Let's see...If I owned a gun shop or sporting goods store....Do the best I could to stock what they wanted and to be able to order anything I didn't have as promply as I could.

One other thing...I would have a lier's corner...An area in the shop where my customers or potential customers could sit in easy chairs or couches and BS over coffee and maybe a TV and VCR/DVD player to be able to show their "lies"...

Bushmaster wrote:

One other thing...I would have a lier's corner...An area in the shop where my customers or potential customers could sit in easy chairs or couches and BS over coffee and maybe a TV and VCR/DVD player to be able to show their "lies"...

The last guy to run a shop here did something like that & he went bust - you can't mix business & BS because it scares off those who come to buy......

English Mike wrote:

[ The last guy to run a shop here did something like that & he went bust - you can't mix business & BS because it scares off those who come to buy......

Its a fine line. Often the person new to firearms enters the shop and can become a little intimidated by someone bragging about this or that or someone pontificating loudly on some subject. Listen closely and the discerning and experienced person with firearms will hear lots of BS and, sometimes, outright misinformation. Therein lies a problem.

"The reason my gun blew apart and took my eye out is what I heard while visiting XYZ gunstore about a specific load. The guy said it was the best load for my rifle." Beyond misinformation and its consequences, there is the issue of liability and, in some cases, juries have held the store responsible for the information that allegedly was given, whether by employee or customer. By extension, I rarely will give load data to customers or on line. That is the domain of loading manuals. While I may recommend a given powder or bullet or primer, the specific data is seldom divulged.

There is a differentiation between such BS and the normal exhanges of stories and experiences that are part of the gun trade. That exchange is equal from both sides of the counter.

A pet peeve of mine, however, is when misinformation is given from either side of the counter. There is no shame in admitting that one doesn't have the answer, but, that said, the challenge is always to find the answer, the correct answer. There is no glory in giving out incorrect information.

A Few years back, we have a sort of photographic club in the back of our shop.
Very informal, mostly a bunch of hobbyist that meets and BS once a week.
Tea, Coffee and biscuits are on the house but BYO beer and wine (and cups).
Works Ok for a few years, until one day a discussion about what brand make better cameras gone personal.
And just like that, the club dissolved.. yes the frequent visitors still visits but never have the same feel again.

Its a shame though.. I learn a lot off the old timers and enjoys new innovations of the young ones.

Where the problem lies is with the guy that cannot accept the fact that he’s wrong even after it’s been proved to him!!!
There is one such guy at a club I use to shoot skeet at.
One day he overheard a conversation I was having with another gent about groundhog hunting. We were discussing my use of the 6mm Remington with a 55gr. B-Tip that I chronographed at 4150fps. His words were “only a 220 swift is capable of those speeds, your chronograph is lying”
So after a heated debate I finally told him to shut up or put up some cash for a little wager. Turns out he just don’t trust chrono’s period, any one not just mine. The following week I showed him the Nosler manual, it lists the max load at 4077fps with a 24 inch barrel, I’m ½ grain under with a 27 ¼ inch barrel. Guess what ??? The book is lying too !!!

That's alright, Chambered. I've been arguing with people that think a M94 is good out to 250 yards for years now. Yup...It can reach that far, but with the power of my Daisy BB gun. I use my "jack handle" for no more then 100 to 150 yards (and that's stretchin' it). If I anticipate anything longer I go to my scoped Browning .30-06. Bullet drop at the longer ranges is what gets the .30-30 into more trouble then anything. Out past 100 + yards the bullet drops like a rock over a cliff...

I like the idea of a place to sit and visit with other shooters. That's why I come here! Just like any other social situation (including work) you have to learn to who to use your "BS Filter" on. In any group some people are very knowledgeable, some are knowledgeable in a specific area and some don't know sh!t from shineola! I know that there are folks who figure I fall into that last category!

I too have been called a liar over some velocities I chronographed so I just ignored that individual at all times. If you have proof that you are right and they ignore it there isn't any point in future exchanges. Besides, they are the ones who end up looking foolish.

I to enjoy the coffee and doughnut thing!!! Tuesday mornings a shotgun oriented (trap to be exact) group gets together to discuss the Monday night league they have. I know most of them from my skeet days and most are avid shooters and hunters in general.
One guy in particular needs the “BS filter” switched to the on position. The funny thing, everyone else that’s there knows it too.

Want to start an with trap shooters??? Just make the statement pressure has nothing to do with recoil!!!

ummmm doonuuuts.

Yep!!! tomorrow morning !!!

At smaller gun shops I like the fact the owner/salesman will sit there and talk about the guns on the rack and will actually have a idea of what he is talking about.

Verses going to Bass Pro, talking to the salesman, and having the salesman tell you that the 30-06Spring, 300Win Mag and the 308Win use different diameter bullets.

Dimitri

Or a salesboy...

Dimitri wrote:

At smaller gun shops I like the fact the owner/salesman will sit there and talk about the guns on the rack and will actually have a idea of what he is talking about. Verses going to Bass Pro, talking to the salesman, and having the salesman tell you that the 30-06Spring, 300Win Mag and the 308Win use different diameter bullets. Dimitri

THAT is where the smaller shops should thrive - through having a better knowledge of their stock & firearms in general.
Where this falls down is when the "customer" comes in, absorbs all the advice & then purchases a firearm from a discount store for a few $ less.
To me, that is dishonest & unethical.
Had one guy do this to me on a $500 fishing rod & then come in to boast how he saved $20 on my price.
I told him he was also welcome to buy his fresh bait, hooks & other stuff mail order in future (no other fishing tackle suppliers within 30 miles of here).
He seemed upset......

I still love the smaller, privately owned shops for their variety of old and new firearms. I would like to see a little corner for visiting in gun shops too, but the ones I have seen invariably become a haven for people with nothing better to do who soon think they own the shop. It doesn't take long for this kind to run real customers out.

As to the expertise of the smaller shops...this is usually true, but as with anything else the buyer must beware. I've told the story before about the shop owner that tried to convince the buyer that no one made ammunition for his .244 Remington varmint rifle anymore and he really should trade it for that shiny new 6mm Remington that just happened to be sitting on the dealer's shelf. Of course since he really couldn't give him much of anything since his rifle was obsolete.... In this case it was done out of greed, in some of the chain stores it could well happen due to lack of knowledge.

No doubt greed was involved in this one but technically correct !!! (I think)
I’m not aware of anyone that markets varmint ammo for the 244/6mm Remington.

I have seen and heard similar.......... I don’t hesitate to speak-up and inject my 2 cents !!!