Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Memorable experiences in a Gun Shop

I worked at a LGS shortly after college for a couple years back in '80 & '81. . Had a older fellow come out of the Adirondack mountains with his whole family in tow. He plops a gun in a beat-up case on the counter and says, "That was my grandpappy's, it's over a 100 years old, what's that worth." He was all grinning with great pride thinking he was about to come into a windfall. The owner takes a rusted, beat-up, store branded, single shot shotgun out of the case. He looks at the old-timer and says, "It's worth about $15." The old-timer starts ranting and raving about how old it was and that my boss was trying to cheat him etc. My boss calmly said, "Sir, I'm not trying to cheat you cause I'm not offering to buy it. I don't want it. You asked me what it's worth and I told you. It was cheap junk when it was brand new and now it's just old, rusty, cheap junk."

Had a fellow come in wanting to buy a replica of a Colt cap and ball revolver. "I don't need a permit to buy one of these right?" "That's correct sir. I can sell it to you but you'll need a permit if you are going to shoot it. However, I can't sell it to you along with the powder, caps or balls" "Ok good, I've got a problem with a neighbor and I want to scare him with it. I can come in at a later date though and buy the powder and stuff for it right?" "Sir, I'm not going to sell it to you, please leave the store."

A young fellow in his mid 20s came into the store with a couple of buddies in tow asking if we had a rifle in a certain caliber (I can't remember the caliber but it was something that wasn't popular in our area.) He wanted it for deer hunting. The only rifle we had in the store in that caliber was a Ruger No. 1. Though it's a fine rifle, it was one that we had in inventory for a long time. I showed it to him and he "Oh, its a single shot." I sized him up, looked at his buddies and asked, "Are you a good shot?" "Oh yeah, I never miss!" "Well then, for a guy who never misses, all you need is the one shot, right?" "Yeah, yeah, that's right. I'll take it." The following year it was back on the rack as a slightly used gun.

Lastly, had a scruffy looking guy come in looking around the place and acting kinda sketchy; walking around aimlessly, kinda nervous. He was the only customer in the store but his head was on a swivel looking around but not at anything specific. It was obvious he knew very little about guns as he asked some stupid questions. I was working alone and he points at a gun on the rack that was the farthest from the cash register. Without asking anything about it he says, "Can I see that one?" I replied, "I don't know? Can't ya see it from where you're standing?." He didn't reply but stood there a while and left. We didn't carry pistols on us in the store but my loaded .357 was on a shelf just under the register. I wasn't about to move away from it. I'm a believer in trusting your gut.

19352012:
Good day to you sir, I hope the week treated you acceptably and this finds you and yours as well as can be what with all the vagaries of life surrounding us.

Thanks for the thread and thanks to those who've responded, it always makes for an entertaining read.

The stories that I'll relate took place in Spence's Sporting Goods in Oroville, WA, a place where a lot of us Canucks used to cross border shop for all sorts of stuff before changes in US law post 911 made it unlawful for us to do that. I'll note that in searching out details for my story I found that Spence passed on in '17. He was a true gentleman and I had the utmost respect for him.

On this particular morning my hunting/fishing partner and I were down in Spence's looking at the latest bass lures as he always had a good stock and stores on our side of the medicine line didn't know anything other than trout existed in the universe.

Naturally since we were there anyways we'd peruse the gun counter to see what was new, I want to say I bought at least 2 firearms from Spence over the years, it wasn't that tough for us Canucks as long as everyone did the paperwork. So into the shop comes a bit of a tough looking chap, hiking boots, denims and the ever present checked heavy flannel "bush" shirt everybody wore back in the 90's as an outer jacket.

He greeted Spence and Spence him back so we knew all was well and weren't totally surprised when he pulled his right shirttail and pulled out a very nice S&W 686 snubbie, opened the cylinder, emptied it and placed it on the counter mat.


When he did that I noticed a Ferry County WA Deputy Sheriff badge clipped to the left of his belt buckle as well. Spence introduced us as "Canadian friends" and he relaxed and asked Spence if "that thing they'd talked about was in" as he was reluctantly ready to trade in his new 686 on it.

Spence then went into the back room and we talked with the Deputy about fishing for a wee bit, whereupon Spence returned carrying the one and only one of these I've ever seen.



While we looked on, Spence ran through the features of it to the Deputy, after which he handed it to him. The Deputy, looked at the shotgun, looked at us all and said, "Well now when I kick down a door to one of them grow ops up back of Chesaw this'll get their attention!"

The other story involves law enforcement as well, which makes sense if one realizes that agriculture was the primary employer around Oroville then and law enforcement a close second as it's a border town so there were all sorts of agencies working in and around.

This day we were likely looking for fishing gear again, but encountered a chap who was about the same size as my hunting partner's older brother, which is 6'7" and a tad north of 400lbs. I want to say this chap might have been only 350 as he wasn't fat, but he was large.

He was an Oroville City LEO and was carrying a 6" barrel revolver, I believe a Smith, but can't recall that detail just now. His size was such that it looked as small as a 4" duty arm looked on "regular" sized folks.

When I asked him about why he'd chosen to stay with a revolver when most of the LEO had switched to auto loaders, his reply was that if it was needed as a blunt force multiplier he knew it'd work afterward for it's intended purpose and that he wasn't so sure about auto, for sure plastic framed autos as yet.

I'll refrain from quoting his exact phrasing, but suffice to say that buddy and I still laugh about it today when we get together. We always agree that getting a 6" barrel revolver applied to any portion of our anatomy by that chap would have been a deterrent of memorable proportion!

In the spirit of cross border shopping both ways, it turns out this chap was dating the ex-wife of an acquaintance of ours, proving once again how small the world can be in rural areas!

Thanks again for the thread and for allowing me to wander down the sunny slopes of yesterday with you all.

All the best to you as we head into winter and Happy Thanksgiving.

Dwayne

Our LGS I’m still trying to figure out who the actual employees are lol..

A dear elderly friend and all-around outdoorsman and firearm loonie i’ve mentioned here number of times, tells the most wonderful and color-filled stories from his youth (he’s 87 now). He was evidently the Huckfinn of rural NJ in those days.

One is how he and two pals just in their early teens, pooled their money and bought a milsurp trapdoor at the hardware store, and how the store owner would allow them to purchase one round per day to shoot (in the gravel pit), plucked from some crate “pretty sure came from the Spanish-American war, i dunno!,” he’d recall with a chuckle.

Present day, fondest memories with him are visiting a semi-secret antique gun honeyhole located in an old feed store back home together, the proprietor too knowing him for many years now. His legs will last about two hours of browsing, and in that time his keen eye will locate every rarity and notable, and I’ll enjoy hearing a few stories retold, and the occasional new story, and the discussions to follow at the dinner table reliving it all into the weeee hours of the morning. Priceless. Like GF says, wish could record those moments and stories effectively for posterity.

we live just a few miles north of blairstown. I went in there with my brother looking for a bolt gun , not sure what we wanted we spent the whole day digging thru box after box looking at so many we lost track of the ones that sparked an intrerest. we went back on saturday and started over. I found a beautiful rem with awsome wood my brother kept digging and had piled up a few to cull thru, when an old guy in overalls came in and yelled at us for being there. he took us down to the main building to see john wall and that old guy ripped us a new one for being in that building so late. come to find out we interupted the big card game that they started after they closed up the store. when we told john we finnaly found what we wanted to buy he laughed and laughed. we were there a couple hours after closing. those were the days!

I always enjoy seeing a guy at the gun store looking for ammo. I have never worked at a store, but some guys who work there aren't the brightest. Here are a few of the best interactions.

Shopper: "I have a 300 magnum, but its made by savage so shouldn't I shoot 300 savage?"

Guy Behind the Counter: "No you want 300 Weatherby Magnum."

I really hope this guy had a 300 weatherby, but not sure savage ever made a 300 weatherby magnum.

Another one
Shopper was in his 60's: "I need a box of 35 shells"

Guy Behind the Counter: "Ok here you go" hands him a box of 35 whelen.

Me being young and not smart enough to mind my own business. "Sir do you have a 35 whelen or 35 remington they are different?"

Shopper: "Kid, I damn well know what I have and these will work. I have had the same lever action for years and these shoot the best in it!"

Sometimes you just cant help people.
I do wish I could just set up outside a pawn shop and tell guys I will give them 10% over whatever the shop offers them. Some guys get absolutely ripped off when they have to pawn a gun.

I went into the Boise Gun Company early on looking for an A5 Light Twelve. They had one out front that was okay, they said they had others in the back but I would have to pick through them. They took me in the back and they had wood racks and A5s stacked like cord wood. Rows of the wood racks and all stuffed with similar models in each bin. Must have been a couple of dozen of them there. I picked through all of them and there were more Light Twelves but their price was too high. I asked they said their inventory was around 5000 guns.

Not in a gun shop, but at a gun smith. He had received a Kimber of Oregon 22h and the shipper wanted it rebarreled cause it wouldn’t shoot accurately. It was a custom classic with fantastic wood and it looked new. The gunsmith knowing that I had some 22 hornet rifles said “ take this to the range and shoot it, to see if it’s accurate”. I did and it was very accurate, about .75” at 100 yards. Brought it back and asked the gunsmith to call the owner and see what he would sell it for. Seller said $700. I bought it on the spot.

I worked in a busy LGS in my late teens/early 20's. It was the Friday before deer season opened, and we were just swamped selling hunting licenses. It was a long narrow sales floor in a plaza. The line for licenses was from the counter, all most out to the door. A guy comes in and squirms his way past everyonne and comes up to the counter trying to get someone to help him. He says he's got a gun that needs repaired. Of course our fist question is, is it loaded? He pulls the gun out of a paper bag and waves it across about a half dozen customers in line to get their licenses as he sets it on the counter. It's a cheap imported semi auto, a 32 or a 380 if I remember right. Parts are literally falling of the gun as he sets it on the counter. As soon as he waved it across the guys at the counter we hit the counter button to call the shop owner to the counter. He tells the guy to step away from the gun, picks it up and cycles the action. Both grp panesl fell off along with the round that was in the chamber, and the fully loaded magazine. The guy at the front of the line, who just had tht gun pointed at his face is white as a ghost. The owner abruptly escorts the "gentleman" to the door, sends him out and locks the door, returning to the counter to pick up the pieces of the gun, takes them to the door and literally throws them out into the parking lot, telling the dude never to come back. To my knowledge he never did.

Rural Country store got a brand new FFL and set up about 2 or 3 of their 1st scoped rifles for sale. Scope crosshairs were mounted in a X configuration. I just laughed, shook my head and left. I figured they would learn soon enough.

About 40 years ago I went to work in a gun shop with a verbal that it would be sold to me the next year. One of the owners deals was that he didn't want to work the counter anymore & that I take care of anything I could before coming to the office to bother him.

A couple guys came in one slow morning & wanted to know if I could apprise some Browning shotguns. Sure, I said, Brownings being very collectable at the time & were well documented, just open a couple picture books.

The two guys started carrying in Browning hard luggage, & lining them up on the counters. About 10-12 guns as I recall. They were all Belgian Superposed over/unders. Pigeon, Diana & Midas grades. Two barrel sets, or 2 & 4 gauge sets. When the research started, we realized that none of them matched the standard high end deluxe grades listed. All exceeded their grade in both extra engraving & gold embellishments. Uncatalogued stuff, off the charts so to speak. All, of course were mint.

I went to the boss & told him he needed to come out front. He asked if I couldn't handle it? I told him that I doubted he could, but he just had to see this. We could only ballpark the numbers for the bunch, but $200K was thrown about. That group of guns was nearly worth double the entire inventory of the shop, & it was a pretty big gun shop at the time.

I've been to a lot of shows & national shoots since then, & with inflation it's not hard to see stuff like that. & of that value often. But 40 years ago, that collection was a sight to see.

I was there once when there was a Remington semi-truck sitting out front delivering pallets of new Remingtons.... it was the only Remington marked semi that I've ever seen.
When I entered the store that day, there was only a path through all of the boxed guns back to John's desk. That old squeaky floor.
I got to go upstairs a couple of times and was in the building a couple of doors north picking up ammo many times but I never was down in the basement... I always heard that was interesting.
Remember when he had the fire? They had personnel from the Base respond because of all the ammo so I've heard.

You just described the staff at my LGS perfectly!

WE had a guy do that at the local Coast to Coast store about 40 years ago. He did at least go outside to do it. He was running away while the clerk chased him. The clerk caught him when he was dead on the sidewalk about a block away.

kwg

I worked at a gun shop in college. I recall seeing the same batch of guns to be appraised 2x in one day. Once from the soon-to-be- ex-husband and then from the soon-to-be-ex-wife. Gave them both the same $$ figures. Here's what I'll pay you for them, here's what I'm going to price them. Dude was only worried about the purchase price, female was only concerned with my retail selling price.

Another guy was going through a divorce and brought in several rifles that had been re-barreled by a local, exceptional gunsmith. Our store didn't buy or trade any non-factory barreled rifles. Guy gets very irritated and tells my co-worker, fine, you can just have them. Put something on your company letterhead that says you won't buy them and I'll give them to you. Co-Worker doesn't have the "stroke" for that and tells the guy so. Guy zips up the cases and leaves. Co-Worker was in a daze for days wondering how he'd let 3 or 4 very nice custom rifles slip through his fingers.

Guy comes in with an armload of old junk guns, some relative had passed away. Some cheapo single-action 22lr pistol with the firing pin on the hammer skitters off the top of the pile, lands on the hammer and the guy catches a 22LR slug through the calf @ about 18". Slug ended up in a mount of a life-size mountain lion taking down a life-size nearly 170" deer. The guy is lucky the mount's owner didn't send him a bill for about $10K. One person escorted the guy to the back door where the ambulance picked him up, a 2nd followed with a bucket/mop, didn't actually bleed all that bad.

I went there many times as a young fellow over 50 years ago, back when his wife still sold groceries on the left side of the store. The right side had used guns. The dialogue always went like this, "John, what do you want for this gun? Well, you look like a pretty good boy, you can have it for XXX.00." He had it all in that place.

I suppose the LGS owner then had to list the Ruger .357 as "Slightly Used, Excellent Condition."

When I lived in Studio City, Calif. years ago, there was a large, well known gun store, B&B Gun Sales in North Hollywood. I'd bought a number of guns there over the years, new and used, plus ammo, reloading stuff, etc., I'd come to know the owners, Bob and Barry Kahn pretty well. One afternoon I was in there checking out their used guns section to see if anything interesting had come in.

I was standing beside an older woman, probably in her 70s, who was gingerly handling a semi-auto pistol of some caliber. .32 ACP maybe. She wanted the pistol for "self protection." She told the salesman she'd "take it." I knew him pretty well. He asked her if she wanted a box of cartridges for it?

She said, "Oh, I don't want any bullets. I could never shoot anyone. I don't even want to shoot it. I just want to scare them away."

The salesman and I kinda looked at her askance, then he talked her out of buying the pistol. Sold her a small canister of mace instead. He later told me that wasn't the first time he'd run into people like that.

It takes all kinds.

L.W.

In the 1980's and early 90's I would call and kill a lot of Bobcat process and sell the fur. Every year I would have a big fat fur check. I would go to B&B Wholesale in North Hollywood and buy three/four guns, whatever I wanted like a freaking kid in a candy store. At that time B&B was the biggest best stocked Gun Shop in all of So Cal. This was the same Gun shop the handed out weapons to the LAPD in the Middle of the infamous North Hollywood bank shootout.

Good thread!

Was in a gun store that was large enough to have 2 gunsmiths. A guy brought in a 1911 .45 and stated the pistol would fire full auto. One of the gunsmiths picked up the pistol pointed it into a bullet trap and pulled the trigger. Sure enough, it was fully automatic, as the first bullet went into the trap, the rest made neat little .45 cal holes in a straight line up the wall and firing the last rounds into the ceiling. I'll never forget the look on the gunsmiths face.

“A .270 will just pencil right through”