doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Worlds Best Gun Store

My best friend who died a year ago had over 3000 guns, he liked the nicer shotguns and put in a fine gun room. About two years before he died he said what he had in the better grade guns and some had been there 3-4 years. He said the ARs, Beretta 400s, Benellis and defense type handguns and shotguns moved out in 30-90 days. So he sent 160 nice guns to auction.From a business standpoint you have to sell what sells.

John
Quality Arms

Gene died several years ago Bob. The last time I spoke with him was early 1991 when I went to his house to see if he had a bolt stop for a Siamese Mauser action. Prior to that was in the mid-1980's before he sold his business and retired. Hardly a close personal relationship. I've said this before, but Gene had been a German soldier who emmigrated here after the war, like many other Germans who were not Nazi war criminals. In all the time I knew him, I never saw or heard of him selling even one of those highly ornate guns he stashed, and later smuggled to the U.S. They were never on the racks in his store, but were part of his large personal collection. I heard they were sold off to some wealthy collector after he died, but I never bought any from him. They had been confiscated by the Nazi's, not by Gene. He was an armorer, not part of the infantry. They were supposed to be crushed by him to prevent recapture and reuse, and sent to a steel mill to be melted and used by the Nazi's to make armaments. I suppose you could say he stole war materials from the Nazi's that would have been used against the Allies. They probably would have shot him or sent him to the Russian front if they caught him.

You knew all of that Bob, but you have some low class ignorant need to repeat lies and make shit up. That's the kind of person you are. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that the folks at CSMC chose to not do business with you because they got sick of you.

Jaqua's is back. I was in maybe 10 years ago and saw a lot of black rifles and pumps, hardly any SxS. Now they have a great mix of very nice O/U, Purdey's , 21's, H&H, Woodwards.

I keep looking at all the Model 21s they have on the internet. That's the main thing I am interested in. Thanks for the heads up.

Glad to hear Jaquas is back like before. Its been at least 15 years since I was there. Before, was there several times and did not have the nice guns that they had when Bill was running it.

John
Arrieta
Quality Arms

My version of the "World's Best Gun Store" no longer exists except in the memory of numerous outdoorsmen (and outdoorswomen) and firearm enthusiasts... Wall's General Store (and later on Wall's Gun Store) in Blairstown, Missouri about 50 miles southeast of Kansas City. This little town with a population of about 150 sits out in the middle of nowhere but for years it was home to the gun shop with the largest firearms inventory in the state of Missouri (if not most of the mid-west)! But it was the owner and the atmosphere that were really the biggest draw in my opinion.

John Wall had run his general store since the 1940's and by the time I was attending college at Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg in the late 80s his store had evolved into a firearms mecca extraordinaire! He had purchased the entire row of buildings that made up the series of store fronts along the west side of Main St in Blairestown. His "General Store" was at 203 N Main St and served as the main entrance to his world. The immediate interior is just about how you'd imagine an old general store with some counters down the sides and shelves for goods behind those on the walls, except in place of shelves along the wall to the right as you entered the store were big walnut gun cases with sliding glass doors. The used guns contained within ranged from the most pedestrian 22 single shot to engraved graded double barrel shotguns. Want a Winchester Model 12 or Model 42... Heck, what flavor?! He had multiples of each gauge and numerous grades to choose from. And new guns you say? Well that's where the other buildings came into play... They were for storage! Stacks of boxes of Remingtons, Rugers, Winchesters, etc. Just absolutely mind blowing inventory of firearms.

I purchased my very first sxs shotgun from John on an icy winter day when the weather was so bad they called off classes but somehow my old 4x4 Chevy made the drive to Blairstown with me and my 2 roommates. I had dug through the racks of double barrel guns every single time I went into his store and they were always too much for a college kid to afford, but on this day a recent addition sat in the rack... It was marked Stoeger on the top rib but turned out to be a Victor Sarasqueta Model 3 that was so fresh to his inventory he hadn't had the chance to clean it up yet. It was almost black with grime and no price tag so I had to holler at John to see what he wanted for it. He came over and took it in his hands and looked it over and opened the action and closed it with a click and said "Well, I took this in trade yesterday and haven't had time to really see what it's worth. I figure I've got about $150 in it and so I'd be happy to let you have it for that." About 2 hours later my roommates and I were headed back to Warrensburg with my newly purchased prize!

And that's pretty much how John seemed to operate. I needed a holster for a blackpowder Colt knock-off once and ran down to Blairestown and asked John if he had anything like that. He points to the counter along the left side of the store and says "I believe I bought a bunch of those type holsters back around 1982 and if I still have them they'd be under that counter near the front of the store." Yep, there they were all boxed and marked with what they fit and in pencil on the top of the box were handwritten prices. I asked John what he wanted for the holster and he asked what was written on the box... And that's what he sold it to me for.

John passed around 20 years ago and his shop had passed into other hands years before that and now it's a vacant lot holding a bunch of old cars. But for a while it held the World's Best Gun Store.

A little nugget of nostalgia.

Wouldn't it be nice to walk into Abercrombie and Fitch in New York, today? Or the guys out on the west coast to Kerr's? I would have loved to have seen Von Lengerke and Antoine in Chicago where my Winchester Model 21 was shipped to back in 1947. When I took my trip up to Connecticut last year and drove over to Winchester I wanted to go inside of the old building. But I didn't.

Was in Jaquas last week. Lots of nice guns. I just don’t have the money.

Mid South Guns in Wagram, NC, is now probably one of the better old-fashioned gun stores available. They do have a variety to appeal to whatever your pocketbook can afford.

You can get a nice feel for the Gordy's shop by watching Johnny Carter's Youtube video on it. Here is the link:

Looks like a lovely shop. Hope to visit it one day.

Living in Ohio I visit Jaqua's regularly either at their shop in Findley or at Cardinal Shooting Center when the big trap shoots are on. Nick and the guys are great to do business with. I haven't been out there in a few months, but they usually have a good selection of new and used guns for sale. What is nice about Jaqua's is that all the guns are open to you to handle. Even the super expensive stuff. The new shop is a tad smaller than Bill's old location (and there is no trap range and club anymore), but the mix of new and used guns remains pretty good. Always some thing to attract my attention every time I visit.