How do you feel about buying a 'display' gun?
When a customer goes to a gun store and is interested in a firearm, the clerk typically pulls out the one from the display case or gun rack, and the customers fondle, dry fire, and rack the gun to try it out. When buying, do you ask for a fresh one from the back or do you not care whether the gun has been the fondle model
The idea of buying a 3k+ pistol that everyone and their uncle has dry fired is very unappealing to me, wondering if I'm just picky or anyone else feels this way
Posted Mar 30, 2019, 5:42 AM UTC
87
There's nothing wrong with that, I feel the same way about it. If there's one in the back the shop will usually give you that because it's easier than pulling another one out and making a tag and such for it. But coming from a long time gun shop manager, don't do the following;
Rack, cycle, rough handle and dry fire the shit out of a display gun and then ask for a "new" one from the back. That's going to be someone's gun at some point and you're just being a dick. Handle all display guns gently or you're part of the problem.
Ask to see a specific gun in the box (like the .308 version of a .243 display gun), despite them being absolutely identical in appearance, and not buying it. Make me cut open a new box and take the greasy gun out just so you can confirm that it is yes in fact exactly the same as the other caliber who knew. New guns never go back into the box perfectly and someone down the line will get weird about the "seal" being broken.
I feel this is basic gun store etiquette and by no means am I telling people how to be, but you'll notice that nice, respectful customers who build rapport will get deals that you never even hear about.
We opened, inspected, and tagged every gun we got in at the shop I worked at, so the seal on every one of them was already broken. Most people had no idea when we put a display gun away to make room for something else that the gun they were getting "from the back" had been on display for 6 months prior to that, and when they looked the gun over they never noticed it either.
Honestly, you're going to be fingerfucking that gun, dry-firing it, and probably dragging it out innawoods to get scratched to shit, so what does it matter if it was dry-fired in the store a bit? Unless someone's busted part of it there's no difference.
Having been in the business for almost 8 years, and I'll tell you that people get particular about the stupidest things. I don't necessarily agree, but when you're spending hundreds of dollars (which is a lot to some folks) I can sort of understand. Still, it's ridiculous but in my time I've had plenty complain that the box had already been opened for some reason or another. Most people have no idea, the same happened with us when we pulled a gun off the rack. The only gun that's been really fucked up was a Ruger SR9 that was a display gun for 5 years, that thing was scratched to all hell. The Gen 4 Glock finish was also extremely easy to lightly scratch and looked bad under fluorescents.
At the end of the day it's about me making sales so you have to play along somewhat. The idea that you can't dry-fire a gun is dumb, pretty much all centerfires are good to go besides some O/Us and doubles. Even rimfires are mostly okay to dry-fire, 10/22s in particular get dry fired every 10 rounds when you run out of ammo.
I had one dude throw a shit right before closing because we couldn't price match a gun with Cabela's because they didn't have the same calibre in stock. He kept trying to argue that "You agree with me, you just have to say this because you work here, right?!" No, I don't, I understand how the price match policy works and you can't use it for a gun that's not in stock at another store.
I had another guy call me an asshole and leave because I asked him not to point a pellet gun at me.
God I fucking hated retail.