Altra Firearms

[Connal]

Well, I have heard a bit about this place, and heard that it was "good". So, myself and JM84 decided to go up yesterday.

First thing is first. I would recomend a truck to get there. In good weather, a small car will make it fine. I wouldn't recomend it if it has rained in the past few hours, or snowed. This should be changing, as it is my understanding they are opening a new location, right across the road.

1. Selection- One employee apologized, that their selection was "reduced". Around half of it was at a show in Washington. That being said, 91/30s, k98s, aks, ars, pistols, shotguns. A fine selection. Short barrel shotguns, integrally suppressed. If you want it, they have it, or can get it. A good selection of accessories too. Slings, ammo, and sights, great selection as well. I only noticed a few targets, but I'm not too worried about that.

2. Service- The first thing we were told when we walked in was "Hey, hows it goin, if you are thirsty, help yourself to a pop in the fridge." I am used to having someone glance up from a newspaper, like you interrupted their lunch break. We had some questions on an NFA trust, and they gave us tons of information. The one guy asked if we had ever shot a suppressed .22lr. Having explained that we had not, he grabbed a few waivers, a box of ammo, and a toy off the shelf. We had some questions about that one, he explained who made it, where they were from, the warranty, and why he liked it. Honestly, it felt like this firearm belonged to him, and he was so proud of it, he wanted us to have a go at it. And to me, the is fantastic service. While we were there, a gentleman and two younger guys came in. The one younger was looking for an AR. The man gave him some info on different calibers, the ballistics, and the price. Gave him a few different options to make sure it would work for him.

3. Knowledge- As we picked their brains for admittedly, longer that was necessary, they had the information. Alot better than some of these big box stores that sell the "9mm acp", and the like.

4. Price- Now, prices do fluctuate. And they were right around book value on alot of items, and a hair below on some accessories. Now, I didn't look at everything, but as an example, a "nice" mosin, with all the accessories, without the barrel being re-bored, numbers matching, laminate stock. About $130. That is a fantastic deal. They basically did the hand picking for you.

5. Location- It is a little out of the way for me. About 20-30 minutes farther from my range than I am used to. That being said, with the level of service I received today. I am now going to be one of their long time customers. I will gladly drive a few minutes out of my way, to give them the money that in my eyes, they earned by treating customers not like customers, but like friends.

All in all, I am very impressed. And I am going to continue shopping there for the majority of my purchases.

[internet troll]

Nice write up. I am planning on making a day trip there soon to check it out.

[chrisjp]

been there many a times...will go back again!!

[Connal]

My brother recently got a job that pays quite well. And since he had some money to burn, we decided to run up, and see what there was to spend some money on.

We make the trek up there, and we are the only two in the shop. The two workers are busy talking back and forth. The one guy managed to order a few scar mags, and was told to put them for sale. He instead picked them up himself because they are too hard to find right now.

We looked around. Saw some of the prices, and they had gone up. Tried to see some of the prices on other things that were behind the counter, and were not able to see it. The two workers were too busy shooting the breeze to bother and help us.

I looked at a rack of m44s, with beat up stocks. Saw the $300 price tag, and decided to go elsewhere. Started walking out, decided to call out "Have a good one guys". They didn't even look up from their conversation to say bye.

Drove back into town, stopped at a local store, and my brother picked up a sig spartan. Dropped over 1k cash on it. And walked out smiling.

The rest of the day, we kept talking about it. The place has gone to hell in a handbasket. And it is a shame. Their loss I guess.

[wanneroo]

That's too bad. I was going to stop there last Friday but it was getting late in the day and thought it was best to push on to Pittsburgh. I'll still drop in next time by and see what they have.

[Connal]

I posted my experience on their facebook, and when I went back, I thought maybe I didn't hit enter. It was gone. So I reposted it, and a few people commented on it.

Here is a shocker.

They deleted it. Thank god word of mouth isn't important for small locations. *rolleyes*

[awdxtc]

I have to agree to some extent. Their selection is down and prices are up. I was there last weekend. I understand that demand is high right now but....the prices were higher than I thought they should be and the handgun selection was way way down, nothing really cool either in the rifle department. They did have 4 LWRC REPRs but at over $4000 I was not buying, especially since I just ordered a $3500 handgun.

[Emptymag]

I posted my experience on their facebook, and when I went back, I thought maybe I didn't hit enter. It was gone. So I reposted it, and a few people commented on it.

Here is a shocker.

They deleted it. Thank god word of mouth isn't important for small locations. *rolleyes*

THAT right there is all I need to know about them.

If you have to resort to that sort of crap, you have ZERO integrity in my eyes.
It's one thing if you are a lying, pain in the ass, disgruntled customer that has made it your life's mission to smear them, but is one critical review going to hurt you?

I have about 10 reviews for my business on Angie's List that have all been "AAAAAA" ratings.
I just received my first "F" from someone who I simply did an estimate for - I didn't even work for her. I was able to go take a look a day earlier than I had told her I could. Most people LOVE a prompt response, but she wrote that I "made sure to come when she was not home." (among other dishonest comments)

I was furious at first, but really, her "review" is an anomaly. Anyone with a brain can see that her review is SO far out of sync with the other reviews that it doesn't warrant being acknowledged.

If I had several bad reviews hers would hold some weight, but that isn't the case.


Perhaps you are not the only one having less than favorable comments removed? Perhaps the place HAS gone downhill?
I would tend to give them the benefit of the doubt, but the selective editing doesn't lend them much credibility in my eyes.

[ChrisUSMC]

I posted my experience on their facebook, and when I went back, I thought maybe I didn't hit enter. It was gone. So I reposted it, and a few people commented on it.

Here is a shocker.

They deleted it. Thank god word of mouth isn't important for small locations. *rolleyes*

Its their facebook page. They have the right to delete and post whatever they want. you should have gone to yahoo or google and reviewed them there. That way they cant delete it. That would have been much more effective.

[rangeofficer]

Got a chance to visit Altra a few days ago. They have an impressive selection of Ak's ranging from Wasr's, Saigas, Tantals, Underfolder Maadi's, Arsenals to VEPR's, probably best selection i've seen anywhere. Lots of Mosins as well as AR's. However their prices were high . The Gentleman I spoke with was friendly and knowledgable .

If I was looking for a specialty AK this would be the shop to find it at.