Gunshop honesty

[paultap]

Hi Guys, I wonder if any of you have been browsing in Gunshop's and overheard any employees being "economical with the truth" shall we say, in an attempt to sell something.

I was in a Gunshop recently where a potential customer was being told that a second hand synthetic semiauto 12 bore shotgun in the rack he was looking at, had hardly been fired. Indeed - as the story was told, the owner (an old guy apparently) had bought the gun new, fired 40 cartridges through it in one session and then had decided to sell it...However, one look at the wear on the Gel butt pad fitted to the gun told a different story... unless that is, the owner had dragged the gun butt on the ground back to the car for a couple of hundred yards on its one and only outing!

Luckily the customer was just browsing but I had to shake my head on hearing this load of claptrap!

Anyone else have any similar experiences I wonder?

 

[Mmamonster]

I have, i heard guy at gun shop trying to sell a hw100 tell a buyer that he could kill a fox at 50 yards with a 177.
I stopped shopping there after that

 

[nun_hunter]

What I regularly hear in almost every gunshop I go in and ask for certain bullets or powder is "yeah no problem we're getting a delivery this week with them in so I'll ring you when it's in" and funnily enough never get a call!

 

[Overlay]

Standard procedure in some gunshops. Unfortunately.

The art is, don’t be sucked into buying the best gun ever, one visit is enough for me

I use 5 shops that are 100% with the truth and honesty

Downside is these shops are a rarity,

 

[Ray7756]

With the amount of detailed info there is available today online etc why do people get ripped off ????
When I started my shooting journey almost 50 years ago I was given a single barrel 12 bore from my uncle , was 14 when I got my shotgun cert,but never got ripped off,, asked my uncle and friends i went shooting with for advice, and listened to them,but in those days if you went to a gunshop you spoke to a Gunsmith, not a salesman,the first New gun I got was a Baikel sbs, and I knew it may not have been the best gun available, but it was bought for me by my new wife for my xmass, Still have the same wife, and she bought it through her mums Clubby book at so much per week, I kid you not you could buy guns that way back then like the sears catalouge in the states now, I have traded many guns since then, including semi auto rifles and pistols, and generaly only deal with people i trust, and still got the same Mrs and still trust her above all others
Cheers
Ray

 

[Donnachaidh]

I'm always amazed by how many guns are described as having only been lightly used due to being 'unwanted presents'.... not really an impulse purchase like a bottle of cheap aftershave, are they?

 

[Klenchblaize]

I have, i heard guy at gun shop trying to sell a hw100 tell a buyer that he could kill a fox at 50 yards with a 177.
I stopped shopping there after that

Customers have been known to tell porky pies too!

K

 

[EMcC]

What does surprise me is the guys that say they are out shooting almost every day and using such and such a rifle because it is the best then about a year or so down the line the same rifle is up for sale as having had little use

 

[danban]

There are more people into shooting that just go to shops and talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.
I don’t shoot as much as I use to due to family and work commitments.
But I have been in the scene for many years and shooting has been in my family for generations.
It ****es me off when you see gun shops willing to sell anything they can.
If i hear something that is bull I tell the guys what I think.
There are shops that will just sell anything to anyone

 

[jb1]

Got to tell this story,

Went into one shop to buy the rifle I've always fancied, a Sako 75 iii in a laminate stock, heavy Varmint barrel and stainless steel.

So asked the little grey haired owner,
A slight hesitation while looking at the collection of rifles behind him,

Th an turned round to me and said,
"Ooo you don't want one of those sir---- you want one of these"

Taking a Remmington off the rack nd making me smile as he kind of dusted it off.

"Why do you want a Sako they're too heavy you know" ?

Well I like them,


"But Remington are really good accurate rifles, it's what I use"

" you don't want a heavy barrel"

Well I want a rifle that's accurate and i dont mind the weight as it will be a truck rifle and i intend to reload for it.

" ooo you don't want to reload for it, "

" these bullets are really accurate in mine, you only need a 2 inch group at 100 for fox, you won't be shooting much more than that anyway"

I then asked if he had any Sakos in and was told no he had Tikka's that a few the same but cheaper. But he could order one if I wanted.

It was just like a clip from the fast show.

Needless to say he didn't get ANY of my money, Just looking back on all I've spent since, Just like the film "Pretty woman" he made a mistake, a big mistake.

 

[tozzybum]

Dont give em what they want ,give em what you need rid of, had that treatment twice and never went back to either shop.As Ray said that much info is "online" by the time you commit to buy you have researched the backlegs off it .Be it Rifle ,shotgun or extra,s so being told no you dont want that you need this is very annoying and puts the hackles up.
Our money ,our choice you would hope

 

[Triggermortis]

Went into a shop in Kent on a Saturday morning to buy a T3 package in .243 but they only had one in .223, so I said can you get me a price for the same package in .243 please, no he said I can’t till Monday, oh ok says I, I’ll leave you me number, call when you have the price?
Well I didn’t expect the answer I got!
“ you might think I’m a c#$t but I call no one back, if you want the gun you’ll call me “
Yes I said I do think you’re a c#%t and I’ll be taking me money elsewhere !
Now that’s what I call customer service ?

 

[AN DU RU FOX]

I know joe public is a pain in the derry air,but they go to fishing/shooting shops with some idea of what they want not what they actually need,but time and time again they get palmed of with a load of tosh!,last week a guy at side of me is fitting some sort of electical gizmo costing the earth to a guys rifle a little rimmie on a piccatini rail but it still wouldn,t cycle because this mammal finder was too f,ing big for a start, but any one off the street could see it wasn,t going to fit ,but this (salesman) said hang on a bit and i will take it through the back and grind a wedge out of the bolt handle and then he would be good to go!!!

 

[LuckyEddie]

Then you get the other side of the coin where they couldn't be more helpful.
Hardy's Gun Shop in Forfar (now long gone) was my favourite haunt.
Dick Hardy and his wife were the most courteous owners I ever had the good fortune to meet.
Bought my Original 45 in .22 with a Kassnar 4x32 scope from them and was always treated the same as those buying £1k+ of kit.
Loved the gun oil, wood stock polish smell of the place when you walked in, simply heaven.

Ed

 

[hendrix's rifle]

There's a shop near me who did similar, was looking at a 12b escort and the words I heard were 'You can ONLY shoot 3.5inch carts through that' ok, how much are they? '12 quid a box and I've got loads In' why won't a 2.75 inch work or a 3? 'There to small and it only fires 3.5' ok mate no worries... on the flip side, Mike at calton sold me a rifle, had next to no use and was accurate with a cheap nasty stock. He wasn't wrong, no wear on the bolt, no wear, scratches or damage to the stock and shoots sub inch no issues. I know where I go for ammo and guns now...

 

[CarlW]

Gunshops have been lying to me for years. They keep telling me that if I buy enough toys then one day I will become competent at my chosen pastime. It hasn't happened yet!

 

[enfieldspares]

Gunshops have been lying to me for years

True that. I bought a .303" rifle once. The gunshop told me it had only had one previous owner. It had. The British Army.

 

[Pedro]

To be fair, there will be a lot of hardly used guns and rifles that are bought by people after the grant of their certificates. They'll take them out a few times and then not use them again until renewal time, when they get rid of 'em. But I suspect that those are the stock that the shops don't need to push. They'll sell well all day long. If you don't often buy rifles/shotguns, it's never a bad idea to bring someone along. Four eyes are better than two.

 

[andychas]

at the other end of the scale, I heard a recent story the other day about a gun shop near to me who took in a gun as part ex, agreed the price with owner and deal done in shop, day or so later the gun shop phoned customer and gave him an extra £500 because the gun taken in part ex had turned out to be worth more than originally agreed. Pretty decent of him Id say.

 

[User00035]

Bought a Sako 75 in .243 sight unseen from Neil Sutherland a few years ago. Far too far to visit in person from Dorset so I took a punt. Neil had several in the rack. He selected what he said was the best one, emailed a ream of photos and went over the whole rifle, inside and out, over the phone in great detail.

Sounds good, I said. Send it down. He did. It turned up absolutely as described, if anything, better. A mark he'd identified on the fore-end, I couldn't find.
The grade A rifle I was expecting turned out to be mint. Still got it and it's one of the best rifles I've ever bought. Wouldn't hesitate to buy from Neil again on a verbal description and I know I could trust his word.