This is probably a stupid question

C

Cotillion

New member
I spend a lot of time poking around at sportsmans warehouse and gun stores in the area and for the 3rd time today I saw a purchase being made and what looked like the buyer getting the handgun straight off the demo rack? Only 1 of my handguns has been purchased in a gun store so this may be the dumbest question ever but are the guns on the racks/in the front cases the inventory?! The last guy I saw was buying a gun I had looked at about 10 minutes prior and it seemed kinda beat up with a couple scratches so when I saw the employee writing down the serial number off the gun I was thinking wtf do we buy these expensive guns that are supposed to be NIB but really have been used, abused and finger banged by the entire town?!

Like I said its probably a stupid question so poke fun all you want, I just didn't have the guts to ask at the store haha!
 
Most stores will have inventory in the back. A lot of the stores will sell the gun in the showcase, possibly at a discount. The gun you were handling, was it used? I have not seen a new gun that was on demo banged up before. Stores usually have strict handling policies (no dry firing, no slamming the slide, no jewelery).

the sports mans warehouse here has a wall with a whole bunch of handguns on wooden pegs. When asked if they had more in the back, they said no, everything was on the wall.

Hope this helps.
 
I have seen used in front of the case, in the case and behind the case. Same goes for the "demos." Some of those "demo" guns are high priced. Yes, every bubba touches them. Some are hard to find and that is the price. Period. Many of the better quality or higher priced guns are behind the case. That is higher end with less mark up. A lot of the time the tacticool stuff is out in front where the guys can get their mitts on them. The good stuff on the back wall. Depends on the store.
 
Wow, I am shocked. Every store I've been in has let me handle and dry fire ( after asking ) any and all the guns there. I see the workers at all of these places slamming the slide and other things that don't really matter but if you are paying a NIB box price and 400-2000 dollars for these guns wtf would you let everyone dry fire them for? I was looking at kel tecs last week which strictly says no dry firing, yet I dry fired every one of them in the case to gauge the trigger pull. This may not be news to everyone else but I find it to be crazy! It's like going in to at&t and buying the iPhone that's out on display that everyone has checked their Facebook on.
 
I am so on the same page. I will not buy a demo firearm. The local Sportsmans Warehouse has always been willing to check their stock in back and when they haven't had one NIB they have called their stores in surrounding cities to find one that did.

I walked into the local Impact Guns with cash in hand and ended up paying more at Sportsmans. I could see the normal wear and tear on the frame from people racking the slide and Impact initially told me they would order me a NIB until a manager got involved and tried to tell me that the demo gun was perfectly fine. I am the consumer, if I tell you I want a new gun and you think you know better than I will go somewhere else. I paid more but ended up happy.

And from my understanding, and please correct me if I an wrong. But I thought that it wasn't a good idea to dry fire or drop a slide on an empty chamber. It was explained to me that even though you can do it the systems are designed to transfer their energy to the round and a dry fire or dropping the slide empty can stress the metal. Maybe that is being too cautious but I have never found a reason why I should do so.
 
I'm really glad I asked because now ill make sure to get NIB even if I have to order it and wait. Whether or not the demos are "fine" it still doesn't justify spending that much money on something that's been manhandled.
 
rifleshooter474 said:
If any firearm can be damaged just by dry firing or racking the slide, it is not a very good firearm in the first place.
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Agreed. All you can do at a store is rack the slide and maybe dry fire if they let you. If you think that will ruin the gun, then perhaps try looking at higher quality guns. My Glock can be cocked and dry fired all day with no damage so I dont care if somebody else racked the slide of the Glock I bought off the shelf.
 
It's the principle. That's a pretty snobby comment too considering your talking about a 500 dollar gun haha. How dare people buy kel tecs for a bug or compact carry piece. What are they on welfare or something?!
 
Do you also refuse to buy cars with more than zero miles on them? Do you refuse to buy a car if somebody has opened the driver side door and then slammed it shut? God help you if you bought something that has been touched by somebody else...
If I was a snob, I would tell you to buy a $1400 Kimber.
 
Hey you're not a snob for buying a 1400 kimber I love my kimber and I'm definitely not a snob I just like quality...and I bought mine before they got bought. Lol
 
No but would you buy a cell phone off the demo shelf? And if you did would you pay full price? Would you pay the same price at best buy for the tv outside of the box that was used for display only? How about that brand new laptop? I could go on all night so let me ask you this, what would you buy for full price that has been used and handled by dozens, maybe hundreds of people?

Your car argument was fail btw, a new car has been handled but is thoroughly cleaned and maintenanced before buying it, these gun stores just hand it over. There's also room for price negotiation if there's anything wrong, from the smallest scratch and up. If to many people use said car it becomes a used car and goes down in value. You fail at trolling lady
 
Providence Ranch said:
I use those stores for research, and then order NIB from the dealer with the best price.
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It used to be that there was an electronics store selling TV's. stereos, cameras, appliances on about every street corner that would let you handle the stuff and look it over to really know what you were getting before you actually bought it. Back in the 70's people started finding great deals on all that stuff in the back of magazines so the local businessed turned into nothing more than display cases. I wonder how long it is going to be the same way with guns that the only dealers left with be the big box stores along with Bud's and a few others and no more being able to actually see or handle before purchasing.

The comparision with cars isn't too far off, it is just that we are conditioned to think that way. If you think that a dealer gives you a discount for something that has happened while people were looking at it then you were paying too much to start with.
 
Cotillion said:
I'm always afraid I'm gonna get some NICS suprise. Ive heard horror stories which keeps me from ordering online
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Being afraid to order from Bud's and getting ripped off makes about as much sense as worrying about getting hit by a 10 pound hail stone or a meteorite. (yeah, it could happen but the odds are very much against it)
 
Deserteagle said:
Do you also refuse to buy cars with more than zero miles on them? Do you refuse to buy a car if somebody has opened the driver side door and then slammed it shut? God help you if you bought something that has been touched by somebody else...
If I was a snob, I would tell you to buy a $1400 Kimber.
Click to expand...

Don't call someone a snob just because you can't afford or justify buying a Kimber. I treasure mine!
 
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