Outdoors Retail Store Degradation

[Mulebrain]

I know there has been many discussions on this, but I need to vent!

I cannot find a local shop within 50 miles to buy traditional guns and shooting supplies :shake:

Any place I go, and ask I always get directed to "Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World".

They used to carry many cap and ball revolvers, and sidelocks. Six weeks ago they still had some bp revolvers. Well on last weeks trip, they had none! They do not stock any bp revolvers or sidelocks anymore :boohoo:

It sure is unfortunate that people wishing to get into traditional bp weapons are left with no major retail choices in certain areas!

I would assume that in-line manufactures and reps for their companies have played a major role in this!

It just sucks, that the only way to get what I need is mail order :shake:

For me in the SE, where is the best place to buy shooting supplies??

 

[KampKool]

I visited a Bass Pro Shop for the first time on Monday [killing time in Savannah on a business trip]and I saw a huge selection of inlines in the racks behind the counter. They had a selection of ML supplies and a 'crate' w/ blister packed CVA inlines and Traditions caplocks.

The caplock came w/ everything except powder.

The in-line had everything including a scope.

They had BP substitutes but I didn't see any real powder.

I was NOT that impressed. The overall selection was geared to centerfire stuff.

 

[Runner]

We just lost another black powder outlet here. It is now 35 miles one way to the nearest source,

 

[Stumpkiller]

We all feel your pain.

The real money is in machine made "easy-bake close & play" muzzleloaders. The historically accurate kind and accoutrements take expensive skilled labor and a bit of research. We're just too small a market to devote much effort into. The bad news is that the lack of economy of scale makes the cost go up.

Luckily, you've found the world's best support group here to help you get through this crisis.

Used to was I had this shop nearby called "Hunter's Haven". It was in a fellow's cellar that you could poke around and find used custom flinters, things like .33 Winchester caliber lever-actions, surplus rifles and pistols.

Remember when Army/Navy stores actually sold military surplus items?

If I knew then what I know now I'd have spent every spare cent I could have . . . Wait a minute, I guess I did. There just weren't enough spare cents back then.

We have become a radical splinter group of the commercial muzzleloading community instead of being the core as we once were.

Buck-up little buckeroo! As long as we have this forum and the Feds keep their restrictions fair we can ask here for reviews and place our orders with those few that still offer what we need.

Check the links section for vendors and support the firms that lease banner ads here.

 

[donk]

There is not a decent BP outlet with in a hundred miles of me. Cabellas still handles a little "traditional" stuff but in order to get anything good around here you have to mail order. we used to have a guy here in town that sold black powder but the licence got so high he was loosing money so he gave it up.

 

[Kiltiemon]

Mule... there used to be a BP shop up in West Palm Beach alongside the railroad tracks (Maybe it was Rivera Beach). Can't remember the name of it.

Jim aka kiltiemon (yes, I've blown smoke at Markham Park!)

 

[Bob Riegl]

If you must be reminded Cabela's is still gun friendly---though their stores are fewer as of now---but one can still get BP stuff from them. Bass Pro is a a real PITA$$ place to deal with IMHO. Their shipping fees are most outrageous and if you have a "guaranteed" item i.e. expensive fishing rod---don't expect them to follow through---they usually can come up with more excuses not to honor their "guarantee" than any con man I have ever heard of. :imo: :front:

 

[3 stinky dogs]

Yeah I agree,Bass Pro Shops are real stinker's.

 

[bob1961]

the closest outlet fer me is dixons that i know of and they are 116 miles from me by allentown PA....if i need anything fer my rifle i'm building now i'll have to go there as i would rather have the part in my hand then send back a couple of parts to git the right one...............bob

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Agreed, getting harder to find BP and trad items with inlines all the rage available to the general public. If the inlines have opened up ML for hunters to garner a longer or different hunting season, that is fine with me.

I look at it like so, better for me to be in a smaller more select group, than following the bleating herd. I have always used my ML trad guns for general hunting seasons anyway, so has never bothered me in the least. I do what I like, and grant the same to others.

As traditionalist muzzleloaders (of all stripes) and individuals I will wager we enjoy our sport more, we know what we want and like, I for one won't compromise on those.

 

[HistoryBuff]

The Bass Pro shop here in Nashville still has a few cap and ball revolvers. I think I bought one of the last three sidelocks and only flintlock in that store last year on clearance.

A few weeks ago, I was talking to a co-worker about muzzleloaders. He was surprised to learn that people still made flintlocks and percussion locks and he had never heard the term "in-line". He was completely in the dark on the whole subject.

So we went to the Bass Pro during lunch one day. On the way, I was venting about how I thought in-lines would make sidelocks truly a thing of the past like compounds have almost done to traditional bows. I said "Watch this. We will walk in there and there won't be a single sidelock on the wall in spite of the approach of hunting season." I was right. But I asked to see one of the bolt action in-lines so I could show my friend what how it worked. The salesman told me that the bolt actions, like the Remington 700ML, are obsolete and have now been replaced by in-lines that are essentially rolling block type actions. He handed me one, which I examined and handed back. I asked about flintlocks. I swear the guy curled up his lip and almost snickered at me like I was some kind of crazed moron. I wanted to shove the in-line up-line. He said they aren't going to carry those anymore.

HistoryBuff

 

[arcticap]

I was at one of the local gunshops the other day and they had an unusually large amount of used sidelocks on consignment. Most of them were TC's in a variety of configurations, especially .54's. It seems that because our December ML deer season is drawing near, many people who have sidelocks sitting in their closet & not being used are trying to find buyers for them.
One of the regular gunshows is coming up this weekend and I talked to one vendor who said he's going to be there with his supply of nice used sidelocks for sale. There's other's that are regularly there as well, and believe it or not, even some of the older unfired sidelocks seem to remain unsold show after show despite the fair prices. It appears that the area demand for sidelocks just doesn't seem to be able to absorb the local surplus of them. That doesn't mean that individuals don't special order the sidelocks they want from local gunshops, only that they just aren't usually stocked and sitting on the rack. I even go downstate to the Traditions Company Store once a year, and after probably more than a half dozen visits, I've never even run in to another customer while I was there. It's not like it's advertised statewide as even being there, but still I would think that I would have seen more local traffic when I've visited.
One owner of a long established muzzle loading shop that closed down attributed it to mail order competition. But I think that the decline in the popularity of sidelock rifles has to do with some factors besides the inlines, since many of these remain unsold in gunshops as well. There generally seems to be much greater interest in & money spent on cartridge guns, period. :imo: