Supporting local gun shops...

[FITASC]

I know 4 guys who operate out of their home doing nothing but transfers; cheaper than any pawn shop or big box store who want $75/transfer - these guys do it for $20 plus the phone call.

[Wendyj]

I feel your pain. I'm in much larger populated area and have a Bass Pro, Cabelas, Acadamy Sports, Dicks and several small gun stores. Like most people I only buy from the large chains if it's a really good sale. Will order reloading equipment or drive to get it from Cabelas. I also have 3 lgs within a five mile radius. One is crooked and overcharges by at least $200.00 per gun that I can either buy or order at the one that's 200 yards away from it. All specialize in something so one may have cheaper assault type weapons while another has a ton of older revolvers and lever guns. Third is catered to the hunter and carries every optic from cheap to Nightforce and Scmidt and Bender. Guess it depends on your need at the time. It is a shame though for one shop to make $50.00 profit on a firearm and another as stated before trying to retire on each sale. I don't always shoot American made guns but to my knowledge all my stores in vicinity are American owned. Just have to bite the bullet sometimes depending on your needs.

[flashhole]

Anyone order guns through Walmart? If you know the model # of the gun you want it's a simple transaction. I have purchased two rifles through them and been very happy with the purchase.

[JoeSixpack]

@flashhole.

walmart will send to a dealer?
I know some walmarts do not sell guns.
I bought a marlin 60 from a walmart but had to drive 20 miles to one that sold guns.. ones near me do not.

[FITASC]

Anyone order guns through Walmart? If you know the model # of the gun you want it's a simple transaction. I have purchased two rifles through them and been very happy with the purchase.

The Walmarts where I am keep an Ellett Bros catalog behind the counter. Won't let you order a handgun, but you can order shotguns ans rifles from the catalog for delivery to the store.

[Gunplummer]

I never really thought about it until someone mentioned it here, but even online sales support a lot of gun shops. I get transfers done by a part time Dealer. He is mostly a black gun shop, but does not mind doing transfers for your stuff. He does a lot of shows and will keep an eye out for stuff that is more in your line and welcomes consignments. I buy a lot of on line guns and most do come from gun shops somewhere in the country. I like to cruise the net and pick up "Parts guns" and Gunsmith specials. Deals like that do not come up too often in your local shops.

[pete2]

My main local shop will order anything you want but doesn't stock guns, he might have 10 on the shelf. He does stock a lot of reloading components and he's handy. I have ordered the last 3 guns thru him, he may be 30.00 higher but I'd like to keep him in business. He isn't the cheapest on components but he's cheaper than the closest BPS or Gander. I also order some stuff, mainly bullets from other sources. If the local guy is a lot higher I'll order from Bud's or whoever.

[mikejonestkd]

I am very fortunate to have two great local shops near me.

One of them is the largest in the Rochester area ( Beikirchs ), and can come close to matching Buds or other online sources and they have a huge selection on hand.
The other is a great local smith ( Burnt Mill Smithing ) that does wonderful work for me, and can even keep an eye out for me when i am in the hunt for a very specific used firearm. His prices are competitive, and his work is very well regarded.

I only use online sources as a benchmark for pricing, and still prefer to buy 90% of the time from these two local shops.

[weblance]

This is a touchy subject, and I do feel somewhat guilty because I have ordered a few guns online. I support my LGS through transfers. In the last year, I have done 7 transfers @ $20 each. I can not afford to pay the prices they charge for guns. My last purchase, my LGS had the exact same firearm for $170 more than I paid online. I'm sorry, but that's big money to me, so they get my business $20 at a time.

[JoeSixpack]

meh, I don't even do transfers at gun shops most of them are high on those as well.. 40 bucks for a transfer is high way robbery in my book.

anything over 20 is unreasonable I think, and I've noticed a disturbing trend of some wanting to charge "nics fee" now.. even though we know it cost them nothing when pressured most of them will say that's incase you get denied they can walk away with something for their time... still BS imo though.

My guys carries no inventory and just does transfers out of his house, not very professional but he works cheap.

[EIB0879]

I grew up in a small town with two gunshops within 30 miles. Both the owners were hard to deal with. .Inventory was limited at the closer one and the inventory at the further one was overpriced.

I ended up buying firearms from Walgreen in my hometown before WalMart came along. My BIL was also a class 3 dealer so if I wanted something unusual, I could buy it from him.

I can't remember the last time I bought from an LGS. I'm sure that there are good ones, but I live in the DFW area with plenty of big box competition. And I have Grabagun's retail location 20 mins from my office. I can buy a firearm from then have it shipped to the retail location, no transfer fee, and pick it up at lunch.

LGSs are going the way of a lot of brick and mortar retail locations. It isn't necessarily a bad thing for the consumer.

[FITASC]

LGSs are going the way of a lot of brick and mortar retail locations. It isn't necessarily a bad thing for the consumer.

Until a Bloomberg group or similar gets laws past against interstate sales of guns........

Up until 1968, you could have a mail order gun delivered to your house by your local postman......

[Carmike]

Thanks for all the replies, gents. I guess part of this has to do with being a "newbie," maybe? I am the type of customer who asks questions (as I said, I'm new to this), some might be and probably are stupid. And I genuinely would prefer to give the guy I can see my money instead of some other guy in Southern State, USA, my credit card number.

As I said, I've been at this hobby for about two years. It's happened that I've walked into a LGS, ready to buy a gun or ammo, and left after feeling like an idiot for asking the difference between 223 and 556, or whether I should buy shot #this or shot #that for pheasants. Another shop in town, when I went in looking for a 243 for deer hunting, the owner asked if I was looking for a gun for my 12-year old daughter (I don't have a daughter).

Compared to that, at the big box store, the kid might answer and the "gun guy" comes in after being called over the PA system, and we chat for a while about the + and - of this shot vs that shot, and this gauge vs that gauge, and trips to South Dakota, and other things, too. And I save 40% on that ammo b/c I didn't buy it from the guy who called me a "kitty cat that starts with p" for wanting 243. I guess, as the first gentleman said, that I don't understand economies.

Good point about being able to handle/inspect/shoulder the firearm. I must admit to not considering it that much...I just assumed that, if I shot my buddy's Ruger GP or S&W Model 686 or Big Boy or BLR or whatever, that (assuming the model I shot one is in current production) the one I got online would be close enough. Given the expense of some of the guns I'm looking at, and the state sales tax here, the cheap transfer fee and 20-35% discount is a considerable savings.

[Pathfinder45]

Around here, there are some pure gunshops; and then there are pawnshops that more or less also happen to have a strong suit in the buy-sell-trade-guns game; and then there are gun-shows. These three are the the mainstream of the second-hand gun market as well as new firearms. Flip the coin, and you have your sporting-goods stores like Sportsmans Warehouse or Fishermans Marine that might occasionally have a few pre-owned firearms, but mainly deal in new guns. Then there are the big box stores that have a sporting goods section with some firearms, only new, mind you, and not likely any handguns, but Bi-Mart has added them. If I were purchasing a firearm, I expect it would come from one of two pure gunshops that I have had good encounters with, or, anything can happen at a gunshow. Not all gunshops are equal; some are excellent, others, not so much.

[Art Eatman]

Carmike, nobody was ever born an expert in anything.

My grandfather had a saying, "If you don't know, ask." Works for me.

I began shooting my grandfather's .22 rifle in 1941. Began reloading for centerfire in 1950. That doesn't make me any kind of know-everything guru, though.

I still ask questions.

[Tony Z]

I'm spoiled! Here in north central PA, gun shops abound! With multiple shops, service at all is good, as are prices. Online? Fine for more than a few guns, but for wood stocks, I like to see what the wood looks like. One of the LGS (Grice's in Clearfield) has a thirty day return policy-try that online.

[FITASC]

and I've noticed a disturbing trend of some wanting to charge "nics fee" now.-

My state does not use the Federal system; rather they use their own, and they DO charge $5 for the dealer to call; so $20 for the dealer + $5 for the state.

[JoeSixpack]

Fair enough Fitasc, I think CA also has a similar setup where it cost.

But im in Ohio, NICS only and NICS is free.
The "NICS fee" in NICS states was something I only heard about on the gun boards years ago but the practice seems to have spread to my own state in the last few years, I won't even do business with a dealer charging a NCIS fee out of principle.

[Carmike]

Well, I do ask, Art...but then a question that *seems* reasonable (like the difference between 223 and 556 while holding in my pocket the cash to buy one or the other) is answered brusquely or with an obvious lack of interest. Then I make awkward conversation and leave.

I'm sure the gun shop guys get lots of folks in who are just looking to fondle toys. But some of those potential buyers must actually want to buy...What's the code or signal that lets the guy behind the counter know I'm not just killing time between episodes of Matlock and Murder, She Wrote?

[the possum]

How often does a guy buy a gun? So it's $50 or $75 more at the LGS. What's the significance?

If that's all the difference was, I'd buy from the local guys far more often.

I went through some hard times, and did not buy a gun or anything really, for a period of 12 years. I spent almost every day of those 12 years dreaming about all the guns I wanted. So when I finally got the finances squared away, I went on a gun buying bender. So yeah, even though I wasn't literally bringing a new gun home every day, I was looking and planning my next purchase almost every day.

One of the first guns I got was an FNAR. Local shop had one hanging on the wall with a $1600 price tag. I bought it online for $1001 (which includes shipping). Then I decided on a Windham Weaponry AR carbine. It was $900 in the shop, a better shop quoted $760 to order one; I got it for $533 online.

As someone else pointed out, once you get above 4 or 5 hundred dollars, the sales tax on a locally bought gun costs more than the shipping and transfer to buy online.

Then, there's the fact I have eclectic tastes. I had a hankerin' fer a whole passel of antiques or obscure guns. Like my original Whitney Wolverine, or the antique top-break big bore revolver, or the miniature Colt, or the German Drilling. If I were limited to local shops, there's a good chance I'd have never found all those in my lifetime, let alone in 3 years at fair prices.

[Rmart30]

I agree to a point of supporting locals. But, when I can buy the same exact new rifle online for $75-200 less, or when a box of ammo at the LGS is $32 a box, and I can get the same online for $20 a box. Im getting them online.
I only buy ammo 2 or 3 times a year. Most of the major online places will run free shipping once or twice a year, or have a flat rate shipping and when they do I buy in bulk. So there is no , or little shipping cost or 10% tax on top of it. My buddies and myself buy from a site that has $15 flat rate shipping and have at times had orders of a couple thousand rds shipped for that and when divided up is like a nickel a box to ship.

I have always bought way more used guns than new guns. Years back when I started buying the "going price" for a FFL transfer was $15 from most gun shops and pawn shops.
The local sporting good store where I bought a lot of my fishing gear and hunting clothing from quoted me $45 for a FFL transfer.
I asked him why so high? He said well ya should buy one from us. Problem was that they never had any type of used guns there I was interested in. So they were going to "punish" those who didnt buy a gun from them. I told the guy the same thing and he was like oh well. So he lost my business.


I then went to using the local pawn/gun shop @ $15 per transfer but last yr he hiked his up to $35. Asked him why and he said well we went to a class 3 dealer and everything costs him more now, licenses etc. Told him that cost should be passed along to his class 3 buyers and their transfers. Needles to say I quit using him.

We have a local FFL who charges $10 for the first transfer and $5 for any additional at the same visit and is happy to hear from you when you call to tell him one is heading his way.

[zincwarrior]

I've been plenty of ranges that sold firearms. Most were friendly and excellent. But I've never been in an actual LGS that I'd want to actually give them my money. They were invariably terrible and I will not voluntary waste minutes of my life inside one.

[StickSixBang]

I've found some of the best deals in local gun shops. A couple years ago when I was on the lookout for some CZs my LGS was selling P-01s for $599 and SP-01s for $649. I picked up a 97B for $629.

There are some good ones with friendly employees who care about your business, and the others you learn to avoid.

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[DaleA]

What's the code or signal that lets the guy behind the counter know I'm not just killing time between episodes of Matlock and Murder, She Wrote?

Well there are jerks in life and IMhO the best advice is move along and don't waste any of YOUR precious time (cause we ALL only have so much time) on them.

That said, since we are both in Minnesota, I always thought I got a little better service if I started off by showing the clerk my 'permit to purchase' card. It's no guarantee that I WOULD buy anything but at least they knew I COULD buy something.

I've also had (I think) better luck if I pick up a small item I'm going to buy anyway (box of ammo, cleaning supplies etc.) and have it in hand when I ask about the guns. They know they're going to get a little something from me and if they are total rude jerks (this has not happened to me) so that I'll never shop there again, well, I'll just put the item back on the shelf on my way out.

[FITASC]

You need a "Permit To Purchase"? WTH is that? Like a NJ or IL FOID?

Where I live, my "Permit to Purchase" is either cash or credit card..