Suburban Armory Collingdale,PA

**soberbyker** · December 22nd, 2013, 07:41 AM

Originally Posted by CountryMick

Thinking this is the story being referenced in above post:
http://thedailyreview.com/news/canto...hase-1.1604253

Please explain why a gun shop should be held accountable for the illegal acts of one of their customers, when the gun shop followed lawful procedure. The gun shop walked away unpunished because they did nothing to warrant punishment. Is it the gun shop's fault that a customer lied on the form, and later gave the purchased firearms to someone who could not legally buy or possess a firearm? Next time someone buys a firearm, is it now required that the person standing next to the buyer must also pass a PICS check even if the buyer has never seen that person before in their life, has no association with, and will likely never see again?

Please cite statues if you choose to respond, as I am not interested in opinion.

Going to suggest a concept that might seem strange to some: Leave individuals to be held accountable for their own actions instead of trying to punish others who have done nothing wrong.

Just to be clear, and to stay on topic of this thread, I am NOT defending Suburban Armory in any way. Have never visited, and have no plans to, given the comments from people who have first hand experiences with them. But seeing posts trying to pin stuff like this on them is absurd, regardless of what one thinks about the store itself.

The story you linked is from a place in Bradford County, PA, near the New York State border. Collingdale is in Delaware County, southeast, PA, somewhat near the Philly airport. Not the same incident.

That said I tend to agree with you in that if the store followed proper law abiding procedure why chastise the store. However as long as the reason is not discrimination of a "protected class" the store can refuse to sell if they want. When someone is buying a gun you don't ask for their friends ID and information, but if it looks like the friend is going to end up with the gun maybe they shouldn't sell the gun. I wasn't there so I don't know how it all went down.

As for this store, I've had mixed results. The prices are high. I bought 3 shotguns from Suburban when I first got into shotguns, didn't realize just how overpriced they were until later. A few months after buying the shotguns one of the shotguns was having misfire problems in one barrel, firing pin wasn't reaching the primer. Suburban took it back and had it repaired no problem. One of the three guns we (wifey and I) only shot a few times over the course of a year and ending up finding a few cracks in it, Suburban wanted nothing to do with that. Guess the period of time was why he refused to even look at it but like I said, we barely shot it more than 3 times during that period. A few times while perusing in the shop we were pretty much ignored and I over heard the owner a few times giving bad info on open carry in PA. I've found the owner to be both friendly and snobbish, depends on the time of day I guess. It's a shame too, it's only 15 minutes from home.

**CountryMick** · December 22nd, 2013, 12:41 PM

Thanks for the clarification that the link posted earlier was not referring to the story mentioned. I edited the post to remove the link since it wasn't related to previous thread posts.

**Raptorfist** · December 22nd, 2013, 09:09 PM

I agree the customer should be held responsible for their actions and the store did most likely follow proper procedure, but the store can use discretion and deny a sale. Seems no different to me then a child picking out the cigarettes they want at the counter and an adult purchasing them.

**90volts** · February 25th, 2014, 07:18 PM

I stopped in a few years ago to see about purchasing a couple of guns. Was ignored for about ten minutes / told to hold on so I went elsewhere and bought my 454 and 45 auto. I tried again a week ago. Tried to call for availability for a couple days with no answer so I purchased my new 9 at delco shooting supply instead. Took 15 minutes into and out of the door. Sounds like I made the right choice.

**90volts** · March 6th, 2014, 02:17 PM

Tried to give them another shot. Showed up at 1115 today. Says they are open 10 - 6 on thursdays. Place was closed. Double action took my money instead. And Mike was very friendly and helpful behind the counter there.

**DaveIam** · March 6th, 2014, 04:10 PM

I have to drive by there on my way to Double Action. I don't even think of stopping there anymore.

**c45man** · March 6th, 2014, 07:33 PM

Originally Posted by DaveIam

I have to drive by there on my way to Double Action. I don't even think of stopping there anymore.

Speaking of double action dave, I have not been there for years. Has their inventory increased beyond having a number of used consignment guns?
If so, that will result in economic problems for suburban.

**DaveIam** · March 7th, 2014, 09:15 AM

Its still not a huge selection but it has gotten much better. There isn't much as far as long guns but they have a decent selection of handguns. I walked last year just to look around and they had the Glock I had been looking for so i picked it up. Its worth checking out again.

**kareng1966** · January 23rd, 2018, 06:41 PM

Originally Posted by wally36

I bought a used AKM (CAI SAR-1) a couple weeks ago from this shop. It was the exact rifle that I had been looking for and overpaid slightly for it just because it's what I wanted. The purchase was smooth enough the owner was helpful and pleasant during the transaction. Since it was used I wanted to get to the range as soon as possible to make sure that it actually functioned properly and the closest place I could try it out at was Philadelphia Archery and Gun Club in S. Philly. The gun ran flawlessly except that me and my father were both hitting the target to the left and the max distance at this range is only 45'. After getting home and doing some research I found that it is common in Century built rifles that the front can be canted. My front sight was in fact canted and the gas block was also slightly twisted to the right. I took my rifle back to Suburban Armory because during the transaction the owner made quite a few mentions about the gunsmith that he used, I wasn't looking for any compensation from the owner just a phone number or some information about the gunsmith so that I could get the problem corrected. When I got back to the shop and explained my problem and asked about his gunsmith it was like he no longer wanted anything to do with me. He basically told me I was seeing things and that I should shoot the rifle at a longer outdoor range. That didn't seem to make any sense to me since if I was off at 45' I figure shooting at a greater distance I would just be farther to the left. So I left dissatisified and did some research about gunsmiths in the area. I ended up taking my rifle to Classic Pistol last night in Sourhhampton and the man behind the counter agrees with me that both the front sight and the gas block were off to the right and that their gunsmith could fix my problem. Bottom line is InL would never buy anything from this shop again after the service I was given by the owner.

I can't sit here and let people post negative things about Suburban Armory. I think the owner Joe is a wonderful man. My husband and I have been buying guns from Joe for the past 20 years. Ok so sometimes he seems like he isn't giving you the attention you want. He works by himself and has a lot to watch for. You are going into a town that is not the best neighbor so you are watching what is coming in and out of your business. Ok so you didn't have a good experience. But I am sure the next time you go he will remember who you are and what you bought from him.