Gun shop ammunition advice--or BS

[Preußen]

New threads are started everyday with "the gun shop salesman said..."

I have never worked in a gun shop but have spent enough time hanging around local gun stores and read enough threads that i would like to address this issue and tell it like it is.

*my opinion*

Gun stores are there to make money. /Period. They're not there to make new friends or have a good time. Many times i am not even greeted upon entering some gun stores--even being very nicely dressed and and looking well-to-do, and the store employees are standing around doing nothing...:steamed:

Many gun store employees are underpaid, overworked, and/or make their money on gun and ammo sales commissions. They don't give a rat's ass about what they say to sell you something. It's very similar to used auto sales. They see a noob walk in and they pounce! If you start asking noob questions you are gonna get hosed. They're gonna try to sell you their *best* item-- which invariably ends up being something that they couldn't sell up to this point. "So a .380 Extreme Shock will kill a 500 pound Boar with one shot!?"

Do your homework before buying some phoney-baloney, new-fangled ammunition. The gun store will be more than happy to sell you this overpriced extreme rubbish. The price of two 6-packs of 'designer' ammunition could have bought you 100 rounds of proven premium hollowpoint ammo.


As a general rule don't get ammunition advice from a gun shop-- most of 'em are FOS :)

[vafish]

If you get your education from any salesman, be it gun, car or appliance, you get what you deserve.

Research any purchase prior to visiting the showroom.

[Ak.Hiker]

I still buy ammo at a gun shop that was owned by a retired Alaska State Trooper. He is gone now but his son owns the shop and his wife still works from time to time. I remember 15 years ago the owner took the time to show a 1911 45 acp to my 15 year old son. He was not even in a hurry and of course he knew a 15 year old kid was not going to buy a 1911. I prefer to spend my money at places that care about their customers. Now I have also been in shops and never even had the clerk even say hello. I wonder how much business some of these places lose because of poor service.

[hotpig]

If you also rely on gun rags for education you get what you deserve.

Anonymous posts on the internet are much more reliable. If some one posts garbage they will get called on it real quick.

If the gunshop guy or a gun rag writer puts garbage out most people will assume that it is correct since it can not be argued.

[fredj338]

While I have on rare occasion, come across a gunshop employee that actually knows somehting about the guns. ammo & reloading gear he sells, it's rare. Then again, what should one expect from a min. wage employee?:dunno:

[Forgoten214]

Must have used a Glock 25

[Desertscout]

I know that there are shops like this but this kind of thread always pisses me off anyway.
EVERYONE, no exception, is greeted and asked if they can be helped before they are 10-15 steps in the door.
No, we do NOT try to sell the latest and greatest, EVER! We sell only what we believe in. More specifically, what I believe in. I won't have conflicting opinions in here. My employees need to sincerely believe like I do and be able to relay it to the customers in the manner that I want them to.
We are the only true gun shop left in this town and I want it run the way it was back in 1956 when the original owner had it. There are padded chairs and magazines out in the middle of the floor and if someone wants to come in and read Guns and Ammo and drink coffee for a while, that's fine. If they need a gun worked on, we can do it. If they need training or advice, we have it. If they need help taking a new gun apart, we'll show them, whether they bought it here or not. We are VERY biased towards Glocks but we don't say XD's or anything else are BAD, it's just that we don't like them.
We have a very loyal clientele and not one of them has ever had even the slightest hint of some of the complaints that I hear on this board. Not that they don't happen, but they don't happen here.

Too bad ya'll don't live here...:tongueout: