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Shooter's Outpost/Reily's

noddaduma said:
NH doesn't have a "Riley's must sell AR lowers as pistol only" law. That's a store policy stemming from CYA against the recent change in *federal* ATF policy about clarifying build intent for lower receivers.
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I know that. I was more referring to what happens to the quality of gun stores when your customer base is every person in the state over 18 and not a felon vs the 5 percent of population that hold a LTC. The quality of gun stores in MA and the MA gun laws are directly related. Not much reason to have a well stocked shop with reasonable prices when you can only sell to 5 percent of the people in the state and people are forced to come to you regardless. To be clear I have nothing against riley's.
 
noddaduma said:
NH doesn't have a "Riley's must sell AR lowers as pistol only" law. That's a store policy stemming from CYA against the recent change in *federal* ATF policy about clarifying build intent for lower receivers.
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You are wrong.

That was a mandate by BATFE 2+ years ago. All "frames" are to be transfered as "other" and ONLY by an FFL in the state the buyer lives in!
 
I too took the hour plus ride up there today. Riley's was worth every minute of the ride. Could've spent my whole day in there. Definitely a cool shop. Shooters Outpost.......great place if you wanted to buy 5.11 gear at full price. Place really had me scratching my head, a ton of open space, a whole lot of nothing. Only store I've ever been in where the long guns are locked up is a Dick's Sporting Goods.
Honestly drove home kicking myself in the ass for not having driven up to Riley's sooner.
 
shotguner said:
I too took the hour plus ride up there today. Riley's was worth every minute of the ride. Could've spent my whole day in there. Definitely a cool shop. Shooters Outpost.......great place if you wanted to buy 5.11 gear at full price. Place really had me scratching my head, a ton of open space, a whole lot of nothing. Only store I've ever been in where the long guns are locked up is a Dick's Sporting Goods.
Honestly drove home kicking myself in the ass for not having driven up to Riley's sooner.
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Shooters is new so they will adjust the store as they gain market knowledge. The more the better.
 
Couple of years ago I ordered a couple of Nodak AK receivers and had Afforable Firearms in Pelham receive them (great little store, by the way, tons of used guns). I had to do the NICS as handguns.
 
I never thought to walk into Riley's LE shop, as many times as I've been to Riley's. Do they limit access/purchase to LE?
 
If someone knows where to buy 5.11 gear at less than full price, I'm listening

[wink]

shotguner said:
I too took the hour plus ride up there today. Riley's was worth every minute of the ride. Could've spent my whole day in there. Definitely a cool shop. Shooters Outpost.......great place if you wanted to buy 5.11 gear at full price. Place really had me scratching my head, a ton of open space, a whole lot of nothing. Only store I've ever been in where the long guns are locked up is a Dick's Sporting Goods.
Honestly drove home kicking myself in the ass for not having driven up to Riley's sooner.
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Does Riley's have a good selection of ARs again? Last time I was in there all they had were SR556s and I already have one. Looking for an AR UNDER 10 pounds...
 
I'm a cave man and have always preferred Riley's. Shooter's Outpost is very new and feels more like a "gun boutique" to me. In time, I hope that changes.
 
See and I am on the other side of that, to me Riley's has always felt unwelcoming and every time I've been in there since the early 90's, always felt like I was an inconvenience.

Different strokes


Bendad97 said:
I'm a cave man and have always preferred Riley's. Shooter's Outpost is very new and feels more like a "gun boutique" to me. In time, I hope that changes.
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Duece said:
See and I am on the other side of that, to me Riley's has always felt unwelcoming and every time I've been in there since the early 90's, always felt like I was an inconvenience.

Different strokes
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I've gotten that feeling in every gun shop I have entered. I go to Riley's for the selection.
 
Duece said:
See and I am on the other side of that, to me Riley's has always felt unwelcoming and every time I've been in there since the early 90's, always felt like I was an inconvenience.

Different strokes
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I used to feel that way about Riley's. But since Shooter's has opened, Riley's has been much nicer and friendlier to me, and their prices (at least for ammo) seem a little better.
 
shotguner said:
Shooters Outpost.......great place if you wanted to buy 5.11 gear at full price. Place really had me scratching my head, a ton of open space, a whole lot of nothing. Only store I've ever been in where the long guns are locked up is a Dick's Sporting Goods.
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Excellent assessment, my feelings exactly. Has potential, but needs time to mature.
 
I've lived in NH for many years and for 20 years visited Riley's and now Shooters.
Since Shooters opened Riley's has certainly had a change in their attitude towards customer service.
Before Shooters opened Riley had a "take it or leave it/ we're the largest gun store in NH attitude".
They had that "old gun" store feel about them, but they really low balled you if you sold a gun there and their prices on new /used guns were not great!
Heck the actual store had a run down feeling and their outside sign looked like it had not been updated or painted in 20 years.
Once Shooters opened the got 1) a new outside sign, 2) opened up the basement to sell ammo cans, gun cases and survival food, 3) opened up a back room to sell gun safes, 4) Expanded their areas to sell scope and reloading supplies. Maybe its just my impression but the people/owners at Riley's seem a bit more friendly and there seem to be an effort at customer service and satisfaction. They even have deals on guns and ammo now!
I have to give Riley's an "ata boy" for their improvements and they will definitely be on my "go to" list.

Shooters Outpost is a new store but the owners are old in the shooting business,,, they own Manchester Firing Range down by Manchester Airport.
The store is huge...lots of shiny new gun cases, new guns, tactical clothes, you can see that the owners pumped a ton of money into the place.
Large selection of pistols are behind cases, rifles locked in racks , you have to actually take a number to be served if you want to look at a gun.
Pitiful selection of used/surplus guns,, looks like their market is to new gun sales. They have a section for machine gun sales, sell reloading supplies and the usual magpul stuff. Ammo is market price not deals I've seen, but that may be just because of the panic...
The store is nice but it lacks a "soul" of its own.. it reminds me of the shopping experience you get going to the "Gap". New stuff, young people, a lot of flash...

Some of the things I didn't care for were 1) The Down stairs checkout staff.. young folks need a bit more training in customer attention. A number of times I've waited to ask a question or pay for a item and there were a number of people behind the counter that were just talking to each other and were oblivious to me being there looking for service. I had to ask then for help... I've seen this on a number of occasions.
It also may help them if they have a few people assigned to walk the floors and ask customers if they need any help or are looking for something. The place is big, they have two floors and lots of stuff. I've left on a number of occasions looking for something and giving up only to find out later it was in a different location in the store.
I also didn't/don't like their "Hide the Ammo" game they play... 2 months ago I went in looking for .223/5.56 ammo.
I looked on the shelfs and none was there. A minute later guy goes up to the ammo counter and the sales man hand over a plastic bulk ammo can of 5.56 (240 rounds) to a customer at a $215. I look over the counter and see they have about 6 "cans" on the floor.. not sure if they were selling it to "special" customers or not, but I went up to the salesman and asked if I could buy one too as I just saw him sell one to another guy. I was sold / bought one, but in the last 3 visits I've made to Shooters, I've looked behind the counter and always seen some "hidden 5.56 stock" there.. along with other calibers. I like the idea I was getting ammo others didn't know/ask about.. but I don't care for the practice. If they have and sell ammo to "special" friends they should do it in a better different way. If seemed a bit underhanded to me.

The above being said, Shooters is one place I will still visit but I don't see it as a place that will ever get a local old time gun store feeling. The staff needs to develop a real feel that this a gun store for long term gun people and not a "sell them quick", "welcome to the Gap", and "this is just my summer time job" attitude. I'll go there for the ammo deals but buy my guns from the small gun places with the better customer service and a place where I feel I am really appreciated as a customer...not as fast food number.
 
MaverickNH said:
I never thought to walk into Riley's LE shop, as many times as I've been to Riley's. Do they limit access/purchase to LE?
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Don't think so, I stopped by to look into getting different sights installed on my Glock 23. Armorer wasn't in, but I talked to the guy behind the counter about holsters, tried a few out and left with one along with a couple of mag holders. I sorta got the impression that non-LE folks there may be frowned upon, or it may be just part of that whole weird vibe that some folks get at some gun shops. It is set appart from the main store and I get the impression that there is little or no back-and-forth between the main store and the LE shop.

AFAIK there is no "LE Only" stuff in NH that isn't already NFA or otherwise federally regulated as such. This, however, doesn't stop anyone from deciding that they are only gonna sell some stuff to LE's - or creating an environment that is uncomfortable to non-LE folks in an effort to create some kind of "Exclusive Club" feeling that they feel will draw them more LE sales.

As I said, I did buy a few things - and I was treated professionally. Maybe it's just the fact I have never been real fond of being surrounded by Law Enforcement or the tools they use vs any policy stuff on the part of Riley's.
 
I like both stores, a lot. I bought my trap gun at Shooter's and I felt like I got a great deal on it, the last time I was at either store (about 2 months ago) they both had 2 box limits on 9's and 5.56's. All other calibers were buy as much as you wanted....
 
Different stores different feeling in each. I am glad there are two stores with good selection etc so close to each other. The stores are between where I live and where I spend some vacation time so I stop there "on the way by". My first Reily's visit was about 30 years ago and have always liked the store. I enjoy the browsing aspect of Reily's, I don't find Shooters as browsable. I find the reloading display counter at Shooters is kind of far away from the stock shelves and I don't always enjoy having to ask about every little thing. I have for the most part found the staff at Reily's to be helpful and friendly over the years. Now I usually stop at Shooters also and the staff there has been helpful always. Perhaps because their opening came about the same time as all the madness I have not had much luck finding ammo there, better luck at Reily's. I walk in the door and if there is 5.56 on the floor I grab a box, no drama then see what else they have. I'm out of state so handguns are not available to me but the selection at Shooters when they opened was impressive. When we were there a few months ago my son and I were talking about why neither store had any Ma. compliant ARs as we felt there would be a market up there for that. Last weekend I was by and Shooters had a section of Ma. compliant ARs, probably a good move on their part. I was able to pick up 5.56 and 9mm ammo at Reily's but did not see either at Shooters. Shooters does have a lot of the holsters etc. and to me it takes up a lot of space and I am not all that interested, others must be though. Personally I need to really check out a holster before I buy and I can't find out much about fit and function looking through packaging. I too did not know the back building at Reily's was open to the public I'll have to check that out.

In short I enjoy both stores and will be interested in seeing how Shooters shakes out as they settle in. The fact that the stores are so close to each other is probably good for us, the cutomer. They can push each other a bit. You guys that live near by are lucky.
 
KodiakFan24 said:
Thanks, Mike. Why is that, lower profit margins? Seems counter-intuitive....
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Gun shops are generally small places. Real estate in the shop is expensive. It is basically impossible for them to sell a collection of holsters. Think about it. If a store carries 50 different handguns and wanted to stock 4 different holsters for each, that is 200 different holsters, and they probably only have display space for 20.

Also, there isn't much profit margin. A gun store isn't going to sell enough holsters to get any significant bulk discount (and most holster makers are small custom shops anyways) and you can buy the holster direct for a similar price.
 
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i was in SO today, pretty cool place, prices didnt seem jacked up too bad. i would love to check out rileys sometime.
 
Bendad97 said:
I'm a cave man and have always preferred Riley's. Shooter's Outpost is very new and feels more like a "gun boutique" to me. In time, I hope that changes.
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So you want the store to get more claustrophobic and have more jerks for employees? [rofl]

I shop at both places but let's face it, Riley's has both of those things as "features" that are immediately apparent to anyone going in there. [laugh]

-Mike
 
Sig Sauer Shooter said:
I like both stores, a lot. I bought my trap gun at Shooter's and I felt like I got a great deal on it, the last time I was at either store (about 2 months ago) they both had 2 box limits on 9's and 5.56's. All other calibers were buy as much as you wanted....
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I bought my Remington 870 Tactical 12 gauge pump shotgun there. I like the ghost-ring sight, Piccatinny rail and extended 6-round mag tube. One of my friends bought the same gun there because MA dealers would not sell it to him because he has an FID card. They wanted some type of carry license. I told him to go to Rileys. I also have an FID card and had no problems whatsoever. He got a much better deal and he saved the MA sales tax as well. And, as an added bonus, Rileys gave us rewards cards. I cashed mine in for some rifle ammo. Rileys does things right and I have bought all of my guns there. The staff is friendly and very knowledgeable.
 
I always stop by both if they are open. SO does have a poor used gun selection but with the exception of mil-surps, the last few guns I have bought have been new. And SO had a better price on the SR22 I bought. Threaded barrel, black for $350. Rileys wanted $400 for the same model. SO also has better prices on the XDm's. $590 just can not be touched, especially when Rileys is hawking them for MSRP ($700+).

I have noticed Rileys hasn't been as "Salty" as they used to. While some of the SO employees aren't as knowledgeable, the cute girls at the registers more than make up for it [laugh]
 
I went to both today for the first time - was planning to go to Rileys for reloading supplies and to check it out. I had no idea SO was on the same road, but when I saw it I stopped to look around.

Not much to add that others haven't said - both stores have their advantages from what I can see.

As far as SO having their long guns locked up, well, it sucks, but then again, maybe it will cut down on the number of people who are in the store just to handle guns with no intention of buying them (which, from what I have always been able to tell, is a fair percentage of the people in a gun store at any given time). And again, it's been a long time since I was at a store where I could just pick up an AR or AK platform without having someone get it from behind the counter anyway. In fact, I can't remember doing that anywhere. So if Rileys has that (I didn't notice because that wasn't what I was shopping for today), good for them because they are pretty much the only store allowing you to handle those weapons without a customer service rep.

SO was pretty much dead and had a HUGE stock of ARs today. There were easily more sales reps than customers at noon on a Friday.
 

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