Have you ever talked to a LGS clerk and...

[Boboclown]

Have to bite your tongue because the guy was wrong on a good amount of the stuff he was mentioning?

Read More

 

[JamesRL]

Sure, I think we all have. More common - in my experience - are gun store employees who present their personal preferences as carved-in-stone facts. For example, the guy who says "Glocks are nothing more than plastic junk." or "Glocks are better than any other gun ever made."

I had a store employee tell me that AR-15 magazines would work in a Mini-14 and had another tell me that I could use .380 ammunition in my 9mm "just like shooting .38 specials out of a .357 magnum".

There's a lot of misinformation floating around and some of it ends up in the heads of gun store employees.

To be fair, I've also had a hardware store employee tell me that I could change a 110V outlet into a 200V by connecting the black and white wire together.


Jim

 

[IronMonster]

To be fair, I've also had a hardware store employee tell me that I could change a 110V outlet into a 200V by connecting the black and white wire together.


Jim

Mmmm. I would have ask for a demonstration. Hopefully while it was live

 

[Stomper]

Wear sunglasses... flash burn potential.

 

[JamesRL]

Mmmm. I would have ask for a demonstration. Hopefully while it was live

Wear sunglasses... flash burn potential.

I should have asked him if he'd ever tried it himself.

Point is, there are salespeople in every field who think they know it all, which really irritates those of us who do know it all.

Jim

 

[Just Jim]

Don't go into many gun stores now days so I miss all the fun.

 

[40calruler]

I have been boycotting them as well. Bottom line is they all suck. Even when I know what I want they ask me to look at "their favorite" at times. Most of the time I have already shot that gun and have good reason to not be choosing it. Plus at a gun shop you become "registered" as having that gun.

 

[Mark W.]

Firearms have been one of my hobbies since I was 11 and started reloading. I'm 57 so with 46 years of experience in firearms the extent of my conversations with LGS emps is.

"can I look at that one?"
" how much is that one?"
"do we do the BGC here or up at the front?"
Most of what I might talk about other then that would have little to do with a firearm. Since I already know all about the firearm I wanted to hold already.

 

[Boboclown]

Here I try to get advice, but that advice tends to be a bit... Well there's a reason I tend to take their word with a grain of salt. I talked to them about free-floating a barrel, and they said it would just make the barrel harmonics more consistent but not increase potential for accuracy. >.> <.< Among other things... I do like looking at the guns they have though, first time I ever saw a bullpup was when I went there.

Just don't ask them for information.

 

[BearSlayer338]

Have to bite your tongue because the guy was wrong on a good amount of the stuff he was mentioning?

Yes, I've had an employee at Fisherman's Marine say that Sigs are the only pistol that using the slide release on wouldn't damage.(talking about reloading a gun,not an empty gun)He also said that Taurus guns have a lifetime warranty but they have to be sent all the way back to a factory in Brazil.

At a Big 5 I've had an employee claim that the Mosin Nagant was the best rifle of WWII and that it could shoot through the hatches on German tanks and that is why it was feared by the Germans in WII.(I tried hard not to laugh in front of the guy)

Once at J&B Firearms a obviously new employee was trying to tell me you can't decock a Walther P99 and put it in double action made.(this was not the AS model,it was the original model)

I've had clerks who didn't know what they were talking about at almost every gunstore I've been in except Frontline Arms but it appears that they are still closed or out of the business.

 

[SHPD_Retired]

So far I have been impressed with the people at Gators in Kelso. I was never talked down to and they were friendly and most accommodating. And they have a coffee pot going most days.

 

[mjbskwim]

Weekly "Let's bubblegum about the local gun store idiots" thread I see.
How many time must we go over this?
Just quit going and order your guns on line and read up and buy stuff without talking to anyone.

And Please,Please QUIT bubblegumING ABOUT THIS


Please don't feed the trolls

 

[Stomper]

45ACP is the ULTIMATE pistol round... 40cal SUCKS, 9mm is for GIRLS, AR's are better than AK's, 00-buck is the ULTIMATE home defense shotgun round!!

 

[40calruler]

45ACP is the ULTIMATE pistol round... 40cal SUCKS, 9mm is for GIRLS, AR's are better than AK's, 00-buck is the ULTIMATE home defense shotgun round!!

AwWw...why I gotta suck?!!! You shoot at girls with a 9mm???!!!!

 

[Sgt Nambu]

45ACP is the ULTIMATE pistol round... 40cal SUCKS, 9mm is for GIRLS, AR's are better than AK's, 00-buck is the ULTIMATE home defense shotgun round!!

Are you fRuCin insane?!?!? Everyone knows that the .32-20 is the ultimate combat round! The .45 is for people that can't hit a particular freckle on a forehead! The gun counter clerk at Dick's told me, I believe it and that's DONE.

 

[MountainBear]

Nah, everyone knows that .22's are the ultimate defense round because you just shoot your attacker in the head and the bullet rattles around.

I own a gunshop. I spend 40+ hours a week behind a gun counter and countless more working or dealing with guns in other fashions. My advice is generally the bigger the shop, the more likely you are to encounter fanboy. There are of course exceptions to every rule, as some large shops employ some very courteous and knowledgeable sales staff. Fanboy is dangerous to new shooters and gun buyers, but merely entertainment for everyone else.

After seeing the threads regarding things the gunshop clerk said over the last few weeks, I'm almost tempted to start a thread about some of the amazing things we hear standing on the other side of the counter...

 

[slimmer13]

^^^^do tell. I once overheard a guy trying to impress his buddy with his extensive knowledge of ARs by explaining how 5.56x45 was much more powerful than regular 5.56.

 

[NoFlinch]

My favorite LGS has a wood stove that, during the winter, I sit by the fire while the owner tells me of all the bestest and worstest guns, the plastic Crap, the Best 45 round to carry, why a bump fire is great, why a 1911 will out shoot any other gun, etc.

I have learned quite a lot, and have been warm while learning

If there was one person I would trust for information, it would be my LGS and his employees, for I can barely search and read differing opinions about guns on line.

If he would only serve cookies..........

 

[NoFlinch]

Weekly "Let's .......
Please don't feed the trolls

Uh.........didn't you just feed a troll???????

 

[JamesRL]

Nah, everyone knows that .22's are the ultimate defense round because you just shoot your attacker in the head and the bullet rattles around.

I own a gunshop. I spend 40+ hours a week behind a gun counter and countless more working or dealing with guns in other fashions. My advice is generally the bigger the shop, the more likely you are to encounter fanboy. There are of course exceptions to every rule, as some large shops employ some very courteous and knowledgeable sales staff. Fanboy is dangerous to new shooters and gun buyers, but merely entertainment for everyone else.

After seeing the threads regarding things the gunshop clerk said over the last few weeks, I'm almost tempted to start a thread about some of the amazing things we hear standing on the other side of the counter...

I'd like to hear that! I'll bet you've heard (and seen) some amazing idiocy from where you stand.

I agree with your observation that the bigger stores - especially the larger "sporting goods" stores - are more likely to have "fanboys" behind the counter. They're also less likely to have a knowledgable person nearby they can ask questions (such as your venerable self in your own establishment), which is why they remain "fanboys".


Jim