My Gun Store Experiences

I respect the work LGS workers do, and no disrespect to the OP, but in reference to #2, that’s a two way street. There are counter guys who are great and knowledgeable, and there are counter guys who get super butt hurt when you correct their lack of knowledge on products or law.

Just recently I had one counter guy tell me something I wanted to do with my rifle would make it illegal in my state, meanwhile a few towns over, another LGS is selling my rifle in the same configuration legally with the state’s blessing. Although this phenomena might be restricted to ban state shops.

Hey OP, if you wanna make a killing in CT online, have your FFL-07 build a decent AR “other” for $600 to $700. Troy is killing it up here at $1k a pop. Radical Firearms is trying at $600, but they are junk.
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No disrespect to the OP but most interactions I have had in gun stores have been negative. I've found they treat me like a complete imbecile with weapons, with hugely condescending tones/attitude to match.

Hell, even a phonecall asking if they had a weapon I was looking for wasnt exactly pleasnt:

me: "Hello sir, I was wondering if you might have an M1a in stock at the moment?"
gun store worker: "Nope."
(....then they hung up immediately).
 
No disrespect to the OP but most interactions I have had in gun stores have been negative. I've found they treat me like a complete imbecile with weapons, with hugely condescending tones/attitude to match.

Hell, even a phonecall asking if they had a weapon I was looking for wasnt exactly pleasnt:

me: "Hello sir, I was wondering if you might have an M1a in stock at the moment?"
gun store worker: "Nope."
(....then they hung up immediately).
I hate to hear things like this but its true. Its a retail thing. A lot of people cant handle dealing with a diverse set of characters that your customer base is going to be comprised of. If you arent a 'people' person, retail in general is not for you, whether you sell guns, or clothes. We've had our share of....well to be frank, shit, employees. Guys whom i think got into the job because the idea of being around guns all the time seemed cool, but then didnt want to put the work in to deal with the paperwork, the long hours, the minutia of dealing with stock and records and individual small items. You really gotta have a passion (or at least learn how to have a good time with it) for this kind of thing.

The biggest, number 1 issue i get with the new guys working? not knowing how to separate opinion from fact. Gun guys are like car guys. they like what they like and they want you to like it to. You gotta be objective as a salesperson. If a gentleman wants to get an AK variant from me because "AK's are more reliable than AR's and the 7.62x39 is a superior round" i am NOT going to try to engage him in a debate on the merits of the AR. You talk the pro's of his choice, commend him on his taste in firearms, and let him know he made a good choice that will make him happy. Just tonite, i had gentleman interested in getting into 3 gun competitions who wanted opinion on semi-auto shotguns. I told him between the 3 we had on the wall (Mossberg 930 tactical, FN SLP, Benelli M4) that the 930 was the best bang for his buck. This turned into a discussion with 3 other guys about how tits the M4 was. Instead of engaging in a 20 minute fanboy discussion, i told the loudest one to field strip the M4, and put it back together. When he said he couldnt cause he had never done it before, i asked how he was giving objective insight on a firearm he had no actual trigger time behind. Maybe i came across as a dick but my point was that a STOCK 930, at 750 bucks, comes with a full length tube magazine, competition trigger, ghost ring sights with pictinny rail attachments, and is ready for comp RIGHT OUT THE BOX. The Benelli is a 4 shot deal that doesnt even have a full length tube magazine because of import restrictions whose accessory trail is limited and extremely costly.


On a side note, Radical Firearms are shit and you should feel bad if you have one. everything they make is garbage and i hate dealing with the kit guys who use their lowers or uppers as the key part of their builds. please stop buying their shit. Get an anderson or aero precision and be happy.
 
On a side note, Radical Firearms are shit and you should feel bad if you have one. everything they make is garbage and i hate dealing with the kit guys who use their lowers or uppers as the key part of their builds. please stop buying their shit. Get an anderson or aero precision and be happy.

Things are bad with the Radicals here, folks looking to save a dollar wind up getting bummed when they realize you can’t return firearms like clothes. What makes me mad though is the owner of the store telling them, “Well what do you expect for $600?”
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Well you would expect some scruples from the LGS to sell a decent product, but shame on the buyers for not doing their homework. Sad that you could probably build an Anderson for near the same price and have a quality weapon. Like I said, Troy is cobbling leftover “others” and killing it.

I’ll just build a decent AR when I leave this god forsaken state. Next on my list is the Ruger PC Carbine.
 
On a side note, Radical Firearms are shit and you should feel bad if you have one. everything they make is garbage and i hate dealing with the kit guys who use their lowers or uppers as the key part of their builds. please stop buying their shit. Get an anderson or aero precision and be happy.

If I may ask; what makes them so shitty?
 
If I may ask; what makes them so shitty?
QC that wouldnt be accepted in a post apocalyptic wasteland. Shit ive seen SPECIFICALLY from radical firearms builds and complete rifles?
-Gas keys that werent staked...like at all.
-non staking of Castle Nuts. Like...what? are you serious? not even THAT? thats not even 'precision machining'...
-dimensional irregularities. Its bad enough when the same model upper has different receiver wall thicknesses. its worse when the thickness varies IN THE SAME FIREARM. like...there would be patches where the machining wasnt consistent. noticeably so.

Basically what it means is that you toss a coin every time you buy one. You may get one within spec that performs as well as can be expected....or you get one that has the BCG crack, or where parts dont drop into other manufactures kits. Youtube is basically full of people riding RF's cock, or busting their balls. For a hundred bucks more you can get a poverty pony and not worry about ANY of that.
 
sadly i do not. though i guess i could give them a call and inquire semi-officially...

That's alright. Was just trying to figure out if they lost money on me getting one and an octane 9 for a total of $825, 1/3 the msrp of them combined.
 
That's alright. Was just trying to figure out if they lost money on me getting one and an octane 9 for a total of $825, 1/3 the msrp of them combined.
if its anything like all the OTHER firearms we sale, dealer rate tends to be +-40% of MSRP.
 
if its anything like all the OTHER firearms we sale, dealer rate tends to be +-40% of MSRP.

I had a friend work at a gun store/tactical training place and got me that M1A at factory to dealer rate. Saweeeet
 
I'm dumb, I was getting Radian and Radical mixed up for some reason cause I was like 'I thought Radian made some of the best out there?"
 
@Roaming East

Question. If a person in a free state such as yours builds their own AR from a virgin lower receiver. If they sold it after, would it transfer as an “other”, or would it transfer as whatever it was built into such as a rifle or pistol?

I ask, because stripped receivers are sold as “others” since they are not rifles or pistols yet.
 
@Roaming East

Question. If a person in a free state such as yours builds their own AR from a virgin lower receiver. If they sold it after, would it transfer as an “other”, or would it transfer as whatever it was built into such as a rifle or pistol?

I ask, because stripped receivers are sold as “others” since they are not rifles or pistols yet.
complex answer. The short answer is kinda. the long answer is kinda...with caveats. You cant sell a build if you DONT have an FFL and the reason for doing the build was specifically to sell. However if the INTENT was to keep the gun...and then you decide later to sell it, yes you can...provided you go through the 4473 and youve given your firearm a serial number. theres a lot of murky grey area and im assuming you're talking about an 80% lower.
 
complex answer. The short answer is kinda. the long answer is kinda...with caveats. You cant sell a build if you DONT have an FFL and the reason for doing the build was specifically to sell. However if the INTENT was to keep the gun...and then you decide later to sell it, yes you can...provided you go through the 4473 and youve given your firearm a serial number. theres a lot of murky grey area and im assuming you're talking about an 80% lower.

No, not 80%. Maybe I should not have used the term virgin receiver.

I figure 07’s have extensive ledgers on what they build as per requirement with the ATF. I was just curious how privately built weapons are are classified if the root classification of the lower receiver was originally as an “other” with a S/N? At what point does it officially become a rifle or pistol?

Like you said, it’s seems like a crazy gray area to us non FFL’s as well. I’m just curious how less restricted states conduct business.
 
No, not 80%. Maybe I should not have used the term virgin receiver.

I figure 07’s have extensive ledgers on what they build as per requirement with the ATF. I was just curious how privately built weapons are are classified if the root classification of the lower receiver was originally as an “other” with a S/N? At what point does it officially become a rifle or pistol?

Like you said, it’s seems like a crazy gray area to us non FFL’s as well. I’m just curious how less restricted states conduct business.

All stripped lowers are "other". Once you put a buttstock on it I would imagine it is technically a rifle. Similarly once you put a brace or pistol buffer tube it's a pistol. With a stripped lower you can change from pistol to rifle whenever you want as long as you don't break nfa rules such as barrel length.

This might be different in states that have pistol registries or whatever.
 
All stripped lowers are "other". Once you put a buttstock on it I would imagine it is technically a rifle. Similarly once you put a brace or pistol buffer tube it's a pistol. With a stripped lower you can change from pistol to rifle whenever you want as long as you don't break nfa rules such as barrel length.

This might be different in states that have pistol registries or whatever.

Right. Which led to my question of if I decided to sell it. Does it transfer “as built” or as it originally was designated as an “other”?
 
Right. Which led to my question of if I decided to sell it. Does it transfer “as built” or as it originally was designated as an “other”?

Do you have to register it?

Can you do a private sale with no ffl?
 
Do you have to register it?

Can you do a private sale with no ffl?

No. Not if it’s legal to sell.
Yes. We can sell private without the need of an FFL.

I’ve had this same chat with an in state FFL as well, and @Roaming East ’s answer was a little more forthcoming.

If you live in a free state. Kiss the ground and rejoice you don’t put up with the bullshit we go through in ban states.
 
No. Not if it’s legal to sell.
Yes. We can sell private without the need of an FFL.

I’ve had this same chat with an in state FFL as well, and @Roaming East ’s answer was a little more forthcoming.

If you live in a free state. Kiss the ground and rejoice you don’t put up with the bullshit we go through in ban states.

He was talking about building a lower from billet or from a 80% lower. A 80% lower that was built/completed needs paperwork to sell. Stripped lower that someone builds you don't need to do paperwork to sell. As long as the stripped lower was marked "other" by the ffl it was purchased at you can sell it as a rifle or pistol and they can then deconstruct it and build whatever they want (nfa rules apply).
 
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