I hope I'm in the right forum / subforum, and that I'm not violating any guidelines by recommending a business, but just wanted to take a moment to give a shout out to Redstone, an LGS that I learned about here. Was recommended as a minority owned business, and I've just had a fantastic experience with them so far.

Never had to wait more than 5 minutes, super welcoming staff, so far only used them for return and gunsmithing. They do not have a lot of stock in the store, they order most guns you would purchase, but it's a waiting game in CA anyway.

The main reason I'm recommending them is the vibe. They recognize me each time I come in, super friendly, I actually think a lot of their customers are probably liberals, but that's just a guess based on how friendly everyone is. I did overhear someone saying their rent is going up, so if anyone wants to show them a little love with their next ammo purchase or whatever, I'm sure they'd appreciate it. Second floor of a mini-mall, a little hard to find, no sign on the door.

So, you're shopping. For what? Inquiring minds want to know.

CDF

Definitely a friendly place for members.

Redstone Firearms have been mentioned a few times on the forum.
https://www.theliberalgunclub.com/phpBB ... mit=Search

A bit far to travel from Texas…. LoL…

sikacz wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2024 9:29 am A bit far to travel from Texas…. LoL…

Even for me, it's about 140 miles one way which I might consider, but this is CA and buying a firearm is deliberately lengthy. If they don't have what I wanted in stock, it's normal I'd have to pay a certain percent down and the gun shop would order it. When it arrived I'd have to drive there to complete the 4473 and other paperwork, pay the balance and the 10 day waiting period would start. At the end I'd have to drive there to pick up the firearm. So it's not one trip, it's potentially three r/t drives of over 2 hrs. each direction, 12 plus hours plus the gas cost. And LA traffic, ugh. I've got a gun shop in town run by a father and son if I wanted to buy another gun.

highdesert wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2024 10:01 am

sikacz wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2024 9:29 am A bit far to travel from Texas…. LoL…

Even for me, it's about 140 miles one way which I might consider, but this is CA and buying a firearm is deliberately lengthy. If they don't have what I wanted in stock, it's normal I'd have to pay a certain percent down and the gun shop would order it. When it arrived I'd have to drive there to complete the 4473 and other paperwork, pay the balance and the 10 day waiting period would start. At the end I'd have to drive there to pick up the firearm. So it's not one trip, it's potentially three r/t drives of over 2 hrs. each direction, 12 plus hours plus the gas cost. And LA traffic, ugh. I've got a gun shop in town run by a father and son if I wanted to buy another gun.

Yep. Support liberal is tough in California.

The gun store that I used to work at also is a minority-owned business (a Black man, an Army veteran, owns it). We did everything that we could, within reason, to get people to feel at home in our store. We had a few jerks, of course, and some people came in smoking of marijuana, so we'd have to turn them away. But overall, things went fine. Lots of Black folks, with a healthy sprinkling of brown Latino, East Asian, Arabic, and Indian (from India) folks, along with White folks.

And yes, plenty of them were fellow Liberals.

We made it a point to keep partisan politics out of any discussions and stick strictly to the business of marksmanship. Now, that did by necessity mean discussions of the Second Amendment. But again, we kept political parties out of it. We simply viewed, and presented, the 2A as a civil right, which it is.

This is of critical importance when getting people, who may not be familiar with marksmanship, to give it a try and stick with it. Gotta be nice. Gotta be diplomatic whenever you can.

My son is in Pasadena and he has used, and likes Redstone. When I gifted him an off-roster P320, my FFL sent it to Redstone as his FFL.

Dang, Texas, people walking into a gun store reeking of wacky tobaccy?! That's a whole new level of... not so bright. But yes, at the range, I was talking to people about the wait for carry permits (just out of general interest, no plans to apply myself) in different counties, had no idea what anyone's politics were.

There was one dude at the range with one of those black and white 'thin blue line' flag on his T-shirt who looked a little aggro. I notice they put him in one room, and me and the guy with the Grateful Dead T-shirt in the other! (My hair is longer than usual just at the moment.)

CD, I am using Redstone for gunsmithing/troubleshooting/returns at the moment (they are working on the .380 Makarov as we speak) but I did talk to them a bit about a Rossi RS22W2111 RS22 Semi-Auto 22 WMR. It is getting really clear that .22 mag is going to be the largest caliber I can use reliably, my .380 was totally painful to shoot this week. I am curious what folks think about the Rossi as opposed to, say, the Kel-Tec, may start a thread about it. I am thinking for the most extreme home defense scenarios, like a team of home invasion thieves rappelling down the hill behind my house or someone in a truck throwing Molotov cocktails or something. Insane that I even have to think about that, but the home invasion robberies here are getting a little extreme. I am on the fence about getting both a .22 WMR rifle and the Rossi specifically,, but should decide in the next two months or so. It would be a blast for plinking, too, though I don't have an outdoor range real close that I know about / feel comfortable at.

Semi-auto WMR does have some feed and ejection problems, I know. At least Rossi did change their design to improve those, and they are half the price, though they do have their own problems-- I think there's a bolt that flies off a lot. Given my recent experience with Taurus, I'm really wondering. I'd actually consider the Heritage carbine, except that... well, people say everything about them sucks. Muzzle velocity is lower, your hands get burned somehow, and a few other things I can't remember.

High Desert, yeah, I get it-- makes no sense for you, particularly if you got an LGS that you like already.

And an update: Redstone Firearms is closing. And I'm really hoping I don't have any trouble getting my Makarov back.

A little worried as they had an ATF inspection today and were closed unexpectedly. I had called on 8/30 to see if they had fixed the Makarov .380 and tested it-- it took literally about 25 calls over the course of 10 days to get anyone to pick up-- and they informed me that they had (replaced all the springs in the upper assembly, if that makes any sense) and the first round now cycled properly when pulling the trigger, both with a dummy around and at the range.

However, they said 'the system was down' so I had to come on Sunday after 1:00 PM to pick up the gun in person. This does not make a lot of sense, now that I looked into it. For gunsmithing, they don't have to release the gun through a 'system,' even in CA, there's no 4473 or background check. All they have to do is update a book with my name and address, which is on paper. And when I arrived today, the doors were locked and there was a sign on the door saying the ATF was inspecting them, but as far as I could tell, no one was physically present.

Jonathan recorded a statement on FB that said they are closing and he would keep all customers informed, though he did not say when. I had a lot of trouble reaching them about the Taurus, too, but they did come through in the end. Jonathon also said he's only charging me $35 for parts-- that is very kind of him, and the fee for the warranty service on the Taurus was also crazy low, but it is pretty aggravating trying to reach those guys.

So I'm trying not to worry. I sent a very polite, sympathetic email saying I understood their hardships, but I'm a responsible gun owner, and I need the weapon back in my control as soon as reasonably possible. So starting a paper trail and hoping I don't need it. And I'll go by the store Monday and back again Tuesday.

I do feel bad for them. It is clear that Los Angeles is trying to drive all gun stores out of business, but obviously, I can no longer recommend a store that is closing. Let's hope they find a new home somewhere nearby-- some people came down from the Bay area to buy firearms here just to work with a minority-owned business!

I take it all back -- or most of it. Redstone came through, Makarov is back, haven't tested it yet, but I'm told the problem is solved. And they did not charge me a dime, though I tried pretty hard to get them to take my money.

They will be moving, hopefully, and not closing. All things considered, I'm changing my review to 'recommended' when they relocate-- so long as you are patient and a good communicator!