People in southern NH probably already know about the two new gun shops that were recently opened in Merrimack. There is Merrimack Firearms next to DW Diner on old route 3, and Collectible. Merrimack Firearms is, well, a New Hampshire gun shop.
Prices are reasonable, Sig dealer (Like there's a dealer in NH that isn't?), ammo prices are through the roof (As per normal NH gun dealer SOP.), decent selections of both long guns and handguns, etc, etc. Nothing special, really. No particular reason to drop your normal dealer and go there, unless your dealer is obnoxious. These guys seemed really nice, but so is my current dealer, so that's really no reason to switch.
However, this review is about Collectible Firearms, located in the Galaxy gas station (Used to be Cumberland Farms.) plaza, directly next to that terrible chinese restaurant that I can never remember the name of. Something Garden? Whatever. Anyway, I never really expect a NH shop to live up to its name, and I figured Collectible would be a gigantic disappointment and be a typical NH gun shop. As soon as I stepped through the door, I knew I was dead ass wrong.
Directly in front of you as you walk in is a couple of racks of Russkie surplus guns, some Swiss and Austrian surplus, and some French surplus, all long guns. However, the magic happens when you look to the left hand counter. In that glass case is a gold mine of military surplus handguns, from literally everywhere. Sistema Colts, Ballester Molina, Steyr, LUGERS galore, property marked 1911s, Nambus, Webley in .38, I couldn't even name them all. I'm sure I missed some.
Moving on, you come to another case adjoining the first one, and this case shocked the hell out of me. A mint Swiss Luger, Colt AND S&W 1917 revos, a property and ordnance marked Springfield Armory (The real one, not current SA) 1911, French revolver of some type, and several property marked 1911s by Colt and Remington, and possibly an Ithaca. Moving on is a case of Sig P238s, possibly the most out of place case in the store.
After that is a case of ridiculously diverse handguns, ranging from Toks to CZ52s, and many others I've forgotten. One of the coolest parts of the last case is what seems to be an entire collection of Savage auto pistols. I'm something of a gun geek, and I'm at least passing familiar with most American made handguns, but I didn't even know Savage ever MADE pistols. I thought they might be contract guns that Savage had made for them, and stamped their logo on 'em (They look a bit like Astras) but they say, "Manufactured by Savage" on them.
Anyway, moving on is a wall 'o ammo, and Collectible is typical in this regard. Pretty much overpriced, but with some unique types of ammo to be found, including some 7.62x25 chinese stuff, and 8mm Nazi ball ammo. They also have lots of Golden Tiger steel cased, for pretty much any rifle, and some Tula for hunting guns. 150gr SP, steel case, IIRC.
Prices on all guns seem to be in the ballpark of where they should be. The gentleman that owns the shop, Alex, is a big former Russian type, and he seems nice as can be. His salesman, Keith, looks like a run of the mill gun geek like all of us, and is a supremely nice guy. If you like military guns, this is the place for you. If you like old production guns, here's where you should call home. Go visit them. You'll be extremely glad you did. But do me a favor, huh guys? Leave the S&W 1917 alone. That bad boy is coming home with me, very shortly. Don't screw me on this one.
Hours are M-F til 7pm, Saturday Sunday til 4pm.
Hope this helped. And BTW, all of their C+R guns were in amazing condition. I didn't see a single parts gun in their cases.
I am in no way affiliated with Collectible Firearms, at all. But I'm getting kind of gushy since we don't have many really unique shops here in NH.
Prices are reasonable, Sig dealer (Like there's a dealer in NH that isn't?), ammo prices are through the roof (As per normal NH gun dealer SOP.), decent selections of both long guns and handguns, etc, etc. Nothing special, really. No particular reason to drop your normal dealer and go there, unless your dealer is obnoxious. These guys seemed really nice, but so is my current dealer, so that's really no reason to switch.
However, this review is about Collectible Firearms, located in the Galaxy gas station (Used to be Cumberland Farms.) plaza, directly next to that terrible chinese restaurant that I can never remember the name of. Something Garden? Whatever. Anyway, I never really expect a NH shop to live up to its name, and I figured Collectible would be a gigantic disappointment and be a typical NH gun shop. As soon as I stepped through the door, I knew I was dead ass wrong.
Directly in front of you as you walk in is a couple of racks of Russkie surplus guns, some Swiss and Austrian surplus, and some French surplus, all long guns. However, the magic happens when you look to the left hand counter. In that glass case is a gold mine of military surplus handguns, from literally everywhere. Sistema Colts, Ballester Molina, Steyr, LUGERS galore, property marked 1911s, Nambus, Webley in .38, I couldn't even name them all. I'm sure I missed some.
Moving on, you come to another case adjoining the first one, and this case shocked the hell out of me. A mint Swiss Luger, Colt AND S&W 1917 revos, a property and ordnance marked Springfield Armory (The real one, not current SA) 1911, French revolver of some type, and several property marked 1911s by Colt and Remington, and possibly an Ithaca. Moving on is a case of Sig P238s, possibly the most out of place case in the store.
After that is a case of ridiculously diverse handguns, ranging from Toks to CZ52s, and many others I've forgotten. One of the coolest parts of the last case is what seems to be an entire collection of Savage auto pistols. I'm something of a gun geek, and I'm at least passing familiar with most American made handguns, but I didn't even know Savage ever MADE pistols. I thought they might be contract guns that Savage had made for them, and stamped their logo on 'em (They look a bit like Astras) but they say, "Manufactured by Savage" on them.
Anyway, moving on is a wall 'o ammo, and Collectible is typical in this regard. Pretty much overpriced, but with some unique types of ammo to be found, including some 7.62x25 chinese stuff, and 8mm Nazi ball ammo. They also have lots of Golden Tiger steel cased, for pretty much any rifle, and some Tula for hunting guns. 150gr SP, steel case, IIRC.
Prices on all guns seem to be in the ballpark of where they should be. The gentleman that owns the shop, Alex, is a big former Russian type, and he seems nice as can be. His salesman, Keith, looks like a run of the mill gun geek like all of us, and is a supremely nice guy. If you like military guns, this is the place for you. If you like old production guns, here's where you should call home. Go visit them. You'll be extremely glad you did. But do me a favor, huh guys? Leave the S&W 1917 alone. That bad boy is coming home with me, very shortly. Don't screw me on this one.
Hours are M-F til 7pm, Saturday Sunday til 4pm.
Hope this helped. And BTW, all of their C+R guns were in amazing condition. I didn't see a single parts gun in their cases.
I am in no way affiliated with Collectible Firearms, at all. But I'm getting kind of gushy since we don't have many really unique shops here in NH.