doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Cabela's Gainesville, VA

As an outdoor "media" guy, I was invited to the VIP deal when Cabela's opened their Owatonna, MN store. Spent more time looking at guns than anything else. Found a 16ga Brit boxlock in the Gun Library that tripped my trigger. Asked if they were selling guns or if we were just looking. Said we could buy . . . and I did. That was the first gun ever sold out of that GL.

I'd add that back in those days--over 20 years ago--there were maybe 1/5 as many Cabela's stores as there are now. And it was a rare visit when I wouldn't find an interesting gun or 2 or 3 or 6 to look at--with sxs my main target.

Long gone days, unfortunately. And although you can now search on the Net, ALL shotguns are lumped into one single category. Which means you can't separate out American doubles, European shotguns, etc. And you've got to sort through a whole lot of guns to focus on sxs. Unless you're maybe interested in just one or two specific makers.

Larry you are more likely to be a successful gun trader then anyone I know. I can remember incidents where I have come out ahead on gun trades only because they are so few.

Special VIP opening last night for good customers. Discounts up to 25%. Lots of shotgun shells went out the door--after long wait in line. I did not fight the traffic but many of my fellow shotgun shooters were very happy buyers.

Talked to someone who went. He's a Fox guy. Said no Foxes in the Gun Libarary and one Parker. Said the store was smaller then he expected. He did stand in line for 45 minutes to get the good deal on ammo.

No stores will open that are the size of the Hamburg store. The Christiana, Delaware is small also.

went by this morning - wow it's really small. Small enough that there is NO duck stuff at all outside of the Bargain Cave since it is past duck season and now turkey time.
Nothing particularly interesting in the Gun Library and high prices for what there is
I think it's smaller than the local Dick's sporting in Gaithersburg.
That said might drop back by after the Manassass VA gun collectors show in I think 3 weeks

I heard from someone who works in the Hamburg store that the Gainesville store is 1/4 their size. I won't be making a special trip to check it out for sure.

For those who have visited this store - does the 'gun library' seemed scaled back as well? Any indication that they intend to stand up a significant second hand gun business at this location as with some others? It's Virginia - very gun friendly and seems to be a fair amount of market here still... I have little other use for their brick and motor presence but would be good to have a decent retail gun shop around here...

Is anyone aware and informed on their gun library business model? I would expect, that they pay sellers a wholesale price and then mark up to retail much like most any dealer. Do they seem to have a knowledgeable person managing this business at Gainesville - perhaps known in the gun trade community? I've visited a few mid west locations and was pretty much disappointed in their staff's knowledge when I found something I wanted to inspect for potential purchase.. and walked away knowing it would not end up in a fair deal. I'm sure that some folks have found good deals and were satisfied with their transactions but, I'm a bit skeptical..

-jmc

Comparing to Dick's: That's an "all sports" outfit: Baseball, football, running, golf, tennis, etc. Much broader market base than just the outdoor stuff.

When the country went into a recession in 2008 people were selling guns because they needed the money. The quick sale places like Cabelas thrived, now that economic conditions are better we should expect to see fewer guns and fewer bargains in the used gun department.
A big box store like Cabela's estimating the value of a gun is not so much having knowledgeable sales personnel as having a handy tool to research pricing. Cabela's gun purchases from all over the country are logged into the computer making it a good pricing guide. The rare older doubles are where the good deals and the horrible prices exist. For the more common guns the higher prices are not caused by the stores as much as it is by the economy.