Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Old Time Gun Shops

There are a lot more gun shops than there used to be but most of them seem to be tacticool. If it ain't black or plastic, they don't sell it or know anything about it. How about we start a list of good sized, old time gun shops that have mostly hunting guns, a good selection of desirable used guns and ammo and accessories for rare stuff. I'll start off with a few that I know within 80 miles of Detroit. Williams Gunsight in Davison--they really expanded a few years ago so have lost the "feel" but more than make up for it with their selection. For instance, every time I've been there, they have S&W M41s in stock. Michigun in St Clair Shores--a smaller shop that has quite a few higher end guns. They carry Caesar Guerini, Rigby, H-S, etc. Johnson's in Adrian--medium size shop with a lot of used guns, many classic "deer rifles". Schupbach's in Jackson---a good sized shop with a lot of older guns and a large archery department.

Ha! I walked into a friend's new tacticool gunshop, the last one in San Francisco. Tacticool was the market there. My buddy Steve had hired this very nice Chinese girl to balance out the staff and do the books. Though good at at tacticool, I almost laughed when one day I walked in and the young staff looked at me for immediate help with a customer's question.

The pretty bookkeeper looked at me and said, "What is a 270?"

Keefer's in Pine Grove Pa. A small place tucked in the woods. The used gun rack is about 5 times the size of the new rack and you can actually handle them. Stuff scattered everywhere. If you need something just ask, they have it somewhere. Lots of old catalogs too, most 4 or 5 years old. They are only open in the evening and most nights there are few guys just there for the conversation.

Buchanan Firearms in McConnellsburg, Juniata Trading near Everette. I get to Altoona/Martinsburg area I hit Long's Outpost or Outdoor City.
7mm

My Dad and Stockton PD Officer Uncle did quit a bit of trade through Bob Chow's shop back in the 1970's. Unbeknownst to My Dad or I my uncle sold off all his Bob Chow customs in the late 80's. Didnt think anything of it back then. Damn Shame now.

Capital Sports and Western here in Helena and Shedhorn Sports down the the road in Ennis...

Grundman's in Rio Dell (Humboldt County) CA. 3rd generation, been in business same location since 1937.

Felix's Marina and guns in Robinson Twp Michigan.

If someone is in the West, look up Ron Peterson's in Albuquerque. He's on Central.

A fella over on upland journal has a good start. Here is a link to the “gun shop map”

https://www.google.com/mymaps/viewer?mid=1G0yF-vSA27qCnvO__iTLqvbEtK7EK-V7&hl=en

The thread over there


http://uplandjournal.ipbhost.com/topic/66799-im-putting-together-a-map-of-good-gun-stores/

Collectors Firearms in Houston has more guns than you would believe.

The Gunstop, Minnetonka, Mn

First Stop in Rapid City, SD. Can get anything you want, huge selection, can handle any of the rifles or shotguns, great folks.

Shapels in Boise, I sure miss them, nothing in this area since has come close.

Shapels for sure was quite the place. Another one that has been gone for many years was Moon's when it was downtown - I can't recall the exact location. W. Idaho St maybe, too many years ago.

drover

Yes it was Idaho St.
They moved the inventory to a location on State St. lots of it never left the boxes I don't think, then one day it was just gone.
No idea what happened.

I read once that Shapel did some work with Elmer Keith.
I just know he passed and his son that was running it got cancer.
Sad, I was there during some of the sales just before closing.
I still have one of their catalogs I kept for no reason other than to have it

Went into a shop in Burns Oregon a few years ago. Shop was in a guys house. Had an old faded sign you could barely read, Pruitts Gun Shop. 157 year old guy comes to the door when I knocked, yep, come on in. Two little yappy dogs peeing on the carpet....

Anyhow, I take a right into a room that is three sides gun racks, 5 or 6 deep, all the way down 3 walls. Display cases full of pistols. That would have eclipsed most gun stores but that was only the beginning.

In the center of the room was boxes of NIB guns, many 2-3 decades old, still NIB. Some of the stacks of gun boxes were 10-15 guns high, so thick there were just trails thru the room. Hundreds of NIB guns. In each corner and anywhere else he could stand a gun, there were 20-30 guns piled in a corner. There were guns on the counters, guns against the walls, guns behind the doors. The dude probly had guns in the bathroom, I didn't check. It took me hours to go thru it and I went back and bought a few from him.

When he died it was all auctioned off. Amazing gun store. All except for the two little dogs that peed on the carpet I mean.

I'll second Shedhorn in Ennis. That's a good one.
There's a gun shop in Montpelier, Idaho that is just unflippingbelievable, has the craziest collection of trophy mule deer I have ever seen, which makes sense as that country is amazing for producing them. But the guns were pretty darn impressive too. I would stop there every spring road-trip and they always had something for me I didn't know I wanted. It's been a while, but if anyone has been there recently, I'd like to know they're still around.

Shoot'en Den Colorado Springs. Got a lot of everything.