Bad Gun Shop Stories (Village Sports Westport, MA Rant)

[nordic alien]

Hello folks.

I just wanted to share with everyone a few encounters I have had with a local gun shop that I deem to be lackluster in hopes others can avoid them in their travels. If the information may be useful to someone it's my obligation to forewarn the very few that I can at least.

Village Sports of Westport MA has continuously steered me in the wrong direction with gun shop fish tales and white lies. The typical stereotype gun shop owners that will tell tales or fear mongering rhetoric just so you buy from them and get scared to try other places. But that isn't even the worst of it. The worst of it is they seem to be extremely unknowledgeable of guns in general.

Lie #1- The first lie they told me is the classic good o'l gun shop "Big box stores get inferior ammo and end run ammo. Gun shops get higher quality rounds" lie. In which I have been told twice on two seperate occasions at Village. Many of the you kind folks many months ago confirmed this as a lie. I have since bought my ammo for cheaper at box stores and have never had a problem.

Lie #2- As many of you may know, just recently I purchased my dream gun M1 Garand. After frequenting many forums here, in the post with many experts who have owend them for years and on the CMP I have confirmed that you do not want to fire commerical 30-06 through a M1 Garand and want to buy specific Ball Ammo either made by federal, hornady or reload your own. I go into Village just today in search of the federal American eagle made for M1. My dad and I run by them what we were looking for and they basically long and the short of it told us that you can fire any 30-06 ammo through a M1 and that anyone who says otherwise was lying and an idiot. They tried selling me some hot 180 grain federals. They said a special M1 Garand ammo doesn't exist and that I can run my remington Core Lokts through it.


Lie #3- I go into village about a year ago and find a nice Arisaka bolt action real cheap. Curious if it'll fire I ask the gentlemen if it'll fire or if it's been tested. He says "I test every gun I sell and wouldn't sell anything if it didn't fire". I then ask him if he has the ammo that goes with it. (7.7x58) He tells me "No, I haven't gotten any in years and don't know where you could get any" So..... You tested it, fired it but you don't have any of the rounds and have no idea where to get them? Ok then....


Long and the short of it is, Shooting Supply are much more knowledgeable and are less likely to lie, are cheaper and are a much better gun shop less than a mile further down the road. I don't know if this info is useful to anyone but figured i'd reccomend shooting supply for anyone finding themselves locally around westport MA.


What are some bad gun stories you have throughout your journeys?

nothing beats the perpetual, non stop epic whoppers that came out of the defunct gun room in shrewsbury.

 

[whacko]

Yeah, even with all the dicks on NES, it is still the best place for accurate advice about firearms in Massachusetts. OP, I am sure you have figured it out already, but if you get a reply/ advice from LenS, Rob Boudrie, Dr. Grant, Knuckle Dragger, Terraformer, and a few others, you can take that shit to the bank.

Truth on those guys.....most knowledgeable folks here.

 

[Snora]

You just moved on, great. What about a new person looking for advise?

You're a fool if you're seeking advice from someone trying to sell you something. Anyone taking a shop employee's opinion as fact is in for a great life lesson.

 

[mac1911]

I'm getting into reloading to solve my garand ammo problem, I'd rather not pay the markup for the factory garand safe loads, and all the surplus has pretty much dried up.

Your not going to save much vs the current price of PPU.
Unless your going for a tailored "match load" .
theres really no inexpensive bullets anymore unless you take advantage of good sales when they pop up.
Im working on a batch of noslers that after sales and discounts cost me 13.5¢ each usually run .18-.21¢
Not sure what a good price is these days.

 

[whacko]

Your not going to save much vs the current price of PPU.
Unless your going for a tailored "match load" .
theres really no inexpensive bullets anymore unless you take advantage of good sales when they pop up.
Im working on a batch of noslers that after sales and discounts cost me 13.5¢ each usually run .18-.21¢
Not sure what a good price is these days.

I started reloading .38 and .357 two months ago. Using my once fired factory brass I'm making it for 15 cents each using plated berry bullets vs 25 cents each for factory.

$7.50 a box vs $25 a box is definitely worth my time. Already paid for my equipment costs.

 

[RandomBS]

Your not going to save much vs the current price of PPU.
Unless your going for a tailored "match load" .
theres really no inexpensive bullets anymore unless you take advantage of good sales when they pop up.
Im working on a batch of noslers that after sales and discounts cost me 13.5¢ each usually run .18-.21¢
Not sure what a good price is these days.

If you are including the price of new brass its about the same, once you start reusing its much cheaper than 65 cents a round.

 

[miniion]

Village has had a poor reputation for years. I heard the owners were police and they leaned towards the shady side of things. Didn't one of the dudes get bagged for having a ton of unsecured firearms at home? I think he was raided by state police so there were lots of rumors flying around.

That was Wayne, IIRC. He was all over the news, once he got raided.

 

[whacko]

If you are including the price of new brass its about the same, once you start reusing its much cheaper than 65 cents a round.

Truth. I have been saving my once fired brass for 2 years for 357 and 38 and don't include that in my costs. Definitely saving money .

 

[Grendizer138]

The bad experience you had could literally describe almost any gun shop, so it’s probably unfair to single out one. I’ve had mostly good experiences with Village.

I will say though, when Shooting Supply was relatively new I bought a 1,000 rd case of Tula there - when I got home there were two 100 rd boxes missing; the gap was filled with crumpled up cardboard. The shipping label was over the sealing tape, so either the factory or the distributor did it. I almost didn’t go back because I figured they’d never believe me, but I talked to Mark the owner and he grabbed 2 boxes off the shelf to make me whole. I haven’t forgot that, and I buy all my ammo there now.

 

[greencobra]

I was a new person once too. You learn from talking to a lot of fellow enthusiasts (like at your club) and people on this website, other websites and on the web generally as well as books. There is a ton of information out there and, unfortunately, it is not typically found at shops.

I agree. you tube is my go to site. a lot of decent unbias reviews out there on you tube. for a long time now, I know exactly what I want when I walk into a shop so when I get to the buying stage, I just do a grunt and point, pay, paper work and leave asap. the development of the internet was the proverbial game changer. it made customers more informed and helped kill a lot of the small b&m shops.

man if i kept track of the retarded shit I heard in gun shops i would have a charles dickens book full of bullshit.

that's very true. no salesman doesn't want to know less than his customer. a good gun shop employee can learn a lot by listening to his customers instead of throwing bullshit out at them.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

I was picking up a frame for a SVI widebody. This frame has a separate grip, so it doesn't look like a gun (similar to the modular Sigs). I had a custom serial number 38SUPER. I also have 45ACP, 40SW and 50BMG on other guns.

Asked for the 4473 from the clerk getting it for me. He said this is not a gun, do not need one because it does not have a serial number. I pointed out the 38SUPER and was told "that is a caliber designation, not a serial number". He wanted me to take the unit without any paperwork. He finally agreed to let me fill out the 4473 and state form (paper back then) and let the shop owner figure out what to do.

 

[spcantwell]

That's why I only buy my guns and bullets from dicks. They only hire the most experienced people there who are knowledgeable and helpfull.....

 

[Mtn_Guy]

#NotanotherDicksSportingGoodsRantThread

 

[1919FAN]

And the moral of this story is dont be a Village Idiot.

 

[Chevy 2 65]

I second the rave review for Shooting Supply in Westport. They are no-pressure, straight-talking, very knowledgeable, and decent people with the best prices around. Never heard a complaint about them from anyone.

The owner is former LEO. Nice guy

 

[Hardwired]

That's why I only buy my guns and bullets from dicks. They only hire the most experienced people there who are knowledgeable and helpfull.....

Dicks still has boolits and gunz?

 

[spcantwell]

Dicks still has boolits and gunz?

How the hell would I know? I havnt stepped foot in one for 5 years. When I want to get my gun fix I just hit troy city tactical.

 

[Rockrivr1]

Hummmm, this reminds me of the massive BS that was consistently given at another "Village" gun shop in Central Ma, who is no longer in business.

 

[highlander]

Don't know much on Garands but always thought any 30'06 commercial load would be safe to shoot in them,you learn something new every day. On the Arisaka hasn't Norma made ammo for it for ages?
I remember back in the late 60s early 70s if you had an Arisaka or some other WWI/WW2 surplus rifle Norma was pretty much the only source of commercial ammo and it wasn't cheap to boot.

 

[DW357]

I'm getting into reloading to solve my garand ammo problem, I'd rather not pay the markup for the factory garand safe loads, and all the surplus has pretty much dried up.

The new PPU Garand ammo is plentiful and cheaper than the HXP from the CMP. But yes reloading is totally worth it. I reload for my Garand even though it doesn’t get shot much.

 

[amm5061]

Don't know much on Garands but always thought any 30'06 commercial load would be safe to shoot in them,you learn something new every day. On the Arisaka hasn't Norma made ammo for it for ages?
I remember back in the late 60s early 70s if you had an Arisaka or some other WWI/WW2 surplus rifle Norma was pretty much the only source of commercial ammo and it wasn't cheap to boot.

Nope, only specific loads are Garand-safe. If it doesn't say it's for Garands, then you don't want to shoot it out of one.

 

[DW357]

If you are including the price of new brass its about the same, once you start reusing its much cheaper than 65 cents a round.

If I recall, my 30-06 reloads using Nosler 168 gr BTHPs are running me about 40-42 cents per round?

 

[Len-2A Training]

man if i kept track of the retarded shit I heard in gun shops i would have a charles dickens book full of bullshit. it used to frustrate me. now i find the false information straight up brilliant. sometimes I ask the retards to expound on their knowledge. the most challenging part is holding back tears of laughter.

below is a youtube post from mixflip. stuff like this is priceless.
"I was in a shop an a weirdo looked down the muzzle of a handgun (i forget the model not that it matters) and tell me..."you have to check the spirals on used guns to make sure they are going the right way".

I disagree. I have learned a TON of wrong stuff in gun shops.

This was part of my motivation for creating the Mass Gun Law Seminar. After retirement I wanted to do something that I enjoyed for "pin money" (ammo money) and realized that I had been correcting mis-information in lots of venues for 30+ years so why not create a seminar to educate those willing to learn. The sad thing is that only a couple of gun shop owners have bothered to take the seminar . . . I've had more LEOs and attorneys in my seminars than those that work in gun shops (in spite of offering the seminars on Sundays when almost every shop is closed).

Yeah, even with all the dicks on NES, it is still the best place for accurate advice about firearms in Massachusetts. OP, I am sure you have figured it out already, but if you get a reply/ advice from LenS, Rob Boudrie, Dr. Grant, Knuckle Dragger, Terraformer, and a few others, you can take that shit to the bank.

Truth on those guys.....most knowledgeable folks here.

Thanks guys!

 

[Buck F]

Yeah, even with all the dicks on NES, it is still the best place for accurate advice about firearms in Massachusetts. OP, I am sure you have figured it out already, but if you get a reply/ advice from LenS, Rob Boudrie, Dr. Grant, Knuckle Dragger, Terraformer, and a few others, you can take that shit to the bank.

Agreed, if you get gun/gun law advice from those guys you can take it to the bank, I have been schooled by a couple of them and always found them to be knowledgeable and accurate. Not always the case on non-gun related subjects though, lol.

 

[fencer]

Agreed, if you get gun/gun law advice from those guys you can take it to the bank, I have been schooled by a couple of them and always found them to be knowledgeable and accurate. Not always the case on non-gun related subjects though, lol.

LOL - I dunno, there is a whole lot of experience and wisdom there. Always worth a listen. They also don't really offer advice about subject matter that they are not sure about.

But NES is my go to source when I want to know the real low down about any subject. Some nut case goes off the reservation and you can bet some NES'r knows the back story. Friggin Zappa is like the Geraldo Rivera of NES.
There are also some guys that know so much about shooting that it is scary. Yeah, I am talking about SuperMoto and M1911 and a few others. That Roland Deshain/ Cloverleaf kid is worth listening too.
Mechanical stuff, I want to see what Fixxah, RHJJ, and Palladin have to say, as well as 1776, Garand Man and others I can't think of.

Pretty good pool of knowledge here.

 

[AM13]

I dont even know how Village is still in business, no reason to set foot in there with shooting supply basically across the street.

 

[enbloc]

Target Sports has Garand Ammo by PPU on sale!
500 Rounds in ammo can for $319.95 (free ship)
$0.64 cents a round! Actually less if you consider the $10 box and the brass that you should police up after shooting!
PPU 30-06 Springfield Ammo M1 Garand 150 Gr FMJ 500 Rds Ammo Can

Get to the Range...
The men who fought with your rifle deserve nothing less!

Hell, I even use the ammo box as a bench rest from time to time...

 

[Buck F]

LOL - I dunno, there is a whole lot of experience and wisdom there. Always worth a listen. They also don't really offer advice about subject matter that they are not sure about.
.

I beg to differ.

 

[Lip]

Just curious, does the garand in 308 have the same ammo restrictions of its 30.06 brother?

 

[Upland]

I brought a gun into Village sports to consign it, it was in the factory plastic case with a padlock on it. I got one step into the store and some big goof behind the counter starts screaming "is it loaded is it loaded" I'm sure they see all kinds of stupid shit but if you get hysterical over a gun in a locked case you probably shouldn't work in a gun store.

On the plus side I did find 2400 powder there during a reloading/ ammo drought.