I have seen much the same 'lack of knowledge'=lack of interest even at the dedicated hunting shooting stores such as Cabela's and Bass Pro, especially in both of their 'fine gun rooms'(?) Every now and then you do find an individual who has it together and can be informative - knows what they are talking about - and helpful to the point of offering correct product suggestions when something isn't in stock. It is a rarity however. At the old Galyans store in St. Louis - now Dicks - they have a young fellow working in the Hunting Lodge who has more gun/ammo knowledge than many dedicated gun shop owners and is personable to boot. Come to find out his father was an executive with one of the big three ammo companies and he was brought up in a shooting/hunting environment. At $9/hour or whatever he makes I don't expect he'll be there long.