Black Powder- should I be mad?

[TarponStalker]

I can't believe what the world is coming to. I was in Gander Mtn. yesterday and thought since Bass Pro carries black powder behind the counter that maybe Gander Mtn. did too. Boy was I wrong! I asked the guy behind the gun counter if they carried black powder. He said "what is that?" I replied, "not synthetic subs but I need real black powder." He asked if that was used for reloading shells and showed me cans of smokeless powder. By this time I was getting a little irritated but the icing on the cake was after I explained what it was used for, he told me that was a dying breed and that nobody uses that anymore. Of course I explained to him the sins of using the modern cap guns and that most people decide to use muzzleloaders for the challenge and not to be able to shoot a pistol bullet 300 yards. And,I told him that I was tired of hearing people claim that those old guns don't shoot half the time and that these people never learned how to load and clean properly.
I think I made him cry by the time I was finished.

Sorry for the rant but I needed to vent. I usually try to use these opportunities to teach others about what a muzzleloader is but this time I just went off. It seems that all you see on TV or magazines today is about the stainless steel #$&&*ne rifles and I hate it when they call them smokepoles and think they are really doing something primitive when using one.
Again sorry to carry on so but I must be getting old and grumpy.

 

[RC]

sometimes...ya need to....some guy buys a hawkin at a garage sale walks in says "i need powder" cashier sells him smokeless....an guy thinks "gotta be right stuff...guy at the gun counter gave it to me" an then....."those damn ole muzzleloaders are too dangerous..."
hope he was listenin...maybe ya done someone a favor an saved some injuries.......
:hmm:

 

[Trench]

You probably just showed that guy how much he doesn't know. Good Job.

 

[BrownBear]

You probably just showed that guy how much he doesn't know.

Some guys need it, and you're doing them a lifetime favor if you can make it stick.

 

[necchi]

Good move.
Not all places are that way, but most are unless they happen to have one of us working there.

But their primary job is too sell new guns,, :idunno:

Sad ain't it? I've run across some of the really ignorant ones like you describe also, It can git under yer skin real quick.

 

[Roy]

Mad?? no.. you can't help the ignorant sometimes.


=lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject

 

[hanshi]

They still may have carried it and you just happened to get an ***** for a sales clerk.

 

[MSW]

i wouldn't do the guilt trip over this. you had every right to be irritated. This so- called salesman gets to one kid, lays that load of moose puckey on him or her, and the kid goes away spoiled to a hobby which would otherwise have provided a lifetime of fun.

The sales staff ought to be ashamed, and the store ought to retrain or terminate this bozo. (I'd go for option #2- dumb sales people are easy to replace... better to 'let one go' and start fresh.)

It's the malicious undercurrent of this kind of ignorance which i find disturbing.

So: rant away, and let me join in your rant!

 

[jethro224]

Last time I asked a salesman why they didn't have any traditional MLing supplies and he gave me that line about how "nobody uses that old stuff any more" I asked him how the hell he would know since they don't carry any of it. He just stood there lookin' at me funny and didn't answer, so I put down the other stuff I was going to buy and left.

 

[ohio ramrod]

The sad truth is we are a dying breed! Just look at the local rendezvous. We used to have over one hundred camps, now we are lucky to have twenty. It is up to us to take the grandkids and any other kids, scouts, etc. and teach them what we are all about. No kids no future! :idunno: :idunno: The sales people are only interested in quick sales of the new stuff to the majority, not cultivating a new interest in the "old ways" :hmm: :hmm:

 

[paulvallandigham]

I made the same "argument" about left-handed guns to MLer makers, for more than 30 years, and got the same response- and the same reaction to my statements. "If you don't offer them, how can you possibly know how many LH shooters would have bought your guns? "

I do think that we all have an obligation to be ambassadors for our sport, and that means educating the dummies, and saving new shooters from their dangerous lack of knowledge about powders. I don't regret setting someone straight about Black Powder- salesman, shooter, or customer. And, If I hear some ***** giving out dangerous advice, I go looking for his boss and set him straight, too. The boss may not know anything about Black Powder, but he knows something about being sued. :hmm:

I give a huge Thumb's up to this poster for "enlightening" that salesperson. :hatsoff: :thumbsup: :hatsoff: :hatsoff:

 

[Stumpkiller]

We're no worse off than they were 200+ years ago. They didn't shop at Wallmart or hop into a giant chain sporting good store.

They ordered a gun from a local smith or bought what what was available in town at the shop with a 1:1 meeting and no middle-man.

I'm just happy we can still order gunpowder via the mail (or UPS) and to Hades with the stores that won't carry it. I can order clothing and camping supplies, etc. elsewhere as well.

 

[Brasilikilt]

Wow....If I got that kind of answer: "NOBODY shoots that old stuff anymore.", I would have responded: "*I* shoot that old stuff, and know plenty of people who do...are we all NOBODIES now?"
Luckily it hasn't happened, and have been told instead "That stuff doesn't sell here very well, but I can tell you a store that has what you're looking for."

I should be glad that the local "Big Box" outdoor store I go to actually has some knowledgeable sales people (Who actually hunt and shoot) in their gun dept.

When I go in there asking about some muzzle loading stuff, they are smart enough to say "I don't know a lot about that, let me go get this other sales guy who shoots black-powder."

Maybe I'm just lucky

 

[Claude Mathis]

I'm just happy we can still order gunpowder via the mail (or UPS) and to Hades with the stores that won't carry it. I can order clothing and camping supplies, etc. elsewhere as well.

I agree. If my only option was a local vendor, then I would encourage them to stock what I need. But, I can't afford to spend my time trying to get every local vendor to meet my personal needs. If I need something, whether it's for muzzleloading, my truck, home, clothing, etc. - If it's not available locally, I simply get on the Internet and order it. I'm not isolated in a small rural community, with few options. I can shop the world.

 

[MSW]

Last time I asked a salesman why they didn't have any traditional MLing supplies and he gave me that line about how "nobody uses that old stuff any more" I asked him how the hell he would know since they don't carry any of it. He just stood there lookin' at me funny and didn't answer, so I put down the other stuff I was going to buy and left.

:thumbsup:

i can't help but get the feeling that most of these bigbox stores don't think of us (that is, the consuming public) as anything more that a big dumb food source in the economic jungle.

I've found myself less and less patient with that sort of thing, and more willing to patronize a smaller place where the sales staff knows the product even if they are a little more expensive.

 

[William O.]

Same thing happened to me at Bass Pro, where they actually do sell Goex. While in line at the gun counter one busy weekend a manager walked up to me and asked what I needed, to which I said that I needed Goex. She asked what that was and I said that it's black powder and she directed me to the smokeless powder. If I hadn't have known better and relied on her advice it would have been an ugly scene at the range. You did right; rant and blow off some steam here.

 

[tg]

it can be frustration some feel the same way about modern sights and bullets, no real difference, all are a ploy for advantage over the original or making things "easier" in a lazy world.

 

[Trench]

I agree. If anything, the internet has increased access to our hobby. I can shop multiple sutlers all over the country to find what I want. It's better for them, too. Without the internet, how could some of these sutlers even hope to make a living only serving their local community?

 

[lakota]

I dont blame you. I find the "look down their nose" at me attitude of some store clerks for shooting a "primitive" weapon to be rather offensive. That attitude is why I quit shopping the local Gander Mountain. Much of their staff are smug know-it-alls that want to put their 2 cents in on everything I buy. If I wanted to deer hunt with a cetnterfire rifle then I would. I dont need a 5 minute thesis from some lackey about how my weapon of choice is inferior to his.

 

[lonewolf465]

I walked into one of the major gun dealers in the area and asked for blackpowder. He showed me 777, etc. and I said "real blackpowder". His response---this is better and cleaner. I wasn't going to get into a discussion about flintlocks since this was the same store that told me .308s weren't an accurate round and why would I want that caliber when I was looking for a new rifle. But that's a story for another forum-------