What' Your LGS Like?

[brjr51]

Curious as to what business model your most used local gun store has. I have four that I frequent. One has been in business since 1963 and has an indoor range. His gun prices are high so I haven't purchased a firearm from him, but he has decent stock and I do buy a lot of reloading supplies from him. Another is on the route to the range I belong to, but again higher prices. I did buy a used gun from him recently but other than some .22 ammo, not much else. The two I use regularly are almost all internet based. One has a small storefront with very little firearm inventory, but the owner is a good gunsmith and has a very nice webstore to order from and happily does transfers for $25. I recently ordered my Model 69 from his webstore on a Tuesday and picked it up on Friday. They get the bulk of my firearm business. The other has a nice webstore also, but works out of his home. He has no inventory so to speak of other than a used trade in here or there. He survives on web sales and transfers. Nice guy but seeing as he works out of his house, it's appointment only and sometimes he's a little slow responding. Both of these dealers prices are comparable, not quite GrabAGun low but by the time you factor in shipping and transfer costs, the difference is basically just sales tax and a few bucks for their profit. I'll pay the difference to keep these locals in business.

Unless something changes, I don't see much of a future for the larger stores, at least in my area. I do envy you fellows that have large stores with a big inventory to peruse, especially used guns, but that's not the case around here.

 

[kwselke]

This is the closest to my home. I try to stay out of it, unless I'm selling.

Collectors Firearms

 

[NYlakesider]

Long sorry!

Thats a hard one to answer! I live about in the middle of 4 decent medium to large LGS. About 10 basement LGSs and 4 big boxes.

There all about 25 to 35 miles away. The two I frequent the most, both have a very good selection of guns, scopes, ammo and reloading and the other sundry things needed. Their prices are mostly comparable. One in particular has a very good counter man (manager) that realy knows his way around NYS bazaar gun laws. The other are hit and miss on that knowledge but of course do legal transactions ok.

All the top 4 for the most part have good gun knowledgeable people behind the counter but one is superior.

The basement shops can be very hit and miss on many subjects.

Big boxes, expensive and most counter people are not that knowledgeable in laws and firearms in general. Sometimes the BBs have real good ammo sales or send out some decent store coupons

Transfers in the peoples republic of guns shipped in or out tend to be expensive $50 -$60. Its a big racket and most shops are close in price, they have a monopolie and take advantage of that as far as I'm concerned

As for me I stop in all of those above shops and in 3 of them have done most of my recent business. The one with the smart law guy who also has a good general gun knowledge gets the lions share of our (wife&me) business!

 

[Old 44 Guy]

The gun store nearest is like trying to business in a hospital.

 

[joe44va]

My favorite is Dance's. Combination LGS, fishing stuff, pawn shop, clothing, and luncheonette. Family owned and run and honest. There are bigger ones around but this is my idea of the best.

 

[redlevel]

Mine is sort of like this.
Between 13K-15Kgunsin stock
Hometown folks. I taught the girl pictured.
She is the owner’s daughter, and pretty much runs the business now.

 

[redlevel]

Cheapest shotgun on the wall display is around $2800.
They have literally hundreds of cheaper semi autos and pumps.

 

[TX-Dennis]

Well, let's see . . . there's the barber shop that has a small gunshop in the back. Not much selection, but decent prices, and he will order anything for you. There's the camera shop with a small gun counter - not much selection, highish prices. There's the huge old gunshop with EVERYTHING under the sun including masses of collectible used guns, but very high prices. There's the small gun shop/range with a smallish selection at fair prices. There's the huge very fancy new gun shop / range with a nice selection and very high prices. There's a small gunshop/military surplus place with a small selection and high prices. There's another mid sized range/gunshop with a decent selection and so-so prices. There's three other smallish shops with a fair selection and high prices. There's two Academy stores with a fair selection and okay prices. There's about a dozen pawn shops with anywhere from a couple to a few dozen guns new and used.

I know I'm leaving something out.

 

[Rpg]

My LGS is small: about 150 sq feet of showroom.

The proprietor is a Brit ex pat and has a good bunch of military stuff as well as a used guns ranging from sxs shotguns to used handguns. He has some black guns, but that’s not his focus. The majority of his stuff is from estates and collections.

The prices on the tags are high, but he sells at reasonable prices: you just have to know what a resonable price is because he sure does. If you don’t know, he’s happy to let you pay too much.

Very much a paradigm case of a mom and pop gunstore.

 

[Golddollar]

The gun shop I've bought the most guns from lately is actually out of state from me, but local to my brother, so we go in there when I'm visiting my brother. It's a little one man shop in the middle of a little strip plaza that we stumbled across when we were going back to my brother's house from the Cleveland Clinic. The owner is about my age and we hit it off pretty well as we both could talk about the old time pistolsmiths like Jim Clark and John Giles forever. I've dropped a lot of cash there because he gets in high quality firearms that I have an interest in and he works with me to give me a decent deal.

Then to bring home all the guns I find out of state, there is a sporting goods store in the next town where I do all my transfers. I've been shopping there for over 30 years and it has a good selection of guns, accessories and fishing tackle. Gun prices are OK, but I haven't bought any there because I haven't seen anything I wanted to buy. I've given them a lot of business on transfers and accessories. I describe it as the quintessential small town sporting goods store.

 

[billwill]

Mine is sort of like this.
Between 13K-15Kgunsin stock
Hometown folks. I taught the girl pictured.
She is the owner’s daughter, and pretty much runs the business now.

Nice shop with a "fair" selection!!! I would have to bring my lunch every time I went in there. Wow that is a nice place.

 

[JayFramer]

It's pretty good. It's one of those strip-mall "tactical" stores popular nowadays, but most of the employees are very squared away, many ex-mil from the local base. In fact one guy who used to be at my squadron owns the place.

Prices are quite fair and they haggle, tons of accessories and parts for all kinds of guns, at least modern "defensive" ones. The only issues is, being Las Vegas, you get all kinds of weirdos who come in there. I feel really bad for the guys behind the counter sometimes. I've oft cringed at the conversations from the wacky folks. Folks that like to swing the guns around, flagging everyone in sight, etc. etc.

Sadly, as Americans, there's two sides to the coin and not every soul who walks into these gun stores, let alone walks out of them with their shiny new gun, is as responsible or squared away as some.

C'est la vie!

 

[sheepdawg]

Classic Arms in Memphis is mine and they know me on a first name basis and know what I like. Always full of old stuff with two cases of S&W K frames, Browning HPs and 1911s. Mausers, SKSs, Enfields, 1903s, on the south part of the wall, nice old shotguns up north. I'd bet he has a couple of pre 64 Winchesters somewhere in between. Walnut as well as black plastic

The last thing I bought was either a 1946 Model 12 riot gun clone or maybe the S&W 915 nobody seemed interested in. Always willing to haggle I'd give the place 5 stars. There ain't a gun shop in Memphis that comes close.

 

[GoodSam]

Most of my LGS have one thing in common, they are all overpriced on their firearms and/or knives to a greater or lesser degree. Some have good prices on ammo, accessories, etc. and are useful for other things like indoor ranges but I cringe at the thought of buying firearms/knives from them. This is a shame as I would really much rather buy my guns/knives in person where I can examine them. I don't mind paying a little more for this convenience but I am not paying $50, $75 or $100 or more for a gun.

Our former Gander Mountain store which was normally way overpriced is now "Gander Outdoors" and has much better prices then almost every LGS I have been to in my area (I just bought an LCP II from them). Plus, they usually have enough stock on hand so if there is something I don't like about that particular gun or it's scuffed up or whatever I can get another one. Not so with most LGS who usually only have ONE particular model gun on hand to buy. If it's dinged up then sorry, you are out of luck. "But we can order you one" they will always say. Well, yeah, so can I and for MUCH cheaper then what you rip offs will sell it to me for.

It wouldn't be so bad if the LGS had something unique to offer like a knowledgeable sales staff and some specialized experience but most in my area are just your typical schlubs who wouldn't be able to punch their way out of a wet paper bag that had an exit sign. Many are also not that particularly friendly either and treat everyone if is they are total idiots.

Don't get me wrong, there are some really good LGS out there and if you have one then do support them as much as possible but finding a great LGS is akin to finding a great doctor or car mechanic, they are few and far between.

 

[RobertJ.]

We have two worth mentioning. The first has been there for about ten years and is hit and miss as far as guns I like. The second went into business in another town about 40 miles away around five years ago, and just recently expanded to our neck of the woods.

The first one, North Coast Shooter's Supply, has some decent firearms, just not too many. I've bought some really nice ones there in the ten years he's been there, like a Colt New Service and Officer's Model Match, a Colt Delta Elite, and 2 BHP's, just to name a few. Hit and miss, like I said. He does have an actual gunsmith working for him, though. His gunsmith refers to me as "the revolver guy".

The second one, Gun, Boot, and Gear, is a store with work clothing. Logging and fishing mostly, and they have guns in the back. It seems like they have something I want every time I go in, and their prices are outstanding. So far this year, I've bought a nickel 29-2, a 28-2, a Ruger 10-22, and most recently, an old model Ruger Blackhawk .357 Magnum. Right now they have a model 4006 in excellent condition that I'm talking myself into.

We also have two that aren't really worth mentioning. One is part of a second-hand store, and the other is upstairs in a surf shop. Neither one had any selection as far as guns or accessories, just a couple black plastic pistols that I don't even remember what they were. I've never felt compelled to visit either one of those again.

 

[7shooter]

Mine is sort of like this.
Between 13K-15Kgunsin stock
Hometown folks. I taught the girl pictured.
She is the owner’s daughter, and pretty much runs the business now.

I'd say you taught her well.

 

[Frank46]

Little fishing tackle and gun shop in New Iberia,LA. Have done business with then for the last 22 years or so. Bit high on prices but he's been good to me and I feel the same way. Sometimes you get a few people in there discussing just about anything. One such discussion was the difference between older guns like model 70's and guns made today. I'm kinda a knife guy and the shop usually carries Bench Made, CRKT and a few others. CRKT just came out with their line of tomahawks. So me being me I bought one. Have an old tree that is slowly dieing. Soon I had my "hawk sticking on a regular basis. Haven't busted the handle yet but manufacturer does sell replacement ones. Easy to assemble, slide the handle into the ,hawk fat end resting the ground.slide ,hawk over the handle and smack fat end of the handle on the ground and inertia does the rest. To take off the handle smack small end of the handle on the ground and head will slide off. Hardened about 56-60 on the "C" scale so it takes a very nice edge. Also in one of the back corners there is an archery shop. Bought my first compound bow there. No hunter but have fun poking holes in the target. Frank

 

[rwsmith]

I think it's a fairly brilliant model.......

The ranges (pistol 20yds and rifle 25 yards) ranges are, the stalls aren't well lit at all and the A/C is pretty crummy. BUT, he practically gives away time on the range. A few dollars will get you an all day pass, you can go get lunch and come back if you want to.

Reloaded ammo is allowed and you can save your brass for reloading. No steel core or other destructive ammo is allowed. Some idiot tore the dog mess out of the range one time and they got strict on checking ammo beforehand. And they don't like you to shoot up their target runners and equipment for some reason.

Here's the brilliant part. He funnels you through a long narrow store past about 50' of glass cases of pistols and wall hanging displays, displays down the middle of all kinds of rifles and shotguns, shooting accessories on the left. all the way down. Then they have aisles to the sides of cases, holders, mags, cool stuff like batons and tasers, pistol ammo, rifle ammo, reloading equipment and accessories, components and gunpowder as well as black powder, 'tactical' add ons.

One thing I like is that they have a complete stock of what ever you want, in other words, a REAL gun store.

They have a Class III license and they rent full auto guns (not to me, but I've been on the range with them.)

There are usually plenty of personnel on hand, but they get tied up with various things and checkout can be slow. There's usually plenty of customers in the store.

Other ranges in our area are EXPENSIVE.

Ok, the down side is that they are pricey, especially on some things, but not so much that I don't buy a lot of stuff there. They will dicker, especially with used guns, but they are priced pretty high to start with. They will give you a handful of range passes when you buy a gun.

Some of their gunpowder went out of sight, so I bought a load off the internet. They've got a full aisle of reloading bullets in many calibers, but not enough variety in common calibers so I usually get those off the web.

It is the most comprehensive gun store and range in our area. The hours are a little restricted. Range open from 10 until about 6. They say they are always available, but several times I've gone in and got "The rifle range isn't open today" and I've got a couple of rifles with me. or "There's a class on the pistol range. it won't be open until after 2:00." Last time we went we have to wait for customs agents with some pretty interesting gear to finish their training.

If anybody knows of one in the Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester country area in SC, please tell me.

 

[hostler]

The three closest shops to me, all within 5 miles, I don't really care for.
One of them is mostly geared toward hunting, nearly 100% of his inventory are lever and bolt action rifles, shotguns and long barreled revolvers and I have little interest in those.
The second shop has a pretty good inventory but they just don't seem to want any customers. They are overpriced and kind of short with people.
The third place doesn't have much in the way of inventory, their prices aren't great and the owner is irritatingly opinionated.
I drive 40 minutes and an hour to a couple other shops before I visit the ones just down the road from me.

 

[BigBoy99]

The LGS in my NC area is a pawn shop which has specialized in firearms. Welcomed it when first started but now don't go there any more. Prices are outrageous! Common guns such as Colt and S&W .38 Special revolvers which are rusty and pitted and should be on the scrap metal pile have $300 and up price tags on them. To make use of their FFL for shipping or receiving is a flat $50 for each use. The young, cocky sales staff know EVERYTHING about guns and will tell you so. I think the rule they follow is "Baffle the customer with BS." They love to close revolvers by snapping the cylinder closed with a quick wrist twist. Just to see what they would offer my, I brought in my Singer M1911A. They looked at it and said the best they could offer is $200. Either they are totally stupid or really a bunch of crooks. After that offer, I've never been back.