Newbie with a Great Four Seasons Experience
Well, with a new LTC A in hand, a recommendation from my firearms home safety and first pistol instructor and more importantly admiring the frequent emails with email specials that I get from Four Season, I left the confines of Upton, MA and headed to Woburn and the home of Four Seasons for my first firearm purchase this past Thurs afternoon. (40 or so miles away)
While I semi-blindly headed in the direction of Four Seasons there was an opportunity to deviate from my path. The Gun Room in Shrewsbury is closer. My firearms instructor gave me a polite warning and after stumbling upon this forum tonight it appears that he was being POLITE with his buyer beware message regarding the Gun Room. A few other shops were mentioned (and I passed by) and will probably get my future business but from the FS website and the frequent emails that I've been receiving from FS I knew this was probably the place that I wanted to make my first purchase.
Thank God for GPS in the car as this place is easy to blow by. Even when you find the location you need to hunt and peck to find the actual store in the rear basement of the building. It's worth the wait. When you walk in you immediately pause as there is a lot of product in front of you in a very small space. It reminds me of the feeling that you used to get when you walked into Spag's in Shrewsbury before Building 19 bought out the family but --1/998th the size. Piles and piles of merchandise stacked from floor to ceiling.
I explained to Tom ( I think his last name is MacDonald) that I was a newbie and want to get my feet wet with a .22 for pistol shooting experience but wanted his perspective on a concealed carry. First, we spent time getting to a short list of .22's for pistol shooting. A Ruger Mark III is what I came in with the expectation of buying and he confirmed that was a good choice to get my feet wet without breaking the bank. BTW, it their Rugers Mark .22's are priced right- especially when on Internet special and a $20 coupon from your firearm instructor.
Second, I was thinking about a Glock 26 or a Sig 332 but after explaining my use intention he encourage me to look at revolver (SW 340PD) or a small .32 Seecamp. He wasn't heavy handed in his recommendations but put it into perspective the various options that I should consider based upon his 42 X years of carrying. (and the limited choice that you have by living in the People's Republic). On a side note...even though we are in the Republic and it appears that the Attorney General has more power than the Governor the depth and breadth of the FS stock is pretty amazing. It made me feel that I had options.
While I didn't walk away with a concealed carry I have significant knowledge and insight that you can not obtain from reading email mailing lists and website/magazine reviews. Yes, they did upsell me a safe, ammunition, and cleaning supplies that I could of bought on the web cheaper but I asked for the upsell and they obliged. In the big scheme of things their prices are very competitive even with many of the websites and catalogs. It must be tough to be in the firearms business in Mass but they seem to have found the right combination to be successful.
Bottom line after this long posting...yes, the prior high marks for this store is well founded. Most of the posters were well experienced with prior firearm purchases. What's different is that I was a newbie and also had a TREMENDOUS experience. I'm in the customer service business and watched closely how they treated their other customers. Everyone was treated with Top Notch respect while in the store. I encourage you to make the drive even if you get stuck in traffic. (Sidenote-a MBTA bus burned down on the Pike during my return home and I was stuck in traffic for hours but it was still worth the trip.)