I try to support my local shops but it can be very difficult

by Jared, Sunday, May 12, 2013, 09:44 (4158 days ago) @ FOG

Years ago I had a shop that I bought nearly everything at, was friends with most of the staff, and generally went there just to hang out. I have moved several times since then and have yet to find a shop with that atmosphere. Most shops I have been to lately can be placed in one of three categories .

1) they cater almost exclusively to the black rifle/glock crowd and have very little of interest to me.

2) it is a SMALL shop with nothing of interest , except for some old cheap crap priced double or more what it is worth.

3) the shop specializes in "collector" type guns and try to sell them all on Gunbroker or Auction Arms, and in the store they price them at their
"buy it now" price or higher, and won't reduce the price any because they saw an much nicer example sell on Gunbroker 3 years ago for almost what they are asking for theirs.

All of the above mentioned carry no reloading conponents, or of they do it is a box or two of primers and maybe 5# of powder. Their staff couldn't load a cartridge if you handed them a set up turret press and the components. I have actually had a shop tell me they stopped carrying components because "their customers weren't smart enough to load their own ammo" .

I have more than I need by far, so unless it is something i have wanted for a long time, rarely will I pay anywhere near retail on a gun. I enjoy finding a deal more than anything. The Cabelas in this area charge near retail for new guns , but there are good deals to be found in the Gun Library. I try to go at least once a week and you never know what you will find. There are a couple of guys that work there that some of the local shops would be lucky to have. In the last few years I have found stuff like a $199 Model 10 in decent shape, a $229 2" model 34-1, the above single six. I have got a couple of .32 mags in the $350 range. I have also bought a bunch of Leupold scopes that were displays for about half retail.