A good gun shop is hard to find.

[ScreaminSS01]

I have been into firearms for about 3 years now and know my fair share. There are a ton of shops in the area and I cannot pick a single one to be "my shop". Whether they are know it alls, have insane prices,have little to no selection our just flat out rude. Some have just tactical and some are geared more towards a hunter. It just seems to me that most won't give you the time of day and frankly act like they are doing you a favor letting you shop at their store.

My question is where do you go for all of your gun needs? Is anyone in the Lancaster area that could recommend a good LGS? There are a few new shops in Willow street,Lititz and Gap. Anyone on here check them out yet?

[ROCKFISH]

Try the internet. Cabelas or Midway are my favorites

[PD25]

give KERPERS on RT 625 in Bowmansville,lancaster county a try- nice people and a good selection - not at all tacticool

[Python73]

Good gun stores are hard to find for the same reason good <hobby/collectible/etc> stores are hard to find. The vast majority of LGS owners are not people with formal business training and a sound business plan based on demographics and such... they are just dudes who thought it would be cool to own a gun store. Or dudes who thought they wanted to open some kind of a store, so hell why not guns. Or dudes who are running a family store x generations later. Sometimes the gap between "businessman" and "dude" is small and you don't notice. Other times that gap is enormous.

The above situation leads to most <hobby> stores being run as clubs that also sell to those who aren't regulars. They are fine selling you items they have, and might offer to order you something if they aren't busy. But if you aren't a regular you will get that ginchy feeling that the place just isn't right. A lot of times stores will have a few workers who think outside that box but when they aren't around you get stares from the rest of them.

Also worth considering is how completely balls running a retail outfit is in this internet generation. If you are a small to medium store you can't compete with the 'net on price OR selection. When you tell someone you can order them something they say "I can do that myself" and leave. You have to have a business model that works around this. Typically used gun selection, hands on accessory selection (and so many stores fail at this), stock of items that shipping blows on (think ammo), etc. Since most stores don't do well at these things, and I've yet to find one that does all of them well, the typical visit is like this:

1 - guy comes in and asks about a bunch of guns
2 - store shows what they have and tries to encourage purchase of that
3 - guy doesn't want what store has
4 - store offers to get said item
5 - guy says he will get back to them about that
6 - guy peruses the <often pitiful> selection of accessories
7 - guy leaves with nothing
8 - store sells nothing and is disgruntled for the 40th time that day

Starting to get the picture why gun stores are the funnest place on earth? Playing with lots of guns is pretty sweet, but at the end of the day you have to pay yourself and your workers (and taxes, and utilities, and rent, and...) to stay in business.

[Mitch10mm]

Kerpers / Bowmansville, Hakes / Wrightsvile, Mallins / Buck

[Maropowered383]

I guess I got lucky my LGS are some good guys and the past two firearms I've purchased from them where cheaper then any deal on the internet (including Buds). Not to mention they are 1/4 mile away.

[Franchi20/28]

Carl Wolf of Wolf's Sporting Center is a good guy. He will order anything you want for not much over wholesale. He even keeps the wholesale book on the counter so you see his price. Sometimes his employees are a little funny and the opening hours tend to be 'flexible' if you go early. No website, no advertising, He's very 'old school'. Fair selection of used guns, not much new stuff.

Enck's Gun Barn is a cool little place. Good new inventory for such a little place. Geared to cowboy shooting, but has milsurp's and plenty of other stuff too. I've found some GREAT deals there on used guns. They can be a little funny sometimes as well.

They are all like that. I've even managed to find a great deal at New Holland Sportsmans Shop (believe it or not). That what makes the shopping around fun, when you stumble across that awesome deal where you go "They couldn't have known what they had or just plain mis-marked it"!

[GunLawyer001]

Sometimes you hear a guy say that he can't meet any good women, or a woman says that all the guys she goes out with are jerks. At some point, you begin to suspect that maybe it's not all the men or all the women in the world. Maybe it's the person who can't meet anyone who they get along with.

If it were me, I'd do some soul-searching. Think about what my reasonable expectations are. Am I looking for Internet pricing at a brick & mortar store? Do I want a lot of attention while I browse aimlessly, looking at some pistols and rifles and a range bag and then ammo, never buying anything? Am I a chatty guy, one of those lonely folks who uses clerks and others who aren't free to hang up or leave, as captive audiences?

Some stores suck. Some clerks and owners have a lot more to say than they know about, and they dispense bad advice like a drunken Obama adviser. But if you can't find ANY good stores, then maybe it's you.

[HomeBrewer]

I'd suggest picking the one you are most comfortable with and stopping in regularly, like every other week, and at least buy some ammo. It's a good way to start talking about guns, and eventually, maybe you'll feel more comfortable. Once employees at a good shop see your face often enough, you'll have that connection you want.

Took me three or four visits to my shop, and now I get greeted with my name and they always pull out stuff they know I like. Which is bad for my wallet but good for the business.

[NuclearSociety]

I love tanners.....