Is gun buying becoming anti-climactic for anyone else?

[Guest member 25165]

It may be just me, but I have noticed that purchasing or even looking at firearms has become a bit anti-climactic for me. I used to get excited knowing there would be a variety of different brands and price points. I can remember when even big box stores carried beautiful wood rifles and shotguns. Every store seems to carry the plastic stock, low-end firearm these days along with AR-style rifles. Even though I own two AR style rifles, I just don't really get too pumped up looking at them. It also used to be that you could actually put your hands on some of them without having to ask an associate. I can remember Gander Mountain used to have all of their firearms in some particular stores out in racks that you could actually personally handle. Just seems like a different time in the evolution of guns that I am not real crazy about.

 

[mtmuley]

Guns will never be anti-climactic for me. Don't care much for the AR craze and associated tacticool crap, but to each his own. mtmuley

 

[MThuntr]

It's not getting anticlimactic for me but I am becoming very particular in my wants and I do feel that I may be purging a handful of rifles that don't get used in an attempt to fill a few gaps. I'm thinking a classic like the 9.3x62 or a wildcat like the 6.5 sherman short mag. Those are what keep me interested. I have lost a lot of interest in AR's and may send 1 down the road come November. I don't get the fuzzy feeling anymore by looking at gun counters unless I can find a deal on a good used rifle, a donor rifle, or possibly a collectible.

 

[LuketheDog]

Nope, I love to buy a new gun. I just bought a new Howa that, after a couple days on the range, has me more pumped than anything I've ever bought previously!

 

[sbhooper]

It has never really excited me. I like to shoot and I like to kill stuff, but to me, a gun is a tool. If it does its job, then I really don't care about the brand name or any bells and whistles that it may have. I have owned ARs, carried them in a combat zone, and used them for many years in law enforcement. I no longer own one, nor do I care if I ever do.

I will take an accurate, plain Jane, left-hand bolt rifle with a quality scope to anything else. I refuse to pay several thousand dollars for a rifle, so that I can shoot 1000 yards "right out of the box". All of my rifles are relatively inexpensive and all shoot 1/2 moa on the days that I am 1/2 moa capable.

As far as handling them in the store, I hear ya on that. Everything is uber-protected now, with a few exceptions. As a kid, I used to enjoy looking at guns in a store, because I did not have any and people did not think it was a big deal for a kid to look at firearms-it was life in the country. My dad was a cowboy and not a shooter and I really was never able to do much shooting until I was on my own.

I put more of my effort into my reloading/load development for the rifles that I have, than wishing for a new one.

 

[Rancho Loco]

Used racks make me feel like a kid at Christmas time.

 

[Tufrthnails]

Yes and no Jess. One of the things I look forward to every year on my annual hunt reunion with my brothers and cousins in KY is that we all load up and drive down to Whiitakers's Gun in Louisville. It is the largest shop in KY and they have 100's of rifles on isles that you can pickup and handle. We stumble around in there looking at the latest and greatest this and that. Although the only thing we usually buy is reloading components. But the old school feeling of the shop even though it is busy as heck anytime close to hunting season is what I enjoy about it and the variety of weapons instead of the same bottom of the barrel rifles. And I understand the LGS may not be able to afford to keep those more expensive weapons on hand, but I've never bought a rifle I couldn't put my hands on first.

 

[Southwind]

No, but I admit disappointment when I enter a gun shop and it's mostly AR's and tactical stuff. ( I own 4 ar's) I love finding those old shops with stuff stacked to the ceiling and unfortunately those becoming more rare all the time.

 

[.280 Remington]

Used racks make me feel like a kid at Christmas time.

This.

The news racks used to be fun to look at. Now it seems every store carries Ruger Americans, Tikka, and a few other cheap/plastic guns.

Gone are the days when stores carried a rack full of Featherweights.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Guns will never be anti-climactic for me. Don't care much for the AR craze and associated tacticool crap, but to each his own. mtmuley

I agree with this 100%. ^^^
I'm an old guy who still love to see beautiful wooden stocks on rifles and shotguns, not all the plastic crap that is everywhere now.

 

[T Bone]

Like others, I love looking at the used section. It's amazing what is out there.

Tried the AR think. Didn't care for it.

Give me a bolt gun.

 

[Ben Lamb]

I've hit the point that it's going to have to be a pretty good example of the craft for me to want to spend money on it. Miss the old days when gun shows were full of Winchesters of all stripes, war bringbacks & actual collectors pieces, and not old winchesters that someone scoped or otherwise modified.

 

[Hem]

I have toned it down with gun purchases.I decided if I don't use it.I don't need it.Consequently I have sold a handful of firearms.My arsenal covers the basis.That said, I do have a weakness for shotguns.

 

[noharleyyet]

Is gun buying becoming anti-climactic

Not really but the experience has sure changed. Even with all the click-buys available I still want to speak with a knowledgeable human in lieu of an order taker. Like Ben I miss the gun show days when the major reps were present with their line ups.

Currently no AR platforms but have several shtf weapons.....to each their own.

 

[nidahunter]

I just went through this and had the same feeling. Every sporting good store in my area had a large selection of guns, but if you seen one you've seen them all. Everything looks the same,just has a different name on it. I,too, like the look of a beautiful wood stock or something that is out of the ordinary. Out of 4 major sporting good stores and probably 400-500 guns on the shelf none of them even had a lever action,except for .22s.

 

[Dixiedawg80]

I absolutely agree with you my friend, I really miss the old hardware stores where you could pick up all you needed for hunting.

 

[Rooster52]

Nope . Still like Walnut and blued steel. I have several and always looking for another one.

 

[Flatrock]

Scheels must be one of the very few stores left where the guns aren't behind a counter. Nice to still be able to just walk in there and grab any gun you want. At least here in ND.

 

[TheSurveyor]

I'll tell you what ruined it for me was the gun craze and when all the punks with their hats sideways and hind end hanging out of their pants filled the gun store. Wasting everyone's time asking silly questions about ARs they were never going to buy.
I finally have a small local shop that opened up but they're so small that the selection is limited and the prices are salty. Do what I can to support them though.

 

[Gut Shot]

"Anti-climactic" isn't the right term. It is hard for me to see the mass produced bargain guns on shelves everywhere as anything other than a tool or a project. My tastes have turned to more unusual guns, many of which are no longer manufactured. And the fun is in searching them out and finding one for a fair price in good condition.