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.
