I know where NOT to buy my next gun.

I went to Sportsman's Warehouse today to look at some New Vaqueros. I knew they had a few in stock and I wanted to handle a 4-5/8 and a 5-1/2 side by side, as I'm starting to zero in on what I want to buy. The young feller working the gun counter took the two guns off the rack and made sure they were clear, then set them down for me to examine. While I was looking at one, he picked the other back up and started spinning it on his finger and pretending to "quick-draw" it, Buffalo Bill-style. I know that probably will not hurt the gun, but sure puts it at risk of being dropped. I didn't say anything, but I don't want to buy one that has been handled by this rootin' tootin' razzle-dazzle show off! Oh, yeah, he also cycled the action about 5 or 6 times, as fast as he could work it. Again, not necessarily going to damage anything, but when I buy a new gun I want it to be as new as possible.

That kind of stuff happens all too often! A polite word to the management might be in order here.

You think that's abuse? I used to buy a few guns from the now defunct "Oshman's". I was there at closing time and watched the dim whit behind the counter scoop up all the handguns under the dispaly case and literally drop them in a lock box. Clack clack clack...

I bought a Charter Arms .44 Bulldog in '79 from a non gun shop that had an FFL. I entered to collect my new treasure to see them passing it back and forth like it was a toy. One kind lady figured out how to open the cylinder, spin is 'bout 15K MPH and slam it shut. I was then handed the gun and box with a broken "unbreakable" firing pin snapped off flush. I told them I wasn't accepting a broken gun and was told the paper work was done and I had to take it. Nice...

2 trips back to the factory and I had a gun that would go bang when I pulled the trigger. Still have it!

This is why when I am considering a new purchase, I might go to "The Worlds Foremost Outfitter" or to that large Bait & Tackle shop to hold the gun and see what it feels like, then I go home and shop online. I can almost always get it cheaper and be pretty much assured that when I buy something "NIB", that it really is "N".

Truth be told, I have purchased from those aforementioned places. Sometimes they have decent sales and sometimes I just want something right now, but I will only buy the gun if I see the guy break the seal on the box and I say so up front.

Scott

Don't want to shatter anyone's illusions, but you should see what the drivers do to your brand new cars when loading them onto carriers and railroad transports!

There was a very large gun shop in Phoenix some years ago where one could order any gun at 5% over dealer cost. The owner would promptly fire unknown quantities of ammo in the downstairs range, especially with unique calibers. Nothing like picking up your new gun and being told "She sure shoots good after ya get the sights dialed in..."

I questioned a guy at Sportsman's about the fact that the handguns are stacked together on those racks. They are banged up against one another time and time again.

The guy shrugged his shoulders and said "yeah, we drop a few every day, too"..........

I don't even bother looking at them anymore. Whoever designed that system of displaying handguns needs to have his head examined.....

Rant Over

flatgate

Truth be told, I have purchased from those aforementioned places. Sometimes they have decent sales and sometimes I just want something right now, but I will only buy the gun if I see the guy break the seal on the box and I say so up front.

Scott

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I am with you Scott on that! I have bought some from them BUT, only if they had one NIB in the back & open in front of me! :roll: 8)

Some of us fellows here that are a little long in the tooth, can remember when you bought handguns and rifles from a REAL gunshop, not a "sporting goods store" that also sold jogging shoes and golf balls.

When you picked up a handgun or rifle to look it over and then returned it, the man behind the counter wiped it off with an oil rag to remove fingerprints. The people in the gunshop knew guns, and "talked" guns. Sometimes there was a coffee pot and some good ole' cigar, pipe or cigarette smoke in the air to add to the discussions going on.

Now we have kids in sporting goods stores and chain stores who don't know a wadcutter from a cookie cutter!

Most places you get a discount if you buy a display model and know enough to ask. You look at the display model and then tell them if you want one just like it, new in the box. Then all you are risking is one some other numb nuts customer dropped.
When you go to buy anything if you do not know what you are doing, do not expect anyone with the store to be looking out for you anymore.

I have found a good gunshop in my area and that is who I do business with. When you find a good one, it is often a rare thing. I show my appreciation by trying to help keep them in business.

When I lived in Idaho, I went to Shapel's Gun Shop. They were some of the nicest people to do business with I've ever encountered. Sadly, I understand they are now out of business.

Yes Shapel's is no more. I bought several Rugers from them, they were very helpful too!

I've bought a couple of guns from Sportsman's Wharehouse. I wouldn't worry too much about it. If they have more than one in stock they bring a NIB one out from the back to give to you. They don't sell the display models unless that is all that's left AFAIK. Just remember you'll need to decided you want one and then do your inspection on the one from the back. Let them keep the banged up display models for display.

This is exactly correct, look at the beater display model. If you decide to purchase, tell them you want one in a box that has not been opened. If the guns been handled or displayed -- I start at asking price minus 25% if its not beat up . A beat gun I will not buy.

The last Ruger Blackhawk .45 Colt I bought was 'off the shelf' . It felt good in the hand, was pre-lock, the billboard was rolled under, and was priced under the other .45s which had the silly internal lock. I bought it. Didn't matter to me that it was one of the display models at Sportsman's Warehouse.... Didn't look abused in any way.

Good luck with that... most shops have everything out... it doesn't hurt to ask if they have another in the back, but you will likely not get any substantial price break on a display gun.

I've seen signs that say not to disassemble and a reputable shop owner won't just hand over a $3000 STI open gun to somebody that is not going to buy it. On the other hand, if its just a gun you are going to shoot, what does a little handling really matter. A collectable gun is a different matter and I don't want my gun thrown around, but being in a display rack isn't a big deal to me.

Last time I bought a gun, it was a GP100 at Sportsmans Warehouse. I looked at the display model for a while and then told him I want to buy the one they still had in the back - I got to watch him take it out of the sealed package. Still had a drag line all around the cylinder though... :lol:

The local store has several older guys behind the counter and they all seem to know what they're doing.

im lucky the very few shops near me that are local owned know how to treat guns.

Yeah, I'm particular about looking guns over before I accept them, and I tend to buy new. I usually wind up ordering what I want, which is fine with me.

New car treatment? I used to do dealer swaps - driving cars from one dealer to the next. Ever seen a Maxima with a temp tag pull out of a toll booth with two smoking tires? Perhaps that was me...

When I was in the Air Force, I bought a Ruger Old Army 200th Year model, new in the box direct from Ruger through the Rod and Gun Club on base. However, I lived in the barracks/dorms, so I could not keep it and had to have it locked up in an armory. They would not take it in the box (which I had to store myself) or in a gun rug, but they had this locker where all stored handguns hung on individual hooks, next to (and I presume, banging up against) other guns.

Needless to say, my "collectible" ROA is not so pristine as it once was (though still unfired). Not damaged, but just little scracthes here and there.

A year and a half ago, I bought a Ruger 454 Casull Super Redhawk from Wal-mart. They were having a 15% off sale on guns that had not sold for a while. I was not really looking for another SRH, but for 15% off.... However, this was near the end of the year. Anchorage has a tax on business property (including inventory), so I know that including the sale in 2007 would be desirable. So, I figured I could negotiate a little bit, especially since the gun had been unsold for 16 months (I got the clerk to decipher the coding on the price tag) and it had several scratches on the barrel and cylinder, the blacking worn off the front and rear sights and one "leaf" of the rear sight was broken off. So, I offered $500 if they would 1) have the gun checked for operation and safety and 2) have the rear sight repaired. This amounted to almost another 15% discount. The manager on-site accepted my offer. I paid.

The next day, Wal-Mart reneged on the sale. Said their policy is not to do repairs, that the matter is between the buyer and the manufacturer. The also offered no compensation for breaking their contract of sale, just that they would not honor their end, period. They did offer me a refund, like it was some kind of favor.

I kept the gun anyway. Wal-mart central headquarters has never responded to me, and the local store managers and I had a sit-down where I was allowed to express my displeasure, but they never even offered so much as a box of ammo or even a package of paper targets for the inconvenience. I did, however go to the gunsmith who restored the firing mechanism (all Wal-mart's guns are disabled as well as being trigger-locked in the display case) and verified that he checked the gun (Thank you, Wild West Guns, Anchorage Alaska) and determined that it was operationally sound, on Wal-Mart's dime. It is a good shooter.

Know your guns and know how to tell if it has been mis-handled or in need of the attentions of a repair shop/gunsmith. It is your duty to yourself. Whether the repairs are needed from you shooting it properly or from someone mis-handling it away from your knowledge makes no difference. Know your guns.

I try to keep this rule for everything I own. If I cannot service it, diagnose it, strip it and rebuild it, I should not own it. (Of course, I cannot keep to that dictum for everything I own or use, but I do keep it as a desire, if not a goal). Every gun I own, I have disassembled and examined internally and externally immediately after purchase (or soon thereafter).

Another story: My first gun was a Dan Wesson Model 15 357 mag. I was in a (different) gun store (the one where I bought my reloading equipment) talking with the owner about my gun and when I told him how much I liked the internal lockwork, he was aghast and told me I was an idiot for taking it apart. OK, each to his own. I was not insulted. Well, six months later, HE had a customer with a DW who had taken his apart and, upon reassembly, the crane would not stay in the gun. The shop owner, never having seen the inside of one himself, could not determine the problem. So, he showed it to me. There is a half-circlip that fits in a groove of the crane axle to keep it in place. Immediately obvious, it was missing.

I happened to have my gun with me, so we opened it and I showed him the part. Observing that it was about the same size as coat hangar wire, we put a micrometer on it and determined they were the precisely the same size. So, we took wire clippers, a file and a couple pair of needlenose pliers and made a replacement.

The gun worked fine. I told him that if the gun's owner could not find the proper part wherever he had opened up the gun, he should get a replacement from DW, made of the proper metal, but that this would probably serve for a day of shooting anyway.

But the true comeuppance really came when the shop owner, at another time, was complaining to me about having to send some Ruger 10-22 magazines back to the factory because the end-plates were loose. I said, it is no problem to fix them, but he protested that he had documentation from Ruger that they are not repairable.

I bought them from him for a couple of dollars apiece. He was happy; he didn't have to go through the trouble of mailing them back to Ruger, etc. Then I borrowed a screwdriver and needlenose pliers from him. I opened up the mags one at a time and tightened them up just fine right on his counter while he watched.

Now I am not psychic, but, to this day, I know the look on his face was one of helpless dismay. I did not look at his face because I knew it would not be polite to bust out laughing. But I instinctively knew I would not be able to help it, or at least a smirk. You see, I had no idea if I would be able to fix the mags or if the spring would toss the follower across the room and unwind like a tangled slinky, leaving me with egg on my face and him to gloat. But the joy in snapping that end cap back on tight was just too delicious. (I have never claimed to be an emotionally superior human being.)

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Lost Sheep.

P.S. Don't be upset over where your spouse was before you met. Just be glad she/he is with you now. Same for your guns.

Big Bubba":3k2mystn said:

Some of us fellows here that are a little long in the tooth, can remember when you bought handguns and rifles from a REAL gunshop, not a "sporting goods store" that also sold jogging shoes and golf balls.

When you picked up a handgun or rifle to look it over and then returned it, the man behind the counter wiped it off with an oil rag to remove fingerprints. The people in the gunshop knew guns, and "talked" guns. Sometimes there was a coffee pot and some good ole' cigar, pipe or cigarette smoke in the air to add to the discussions going on.

Now we have kids in sporting goods stores and chain stores who don't know a wadcutter from a cookie cutter!

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+1

I've never bought a gun from a "box store." Like has been previously stated, if you can even get someone to notice your there, it's highly doubtful they know what the heck your talking about (especially if it's one of those "old west" guns we all love.)