Misinformed Gun Store Employees
Yesterday I had to take my wife out of town to see a medical specialist and have some tests done. Seeing that she would be in there for a few hours, I took the opportunity to look around town a little. I found two gun stores and, of course, I checked them out.
The first was clean and well stocked. When I asked about ARs, the employee said they carried Colt, S&W, LWRC, and Bushmaster. He then went on to give me a sales pitch for the Bushmaster telling me what a great weapon it is. When I told him that I would rather have the box that the Colt came in than the Bushy, he seemed perplexed and asked why. I tried to explain the quality differences between the two and even showed him a side-by-side comparison of the castle nut and gas key staking but it didn't seem to sink in as he was still spouting the virtues of the Bushy.
I was surprised that an employee of this store would try to sell a Bushy over a Colt because the vast majority of items they carried were high quality. The had such brands as Trijicon, Leupold, Surefire, Magpul, Yankee Hill Machine, Mission First Tactical, Harris Bipods, GG&G, Blue Force Gear, and many others. They were even a stocking dealer of AAC suppressors.
The second store was a little shabby and didn't have a whole lot of inventory. When asked about ARs, the employee said that Del-Ton was the only ones they carried bcause, "They are the best and they are a lot cheaper than a Colt." I will have to admit that the $699 price tag was appealing but I would never put economy above quality. Again, I tried to explain the differences between a Del-Ton and a quality gun such as Colt, KAC, BCM, LMT, etc. but it fell on deaf ears.
I wasn't too surprised that this store sold only Del-Tons because they fit right in with the rest of their inventory. They sold such brands as NCStar, Tapco, Voodoo Tactical, Fox, Barska, Sun Optics, and the like.
Why do employees of a gun shop, who should know better, sing the virtues of sub-standard ARs? I belive one reason is gun magazines. The first shop I visited had a large selection for sale and the second had quite a few laying around behind the counter. Three weeks ago, my wife had to be sent out of town to a university hospital. I stayed with her the 7 days she was there and bought quite a few gun mags to help pass the time. I don't ordinarilly buy them and was in for quite a shock.
Most of the ones I bought were tactical oriented and some were AR specific. All of the firearm "reviews" that I read extolled the virtues of that particular gun and could find few, if any, faults with them. This was the same whether the gun was an Olympic Arms or a Daniel Defense. I know that magazines rely heavily on revenue generated by advertising, but this was ridiculous. If the Chauchat (for those of you not familiar with it, check out http://world.guns.ru/machine/fr/chau...g-m1915-e.html) were still available today, these magazines would give it a glowing recommendation. I grew up reading Road & Track and, if a car was a piece of crap, they would tell you. Why can't gun magazines be the same.
What do you all think about the current state of affairs of gun magazine reviews of questionable ARs and the misinformed gun store employees who are singing the virtues of Bushmaster, Del-Ton, et al.?