Curious

[ebiggs1]

Curious observations; :hmm:
My local Bass Pro has virtually no traditional black powder stuff of any kind for sale in the store.
My local Cabala’s has a very few side locks at some point in the year. They all seem to sell out quickly and for the rest of the time, they have nothing. A question would be why not stock a few more and see if there are a few more sales because what they have seems to go fast. Second where do they go? I still don't see any traditional black powder hunters out there?

 

[BrownBear]

I've talked to a lot of store owner/managers ranging from the small mom-and-pops to big boxes including Cabelas, Bass Pro and Sportsmans Warehouse.

All give more or less the same answer. Most sidelock guys are buying their gear and guns online, so there's no sense stocking it. More than that, there's no way they can get staff that's knowledgeable enough to sell sidelock gear, but anyone can sell the modern stuff. Their few requests for sidelocks come from guys who already own the modern, and usually they're going to sidelock because they know someone that's already doing it. And sends them online for guns and supplies.

The sum total of their reactions is "Why bother?"

 

[luieb45]

Our store sells about all the accessories you'd need like roundballs from .32 to .58 and even 12 gauge wads and cards :shocked2:. I'd never buy them though because they're $5/100 cards and 100 wads. They had 1 new Lyman GPR there once and my dad bought it after it had been there a few months and they've never replaced it. They have a rusty bored Traditions Hawken in the used rack for $200 bucks though. They're asking way too much because there's even rust on the bolster and nipple.

 

[nchawkeye]

My question would be, why pay the high prices they charge???

I buy patch material in bulk, make my own round balls, make my own lube, bought several dozen flints years ago and buy my powder direct from the distributor which is about 2 hours away...

A few years ago I was at the Bass Pro in Charlotte and asked about black powder...After they knew that I wanted real black powder it was $20 a can...I had to go to Winston a few weeks later and stocked up at $12.50 a can...

 

[Stumpkiller]

Our local stores - Dicks, Gander Mt., others - do not carry blackpowder because or the state storage demands. Since they can't feed 'em, and "no body wants those old kind that don't work" they only occasionally have .50 size balls (in Hornady boxes of 25) and once in a while Gander Mt. has #11 Magnum caps in stock.

I usually say "that's OK, I can buy my shooting stuff online . . . and clothes, fishing gear, camping equipment . . ." as I walk out the door.

 

[Mickc01]

My question would be, why pay the high prices they charge???

I buy patch material in bulk, make my own round balls, make my own lube, bought several dozen flints years ago and buy my powder direct from the distributor which is about 2 hours away...

A few years ago I was at the Bass Pro in Charlotte and asked about black powder...After they knew that I wanted real black powder it was $20 a can...I had to go to Winston a few weeks later and stocked up at $12.50 a can...

Hawkeye, I'm in Charlotte. Please share where the distributor 2 hours away is, and where in Winston you got BP for 12.50 a can. Thanks a bunch ahead of time!!!....Mick

 

[nchawkeye]

Mick...It's Parks & Sons in Advance which is just off I-40 between Winston and Mocksville...Now, remember I paid that a couple of years ago when my middle daughter was at Wake Forest so I was in the area from time to time anyway...I don't know what it goes for now, but it will dang sure be cheaper than what Bass Pro sells it for...

The Goex website lists all their distributors across the nation...

 

[Bill Hall]

The sum total of their reactions is "Why bother?"

Yep. You can't make much money catering to a relative handful of guys, who are VERY picky, and can make most of the stuff they need.

But aint if fun to hang around the counters of those places and listen to all the B.S. from the salesmen and the hunter wannabe's? The blind leading the blind, with money changing hands as the punchline. :rotf: Bill

 

[BrownBear]

But aint if fun to hang around the counters of those places and listen to all the B.S. from the salesmen and the hunter wannabe's?

Those minimum wage clerks are proud to be experts behind the counter in a REAL sporting goods store. :rotf:

 

[mazo kid]

The sum total of their reactions is "Why bother?"

But ain't it fun to hang around the counters of those places and listen to all the B.S. from the salesmen and the hunter wannabe's? The blind leading the blind, with money changing hands as the punchline. :rotf: Bill

I was in a local sporting goods store a while back and this guy was buying a M/Ler and all kinds of stuff to go with it. He asked the clerk about black powder solvent, bore cleaner, etc. I told him all he really needed was plain old water and maybe some detergent for cleaning. He bought all the other stuff anyway with the help of the "knowledgable" clerk. :idunno:

 

[Ken Cormier]

Around here in central Maine you can get round ball sometimes and never b/p just the fake stuff. There is a guy a couple of hrs away for b/p and in 30plus yrs have never found knaped flints in a shop . But there is a shop every othe block to buy stuff for those orther things that we don't mention here So it is better deals on the www and most of the times better folks anyway just my 02

 

[Rhett Griffith]

Here in NW Oklahoma, you can occasionally find roundballs (.490 only). I have never been able to find real BP in a store here and sidelocks have become as rare as hen's teeth. They seldom have percussion caps, just shotshell primers. I have only once found cut agate flints in an Oklahoma gunshop. Actually, my flintlocks are the only flintlocks I have ever seen outside of a museum!

The clerks in all of the outdoor stores here are adamant about substitute powders being vastly superior to "weak" or "dirty" black powder. They will tell you that roundballs won't kill anything and sidelocks are unreliable and only good out to about 25 yards. I even talked to a game warden in a gunshop here who claimed that he had shot dozens of deer with a sidelock and was never able to recover one! :shocked2: :idunno:

 

[Bill Hall]

Well now you got me thinking about the good old days (by good old days I mean 1970's to early 80's). I can recall five different blackpowder shops within a 20 mile radius of my home. Along with supplying all your needs, all but one shop built custom guns right on the premises. Good places to pick up jags, molds, powder, bolts, etc, or to exchange info and gain knowledge, or just to shoot the boloney and tell lies. If you needed anything muzzleloader related, you went to a local shop. They're all gone now.

Even if one of the old style shops were to open near me today, I don't think they could compete with internet prices.

I guess this forum is the next best thing to shooting the (bleep) at the local black powder shop. Not quite the same though. But you guys are cool, even Swampy. :blah: Bill

 

[Mickc01]

Thanks Hawkeye, I think I'm going to be going to Advance. :hatsoff:

 

[ebiggs1]

I read all the comments but it still doesn't explain why, if they sell what little they have so quickly, why are they not into enlarging what they have? :hmm:
Plus this guys that DO buy it, where do they go? I never see one. :idunno:

 

[ohio ramrod]

The "big lot" stores stock is determined by district managers who only look at district and regional sales. Therefore they stock what sells the most and traditional doesn't meet their sales goals. It is a self fulfilling phrocey. If they don't stock many it it doesn't sell enough for the monthly sales quota. If it doesn't sell they don't stock it! :idunno:

 

[BrownBear]

It is a self fulfilling phrocey. If they don't stock many it it doesn't sell enough for the monthly sales quota. If it doesn't sell they don't stock it!

Bingo! :thumbsup:

I've tried an experiment over the last couple of years in a local sporting goods store, one of three in a privately-held chain around the state. I've been ordering a few things through them and asking friends to do the same. Sure we could get it a little cheaper on the web, but barely so after shipping.

A year ago the overall manager approached me and said he's seeing "a lot of interest" in traditional muzzleloading gear, and asked what basics he could stock to test the market. I gave him a list, focusing mostly on components, and they seemed to be selling.

Six months ago he said he was having to restock sooner than he expected and wanted to expand the line a little while he was at it. Now he has a selection of Cash accessories to go with the expendables. No guns yet, but here's hoping....

Sometimes we just have to put our money where our mouth is if we want local stores to play ball. :hatsoff:

 

[zimmerstutzen]

There are two big factors here. One, we have a dedicated flinter season for three weeks after Christmas. During the early one week muzzleloader season any nearly any muzzleloader over 44 cal. can be used In-lines, side locks, underhammers, box locks etc.

That being said, the stock of sidelocks on the shelves isn't all that great. Half the state is within two hours of Dixon's Muzzleloaders shop.

 

[S.Kenton]

I went to MC sports today ( my local sporting goods store in case you havent head of it) they have NO loose powder on hand, NO 777 NO pyrodex NO anything of the sort.In the past Ive always got my 777 there..kinda made me mad...I'll try Walmart tomorrow.

 

[tiger955]

Walmart here only stocks pyro pellets and sabots, and then only during hunting season. Pooey on them!!!