NHKevin
NES Member
Not the same at all. Back when Charlie ran the place it was great. The new owners from a couple years ago were overbearing pricks.
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What in THE HELL happened to Riley's????
- Thread starter scaler1967
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Not the same at all. Back when Charlie ran the place it was great. The new owners from a couple years ago were overbearing pricks.
GlockJock
NES Member
So since it's definitely time for a "re-stock the ammo bin" road trip to God's country, what's the consensus here as to the cheapest place in Southern NH to buy bulk 9mm and 7.62 ??
A cute Riley's story. Many years ago, back when Dick owned the place and had Riley's Motel out back, I purchased some reloading stuff and put it on my Master Charge card. This was back in the era
when you got the copies of all transactions with your monthly statement. When my statement arrived, my wife looked at it and wanted to know WTF the slip from Riley's was for. Took some heavy
explaining. Dick used the same account, and the same card machines for both businesses. When I told Dick about it later, he laughed like hell.
when you got the copies of all transactions with your monthly statement. When my statement arrived, my wife looked at it and wanted to know WTF the slip from Riley's was for. Took some heavy
explaining. Dick used the same account, and the same card machines for both businesses. When I told Dick about it later, he laughed like hell.
I noticed the changes starting back a year or so ago. The things that make a store like Riley's work is the old school feel. I don't mind a modern well lit store with room to think but I like the feel of a low overhead shop in a crusty old barnboard or seedy back room better. As long as the prices are good I'll keep stopping in as part of my NH gun shop safari though. At least they don't have a bunch of old timers sitting around giving everybody the stink eye like a few old shops had.
I will say that the staff is friendly and helpful still. Perhaps even more so now.
I will say that the staff is friendly and helpful still. Perhaps even more so now.
I remember the old Rileys and I had gone there numerous times as a kid. Not sure which owner had it when, but I remember all the wondrous cool stuff they had and the place being packed to the rafters with used guns. Fond memories.
Got out of the military and went back in the late 90s - mid '00s to look for deals and was constantly turned off by the piss poor attitude from the sales staff. Now I can understand somebody having a bad day, but these attitude problems were consistent on almost every visit. Got to the point where I'd rather spend Maine sales tax than buy a gun from those A**holes. They were about as "friendly and helpful" as pit bulls fed a diet of gunpowder and crystal meth.
I finally had enough and swore them off for over a decade. Fast forward to last year and I decided to bring my 12yo to rileys just to grab some ammo on the way to the range. Not nearly the floor stock they used to have but they more than made up for it in customer service. Sales guys actually seemed to like their jobs and were really cool to my boy, showing him several different 22 pistols. It was like night and day. They always seem to have cheap 9mm and 45 ammo now too (Blazer 9mm 115 gr for $10 a box). They're no shooters outpost mega-store by any means, but I always check them out before heading down the road now and usually stop for cheap ammo on the way back to the homestead.
40 caliber
NES Member
I was there last weekend. The pistols are not getting replaced. they are spacing the glocks, sigs and others further apart to fill the case. I've seen this in other places when they get short on cashflow. somethings going on there and it doesn't look good. they took out the second tier of rifle racks so it wouldn't look as empty.
What in THE HELL happened to Riley's????
Shooters Outpost 5 miles down the road happened to Rileys.
Shooters Outpost 5 miles down the road happened to Rileys.
Golddiggie
NES Member
Shooter's is expanding and Riley's appears to be shrinking... Not that I've gone into Riley's in the past couple of years (zero desire to go there).
greencobra
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shooters is one place I've been to and get truly butt hurt when they ask for an id for proof of residency before they even let you handle some stuff.
I bought a 20 round clear Lancer magazine there a couple weeks back because they had it and even the online shops were out. No f***ing joke, the upstairs clerk literally walked the magazine down to the cashier. I wasn't even allowed to touch it until I got to the cashier (who promptly asked to see my ID).
At least Rileys lets me touch a f***ing magazine. Also, I bought three 30 round Lancer mags at Rileys and brought them to the counter myself. I wasn't carded.
Shooters does not have used guns like Rileys does, most of the used guns at shooters are consignment.
Rileys had $9/box 9mm for sale, brass case even the last time I was there. Brand was Blazer IIRC. Haven't seen 9mm that cheap in what seems like a decade and only at Walmart.
greencobra
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last time I was at shooters the ar & ak 20 & 30's were behind the counter. he wanted to see a driver's license and wouldn't even let me handle a mag when he found out I was from mass.
Mark from MA
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Bass Pro as well. Two major competitors moved to within 5 miles of your store that's been there for years. You either decide to compete or sell out.
Sounds like they are doing the latter.
Golddiggie
NES Member
If you understood the reason for their store policies, you might be more understanding. I'm not going to go into it here, but once I found out about those reasons, it became a NFG item. The people working there have always been courteous to me (unlike Riley's) and they typically have people manning all the areas. They also make sure that if someone ISN'T there, and you are, that someone gets over there as soon as possible. Not letting you wait there for 5-10 minutes waiting because "we're very busy" (even when they have not that many people in the store).
Plus, how can you NOT love the display they have on the first floor under the stairs going up to the second floor (facing the front doors)??
Personally, I have my DL in the holder (I don't use wallets anymore) that's visible without taking it out. Flash that and NFG. If I'm paying by CC, I'm taking that out of my pocket anyway. If cash, it's in the same pocket. I don't recall having ANY negative experiences at SO. Unlike with Riley's (in the same time span). If I don't walk out the doors (from Shooter's) with something, it's either because they don't have what I want (at that time, probably sold out) or I didn't have the funds to get it anyway. Or was just doing my initial fondling of something that I was looking to get and then planning WHEN I'd go back to purchase it.
Kisspik002
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Rileys had blazer aluminum 9mm for 160 per 1000 rounds. Called the other day to asked if they had any. Price went up to 199 for aluminum and 194 for brass. HAHA figure that one out.
Riley's parking lot, like the store itself, was looking really sparse and unpopulated. I then stopped in at Shooter's -- parking lot was packed.
Riley's has CCI-SV at $35, compare to $40 at Shooter's. Shooter's is better for 1000 round bulk centerfire buys.
Nick Fury
NES Member
Rileys is basically a chalk outline at this point but there are still deals to be had. Walked with $15 AutoComp powder and $18 10mm S&B ammo on my most recent visit. But yeah it was the first time EVER there was not a single car in the lot when I pulled in...
Rileys was great when I could get boxes of Fed GMM 308 for 15 bucks a box and their XM193 loaf price would beat even most online vendors once you threw in shipping into the mix, and there were huge boxes of cheap normal pistol mags on the counters you could sift through to find some 5 dollar specials. And there were boxes of Fed HST and gold dots in 50 round boxes, like TONS of them. But those days are long gone. It basically started to flame out a couple years after Shooters showed up...
-Mike
NHCraigT
NES Member
I remember back (under previous ownership), when their pistol cases were packed, and there were so many new and used pistols, that they were almost touching each other side-by-side.
New and used rifles were wall-to-wall, and not a single empty spot (as soon as they sold one, they had a back room full of a lot more to put out and refill the missing spot).
Well, at least old guns and glory in mason, NH is till like that, under new ownership to boot....
Blackmore
NES Member
I've been going to Riley's since Dick was still alive. In 1980 I bought my first pistol there after moving to NH.
I have never seen it when the parking lot wasn't at least 1/2 full. Today at 11 in the morning there was one car in the lot. Mine made two. I went inside and it was sad. Took less than 10 minutes to see there was nothing there I needed or wanted.
I have never seen it when the parking lot wasn't at least 1/2 full. Today at 11 in the morning there was one car in the lot. Mine made two. I went inside and it was sad. Took less than 10 minutes to see there was nothing there I needed or wanted.
I remember scoring 5 Sig OEM p239 mags from one of their boxes like that...sure enough, 5 bucks each
