Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire What's up with Wal-Mart

I noticed the other day that my local Wal-Mart no longer carries the long guns they always had. Still have ammo, but no guns. Was there an announcement I missed, or is Wal-Mart "quietly" getting out of the rifle and shotgun business?

Depends on the Walmart. Regionally they appear to making decisions on what and what does not sell and making space for stuff that does. Looks like a business decision vice anything nefarious to me.

Shouldn't you be down at the Inn in Nashville there having biscuits with that great Apple butter this morning? Used to be my standard stop on the way back to Greenwood from hunting.

Yes Wall mart is getting out of the gun business ,but not ammo and other hunting gear. prolly getting reeady to hire a bunch of mexs and don't want to get shot with their own guns.

Our Local Wal-Mart still carries long guns, so I think it's a local thing too.
Speaking about Nashville.. One of my very best friends just moved there to go to work for Sabre Defence Corp. Theymake a lot of the AR-15 type rifles. I was surprised at how many barrels they actually make themselves. IIRC, Sabre is the old Ramo company.

Don

Wal Marts around here quit selling guns after Katrina. They still sell paint guns, BB and pellet guns though. So I guess its not totally PC related.

Guys, You are correct with the reginal thing. If a store sales is down and their inventory high, what's the sence in stocking thousands of $$$ in merchandise. A store with high sales will continue to sell firearms. The sporting good section should still have the catalogs for you to order out of. You can still order rifles and have them sent to your store for pick-up. I've been with wal-mart for 5 years now as a mechanic on their trucks & trailers. I'm not 100% sure if every store will still have an FFL. That would be a question to ask your local store. Ken

The local wal-mart here won't order guns anymore because they got rid of there FFL when they stopped selling guns.

Agree it ain't no nefarious attempt to deprive us of guns. Just a store by store business decision. If the local store don't turn over enough guns to justify keeping them then out they go. My local store had guns that stayed on display for more than a year with no takers. Whole display is gone now and replaced by fishing stuff. No more rifles and shotguns. Just business.

Fifty miles away another Wal-Mart still has a thriving gun department.

BCR

I got the same answer Boggy did . A local Super Walmart is the only place in the area to get powder so they will stay in the reloading business as long as it makes them $$$$ . That particular store still stocks long guns .

I talked to a couple of the department managers around here and they told me that it's pretty much exactly as Boggy said. The Head Office basically looked at sales and tried to eliminate the ones that just aren't moving 'em region by region.

Wally has been doing this acros the board, an are moving from a "low-price leader" to a retail chain or whatever. For instance, I wear reading glasses. i use to be able to buy them there for $8 per pair, but those are gone - now they are $16+ per pair. thus, if it does not sell, then it goes, and if it does sell, then it stays, and guns are selling only in certain regional areas.

I will also say that most gunshops know that it is not the guns that sell, but all the other stuff associated with the gun. When you are looking for a very successful gunshop, then you will notice that you go thru the front and pretty much wade thru all the stuff to get to the back where the rack is. Around here, the guns are marked up from as little as 8% to maybe 25%, but the 25% is rare. the stuff in fromt of the gun counter, y comparison, is marked up 50-200+%, depending on the item

Yeah I've heard its a location thing. I've heard some stores still have guns and others do not. The 3 wal marts where I'm from do not carry guns anymore.

Wal Mart eliminated firearms from 80% of their stores. The stores in the top 20% of firearms sales got to keep theirs. There should be one within driving distance unless you live in Mass. or someplace like that. The ATF was scrutinizing their books with special care and fining them a bunch of money for every little mistake. There were lots of mistakes due to Wal Mart's hiring practices. WM decided that the little profit they were realizing for guns just wasn't worth it.

The guy who [ mostly ] ran sporting goods at the Super Walmart where I buy powder told me the floor plan for all super walmarts dedicates a four ft. shelf section to reloading supplies and equipment . All the other Super walmarts in this area use it for Blackpowder stuff .

His store manager at the time it was built was an " anti" and wasn't going to use it for either one . He went over her head and prevailed in his argument before the store was opened . So we get what stuff they can stock in that small amount of space but they are very good to order any kind of powder you want , one lb. at a time .

For HIS trouble , he got "promoted " to assembing bicycles last Christmas !

Bisquits and Gravy at the Inn? When I first read the post I was eating just that, but not at the Inn. My office splits between downtown Indianapolis and Martinsville. At the time I was in Forkey's in Martinsville, where it is almost a town ordinance that you have bisquits and gravy - if they have any left, that is.

I like to go down to the Colony Inn in Nashville on Saturday mornings and have breakfast - sweet potato pancakes. Now that's good, but not near my office, and I know the owner from when I was running for county commissioner.

DMB must be thinking about Nashville, Tennessee. I'm not aware of any Sabre Defence Corp near here, though Scroggins gun shop in Martinsville is well known for making custom 45-70 firearms for the shoots that are held across the country. We're fairly close to Friendship and the NMLRA (National Muzzel Loading Rifle Association). There are a lot of people who cross over into 45-70 single shots.

Heck of a place to mention 444 or 450 Marlins at though But I do get some custom molded bullets there for each, especially cast heavies with gas checks. Use them to have used guns I get from other states sent to as well, like the 30 Carbine set I bought a couple f years ago from a guy on MarlinOwners.com (lever action Marlin and SA revolve in 30 carbine).


Getting back to Wal-Mart, I used to have an FFL, but couldn't compete with Wal-Mart on new long guns. Their buying power meant that my wholesale costs were more than their retail price. I for the most part stuck to handguns and used guns and reloads. Same with Scroggins. I imagine they will start getting more business now, since the local Wal-Mart followed K-Mart's actions in not carrying guns.

Interesting, I've never seen powder for sale in any of the Wal-Marts i my neck of the woods.

According to a store maneger I spoke to, Wal-Mart is "consolidating" its gun departments to a few stores in each area.

Casey