No knives at the giant gun store..the world changes and B Jackson can't keep up.

B JACKSON

B JACKSON

Joined
Sep 19, 2012
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Went to Giant New Gun Store In John's hometown today:
50 vehicles in the lot
(I was surprised at the lack of pick up trucks)

100's of new handguns in the glass cases, about 120 feet of glass cases.
( 7 used handguns)

60- 70 new long guns on walls; 7 bolt guns, 5 lever guns, about 50 semi-auto BUGS*
(3 used long guns if you include the H&R Topper)

Thousands of boxes of ammo from generic to Hornady and Federal Premium types, 80% pistol
Not one box of shotgun slugs, not one box of 12 gauge anything but 30-40 boxes of .410
(the 410 probably to feed the dozen or so Judge type guns)

3 traditional style rifle scopes 3 (not a typo)

no clay birds, no target throwers, no double shotguns, no o/u shotguns, one pump shotgun, a used 870 express, 3 semi-auto shotguns, of a brand I have not heard of. (used 870 express priced like a new one)

Long waiting line to shoot at the indoor range.

Pretty, young girls to take your money for the range and targets

25 minutes in there and nobody ever said a word to me.

A mountain of generic 5.56 ammo and 6 boxes of NON-FMJ .223

THE HELP ALL HAD NICE MATCHING SHIRTS WITH THE STORE NAME AND LOGO

ITS TURKEY SEASON HERE, NO CALLS, NO DECOYS..DID I MENTION NO 12 GAUGE AMMO?

no muzzleloaders

no knives

BRAVE NEW WORLD

*BUG = black ugly gun
 
There is little point in carrying stuff that can be had all over the internet. The traditional brick and mortar knife store is all but gone.

n2s
 
They do tend to cater to the handgun crowd. The range is packed on Friday and weekends, but earlier in the week there is no wait. Have you checked out Eagle up by your shop, I have not been there yet.
 
Yea it really sucks that this is what it has came to. Good thing you werent needing shells to go hunting today. It really makes me dissapointed to see big fancy gun stores that seem to only have ar's and pistols. A gun is a tool and some use it to hunt food with. Not all just build black rifles to burn through ammo with. Even though i have one or two myself:-). The days of walking into a gun shop and finding an awesome deal on a sweet old gun seem to be long gone in my neck of the woods.
 
I miss the old days when you could go in a gun shop and do some bargaining on guns instead of just paying the price on the tag.
 
JK Knives said:
I miss the old days when you could go in a gun shop and do some bargaining on guns instead of just paying the price on the tag.
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John, they don't have to do that now days with the way shortages on guns and ammo are! You either pay the price or you go without.
 
I too live in the area, not sure which burb you're from. The only gun store I can think of with any decent knife selection is GAT. Theirs is nowhere near what it used to be, but they sure do have a lot of guns now!
 
It's a gun store foo, quit yer whining.

Ya want a knife, order one from John!
Geese. ;) :p :D
 
B, I just did my CCL class at RKA in Plano/Yorkville. Check them out if you get out that way. Their selection isn't great but they have the basics and do custom orders.

The good part is, they're super friendly people and knowledgeable. The range is nice and they do their best to accommodate everyone. I drive 35 - 45 minutes to get there (depending on the time of day) and the attitude of the employees is enough to make it worth it.
 
Rupestris said:
B, I just did my CCL class at RKA in Plano/Yorkville. Check them out if you get out that way. Their selection isn't great but they have the basics and do custom orders.

The good part is, they're super friendly people and knowledgeable. The range is nice and they do their best to accommodate everyone. I drive 35 - 45 minutes to get there (depending on the time of day) and the attitude of the employees is enough to make it worth it.
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Congrats on taking your class!
 
I am just thankful there are still gun stores...period. :thumbup: As a staunch 2nd Amendment supporter and defender for decades there have been times I have had my doubts about where we were heading (still do, we are just moving slower). While not out of the woods by any measure the fact you see BUGs for sale and not at ridiculous prices is a plus in my book.

And I am sure some of the inventory is geographically determined. We have lots of hunting supplies and ammo in the stores here in Alabama. A somewhat small sampling of knives and pretty much what you would expect, but as has been mentioned, knives are available in lots of other places.
 
JK Knives said:
Congrats on taking your class!
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Thank you, John. I had put it off long enough and my Michigan CPL is going to expire in May so I wouldn't be able to carry anywhere if I hadn't.

Heat_treat, you'd probably not like how slim the pickin's are here in Chicagoland. We have one bigger gun store that has a good knife selection but the prices are high and the service is notoriously horrible. They had ESEE last time I was there which was surprising. Otherwise we're limited to Cabelas, Bass Pro, Dick's and Gander Mountain.
 
Thank you to everyone who has commented on this post, I have benefited from and have enjoyed all the feedback. You know, I was not complaining about my gun store and range visit. I was just commenting on how things have changed in the world of civilian firearms and it's related business, and I have not kept pace!;) Mostly an indictment of myself! Some times I feel as if the world is just constantly playing a practical joke on me, however, I laugh along with it.;) I'm only 60 years old, can't imagine how behind and archaic I'll be at age 80.( Hope I get to find out tho!)
 
Archaic. Thats funny. I feel that wat some days and I'm under 50. :p

My high school had a gun range and an JROTC program where we would shoot Romanian M1969 .22LR rifles and drill with US M1903 rifles and carry them through the school.
 
B JACKSON said:
Thank you to everyone who has commented on this post, I have benefited from and have enjoyed all the feedback. You know, I was not complaining about my gun store and range visit. I was just commenting on how things have changed in the world of civilian firearms and it's related business, and I have not kept pace!;) Mostly an indictment of myself! Some times I feel as if the world is just constantly playing a practical joke on me, however, I laugh along with it.;) I'm only 60 years old, can't imagine how behind and archaic I'll be at age 80.( Hope I get to find out tho!)
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I hear you about how things have changed. I too miss the wood and blued metal...and the "smell" of a traditional gun shop. I am 10 years younger than you and for me there was Parker's Shooters supply in Sebring Florida. It was a 30 mile drive and I wasn't 18 yet but that didn't stop me and I just pulled three receipts from the file cabinet. Typical severely limited income of a high school student so I traded constantly but I still have the Mod 41. ;) Now I still buy predominantly wood and blued steel, and knives of course (to bring this back on topic :o).

1981 -- Ruger Blackhawk, 44 Mag, 10" barrel -- $228
1982 -- Ruger Mk I -- $175 and a can of 22s for $15 (500 rounds if I remember correctly)
1984 -- S&W Mod 41 -- $325
 
I picked up a new Marlin Model 60 back in the mid 90's for $129 and few bricks of Winchester .22LR for ~$8 each. My first real handgun was a Kimber Classic Target II around 2001 for under $700 :p.

My Ruger Mark II was ~$229 If I recall correctly. A 678 with tapered barrel and target sights.

The sad part is, an exotic car like a Lotus Elise was a mind boggling $40K in the late eighties. A loaded pickup truck costs almost twice that today :grumpy:
 
B JACKSON said:
Thank you to everyone who has commented on this post, I have benefited from and have enjoyed all the feedback. You know, I was not complaining about my gun store and range visit. I was just commenting on how things have changed in the world of civilian firearms and it's related business, and I have not kept pace!;) Mostly an indictment of myself! Some times I feel as if the world is just constantly playing a practical joke on me, however, I laugh along with it.;) I'm only 60 years old, can't imagine how behind and archaic I'll be at age 80.( Hope I get to find out tho!)
Click to expand...

I miss the shop George had, he and his employees (Brad), were always willing to bargain on prices. I was only in B JACKSON'S Dad's gun shop once, I was stupidly trying to find deer slugs two days before the season opened!
 
We're lucky to have five small gun shops in and around town with three being "part-time". No indoor range or pretty girls at any but chances are someone will say hello when you first walk in and try to start a conversation. If you're not careful you may spend your first 10 minutes or longer talking about guns, hunting, fishing, sports, family, or politics. Bolt actions and lever guns will greatly outnumber "BUGS" at each shop and all but one have more used guns(including pistols) than new ones. Muzzle loaders and shotguns are well represented with very slim odds of seeing a nice O/U. Two of the shops have a small selection of calls and decoys and all have a reasonably variety of ammo including 12ga slugs, turkey loads, and buckshot. Each shop has a few knives but other than finding the occasional vintage slip joint selection is less than desirable.
 
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