's there) walks around seemingly oblivious to everything around him and the third guy hates being there so bad he makes obvious locker room comments to customers about his job all the time. My biggest complaint that comes out of all this however, is that they seem to be very slow at shipping guns I have sold - they all seem to have an "Ill get to it when I get to it" attitude but want that $45 fee instantly!

I have a couple of local shops in Orange County that rotate through, and I often find something I'd like to have. A few times a year I get to a town a couple of hundred miles away and always drop in at a small store there where I have made some spectacular acquisitions.

Mostly I shop Gunbroker or pore over availability lists from specialty sellers who focus on the kinds of gun I like. I haven't given up on any source yet. (Though I am sorely tempted to back away from GB after getting humiliated in some auctions that went WAY over what I thought the guns in question were worth -- and you are hearing this from a guy who habitually makes oversize bids to try to score items I really want!)

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David Wilson

As a small local gunshop owner, I love to read all of your praises and criticisms of the shops you all visit often. It really is helpful. Please don't give up on your local shops!!

It is an interesting game as the owner of the shop. There are so many types of buyers...I have to find a price that works for all of my customers(negotiators, tire-kickers, collectors, know-it all's, the list goes on and on). If one more customer tells me Walmart sells ammo for less...

Most of my customers are negotiators and ask for "my best price", because of this, I have to add a little on the tag, knowing I will have to come down a bit to make a sale. Another reason for a higher initial price, at least in my shop, is the price some customers want on their trade. Sorry but I need to make more than $50 dollars on a used Remington 742 that probably needs at least an extractor. I can give a little more in trade value if my guns are priced a little higher, it all evens out in the end I suppose. Some buyers don't negotiate, they look at the price, pay it, if it's fair.

I completely understand those that give up on their local shop with high prices who is repeatedly not willing to budge.

Any gunshop that seems to have high prices should be willing to haggle out a better price, don't be afraid to throw out an offer. I love to sell guns because it means I get to buy more guns!!!

I watch the used case at my LGS, and they have some good deals sometimes. He's below most retail on the new stuff too. I even saw an old SMLE jungle carbine in there for 199 the other day. I wasn't in the mood so I didn't get it. If it's there in a few days I might be tempted though......haven't seen one of those in 20 years!

LGS? Thats pretty funny. I haven't darkened his doorstep in years. Guess I should make a stop there this week, just to see. The closest one I'll deal with is about 85 miles away. I consider it "my" gunshop. I've bought more than a few from them. They've grossly underpriced a few guns to me. They also go to all the gun shows and will do a transfer for me without question.

The local guy had a lot of my business until about 1997 or so. Two events took place then. One his fault, one not. The one not his fault had to do with a state sales tax audit. He'd transferred in a K22 for me. It was a clean deal on that end. But I was stupid and didn't claim it on my income tax form. It's my responsibility to do so, and pay the sales tax at the same time I pay my income tax. The LGS got a lot of bad feedback about similar deals, so they stopped doing out of state transfers. That really dampened my interest in going there.

I don't remember the exact circumstances of the other event. I'd bought a new gun but couldn't pick it up that day. Maybe it was a delay from the FEDs, I just don't remember. But when I came back a few days later to pick up my new, paid for gun, it was filthy dirty. They also run an attached range, and apparently had rented out my gun to someone who wanted to shoot it. Had they been decent guys, they'd have at least cleaned it up nicely. They didn't bother, and you can't easily unwind a deal like that. So I took my gun and went home. Just a bit mad, you might say. Its probably been 14 years now. I hold a grudge a long time.

There are a few "lesser" shops around. None worth much. Bud's isn't really that far, but they haven't had a decent used gun in years. I make a stop there maybe every 5 years.

Gun shows, on the other hand, are a paradise for us old gun seekers.

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Dick Burg

The prices from everyone around my area are way too high. Especially when I see what other people around the country pay for their new and used guns in their LGS's.

The closest store is overpriced on almost everything. I did get a decent deal on my 4003, because it was part of a bunch of 5900/4000 3rd gens they've had for years.
After the two day wait, I was treated like I was annoying them by actual wanting to pic up my gun.
I still peruse there now and then because, for the most part, they are the only ones with 3rd gens in the area.

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M&P .40, M&P 9c & Shield 45

In a way I have. I only go to two anymore and both of the owners are talking of calling it quits. One is 73 and the other is in his late 60's and says in 5 years he wants out as his son no longer wants part of the business. The other is trying to hold out until someone can buy his whole inventory. Both are over an hour from me but I travel to them because they don't have "tactical" this and "tactical" that like the shops near me. I received my dealer packet this past Friday and I am waiting to hear what the docs are going to say about me. If I can get the finances together and get the building by the house rewired and some minor renovations done than that will be my shop. Alot of guys I have talked to up here say they want a traditional gun shop with old fashioned stuff (alot of older hunters up here) so that's what I am leaning towards if this works out.

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Vaya con Dios

we have 2 local shops that i still enjoy going to. the owners still call when they get in a nice smith or need a little help with something. also
one of the two has everything for reloading all the time. this guy know his reloading and also knows what guys need.

Scotts guns and ammo
Mikes guns and ammo

both great shops and there about 1/2 mile apart....

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George Jamison

I go. I look. I talk with the folks behind the counter. And, when I see something I can't live without... I make sure that life continues! Auctions? Not yet. I have bought on line with generally good results. But in the last year or so circumstances have been such that it is best for me not to be drooling over offerings at the various auction sites. The LGS keeps me in enough trouble!

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<><

Most successful retailers sell what their customers want or what the retailer can convince the customer they want. Remember you sell the sizzle not the steak. Retailers stock product that will move quickly and offer the largest return in the investment. With the current trend to “black rifles” and large capacity auto loaders that is what most retailers will stock. Yet the aforementioned does not mean that I don’t find it discouraging and frustrating that most of the firearm retailers in my area have will have 5 -10 Glock's or Taurus weapons for every quality revolver they stock.

What really bothers me to no end, is the 20 something gun store commando, decked out in BDU’s carrying a plastic gun in a plastic holster telling me I’m being foolish believing a revolver is a worthwhile self-defense weapon. I’m not proud of this but I finally told one commando that until he had “been there and done it” not to give advice to someone who had.

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Always Stay Strong!

For the little stuff, a speed loader or something like that, I will go to a local gunshop. I either pay them 12 bucks for one now, or buy one for 6 bucks online and pay 6 in shipping. For anything big, like a gun, I will buy online. Buds has never done me wrong, my FFL never charges me a fee, so the only hard part is the shipping time.

All of the gunshops around me charge MSRP for guns. Im not gonna pay 600 dollars for a 450 dollar gun. But considering all the business they do, somebody obviously is comfortable with paying full price.

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686-4 442-1

I stopped going to any local shops near me about 5 years ago.
If anything nice comes in for trade or sale at these shops it goes on GB or other auction sites.So I don't waste my time going to the LGS any more.
I would rather go to a gun show.Tulsa,Louisville,OGCA.

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U.S. Army Viet Nam Vet '68-69'

In the past couple years I've found a couple local pawn shops to have a better selection and better prices. I don't go to any of the LGS anymore.

Damned if you do damned if you don't. My local gun shops are small and have prices that is about $15-100 more than the bigger gun shop that I go too. With that being said, the bigger gun shop that I go to charges an arm and a leg for FFL transfers thus me leaving that work to my local gun shops.

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Don't look, reload and shoot!

I have spent the last 3 weeks in and out of LGS's. I have been trying to outfit an EA-15 and a Remington 1100 (for 3 gun) with almost NO success. I don't mind spending a little more to support the locals, but the problems are as follows:

More often than not, they don't have what I am looking for and tell me to try Brownells.

They tell me they don't stock it and will have to order. (if I wanted to wait for mail order, I would just buy from the net.)

Those of you who complain of LGS's charging list should try San Diego. Most of the shops are charging between 20 to 100 OVER list.
I had to go to Turners for my M&P 40 (100 under list.)

I think ammo is the profit leader for the LGS.

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Gerry

I'm lucky, I have several options, from excellent to crummy rip-off artists that prey on newbies.

I favor Scottsdale Gun Club. Good people, good prices. There are fewer 'counter-commandos' than most places, and they treat repeat customers very well.

OK, so I went to a flea market that opens to pick up truck tailgates on Tuesday mornings. Then I swung by the LGS. Same place, different Range Rover out front, but since no one buys them, it must be the same owner.

I went inside, first time in a long time. Prices were sky high. Can't understand why they complain about gun show pricing. Primers fully stocked at $50 a thousand, bullets as high as $40 per 50! Lots of leather holsters, some plastic ones. I know they cost a bunch these days, but $90 seems average. I think I'll allow another 10 or so years to pass before I return. Maybe I'll be dead by then.

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Dick Burg

Two days ago I visited Sound Loan & Pawn and they had a Ruger Security Six 357 SS 4" barrel in decent shape. I've been looking for a woods gun and this fit the bill, something I can toss on and not care if scratched. I got paid today and went back hoping it was still there. Yep, still there. $265 OTD. I pick it up next week.

They don't have much of a selection of handguns (about 15 or so) most are consignment or store bought consignment but a somewhat decent amount of rifles.The owner Jeff, is a real nice person. When everyone was charging $40 transfer fees, he kept his fee at $25. Everyone told him the price on the Ruger was a $100 too low (compared to other stores around the area) but since he knew I wanted it, kept it at that price (actually, it was listed at $249 + $25 transfer fee. So, he lowered it.)

Since my guy raised his transfer fee to $50 it has become a bit problematic. Shipping is usually between 20-30 so I have to add in about $70-$80 to the internet price. Local stores seem to have figured this out as their prices are just around $70-$80 higher than the internet. The prce for "instant gratification" therefore becomes the sales tax you pay locally. That's for new guns. Old guns-I ain't gonna find any locally. Quite frankly, I would rather buy a gun here on the forum.
Last local gun I bought nre was the Ruger SP101 in .22 and to tell the truth, the more I shoot it the less I like it. Trigger pull is HORRIBLE compared to my Smith .22's and is even bad compared to my SP101 in .357. I'll wait until I forget what I paid for it and then try to find someone who can do a trigger job on it.

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Forum consigliere

.

I don't think I could have resisted the chance to ask him to go out 50 yards and let me shoot at him with my "outdated and worthless" revolver...

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Take your time..quickly.

Had to look where you are located - I thought for a minute you were talking about the shop downtown ....

Here in Clear Lake area of Houston there are a lot of options to buy guns. I look at pawn shops, gun shows, big stores (Academy Sports and Bass Pro), as well as couple of gun shops. Academy sometimes has pretty good sales. It is getting harder and harder to find a bargain though. I have found the best deals from guys wandering the aisles at gun shows. They are usually disappointed at the offers they are getting from the table guys and will often sell at a fair price.

Blued steel and leather warms my heart.

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Take your time..quickly.

I could never give up on my local gun shops. Never Never Never

That guy sells me guns at cost, charges nothing for transfers and will spend as much time as necessary to find anything I want.
I just can't give up on my local gunshop. Never, ever. I simply must believe in that place.

Of course I am sure a big factor in this is because I am the local gunshop..

Same here. Because you just never know. I liken it to going to a gun show and finding nothing at all of interest until you get to the very last row. Has happened to me more than once. So I occasionally go to the local gun shops, pretty much every gun show (Tulsa has nearly one a month, although many are small), and even to pawn shops once in a while although they are the least fruitful. Most pawn shops 'round here have only rusty junk and want collector prices for it.

I also peruse the online auctions (far too much, really), various forum Classifieds and other online avenues. Because, why limit yourself?

I travel some in my work, and check various LGS as I am able. So far I haven't given up. Most seem to be glad to have my business, mostly because they can unload the older revolvers on me (for which there is an ever decreasing demand). So I am a supporter of the LGS in my area. The last several purchases have been from LGS.

I also watch the internet slaes. Some of the classifieds in the various forums seem to be infested by dealers who have the $$ and software setups to instantly buy anything that shows up at a reasonable price. I can't monitor the forum classifieds 24/7, nor do I have 2 or 3 K on hand to instantly turn a deal within minutes of something being offered for sale.

That being said, that is the nature of a free market and society. I prefer to live in such a society and will just have to work harder to obtain what I want.

I recommend we all support the small, local gun stores. They are rapidly becoming extinct.

You may have different opinions and experience.

rayb

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"cumplo pero no obedezco"

1. I don't buy new guns.
2. I don't buy plastic guns.
3. I quit my LGS when he doubled his transfer fees to $50.
4. I slowed my store buying when WA started charging tax on a used gun especially since they already got the tax when the gun was new.
5. I enjoy the gun shows and buy there whenever possible.
6. I really don't NEED more guns.
7. I DO enjoy buying on this forum and GB.
8. I think that the Blue Book ruined the fun of buying guns. Now, everyone runs to see what BB says the piece is worth and those who don't really know guns (many folks) think the piece is worth the 99% price. I do like BB's information, though.
9. I think most small dealers screw themselves with their fees and high prices. I haven't been back to mine is 8 months.

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Term limits!