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When you go to your favorite gun shop...

Mike1911

Mike1911

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This might be a dumb post but here goes.

When you go to your favorite gun shop, what give you that ‘warm and fuzzy feeling’? Below are some of mine.

Is it you feel you’re among fellow shooters that share a bond and to hang-out and chit chat?
Is it you know what you want to buy and feel that ”rush or high” of adding to you firearms collection?
Is it you’re happy they have a well stocked supply of ammo or other supplies you need/want?
Is it you’re just visiting to see what’s new (and try not to drool too much)?
Is it the gun you special ordered has arrived and you feel like a kid on Christmas morning?
Is it you’re just happy to be away from the wife and kids for awhile?

Just curious to know.

Thanks
 
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I guess I'd get that feeling if I was in a store in Texas perhaps but Mass. Meh.
Our wonderfull regulations don't allow for real goodies I'd be interested in at this point.
I enjoy listening to all the novice, foolish, wrong pronunciations & nieve comments from newbies & regular customers.
It's gives me a little chuckle & reminds me how I was that person once.
 
I'm going to go out of the park here and say that I don't get warm and fuzzies at gun shops. Buying a gun in Massachusetts is a little bit of nightmare, where you get to choose between either high prices or ridiculous crowds. There's almost never anything new or exciting, because of the various "Lists." Even the shops and FFLs I really like using are reasonably stressful to deal with, either due to their weird quirks or just because of the amount of money I'm spending.

I have been pretty happy in gunsmiths' and frame manufacturers' shops. Maybe because of the sheer number of options that presents, and the fact that they're more interested in meeting the needs of only a small number of customers at a time.
 
Mike1911 said:
Is it you feel you’re among fellow shooters that share a bond?
Is it you’re happy they have a well stocked supply of ammo or other supplies you need/want?
Is it you’re just visiting to see what’s new (and try not to drool too much)?
Click to expand...

These days, it's this. Get to see some new stuff that I'm not going to buy just yet, and I get to shoot the breeze with like-minded folk while I buy my ammo.
 
The best in my opinion is meeting new people that share the same passion as we do. The shops I frequent most always have a good atmosphere for mingling, talking, and does not get aggravated when asking questions. I have moved from the "must have today" to the let me research and make a rational decision. So I do get the warm and fuzzy when I finally reached my decision on a purchase and have a good experience with the sales aspect of it.
 
MrTwigg said:
...where everybody knows your name. [smile]
Click to expand...

This. I walk into Zero Hour and everybody says "Hey Pete!" I feel like Norm from cheers. It's a place I want to go just to shoot the breeze with folks of a like mind. I don't have to buy anything. Great place to just hang out.
 
I enjoy browsing at just about any gun shop. But the one that makes me feel the way Mike1911 describes is Zero Hour Arms in Easton. There are few places I'd rather be, or people I'd like to hang out with.
 
I get an erection when i go in any gun store lol. Well not Sportsman's Trading Company in Amherst NH that place is a joke. MY favorite places are Milford Firearms and Pelletier's sporting i have been a long time customer of Pelletiers i bought my first gun there I get A1 service at both places
 
cssaddictm4 said:
My jaw dropped when I entered Hoffman's in CT. I just wish someday something like that store could be in MA.

http://www.hoffgun.com/pictures.htm
Click to expand...

Ha! Yep.

I walked in for the first time and asked where the .223 ammo was, and the clerk walked me over to one, then to the second, then to the third pile of it. Right out there in an actual aisle where you can touch it.

Purchased it with out any questions--only thanks--from the clerk.

Here in the far west of MA, the second time I walked into Pete's Gun Shop in Adams, Mike greeted me by name. With the title "Mister."

OK, I felt old at that, and I know that doesn't cost them anything, but to me, it's good customer service and it adds to the positive environment.
 
I'm obviously doing something wrong because I never get warm and fuzzy feelings at any gunships,or store.It,s usually feelings of disgust at the outrageously high prices and people willing to pay them because the shop gives them a warm and fuzzy feeling [smile]
 
Hoffmans is nice, Riverview Sales in East Windsor is great, and K-5 Arms in Milford CT is sweet too..Lots of Class 3 stuff I cannot afford and nice selection as well. Cabelas has alot but rarely any good prices..
 
Holy crap Hoffmans looks nice! WOW. You need a CT pistol permit to shoot there or is it just your average pay-n-shoot? I have a friend down that way and I am so unbelievably going there the next time I am down.

Man, it seems like there's an opening for a large gun store with a pay-n-shoot range in Eastern MA...the Manchester firing line of Massachusetts. Manchester is such a super nice range, probably because it's supported by people paying exorbitant amounts of money to shoot rentals there. All the pay-n-shoot spots are far away from the city and you gotta figure, with all the traffic manchester gets, that there's a market for such a place here. It would probably be a good thing for awareness in this state too. Anyone got a million bucks to invest? ;)

One thing I love about four seasons is that everyone talks quietly and is extremely polite no matter how ridiculously crowded it is. Proof that "an armed society is a polite society". That said, I do wish FS was bigger to make it easier to browse. They have maaaany used guns I am interested in but it's hard to find a time to get over there and really check em out.
 
I get the "warm and fuzzy feeling" only when I buy stuff and nobody looks at me like I have ten heads. Buying "anythig" at a gunstore should be as painless and easy as buying bread and milk at a supermarket. Plain and simple.
 
I have only been to my favorite shop twice. I am itching to go back. I think they had a dog in there, that was cool. Or is that the bait shop? I better go back and find out. Better check both actually just to make sure.
 
The shop I used to go to back in NV, good people to talk to, the cops that hung out to chat were decent guys, and there were a couple gems I was always eying but never bought, a nice left hand weatherby mark V in .30-06 or that classic Winchester model 94 brush gun, .30-30 lever action. Or stepping into a pawnshop to see what the latest ridiculousness was there. My favorite was the .22 ruger with a penlight taped to it, a weighted block welded to the bottom of the magazine, and came with the fake trigger lock for $75. I swear only a crackhead would buy that POS.

Don't get the feeling out here unfortunately.
 
Pretty much its just something to do. Being in Massachusetts and going into a gun shop kinda gives me an idea what it must be like to be castrated. It aches even more when I go into one out of state...all those boobies...I mean toys... and I can't do nuthin about it!
 
Every time I go to the gun shop now I take my son. Ignorance is bliss. He doesn't know all that he is missing out on. It will probably hurt him more than when he found out about Santa Claus, but for now he still believes in the magic of the gun shop. Oh.. to be young again.
 
just about every gun store around here is so busy you never get to know the guys behind the counters....I'll bet I've been to Rileys a hundred times if I've been once and I barely get a nod from any of the staff...

I think part of it is that I am a pretty quiet guy and not one to make conversation with those I don't know (I hate small talk). Some people call me aloof and they are probably right. I just walk around looking at the stuff and if something strikes my fancy and I can afford it, I'll buy it. I rarely ask questions because for the most part, I've done my homework before I go into a gun shop and probably know more about what I'm looking for than the guy behind the counter....not that I'm blasting the help but no one can realistically know everything about everything in the store.

I do my business and move on.

When I was a kid and hung out at the Village Gun Store in Whitefield (alot) I don't think Stan ever knew my name...He knew my brother's name because he was way more outgoing than I was/am.

I guess I'm just that kind of guy [thinking]
 
There are a few I like but i prefer acme, Adam and Nicole are easy to talk to, not pushy and its always nice to pet the shepard while I'm there :). The best part is at worst there is only one or two other people in there at a time so you can see whatever you like without bumping into 10 people
 
stoneypete said:
This. I walk into Zero Hour and everybody says "Hey Pete!" I feel like Norm from cheers. It's a place I want to go just to shoot the breeze with folks of a like mind. I don't have to buy anything. Great place to just hang out.
Click to expand...

Pete . . . and just like Cheers, there is a divot in the sofa with your name on it! [laugh]

When I walk into some gun shops and get a smile and a hello no matter how busy they are! That specifically describes ZHA, Four Seasons, and First Defense.

I rarely stop at a gun shop these days, but will stop at any of the above if I'm in that area, even if just to say hello.

For those that complain about the size of FS, "you should have been there back in the earlier location" [rofl] . . . you couldn't walk in there without bumping butt cheeks with people! [laugh] The current location is MUCH bigger.
 

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