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Liberty wrote:Yet Wally world is the only national general goods retail store that we can buy guns and ammo at anymore. I try to support them just for that fact.

I would have agreed with you a few years ago, but the constant lack of customer service in the sporting goods department got to the point of being comical and this year they stopped selling firearms completely at my local stores in Spring & Atascocita. I'll swing by the sporting goods section every now again and lean over the counter to check the prices of ammo. The prices are always higher than Academy and I'd probably faint if there was actually a person behind the counter.

seamusTX wrote:

anygunanywhere wrote:When was the last timie you were in a Gibson's?

I've never heard of them.

- Jim

They were a big chain 30-35 years ago. There was one on old Hwy 146 in Baytown when I was growing up. They used to have trash cans full of mil surp rifles.

I am not sure how national they were. When our sons were young we used to visit the Kerrville area during our summer camping trips and I remembered the Gibson's from back then. When Mrs. Anygun and I visited Kerrville after we returned to Texas from our stint in Kalifornia I was very pleased to see the old Gibson's still there. The old stores are better than Wally World.

Anygun

In the area we had Gibsons, then Treasure City, then Howard's...all to be replaced by Wal-Mart. Prior to the big ones, we had in our small town of 10k, two "five and dime's", two sporting goods stores, a Sears and Roebuck catalog order store front, a "Monkeywards" catalog order store front, Western Auto, a couple of full service hardware stores, a half dozen drug stores (two still had "soda fountains"), four big name grocery stores, several "variety" stores, lots of clothing stores...... did I mention we have a "Super Wal-Mart" now

Personally, I miss the variety and normally excellent service we had prior to the big mega stores appearances!

Gibsons....there's a name I haven't heard in awhile....

I still have several boxes of Federal 12ga paper-hull #7 1/2 shells from a case my grandfather bought from Gibsons back in the 1970's. I've shot a few, but I'm keeping them until I find some cowboy-action shooter that MUST have paper shells to be "authentic" and makes me a good offer....

Ah....the good-ole pre-WallyWorld days.....

As for my ammo buys at WallyWorld, it's a mixed bag. On my lunch break I can go to the WW downtown Austin- I always get the older gent who is knowledgeable and sells it to me right there at the counter.
In the evening when I'm shopping with the family, I always get the younger clerks who don't know a .45ACP, who walk it up to the cigarette cashier and 'hold it for me' while i finish shopping. They told me it's store policy NOT to let customers walk around with Ammo...
Then, when checking out, they scan the ammo- i hear a long BEEP, then the clerk asks "is this for a handgun?". Ridiculous.

vallen wrote:As for my ammo buys at WallyWorld, it's a mixed bag. On my lunch break I can go to the WW downtown Austin- I always get the older gent who is knowledgeable and sells it to me right there at the counter.
In the evening when I'm shopping with the family, I always get the younger clerks who don't know a .45ACP, who walk it up to the cigarette cashier and 'hold it for me' while i finish shopping. They told me it's store policy NOT to let customers walk around with Ammo...
Then, when checking out, they scan the ammo- i hear a long BEEP, then the clerk asks "is this for a handgun?". Ridiculous.

Define "downtown". I'm not aware of any Wal-Marts in downtown Austin.

Downtown WM = Ben White and I-35

Link fer ya'
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&oe= ... d&z=14&t=m

vallen wrote:Downtown WM = Ben White and I-35

Yeah, I wouldn't call that downtown. It's more like southeast Austin. According to Google Maps, that's a 5.9 mile drive from the center of the city. If we were in Houston, perhaps it would be considered "downtown". As a 24-year resident of this city, that's hardly central to me. Of course, I remember when Ben White was but a small road, and Koenig was considered the north end of Austin. Then again, that's not the point of this thread. If I'm ever in the mood to buy ammo at Wal-Mart, I know where to go.

Since I live out towards Drippin' - thats "central" to me. And I work at the Capitol so it's a quick 5 miles.

I hate to admit it, but WM is the cheapest in town. Just buggin' me about the "is this for a handgun?" policy.

vallen wrote:Since I live out towards Drippin' - thats "central" to me. And I work at the Capitol so it's a quick 5 miles.

I hate to admit it, but WM is the cheapest in town. Just buggin' me about the "is this for a handgun?" policy.

I'm at a loss as to what that question is supposed to accomplish. If it IS for a handgun, are you subjected to some sort of further scrutiny? Do they write down your info and record you in some database as a potential criminal?

I've not bought much ammo at Wal-Mart, but I did buy some WWB .380 in Friendswood prior to Forum Day and had no such troubles and was not given an escort or any other ridiculousness. I simply bought at the ammo counter and finished the rest of my shopping and left.

NcongruNt wrote:

vallen wrote:Just buggin' me about the "is this for a handgun?" policy.

I'm at a loss as to what that question is supposed to accomplish.

You must be 21 or older to buy handgun ammunition (federal law). I'm obviously much older than 21, but occasionally a clerk at Academy will make a comment about it. It comes up on their registers.

- Jim

NcongruNt wrote: I'm at a loss as to what that question is supposed to accomplish. If it IS for a handgun, are you subjected to some sort of further scrutiny? Do they write down your info and record you in some database as a potential criminal?

Obviously certain calibers are for a handgun and certain calibers are rifle only. Some are both. .22 for example. An 18yo can buy .22 for use in a rifle, but if they say it's for a handgun, they won't sell it until you are 21. Weird huh?!?

Yeah, it's completely useless. Since I'm in my 40's, it even compounds the confusion further.

It seems like such a large corp. would have some sort of 'training document' for this...

Like I said, normally it's the younger (un-informed) employees that do this.

For those in Southeast Texas or passing through on the way to "the boat" in Lake Charles, I found .40 for $7.57 and .45 for $9.47 in Beaumont. I bought 10 boxes (all they had on-hand) of the .45, but the Sporting Good's department manager, also a shooter, said he would order more ASAP. .45 is $11.97 in the other local stores. Beaumont department manager says sales volume drives store prices.