Your local GUN SHOP

[Texasgordo]

I'll just keep going to GTs in Austin. They have always treated me great.


I also bought once from the Livengood Store in Lockhart and they were nice and helpful.

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[sucker76]

Its not that simple Boss.
There is exactly ONE local gun shop here. If it isn't AR or Glock'ish they do not have it. They will not order it. Many times they have never even heard of it.
Want to see something funny? Go in there and ask for some 1 1/8" English flints for a 1777 Charleville. Or maybe a magazine spring for a C-96 Broomie Mauser. Watch the look on their faces. A computer that is turned off has a less blank looking screen.
Once in there I had them tell me Mossberg no longer makes the M590A1. This is the same shotgun the U.S.military uses currently.
$75.00 for a transfer.

The Internet is the only way I can get most of what I need.

Those dudes are all around jerks too. I stopped shopping there after they screwed my buddy on a silencer. He paid for it but they never submitted the paperwork. He was waiting over a year and I got mine through Silencer Shop online in 4 months. He pressed them for answers and the shop admitted they "forgot" to send in paperwork to ATF.

 

[TheMailMan]

There are two local stores I try and support. B&B and S.W. Ammo. Both have decent stocks of powder with fairly decent prices. Neither one carries any casting equipment.

I can however save at least 20% ordering powder and primers online.

I have yet to find a decent local gun store. I've been to Gunmaster in Plano once. It looks like a pretty decent place. I didn't get a chance to really look at the firearms to see how the pricing is.

If I need things like holsters or mag holders I pretty much to have to go online due to availability and price.

 

[Charlie]

There are two local stores I try and support. B&B and S.W. Ammo. Both have decent stocks of powder with fairly decent prices. Neither one carries any casting equipment.

I can however save at least 20% ordering powder and primers online.

I have yet to find a decent local gun store. I've been to Gunmaster in Plano once. It looks like a pretty decent place. I didn't get a chance to really look at the firearms to see how the pricing is.

If I need things like holsters or mag holders I pretty much to have to go online due to availability and price.

Absolutely correct!

 

[SQLGeek]

I'm torn on this because I grew up in the life of my parents owning their own small business.

But I've also received some absolutely terrible service in local gun stores with the exception of the nearby Academy stores and Tomball Pawn. It's turned me off from wanting to keep going to local stores.

I'm not going to pay an exorbitant premium to a LGS just because. The LGS needs to provide a value for the extra money I am paying such as excellent customer service, the ability to handle a variety of firearms I might be considering, a convenience that's worth the cost, etc. The money we earn is from the sacrifice of our work and time. I don't like pissing it away needlessly.

 

[Jon Payne]

I'd be happy to meet any TGT member at my shop. We work hard to stay competitive with the big box stores. We do have a resident expert on staff who readily admits he doesn't know everything (me). If any of ya'll are ever in the Golden Triangle we're at 3135 Texas Ave Bridge City TX 77611/Ray's Pawnshop.

 

[EZ-E]

Although I often work @ Beaumont, I usually just "pass-through" the Texas "Golden Triangle" area. Until recently, I flew my own plane, and would just fly "direct".

leVieux

Is that like flying in for one of those $200 hamburgers?

 

[Charlie]

I'd be happy to meet any TGT member at my shop. We work hard to stay competitive with the big box stores. We do have a resident expert on staff who readily admits he doesn't know everything (me). If any of ya'll are ever in the Golden Triangle we're at 3135 Texas Ave Bridge City TX 77611/Ray's Pawnshop.

If I'm ever that way again, I'll come by!

 

[tact]

I'd be happy to meet any TGT member at my shop. We work hard to stay competitive with the big box stores. We do have a resident expert on staff who readily admits he doesn't know everything (me). If any of ya'll are ever in the Golden Triangle we're at 3135 Texas Ave Bridge City TX 77611/Ray's Pawnshop.

I would highly recommend Mr. Payne if anyone is ever out his way. He’s very knowledgeable, skilled, honest, and all around good man.

 

[Jon Payne]

I would highly recommend Mr. Payne if anyone is ever out his way. He’s very knowledgeable, skilled, honest, and all around good man.

Thank you for the kind words.


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[Moonpie]

I'm more than willing to give the LGS a mark-up but there is a limit.
LGS carries a very limited supply of ammo calibers.
If I want to shoot, say the .32acp, I am going to be out of luck there. I'll have to go to one of the Big Box places or go On-line.
Guess my gun needs are just too oddball for any one shop to cater to.
More or less have to shop the net for many of the things I need.
Heck, one day I may be hunting for a bullet mould for a .45-70 BPCR and the next a set of Meprolight Night Sights for Glock, and on Tuesday a cartridge extractor for a Spencer carbine.
When is the last time you saw some .30 Remington rifle ammo on the shelf?
Not the AR stuff but the old pump/semi-auto rifle stuff. Yeah I have one.
Nobody carries that wide range of goods.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

I'm more than willing to give the LGS a mark-up but there is a limit.
LGS carries a very limited supply of ammo calibers.
If I want to shoot, say the .32acp, I am going to be out of luck there. I'll have to go to one of the Big Box places or go On-line.
Guess my gun needs are just too oddball for any one shop to cater to.
More or less have to shop the net for many of the things I need.
Heck, one day I may be hunting for a bullet mould for a .45-70 BPCR and the next a set of Meprolight Night Sights for Glock, and on Tuesday a cartridge extractor for a Spencer carbine.
When is the last time you saw some .30 Remington rifle ammo on the shelf?
Not the AR stuff but the old pump/semi-auto rifle stuff. Yeah I have one.
Nobody carries that wide range of goods.

Well, you just like to be difficult, don't ya....

 

[V-Tach]

Interesting thread....I appreciate the insight from the customer's viewpoint......

 

[leVieux]

Another thing not many know, and I had to find-out the "hard way" is that the "big box" outfits order massive amounts of shells seasonally, so they frequently have those shells made more cheaply, in order to give a low price. These shells look just like the ones found at Gun Shops, but are really inferior. Remember that they quit putting the actual "Drams of powder" on the labels some 35 years ago,they now say "Drams equiv."

The shotgun shells from a Gun Shop are always the REAL DEAL".

I realize that some won't believe this, so it's no use to argue here.

leVieux

 

[popper]

LGS has powder by the pound and I don't use that much. Need what they have, easier than order and wait. Pretty good prices on everything but guns are marked up a bit. If they go out of business, B.P.& C. LGS has to keep inventory and doesn't sell shoes or clothes to make up the margin.

 

[Frank59]

Everyone should try standing BEHIND the counter awhile, and hearing the absolute nonsense spouted by those who aren't going to BUY anyway. leVieux

No excuse for being a jerk to a perspective customer!

 

[BuzzinSATX]

I’m not a business owner, but I understand the concepts.

Just my perspective, as a customer. I walk through LGS’s like I walk through pawn shops...looking for stuff that will be opportunities and special deals. If I want a new shotgun or a pistol, I’ll either shop online, call GT Distributors, or wait for a sale at Cabelas or wherever, as my LGS’s are way overpriced on new guns...

In my unpaid and unsolicited opinion, the best things a LGS could do to stay in the gun business would be provide the stuff you can’t easily get from the internet or big box stores.

If I were to get in the LGS business, I’d be focusing on gun smithing type services, “pro level” gun cleaning (tank cleaning), maybe classes on minor gun maintenance and care, and custom stuff like finishes, holsters, etc. I’d provide the cheapest transfers in town by undercutting everyone else by $3-5. I’d offer initial set up and orientation service for anyone buying a reloading set up.

With the plethora of selections for guns, ammo, reloading components, etc., it would be really hard to keep up with inventory. I might buy the very basic stuff like range ammo for the popular calibers like .22, .223, 9/40/45/38, but only when I could get smoking deals and stock up deep enough to make it worth my while.

For firearms, I’d probably basically act like a pawn shop...buying and selling mainly used guns, and also provide a gun locator and consignment service for folks looking for something special or trying to sell a gun outright.

I think the old model of going to a LGS to buy ammo or a new pistol has become a thing of the past, but the service portion...that is where the demand is, at least from me.






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[majormadmax]

No excuse for being a jerk to a perspective customer!

But that's exactly how many gun shops lose customers! Just because I didn't buy something today doesn't mean I won't be back to do so later. This is exactly how the Powderhorn in San Antonio lost my business. One rude employee drove me out of the store with the intent to never step foot in there again. It was years before I gave them a second chance, and I will say they are a lot friendlier these days. In fact, it likely was just the one employee that caused the boycott, but it only takes on instance of bad service to lose business. If it happens more than one, such as I've experienced at the Bullethole, I will never give them any more chances. And it's just not my business that is lost, I will make sure everyone I know hears about my experience. It's the same for good businesses. Word of mouth will make or break a store faster than any advertising!

 

[Vaquero]

I supported a local gun store for decades.
Spent more there than I'd ever admit to.
Sent countless buying customers their way.

They moved, changed their business model.
No more reloading components.
No more gunsmithing equipment or gun parts.
Dinky little showroom with one guy behind a counter.
They're an internet sales and guntrader.com company now.
Yeah, I supported the best gun store in 5 counties.
I believed just like OP.
It stabbed me in the back.

 

[Kar98]

I'd be happy to meet any TGT member at my shop. We work hard to stay competitive with the big box stores. We do have a resident expert on staff who readily admits he doesn't know everything (me). If any of ya'll are ever in the Golden Triangle we're at 3135 Texas Ave Bridge City TX 77611/Ray's Pawnshop.

WhyTF isn't your store named A World of Payne?