Any good gun shops near FT Belvoir Virginia. Going to be there for a week in November and I know I will need to kill some time.
I was stationed there way back when in the early seventies and seem to remember several shops in Fairfax and just south of Alexandria. A few more in and around Bull Run near the range, if it is still there. This was the edge of the "burbs" back then and must now be part of greater DC. Good luck.
Brian, like the above poster, my information is pretty dated. There was a shop in old town Alexandria. Interarmco used to run an interesting place right on the waterfront, but I'm pretty sure that's been gone for some time now.
Brian,
I live in the area and can attest to there being no real shops any longer.. We lost the Trophy Room and Old Town Armory (in Old Town Alexandria) several years ago. If you have half a day to kill, you could go out to Middleburg, VA and visit David Condon's shop - he focuses on Civil War/Militaria but also consigns sporting arms which I've known a few folks that have found good doubles there over the years. There is a large gun show in Chantilly, VA on Nov 21-23 - not far from Ft. Belvoir and in the direction of Middleburg. This show still attracts a few dealers in sporting arms and a member or two of this forum usually has a table.. but mostly it's gone the way of the black gun with assorted tomahawks and space age jewelry cleaners..Ugh
-jmc
Not a gun shop but doesn't the NRA have a museum somewhere in Northern Virginia?
Oh right, good call... the NRA museum in Fairfax is a must-see! Holds the Petersen collection.
JMC, thanks for the information. Yup, no more gun stores on the waterfront in Alexandria or anywhere close. The Chantilly Show has gone to 99% black guns and slim jims, with a mixture of beanie babies. I will give up my decades old tables after the November show. Nothing to see there. I wish I had more to say, but I don't. Those in the area that appreciate graded shotguns go to double gun shoots like the Southern, the Northeast, the Vintagers, and the Fall Southern. For your information, the Chantilly Show is November 21 to 23. Open 1:00 PM Friday, 9:00 AM Saturday. NRA Museum is about 12 minutes away if you want to visit.
I remember my brother taking me to gunshops in Leesburg and Front Royal about 6 years ago before he retired from the Pentagon. You might do a computer search for those shops to see if they survived. Quite a ways from Fort Belvoir, but a REALLY nice part of the world to drive in this time of year.
He also frequented a shop and range called Clark Brothers in the Virginia side of the DC area, which you might look up to see if they are still with us.
Bill,
I second your comments about Chantilly. I drove 3-1/2 hours north for the first 5 shows and saw the trend toward a flea market. If it's any consolation the promoters of Chantilly have let their shows down my way go the same route.
Not exactly near near FT Belvoir, but worth consideration:
Clark Brothers
10016 James Madison Hwy.
Warrenton, VA 20186-7820
Main Store (540) 439-8988
Green Top Guns
10150 Lakeridge Pkwy
Ashland, VA 23005 804-550-2188
The only place besides David Condon is Tony Wilcox. His specialty revolves around military firearms, but he does have something sporting on occasion. Not sure what his inventory includes because every time I stopped by on my way home his place of business was closed. Your chances of finding something of interest at Clark Bros. or Greentop are just a notch above proverbial needle in the haystack. I would would visit National Firearms Museum and enjoy DC landmarks and forget Northern Va. gun shops. As mentioned above with exception of few tables VA gun shows are basically expensive flea markets.
Clark Brothers and Greentop are indeed shotgun haystacks. I enjoy looking through shotgun haystacks. Museums are nice, but generally won't take a credit card if you find something you like ;-)
Old Town Armory. That was the place I was thinking of.
Interarmco (don't recall the name of their retail outlet) was always an interesting place to poke around. Saw a Nazi uniform there with a Dachau shoulder patch.
Interarms did not have a retail outlet. You are thinking of Potomac Arms, which was Ye Olde Hunter in years past, both now gone. Old Town Armory is also gone. Loudon Guns is the only shop left in Leesburg, not a great place to find a high grade shotgun.
Same company as best I can recall, eightbore. Right down on the waterfront. Lots of surplus stuff, but new guns as well. I bought one of the little Beretta .25's there.
Interarms did not have a retail outlet. You are thinking of Potomac Arms, which was Ye Olde Hunter in years past, both now gone.
Right on target.
Potomac Arms was located at 0 Prince Street, right on the Potomac River. The bottom floor routinely flooded at least twice a year.
International Armaments Corporation (InterArmCo, or just Interarms) was located at 10 Price Street. They also had about ten enormous warehouses in the surrounding blocks.
No connection between the two, other than being on the same street.
I remember my brother taking me to gunshops in Leesburg and Front Royal about 6 years ago before he retired from the Pentagon. You might do a computer search for those shops to see if they survived. Quite a ways from Fort Belvoir, but a REALLY nice part of the world to drive in this time of year.
He also frequented a shop and range called Clark Brothers in the Virginia side of the DC area, which you might look up to see if they are still with us.
There was a nice shop in Leesburg (Nimrod), but its been closed for a long time. Clark Brothers doesn't have any doubles worth driving to see IMO and David Condon in Middleburg has some nice stuff but to say they are priced high is (IMO) and understatement. There was also a nice shop in Front Royal, but the owner passed a few years ago and it closed as far as I know. Old Dominion in Winchester often has some nice doubles and last I knew was a Merkel dealer. They do have some nice high end stuff with I think real world prices. You can find an occasional nice gun at GreenTop down towards Richmond. They have moved to a much large store about 2 years ago.
Sharpshooters International in Newington, Va., Dawson's in Woodbridge, Blue Ridge Arsenal in Chantilly, and Dicks' Sporting Goods in Fair Lakes and Manassas. Sharpshooters and Blue Ridge deal mostly in handguns, although I have seen some nice shotguns. Dawson's is pretty decent. Saw a Franchi over and under trap gun a few years ago. Dick's is the pits. The people who work there don't know what they're talking about and the guns they carry are low end. When it was Galyan's it was a different story. We carried and sold a lot of Brownings and Berettas. Not now.
In addition to the NRA museum, you could also check out the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle. Two of John Philip Sousa's L.C. Smith shotguns are currently on display, as well as an interesting Stoner exhibit.
I'm getting into this late, but the info from jmc, eightbore and others is spot on. There are a few other shops in the area, but virtually all of them are heavy into black rifles and square pistols, neither of which interest me, but sometimes a good old used gun shows up. Condon and Tony Wilcox are the main dealers in antique and classic stuff, but don't forget Cliff Sofia's CSArmory in Upperville (Rte 50 a few clicks west of Middleburg).
Last year I learned that the late John Appleton's shop in Front royal is still in business, sorta.... As of this summer it was open on Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 2 p..m with Alice tending the counter and telephone. Besides the Martini target and Int'l .22s that John imported in quantity there was still a fair assortment of European doubleguns and smoothbore oddments in three to five figure ranges. I was able to buy a like-new BSA Martini barreled action, a set of Parker-Hale sights and a semi-finished stock for a very fair price, and putting them together is now my winter project. The backroom is said to be a trove of parts in serious need of sorting and labelling, according to one regular customer. There's no website, but you can google the phone number.