Gun/Sporting Goods Store Stories

[craigntx]

Went into an army navy surplus store asking about ar15 mags.
Clerk said theirs only fit m16
I just turned around and left.

I remember when Carter's country didnt sell glocks "because they didnt have a safety"
Yet revolvers were available.

Speaking of revolvers carters sold my mom one. A Smith double action 38.
The clerk instructed her to leave the hammer on an empty chamber. A 4 shot. Oh boy

 

[benenglish]

There are way too many stories out there about Carter's.

 

[SQLGeek]

There are way too many stories out there about Carter's.

Pisses me off too because they're the closest dealer to me that has any kind of decent inventory. I just won't darken their door again. I can only tolerate being treated like a dumbass because I'm under 75 so many times.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

I must be the only person with nothing negative to say about Carter's on Treaschwig.

 

[Kar98]

My favorite was the mother/daughter I used to know who were quite the experts on all things Luger pistol and every time either of them went to a gun show, some newb dealer who hadn't learned his lesson yet would be like, awww, here's some jewelry for the little ladies, go look at those instead, when they were trying to look at a gun. So many Lugers just seemed to magically fall apart into a million bits with what it seemed was just a wave of the hand. There's a trick where when you press here and push there, they just about disassemble themselves completely. And if you don't know how, you'll never in your life get them back together. Certainly not as a newb dealer being condescending to two of the foremost Luger experts in the field, LOL.

 

[Moonpie]

Carter's can be bad.
Just the other day I was in there buying some .22 ammo.
A guy came in wanting a 20ga semi-auto shotgun.
Counter guy says we're all sold out of 20's.
The customer turns to leave and Mr.Counter Commando goes to running his mouth about why the F does everybody want 20ga shotguns all of a sudden? Like we don't have racks full of other shotguns!?!?!
How dumb it was to exclude other guns. yada yada yada.
That customer stood there open mouthed. Silently walked out. Doubt he will be back.

 

[SQLGeek]

I must be the only person with nothing negative to say about Carter's on Treaschwig.

Never been to that one. My experience at some of the other stores makes me feel it'd be no different.

 

[SQLGeek]

Carter's can be bad.
Just the other day I was in there buying some .22 ammo.
A guy came in wanting a 20ga semi-auto shotgun.
Counter guy says we're all sold out of 20's.
The customer turns to leave and Mr.Counter Commando goes to running his mouth about why the F does everybody want 20ga shotguns all of a sudden? Like we don't have racks full of other shotguns!?!?!
How dumb it was to exclude other guns. yada yada yada.
That customer stood there open mouthed. Silently walked out. Doubt he will be back.

Don't think I'd be able to keep my mouth shut on that one.

 

[Moonpie]

Yeah, well, it's Carter's so...….

 

[TheMailMan]

Anyone who has been around guns and shooting for any length of time can write a book about idiots behind the counter and their misinformation.
We've all heard inane drivel like "the .22lr enters the body and bounces around inside tearing everything up", to "racking the slide on a pump shotgun causes buildings to crumble and instant death".
Don't listen to any of it.
Better yet do not ask them anything except what is directly related to the sale. It saves on the heartburn.
Purchase what you want and ignore the doofusses.
999 times out of 1000 they've never fired a gun like you're buying anyway.

Anyone who has worked behind the counter can tell you around 50% of the customers are idiots. I've heard both comments you mentioned coming from customers.

I've had people on both sides of the counter tell me they can load their 10mm ammo to .41 Mag specs. That's amazing since the .41 Mag case has almost 1.5x the volume of the 10mm case. Of course if one looks long enough and cherry picks loads you can "prove" just about anything. I've got an example of .40 Short and Weak pushing a 200 gr bullet faster than a .44 Mag load with a .200 gr bullet. So I guess I could say that the .40 Short and Weak is more powerful than a .44 Mag.

I once had a kid come into the store and he told me he needed some stuffings. I asked him a couple of times what he was looking for and he kept saying "stuffings". Finally he said "stuffings, those things you stuff in a shotshell case that hold the shot. Ok, now I know he means wads. I ask him what kind of wads. He tells me it doesn't make any difference since they're all the same. I told him I wouldn't sell him any "stuffings" and to bring an adult next time.

Another time I had a guy buy a Browning BPS 12 ga shotgun for his kid. This was right before duck season. Two days after duck season ends he comes back in with the shotgun. It was beat to crap. Almost all the finish was knocked off the stock, big divots in the stock, forearm is cracked, it's full of sand and dirt, it's rusty, half the finish is off the receiver and it looks like it was attacked with a wire brush. He wants to return it because it was too long for his kid and his kid had a hard time working the action. Mind you we had a written and posted policy that we didn't accept returns on firearms. I told him to take it home and clean it and it might work better. He was adamant he wanted his money back because we sold him a shotgun that was too big for his kid. His kid was 14 years old, 6' tall and around 200 lbs. He was pissed that we wouldn't give him his money back. Got all pissed and started to throw things off the counter. One of the guys behind the counter was an off duty LEO. Guy got arrested and trespassed. About six months later he walks in and goes into the fishing tackle department. We called the cops and had him arrested again.

I had a guy come in and want me to special order some .300 Weatherby ammo in the 110 grain load. He had shot a deer with the 150 gr load and it caused a bunch of meat damage. He was positive that the 110 grain load would cause less meat damage. I attempted to try and get him to use some 180 or even some 220 gr ammo. Nope, he wanted five boxes of the 110 grain loading. Well, I order it. The next year comes in with four boxes of the 110 grain load and wants to swap it for some 180 gr. We didn't take returns on ammo and he was pissed. Mind you this was back in the '80's when you could get .30-06 ammo for under $10 a box and the Weatherby ammo was around $35 a box. Guy begged me to swap him. His buddy was with him and started laughing. Told me the guy shot a deer with those 110 grain bullets and it ruined about 75% of the meat. It was all bloodshot and shredded.

Had another guy come in and want some 7mm Mauser ammo. I sold him two boxes that he asked for. About three days later he comes in all pissed. Claims we sold him the "wrong" 7mm Mauser ammo. I asked what he meant. He pulls a piece of 7mm Mauser brass out of his pocket that practically a blown out straight wall cartridge. I ask him what rifle he shot it in. He tells me a 7mm Weatherby. I'm now wondering what the hell is going on. I ask why did you shoot 7mm Mauser in a 7mm Weatherby. He tells me that the "right" 7mm Mauser ammo is like shooting .38 Spl in a .357 Mag. I try and explain that it doesn't work that way. He says I'm full of bullshit and EVERYONE knows that the "right" 7mm Mauser will work in a 7mm Weatherby.

We had at least one person a month buy the wrong ammo. Even though in many cases we would try and get them to buy the right ammo. Things like .308 ammo for a .30-06. .38 Spl ammo for a .38 S&W revolver.

Guys who would take their gun apart and then bring it in for us to reassemble. I had one guy bring in a 1911 frame with a S&W 39 slide. Swore up and down it came that way from the factory.

Guys would come in a want some .30 cal bullets for reloading their .03-06 and try and tell me that the .308 bullets were too big. Guys that would come in and want some "fast" powder for reloading for their rifle.

Then there were the Magnum Nuts. They would swear up and down that with a 100 yard zero that their -insert magnum- rifle would shoot 6" flatter than a .30-06 at 200 yards.

Guys would come in a brag about how they were making all these 60-70 yard shots on ducks. We had a mounted flight of pintails on the wall opposite the gun counter. I'd ask them how far away those mounts were. Most guys would guess 40-60 yards. They were 21 yards away.

We held rifle sight in days with a local private club. The same guy who had been telling you about his 500 yard shot on a deer couldn't even hit paper at 100 yards.


Long story short, there are plenty of idiots on both sides of the counter. I've heard some pretty crazy things at every gun counter I've spent more than 10 minutes at.

 

[SQLGeek]

Anyone who has worked behind the counter can tell you around 50% of the customers are idiots. I've heard both comments you mentioned coming from customers.

That was quite the read. I've spent enough time in customer service to know the customer certainly isn't always right.

 

[The.Other.Jared]

Can't believe I forgot this one:

I was talking to a woman who had just moved to Texas from California a couple years ago. She was telling me about her outstanding marksmanship. Her claim: she went shooting with her husband. He used a thumb tack to attach the target to a wooden fence post. He tries to show her the fundamentals but she refuses with an, "I got this!" She then bets her husband she can shoot the fly that just so happens to have landed on the thumb track. She proceeds to hit the fly, shatter the plastic part of the tack, and drive the tack deep into the fence post. Target falls and husband is amazed...

After that BS tall tale I could only think of one question: what kind of gun was this? Her response: BB GUN!

 

[jrbfishn]

I used to work at the Walmart at Parmer Lane and IH35 about 2004. Glocks were becoming a real fad around there about that time. Once or twice a week I would get customers that would ask for ammo for a Glock. And quickly get a dumbfounded look on their face when asked what caliber was their particular Glock. The answer was invariably not an answer. It's a Glock, aren't they the same? Can't I just buy Glock ammo?
Or the ones I still get:
Them: I need some ammo.
Me: for what?
Them: for a pistol.
Me: revolver or semi-auto?
Them: what's the difference? Aren't they all the same?

Or the ones that ask for ammo. When asked for what caliber, they pull it out of their purse or back pocket and say "for this. I am not sure what it is". And they don't have a LTC.
Yes, it happens more than you might think.


Sent by an idjit coffeeholic from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[Charley]

Couple years back, during the great powder/primer drought, I needed some percussion caps. Just so happened the shopping center we were at had a Dick's in it. I went in,looked around the firearms section, and didn't see any. Walked up to the counter, and asked the counter person if they had any percussion caps. He looked at me, and seriously asked me back, :have you looked in the men's ware section?" Burst out laughing, walked out, and never went into a Dick's again, looooong before the "assault rifle" BS. I don't make a practice of doing business with morons.

 

[Dawico]

Heard a customer ask what to do if his gas operated shotgun ran out of gas.

Guy behind the counter told him to bring it in and they would fill it up for him.

We waited until said customer left before laughing.

 

[SQLGeek]

Heard a customer ask what to do if his gas operated shotgun ran out of gas.

Guy behind the counter told him to bring it in and they would fill it up for him.

We waited until said customer left before laughing.

Should have told him to check his car's water pump too and make sure it wasn't a quart low.

 

[Dad_Roman]

Auto parts store (same difference)

Guy walks in and says "I need some spaaak pluuugs."

Counter guy doesnt miss a beat and says "What color?"

Guy looks real lost for a bit and mumbles "What colors ya got?"

 

[Rangerscott]

Every time I see a salesman sell a no stock pistol grip shotgun for home defense.

Go to youtube and see all the people that cant handle a no stock shotgun.

 

[V-Tach]

Guy comes in and signs he and his wife up for an LTC class....states his wife will be shooting her Lady Smith snubby .38 SPL...….I asked if she was proficient with it. "She shoots 2 inch groups at 25 yards consistently" he claimed...…..I didn't say a word.....

After the qualification I was scoring her target that she had decided to shoot with a Ruger 22/45 ......scored 218...….kept my mouth shut when scoring the husband's target who didn't do any better with his .22 either......

 

[Dawico]

Guy comes in and signs he and his wife up for an LTC class....states his wife will be shooting her Lady Smith snubby .38 SPL...….I asked if she was proficient with it. "She shoots 2 inch groups at 25 yards consistently" he claimed...…..I didn't say a word.....

After the qualification I was scoring her target that she had decided to shoot with a Ruger 22/45 ......scored 218...….kept my mouth shut when scoring the husband's target who didn't do any better with his .22 either......

You can qualify with a 22 now?