The Liberal Gun Club Forum

Cabelas opened a new store last month in the northern part of the Dallas metroplex to much hoopla amongst a certain crowd. Not much about the store to excite me, to be quite honest. I'm really more of an REI guy rather than a Bass Pro or Cabelas shopper. I don't hunt at all, I've gone fishing a total of twice in the last 3 years, and most of their guns and shooting gear I can find from other sources at better price points. That being said, I was in the Allen area this evening, and the parking lot didn't look too crowded, so I decided to check out the new store.

A standard parking space for a full sized vehicle is traditionally 9' x 18'. I noticed that the spaces in the Cabelas lot seemed to be extra long, maybe 3 feet longer than usual. There were big SUVs and extended cab pick-ups all over the place, and they didn't stick into the drive aisle like they usually do. They made sure to cater to their demographic starting in the parking lot. Someone was thinking when they did the site plan.

I did a quick walk past the camping department. It seemed geared towards the type of "camping" where you try bring as much crap with you as possible.

Wow, they had a LOT of camo clothing. Rack after rack of every imaginable article of clothing done up in camo pattern. It's interesting to consider that a type of graphic originally meant to deceive a deer or duck has morphed into acceptable casual wear. And there were plenty of shoppers walking around sporting the stuff this afternoon. Fathers and sons decked out in mossy oak. I'm thinking they would turn all but invisible if they wandered into the camo clothing department.

I picked up a speedloader for a K frame revolver. Something I've been wanting, but not worth paying shipping costs for such a small item. And Federal .45 ACP was on sale for $18.69; American Eagle .380 on sale for $14.99, so I picked up some boxes of both. There was a guy who looked a lot like Milton, the stapler guy from Office Space, talking to himself as he examined the handgun ammo. I actually thought he was saying something to me initially, then I realized he wasn't. Then I got uncomfortable and moved to another aisle.

Gun counter was 3 deep and shoulder to shoulder with people ogling the handguns. From what I could see, not an impressive selection, and prices seemed high. But I'm used to gun show pricing, I suppose. My jaw dropped as I listened to a gun counter sales guy explain to a woman the best way to carry the .38 Ruger LCR snub revolver she was handling: "Always keep one cylinder of a revolver empty.. and rotate the cylinder like this, so the empty one is at the top, and close it....carry it like that, see... that way if anything hits the hammer, or you drop it, the gun won't go off by accident..." Where did they find this guy?

Then to my annoyance, the ammo rang up at full price rather than sale price - a substantial difference. I had to politely point out the error to the cashier. Not her fault, of course. But I do wonder if sale prices like this are advertised to bring people in, then conveniently not entered into the system. Easy to miss if there are lots of items or you don't watch as each item is scanned.

TxChinaman wrote:My jaw dropped as I listened to a gun counter sales guy explain to a woman the best way to carry the .38 Ruger LCR snub revolver she was handling: "Always keep one cylinder empty.. and rotate the cylinder like this, so the empty one is at the top, and close it....carry it like that, see... that way if anything hits the hammer, or you drop it, the gun won't go off by accident..." Where did they find this guy?

A Cowboy Action event? Or he's yet another guy who hasn't kept up with the technology.

I still believe that.

TxChinaman wrote: Then to my annoyance, the ammo rang up at full price rather than sale price - a substantial difference. I had to politely point out the error to the cashier. Not her fault, of course. But I do wonder if sale prices like this are advertised to bring people in, then conveniently not entered into the system. Easy to miss if there are lots of items or you don't watch as each item is scanned.

New store. You'd be shocked to learn just how individualized those systems are, in an environment of such corporate standardization. They just opened last month? They'll be working out bugs in pricing for another 6 to 8 months and out-of-stock hiccups for another 15 months as they lay down seasonal baselines and regional tastes.

Cabelas is not bad, I've noted that they try to stay non political, in Maine anyway. After the first few months it slows down and if you go during the week they are not that busy. They have a gun library for antique guns, which can be found on the internet. They will ship from any store in the U.S. Ammo prices are good, but Walmart is better on alot of the practice stuff. If in Maine try going to LL Bean, they are nice to. I find the Field @ Stream (Bass) store in Patriots Stadium in Foxboro Mass. the best. Don't go on game day or your headache would become a migraine.

TxChinaman wrote: Gun counter was 3 deep and shoulder to shoulder with people ogling the handguns. From what I could see, not an impressive selection, and prices seemed high.

Don't buy anything there at full price. At the risk of sounding like a corporate shill, get the "Cabela's Club" credit card, and you'll periodically recieve substantial (like 20-25%) discount offers.

I am surprised that these big box outdoor retail chains don't have a basic firearms course for their salespeople. At Gander Mountain they keep the handgun ammo behind the counter. I asked the sales guy to get me two boxes of .32 ACP. He comes back with .32 Long. I assumed he made an easy mistake and asked again. He comes back with .32 H & R Magnum. Third time, I ask for .32 ACP, explaining that the previous calibers he had chosen were for revolvers and that .32 ACP was for semi- automatic pistols. Instead of checking again, or just saying they were out of stock he begins to insist that there wasn't any such cartridge as the .32 ACP!
I said " Forget it" and complained to the manager- for what that was worth.

The guy probably just mastered the #2 with the drink/chips combo before he transfered to ammo.

ABNinfantryman wrote:A Cowboy Action event? Or he's yet another guy who hasn't kept up with the technology.

I didn't stick around to see if he also sold her a powder horn and a sack of lead balls. But seriously, his little demo showed a fundamental flaw in his understanding of revolvers, and a specific lack of knowledge about the Ruger revolver's transfer bar safety.

the comedian wrote:I am surprised that these big box outdoor retail chains don't have a basic firearms course for their salespeople. At Gander Mountain they keep the handgun ammo behind the counter. I asked the sales guy to get me two boxes of .32 ACP. He comes back with .32 Long. I assumed he made an easy mistake and asked again. He comes back with .32 H & R Magnum. Third time, I ask for .32 ACP, explaining that the previous calibers he had chosen were for revolvers and that .32 ACP was for semi- automatic pistols. Instead of checking again, or just saying they were out of stock he begins to insist that there wasn't any such cartridge as the .32 ACP!
I said " Forget it" and complained to the manager- for what that was worth.

Small independent gun store guys tend to be a lot more knowledgeable in my experience, but they can often be cranky and generally unfit to interact with the general public. I suspect a big box national chain looks for retail experience and social skills as more important traits. I know this Cabelas started their hiring search more than a year in advance, so I assume the guys working the counter are the the ones who made the cut. Maybe given enough time, customers and coworkers will call this guy out on his sketchy handgun advice.

Talking to anyone in the gun department is a waste of time. Your better off talking to a dog. Seriously, they know nothing outside of their favorite. Even the used sections are pretty poor and veryoverpriced. Ammo selection is great but slightly over priced. I really try to stay away from there

samspade wrote:Cabelas is not bad, I've noted that they try to stay non political, in Maine anyway. After the first few months it slows down and if you go during the week they are not that busy. They have a gun library for antique guns, which can be found on the internet. They will ship from any store in the U.S. Ammo prices are good, but Walmart is better on alot of the practice stuff. If in Maine try going to LL Bean, they are nice to. I find the Field @ Stream (Bass) store in Patriots Stadium in Foxboro Mass. the best. Don't go on game day or your headache would become a migraine.

There's a Cabelas in MAINE, now? Where? in Freeport?
I'm actually gonna be back home (just about, I'm from Wistahh) in October, to Warwick RI, and I've not been to Patriots Place since it opened. Maybe I'll go look there, although I guess I can't buy much of anything gun-related and bring it back to AZ.

As a native Noo Englandah, I LOVE LLBean. I even have an LLBean Edition Outback! Ayup.

And also a proud member of the N E Patriots Fan Club of Arizona (that would be the REAL Patriots - as in SuperBowl winning!)

**from somewhere between podunk, live free then dieland, & ayup_can't theyah from heayah -
to way out west lost in the haboob**

GlockLobster wrote:Talking to anyone in the gun department is a waste of time. Your better off talking to a dog. Seriously, they know nothing outside of their favorite. Even the used sections are pretty poor and veryoverpriced. Ammo selection is great but slightly over priced. I really try to stay away from there

Our local Cabela's (Dundee, MI) has a pretty knowledgeable crew, I walked in a few years ago wanting to buy some hi powered self protection for a daughter, and the guy running the gun counter that night was a retired ATF and just finishing his Nat'l Guard tour as an E6. He started to sell me the $500 Glock solution, I said 'dood it's not me this woman needs a purse gun and a 12 gauge' he turned on a dime and we immediately had a Taurus 85 Ultralight and a Tri-Star 12 gauge pump that has an interesting spring assist, and out the door for $550. She still carries the Taurus and the 12 gauge is in the closet with 5 shells above the door.

I've frequented a couple different Cabelas' (Ft.Worth and Sidney,Ne) and have dealt with knowledgable staff. I don't like spending money there unless I'm bored and have it burning a hole in my pocket at the time. As I've said in other threads, I'd rather spend money at my local shop but Cabelas is a better alternative to say, Gander Mtn or Bass Pro.

Sorry for the quick thread jack:

Antiquus, I got your PM but I can't reply until I get my 30th post.

Just thought I'd let you know less you thought me rude.

End thread jack.

FromThereToHere wrote:There's a Cabelas in MAINE, now?

Scarborough. Bean's isn't what it used to be either. It's a lot of clothes and homewares, still 24/7, trout pond is still there and have added some (pretty cool) aquariums, but have really downsized gearwise.

For non regular ammo flavors that WM doesn't stock, for me .32 auto, 7.62x54R and 9mm PP rounds, Cabela's is the only game in town. Thankfully Mainers can get ammo mailed to their doorstep.
I've noticed (here), that's there's always a Glock guy, a Ruger guy, a guy that read about a certain pistol but doesn't know much beyond that, the guy who says openly he knows nothing about everything and the guy who thinks shooting steel rounds (wolf, tula...) damages the barrel. I have seen one or 2 guys who seemed to have decent opinions/info. But, as stated by whitey above, you really need to have money burning a hole in your pocket to buy a pistol/rifle there. Guns are consistently overpriced 100 to 175, although they do have an occasional rebate offers that are competitive. I find they reap a ton of business from people who either have money to burn or people who are terribly misinformed on general pricing. The used guns pricing is almost the same, I have seen a few deals here and there.Power to them I guess.

GlockLobster wrote:

FromThereToHere wrote:There's a Cabelas in MAINE, now?

Scarborough. Bean's isn't what it used to be either. It's a lot of clothes and homewares, still 24/7, trout pond is still there and have added some (pretty cool) aquariums, but have really downsized gearwise.

For non regular ammo flavors that WM doesn't stock, for me .32 auto, 7.62x54R and 9mm PP rounds, Cabela's is the only game in town. Thankfully Mainers can get ammo mailed to their doorstep.
I've noticed (here), that's there's always a Glock guy, a Ruger guy, a guy that read about a certain pistol but doesn't know much beyond that, the guy who says openly he knows nothing about everything and the guy who thinks shooting steel rounds (wolf, tula...) damages the barrel. I have seen one or 2 guys who seemed to have decent opinions/info. But, as stated by whitey above, you really need to have money burning a hole in your pocket to buy a pistol/rifle there. Guns are consistently overpriced 100 to 175, although they do have an occasional rebate offers that are competitive. I find they reap a ton of business from people who either have money to burn or people who are terribly misinformed on general pricing. The used guns pricing is almost the same, I have seen a few deals here and there.Power to them I guess.

Yeah, its a shame that LL Bean has become a fashion store. TXChinaman mentioned REI - which is one of my favorite big chain stores - but they seem to trend toward fashionable clothing too. Luckily, they still have a lot of actual camping gear. And at the end of the year you get your dividends

For all you LL Bean aficionados, check out this fine book I own dated 1981:

GlockLobster wrote:

FromThereToHere wrote:There's a Cabelas in MAINE, now?

Scarborough. Bean's isn't what it used to be either. It's a lot of clothes and homewares, still 24/7, trout pond is still there and have added some (pretty cool) aquariums, but have really downsized gearwise.

Yeah, sad to say, LLBean has been in financial trouble for a long time. People don't think of them for outdoors stuff anymore even back home, they go to EMS or REI. I still like their clothes, they still have a fairly decent selection of durable women's clothes and have petites (as I am) and talls, & sizes up to 20. People out here in AZ tell me I "dress East Coast" lol.

Cabelas is fun to browse thru, and they do have a pretty big selection. If you either know what you want (& don't mind paying a little extra if it's in stock), or just want to see something in person, it's fine.

my brother lives in Allen, TX. he told me they were building a Cabela's, but I didn't know it was finished.

I've been to the Cabela's here once, and while I did enjoy the selection of items for sale, I thought their gun prices were ridiculous. I came across a beat up old Browning A-Bolt rifle that looked like it was used as a canoe paddle and they wanted $500+ for it. Bah.

Carl_Spackler wrote:my brother lives in Allen, TX. he told me they were building a Cabela's, but I didn't know it was finished.

I've been to the Cabela's here once, and while I did enjoy the selection of items for sale, I thought their gun prices were ridiculous. I came across a beat up old Browning A-Bolt rifle that looked like it was used as a canoe paddle and they wanted $500+ for it. Bah.

Yeah, the Cabelas grand opening in April was a huge deal in Allen and the surrounding area. Cars were backed up a couple of miles along the service road leading to the store on opening weekend. Place was a apparently packed with people wall to wall inside.

The other big news in Allen is the grand opening of an In-N-Out Burger down the road from Cabelas. Crazy people are waiting hours for a hamburger.

TxChinaman wrote:My jaw dropped as I listened to a gun counter sales guy explain to a woman the best way to carry the .38 Ruger LCR snub revolver she was handling: "Always keep one cylinder of a revolver empty.. and rotate the cylinder like this, so the empty one is at the top, and close it....carry it like that, see... that way if anything hits the hammer, or you drop it, the gun won't go off by accident..." Where did they find this guy?

When observing firearm safety, this is technically the correct way to load and carry a revolver - it's called a passive safety. Just sayin'

LCR is DAO revolver so you could drop it from the airplane, it will not fire a round. LCR is modern revolver and it's utilizing transfer bar safety system to prevent "accidental" discharges.

TxChinaman wrote:Cabelas opened a new store last month in the northern part of the Dallas metroplex to much hoopla amongst a certain crowd. Not much about the store to excite me, to be quite honest. I'm really more of an REI guy rather than a Bass Pro or Cabelas shopper. I don't hunt at all, I've gone fishing a total of twice in the last 3 years, and most of their guns and shooting gear I can find from other sources at better price points. That being said, I was in the Allen area this evening, and the parking lot didn't look too crowded, so I decided to check out the new store.

A standard parking space for a full sized vehicle is traditionally 9' x 18'. I noticed that the spaces in the Cabelas lot seemed to be extra long, maybe 3 feet longer than usual. There were big SUVs and extended cab pick-ups all over the place, and they didn't stick into the drive aisle like they usually do. They made sure to cater to their demographic starting in the parking lot. Someone was thinking when they did the site plan.

I did a quick walk past the camping department. It seemed geared towards the type of "camping" where you try bring as much crap with you as possible.

Wow, they had a LOT of camo clothing. Rack after rack of every imaginable article of clothing done up in camo pattern. It's interesting to consider that a type of graphic originally meant to deceive a deer or duck has morphed into acceptable casual wear. And there were plenty of shoppers walking around sporting the stuff this afternoon. Fathers and sons decked out in mossy oak. I'm thinking they would turn all but invisible if they wandered into the camo clothing department.

I picked up a speedloader for a K frame revolver. Something I've been wanting, but not worth paying shipping costs for such a small item. And Federal .45 ACP was on sale for $18.69; American Eagle .380 on sale for $14.99, so I picked up some boxes of both. There was a guy who looked a lot like Milton, the stapler guy from Office Space, talking to himself as he examined the handgun ammo. I actually thought he was saying something to me initially, then I realized he wasn't. Then I got uncomfortable and moved to another aisle.

Gun counter was 3 deep and shoulder to shoulder with people ogling the handguns. From what I could see, not an impressive selection, and prices seemed high. But I'm used to gun show pricing, I suppose. My jaw dropped as I listened to a gun counter sales guy explain to a woman the best way to carry the .38 Ruger LCR snub revolver she was handling: "Always keep one cylinder of a revolver empty.. and rotate the cylinder like this, so the empty one is at the top, and close it....carry it like that, see... that way if anything hits the hammer, or you drop it, the gun won't go off by accident..." Where did they find this guy?

Then to my annoyance, the ammo rang up at full price rather than sale price - a substantial difference. I had to politely point out the error to the cashier. Not her fault, of course. But I do wonder if sale prices like this are advertised to bring people in, then conveniently not entered into the system. Easy to miss if there are lots of items or you don't watch as each item is scanned.

Mountain Sports in the Dallas Area is pretty good, I thought it better than REI (and I'm an REI fan):
http://www.mountainsports.com/

No guns though. But they do have knives

Xela

Carl_Spackler wrote:
When observing firearm safety, this is technically the correct way to load and carry a revolver - it's called a passive safety. Just sayin'

For some SA revolvers that applies, but not in the case of the Ruger LCR which is a DA modern revolver with a transfer bar safety. The Cabelas guy showed he didn't understand revolvers and he didn't understand the features of the specific firearm he was trying to sell.

I get just as much of a headache listening to the crap spewed by some of the customers I deal with. Not everyone is an expert on everything. Now, had the guy said "I am the master of the modern DA revolver" and then made those claims, I could see the frustration. If I was in that situation, I would refer to a prticular co-worker who is way more experienced in that facet than I. Enthusiasts tend to take an elitist, borderline snobbish attitude, sometimes. I see it in guns, beer, wine, cigars, bbq a lot of stuff. Most of them really don't realize they are doing it though.

It's the Special SEAL Ranger BORTAC Airborne Recon DEA "Shooters" I deal with that make the claims that give me a headache. Quite often I will add.

TxChinaman wrote: My jaw dropped as I listened to a gun counter sales guy explain to a woman the best way to carry the .38 Ruger LCR snub revolver she was handling: "Always keep one cylinder of a revolver empty.. and rotate the cylinder like this, so the empty one is at the top, and close it....carry it like that, see... that way if anything hits the hammer, or you drop it, the gun won't go off by accident..." Where did they find this guy?

This guy never heard of transfer bars, must have been born in 18??. For some reason the big box hunting/fishing stores have avoided California. There are no Cabelas or Gander Mountain in CA, but we do have two Bass Pro Shops. Though I drool over the abundance of items at Bass, I do much better with suppliers over the internet. For new guns the local gun shops beat Bass on prices any day.