Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters I thought I'd seen everything.

A guy came in to the store yesterday with his new A5 he'd bought earlier in the week. He could not get a choke to insert into the end of the barrel(hint: there was already a choke in the barrel), so he tried it from the other end and had a choke stuck in the chamber. I tried for a few minutes to get it out but couldn't budge it.

I knew he felt really embarrassed and felt bad for him. We were pretty busy with a number of customers observing. When I heard the first snigger I gave the sniggerer the best go to hell look I could muster and then gave the rest of the people standing around the evil eye so they wouldn't say anything. But there is always one jerk in the crowd. This nimrod was examining a Desert Eagle in 50 AE and showing off for his girlfriend, with no intention of purchasing. He said to his girlfriend loud enough for everyone around to hear that the guy with the A5 was a dumbass. Before I could button it up I stated that everyone I knew that liked or owned Desert Eagles was obviously compensating for something. That shut him most rikky tik, his girlfriend started laughing at him and he stormed out of the store. I was lucky he didn't call back and complain about me.

Sent the A5 guy to the gunsmith I use.

Now that was funny!

And quick thinking too.

Geno

+ 2

I put that in MY memory bank ! !

Jerry

Good for you. Most folks use these stories to laugh at others misfortune and show how smart and superior to every one else they are, but you showed some compassion and understanding to a guy in need.

Admittedly what the A5 owner did was kind of dumb but none of us were born knowing what we know now, we had to learn it somewhere and make our own mistakes along the way.

You get at least 10 good karma points for that one.

I will admit that sometimes it is hard to hold your tongue. A few weeks ago a guy came in wanting to see a Nugget rifle. Told him I'd never heard of one which caused him to get pissy with me because according to his friend we had a bunch of them last fall. After a little bit of questioning I realized he was looking for a Mosin Nagant. In his mind I was the ignorant one.

That's priceless.

cdb -

There is ALL KINDS of 'stupid' out there. I'm sure more will surface.

A Friend who worked at a local gun/gear store TOLD me.

A fellow came in looking at a 'semi'auto 30.06. The guy 'axed', how does it work?

Friend said, It is gas operated.

Customer said, QUOTE "where do you put the gas?"


he was serious, didn't know any better.


Jerry

I agree with your opinion on Desert Eagle lovers.

Too bad there's not a guy like you in every gun shop. Unfortunately, most are like Mr. Desert Eagle.....

In Marine Corps boot camp in 1971 the D.I. was just starting the familiarization class on the M-14. He had just bellowed out the line: "The M14 rifle is a 7.62-mm, magazine fed, gas operated, air-cooled, semiautomatic, shoulder weapon".

A spring-loaded city boy in the front row raises his hand high in the air. The D.I., obviously not happy to be interrupted so quickly into his presentation, barked, "What's your question?"

The spring-butt loudly asked, "What kind of gas, Drill Sergeant?"

Without missing a beat, within a split second, the Sergeant bellowed, "Marine Corps gas, of course, you idiot!"

The Sergeant resumed his lesson so quickly that no one had a chance to laugh (if we dared) or even fully comprehend the humor of the situation. Anyway we were all in a zombie state right after a couple of hard hours of PT and running several miles.

I still laugh out loud at the memory.

Desert Eagle owners need a little compassion too.

They probably won't find it here!
Sometimes this is not a very compassionate bunch.
Geno

Nifty, I was talking to a young gentleman who didn't really know much about guns at all. We were deer hunting in an area that required shotguns, and I was using a Browning A-5, he was using a Remington 1100.

I remarked how I was liking some of the advantages of gas operated systems vs recoil operated when he interrupted with a "Gas operated?? Lord, I ain't never put none in it, so I hope it don't run out next time I jump one!!"

It was 5 minutes before I could explain to him....

Poor guy. That was good of you to be nice to him. I never fault someone who makes a mistake, even if it is stupid, so long as they're humble about it.

It is the arrogant idiots that I can't stand.

I've never had a Desert Eagle but always thought they would be fun to shoot. Might have to get one sometime and just put with the commentary.

And the .270 Win seems like a good game-harvesting cartridge too...

I'm surprised that the snickerers were at the gunshop instead of down at the boat ramp. Maybe they run shifts to make sure that both places are manned.

Last week I listened to a customer tell another customer that he could do his own back ground check on the internet to see if he was eligible to purchase a firearm.

That's like the Iranians doing there own check on themselves to see if they're complying with the nuke agreement

Back when I worked for a big gun shop I had several guys come in with a sad look and their guns in pieces in a box. Ruger Mark II's were a good one for that. Seemed to get a few of those every year.

I never dogged them out. Just put their guns back together for them and thanked them for coming in. They always asked for me when they'd come in again.

I didn't suffer the loud mouth idiots very well and that sometimes got my butt chewed.

One of my favorites though was the guy who grabbed up a left handed 700 in 30-06 off the used rack and threw it up to his right shoulder. I let him know we had a nice used one just like it in a right handed gun I'd be happy to show him. His reply, "it don't matter none to me. I'm ambiphibious." My partner on the gun counter blew hot coffee out his nose. I guess that doesn't feel good from what he told me later.

The A5 guy did a dumb thing, but he's not a dumbazz.

He brought it to a professional. A dumbazz would have tried to shoot it.

Had an acquaintance that had a similar word. He'd say he was 'ambidubious' - ability to screw up equally well with either hand.

Had one friend go into an electronics store years ago, asking the salesman for a look at some of the then-new VCRs.

He said he wanted to look at VCSs.

Salesman said, "You mean VCRs."

Without batting an eye, friend says, "Yea, them too."

In high school a friend of mine and I walked up to an Ivy League booth at the college fair. Before I could introduce myself to the gentleman manning the booth (we'd set up an interview earlier that week) my friend asked him, "What does your GDP have to be to get in?"

The look on this recruiters face was priceless. Needless to say I was judged by the company I kept...

The best gun one is for me was trying to explain to my old boss (and fellow engineer) how a bullet can not go too fast and zip through a deer before expanding.

hunting buddy of mine was 'verbally' engaged with a bunch of trespass poachers somewhere in NC. Says to one of 'em, '...what are you, some kind of HOMO-sapien or something...'? ANS. '...NO, NOO, NOOooooo, I ain't one o' them...'

The store I work at is purportedly the fifth largest retail firearms seller in the U.S. I don't care but we the number of firearms we move in a week still boggles my mind. Many of our customers have never owned a firearm and are generally a pleasure to deal with. Many of our customers do have experience with firearms and scare me to death. And some of our customers are more knowledgeable than me and I learn so much from them. I have co-workers that are very knowledgeable and willing to share their knowledge in a kind, genteel way. And some arrogant co-workers who think they know everything and are incredibly patronizing and overbearing. I'm fortunate to have access to our own sactoller who is a fount of information. My experience is probably a microcosm of what all the members of this website observe on a daily basis.

A gentleman brought his Savage 99 to the store on Tuesday looking for a recoil pad. The rifle was in excellent shape. He told me everything was original on the rifle and his research showed the rifle was made in 1911. Since the rifle was chambered in .308 Winchester I told him if everything was original then the earliest the rifle could have been made was in the 1950's. Either that or the rifle had been re-barreled. It seriously ticked him off and he left the store. He was already upset because I told him I was sure no one made a prefit pad for his rifle and he would have to get a slip on or a grind to fit.

Hey, that last is, or used to be, hotly debated.

A guy came into the store last week looking to buy a 3" semi-auto. I showed a number of shotguns. Around 45 minutes later he had narrowed it down to a Vinci or an A300 Outlander. An hour later he still couldn't decide which one to buy. He kept calling people and asking for advice and then would shoulder each shotgun again. I was hungry, needed to take a piss really bad and we had shoppers stacking up and getting frustrated at having to wait for this snapperhead to make up his mind so someone could help them. I'm not admitting I'm a smartass but I finally said, " Benelli is currently offering free oil changes for a year on the Vinci." The guy said, " Oh that's cool, I'll take the Vinci." Now what do I do? Tell him it was a joke and hope he doesn't get mad and complain to mgmt, or just roll with it and hope he doesn't need an oil change and call Benelli? Decided to go with the flow and will keep my fingers crossed.

I used to work with a man that screwed up a lot of words and just plain invented some. The best was one day, I sent him to a pay phone to do a "one call" to get underground utilities marked. He came back and said that it was done but in about 30 minutes he needed to call back and Vericate it. He had crossed up verify and authenticate. He also could not say oxygen in the normal manner. I would come out Ox-K-gen. Lots of others but those came to mind quickly. miles

cdb, keep 'em commin'. Some of the folks you deal with are a real hoot!

Thanks for posting,

Geno

The Nagant/Nugget story brought back a lot of memories from behind the gun counter of people with their own vocabularies.

Had a guy looking for some " Eye Mister" Powder......( IMR)

Had another looking for Hog-a-don Powder...........( Hodgdon)

Actually had a guy looking for a Moisin Nugent......( Not Ted)


Lots of people looking for "Winnies"....( Winchesters)


One guy interested only in Winnie Maggies......( Winchester Magnums)


One guy with a custom #1 Ruger chambered in-wait for it-.....300H&H Weatherby Magnum Improved....

Many shoppers looking for Nose-ler bullets ( Nosler)

Many looking for Vargay Powder---( Varget)


One guy insisted he needed .22 longs, so I hooked him up, and he came back furious that the Long Rifles he found were cheaper...


I could go on....

Ignorance doesn't bother me, stupid does.

I also have to stifle a laugh when people say, "picaninny rail".

I worked in a store where 2 young guys came in looking for .38 ammunition. I asked them if they were looking for .38 Specials, and one said, "Nope, they're too long, we already tried." I told them we didn't have any .38s, and they asked if they could try a few different cartridges to see if anything else "fit" in the chambers. I told them I didn't think that was a good idea, then they asked me if I'd like to see the gun, I said why not and one pulled out most rust covered revolver I've ever seen. I looked at it, told them I thought it was actually a .32, used a piece of steel wool to scrape enough rust off of the barrel to read it and sure enough, it was a .32. They got really pumped when they heard that, and asked if we had any .32 ammunition in stock. I told them we didn't and pointed out another store in town that probably did have what they were looking for. It would be a miracle if those 2 haven't blown that gun up since. I've always been curious how they determined that .38 Specials were too long in that .32...

^^^This^^^

One that bugs me is recticle when they mean reticle. Maybe they're proctologists.

I hear guys talking about Mossburger shotguns fairly often

Had a former boss who was a real douche. We went on a group duck hunting trip. He isn't a hunter so he borrows a shotgun from me. First morning in the blind he managed to load the shells in the tube magazine backward (brass first). I had to completely disassemble the gun in the blind while ducks were circling and others were shooting to remedy the situation

I used to work with a mechanic who would ask for parts to be "rectal fitted" instead of retro fitted. Beyond funny stuff when he'd ask the new guy to rectal fit something.

Some people have no business owning firearms.

I've run into a lot of folks who believe the bullet weight is actually the grains of powder. They usually say they think the 180's are the best because 150 grains of powder isn't enough in the .30-06.

I am still wondering if the guy I saw at a Cabelas store ever found a Piccadilly rail..

Heard a counter guy recommend a 7-08 to a guy for elk.

Not a bad choice but his explanation was weird : "This is a 7-08, it's a 7mm necked down to 308 and will knock an elk on its ass at 1000 yards".

Overheard some urban yutes asking if a pistol came with a beam on it!

They were there to buy some .30 cal ammo but didn't know specifics but would recognize it so the guy working the counter put 5-6 different cartridges on the counter the fellow chose .30 Carbine so they sold him a box.

I can just see him shoving it into an sks or ak of some sort and wondering why it won't work.

Mike

He may have been a rectal fitter himself.

Saw a local guy advertising "sal" hunts. Ad had a picture of a good size sow. Still trying to figure out what a "sal" is

Pronouncing it, "Sig Sawyer".

Then there was the guy who brought in an Italian Carcano rifle because he had a round jammed in the chamber. "Is that gun loaded, sir?" "Of course not," and pulled the trigger to prove it. After we picked ourselves up off the floor, the idiot got his ass tossed out the door, literally, and the stupid rifle pitched out onto the sidewalk beside him (it clattered out into the street and a couple cars drove over it before he had a chance to retrieve it).

I could also tell you about the old retirement age cop who came in 40-couple years ago looking for someone who could give his service .38 a good cleaning before he turned it back in. The Colt hadn't been out of the holster for years. Decades maybe. There was so much dirt/lint/crap filtered and packed down in there that it was a tug o' war getting it out. The ammo was all corroded in the chambers- so bad that we had to tap a couple of them out with a hammer and dowel. The bore was rusted and filled with lint so bad that there was just a little tunnel of light shining through. The heck of it was, he was a great guy who was a very good cop. He just never had to draw his weapon, and obviously got around re-qualifications somehow. His billy club on the other hand looked very well used...

There is nothing A5 about the new A5's.

A couple came into the store Saturday to buy a .38 special snubby to carry in their car. Their friend the expert was with them since they had never owned a handgun. The couple chose the least expensive .38 we carry, a Rossi. The expert then asked me if regular .38's could be fired out of the revolver. I said, "I don't understand your question, to me a regular .38 means .38 special." He got visibly upset and said I mean regular .38's, everyone knows what they are. I said, "Are you talking about .357 magnum?" He got madder and said no, I mean regular .38's. I explained that the only other .38's I knew about were the .38 Long Colt and .38 S&W, but they are not in production anymore and ammo was pretty rare.

The expert told me to forget it. He did talk to the store manager and suggested that I receive more training.

I have often wondered if some of these big stores that sale firearms actually interview the sales people they hire to work the gun counter. I try not to go to these places for anything unless it is absolutely necessary, or if they have a good deal on something I want. If any of you guys work in those places then I am not talking about you.;) Is there a bonus to the sales man if they sale the magnums, or is it just the counter jockeys thinks that is the best? Most people around where I live are after deer or pigs. I Have no idea why they would advise a person they need a 300 RUM. I am sure some people who come in ask for those rifles. I know a sale is a sale but you don't make a repeat customer if the rifle kicks the crap out of them, and they give up hunting because they cant stand to shoot the rifle that someone told them they had to have. cdb do you have try to talk some people down, or do you often give in and let them buy that hammer of thor, and just tell them to bring it back if they want to try something different? I am not talking about all salesmen. I have heard this happen a few times while standing near the counter looking at the guns.

Earlier this year, an LGS had a "guru" behind the counter that was trying to convince a new gun owner that the Glock 32 in .357 SIG was a better choice for carry and home defense because "he could fire cheaper .38s in it for practice and then load the more expensive and powerful .357s for carry".

I know I cost him a sale when I called bullschit, proved the point, and the customer left. I might have cost him his job, but the LGS closed relatively soon after that anyway (no real loss). He was their "apprentice gunsmith", too.

My 2 favorites.

Was in the local Walmart right after Christmas 2007. The guy working the gun counter answers the phone with a customer asking about 7mm-08 ammo for a new rifle he got for Christmas. The clerk informed him that the only ammo they had in stock was 07 ammo, the 08 ammo would be in next week.

My brother relayed the 2nd story, I wasn't there. Guy walks into a reputable gun shop asking if they carried 357 Sig ammo for his new Glock. Clerk answers yes and walks to the ammo display asking how much he wants. The answer." Well, I have two 13 round magazines so I'll take 26 rounds" as he hands the clerk the 2 magazines to fill up for him.

Where I work we have some incredibly knowledgeable people and our fair share of idiots. We are not measured or paid by what or how much we sell. We are measured by how many credit card apps we get.

Had two of the sales staff in a certain gun library in a big sporting goods store ask me if I knew anything about proof marks as I looked over a winchester Model 54. I said some. Their question was,,,

We have a customer on the phone in Arizona that is interested in this Holland & Holland 500 Nitro express. (Handed me the double rifle). He wants to know if it's proofed for Nitro.

I didn't know if it was a "Prince Albert in a can" joke or what???

And the beat goes on...

Shortly after the 300 RUM came out you could buy them used pretty cheap

More often than not, you get to sell them a 300Wby, then a 300Win, then a 300WSM, then a 30-06, and finally a 308.

Daggum BPS's!! I called 'em "Ziplock shotguns". Guy'd come in with the receiver and a ziplock bag fulla parts. It's one of the very few I wouldn't let them watch me work on because I never really knew how long it'd take. One would go right together and you'd look like a genius and the next would be a 45min reminder of how much I still don't know.

The original "Dick's Clothing and Sporting Goods" was a real goo family owned store on Court Street in Binghampton, NY. They had a great gun department back in the day. I was in there once in the mid-70's and watched a kid behind the counter trying to sell an older guy a Ruger No. 1 in .25-06. The kid was almost sputtering and spitting with enthusiasm as he said to the guy, "This is a great caliber for road hunting!!! You can kill a deer as far away as you can see it with this rifle!!!"

The problem with that is, most big box stores don't have anyone in the front office who could do an interview and tell William E. Tibbe from John Barsness.

My favorite is still the guy in Sportsman's Warehouse who told me .270 caliber Nosler Partitions were no good for deer.

It depends. If it is someone's first rifle I will gently try to nudge them down from a 300 Winmag or 7mm Mag to a .243 or 7mm-08. Especially if the rifle is for hunting here in Texas where the indigenous wildlife is just not that big. The largest animal I've killed is a nilgai on a friends ranch in the valley, with a .270. It ran about 30 yards before it went down. The nilgai was a target of opportunity. If I had been hunting nilgai I would have used my 30-06 which is the most powerful rifle I own.

I think everyone is guided by unconsciously by their own experiences. I grew up hunting with a milsurp 30-06 and .303. When I was 14 I shattered my shoulder blade in a football game and needed surgery. I never noticed the recoil before that but it bothered me a little bit after the operation shooting those milsurps with hard butt plates. When I was 20 I broke my shoulder blade again in a football at college and had operation number two. The next Sept I used some calf money to buy a 700 ADL .270 and the recoil was manageable again. When I was 42 my bicycle flipped after being hit by a car and I broke my collar bone and shoulder blade again. Operation number three. For the last 13 years I've been an official member of the recoil sensitive club. I now shoot a 6.5x55 with a Pachmayr grind to fit pad while wearing an Evoshield recoil shirt. The purpose of this long story is that it explains why I suggest a .243 when someone brings their wife or kid in looking to get them a .308. And more than caliber I suggest a youth or compact rifle for most of them(some don't need the shorter lop but most do). I want their shooting experience to be as enjoyable as possible and to not develop a flinch.

On the other hand women come in the store that have been hunting all their life and want a 30-06 and I don't suggest anything. They are very experienced and shoot heavy caliber well.

And sometimes I do suggest heavier calibers. When someone comes in wanting an AR for hogs in .223 I usually suggest an AR in .308 which in my opinion is better for hogs. Or when people want a 22-250 or .223 for deer I'll suggest a .243. I know a lot of deer and hogs are killed with .223's but personally feel there are better cartridges. I suggest once and then drop it if people aren't receptive. There is nothing more irritating than a salesman that is pushy and insistant that you buy what they suggest.

I have a younger friend I met when I sold him a scope. His daughter was twelve last year and wanted to start hunting deer with him. He bought her a nice Savage Youth .243, I mounted a scope on it and he took her to sight it in. All she had ever shot was his 10/22. It was a disaster. The recoil and noise freaked her out and she didn't want to shoot after that.

In February I had her shoot my model 60 at my house with iron sights a few times. I then put the scope back on and had her shoot a few more times. I then had her dad get her the Past pad for women and had her shoot my son's AR with the stock adjusted to fit her. Also had her use double ear protection. In June I had her shoot her .243 with double ear protection and the Past pad. She is fine now and looking forward to her first deer hunt next month with her father.