Gun Shack in Helotes

[majormadmax]

I mentioned this "shop" after a buddy of mine bought an ATI GSG 1911 in .22 from them at the SAXET gun show last weekend. According to their website, they're in Helotes not far from me so today I had a little time before picking my son up from school and I decided to check them out.

Well, it took some doing but I finally found them; and unfortunately it isn't what I was hoping for! Instead of the traditional gun shop (counters with guns and accessories), I found a small office in a business building that had one desk in it.

While they had a nice selection of guns at the show, I just wanted to let everyone know that they don't have a storefront as I mistakenly thought.

Still, they were friendly folks and their prices are too bad; I was just hoping to find a nice gun store close to home. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case...

Cheers! M2

 

[TheDan]

a small office in a business building that had one desk in it.

Sounds ideal for a small operation. Those office buildings tend to be fairly cheap and usually have some sort of security built in. I'm curious, tho... Did they not have any inventory in their office at all? Is the office the address of their FFL?

 

[majormadmax]

It is the address on their website, and I didn't see a single firearm in the office.

When I say 'small,' I mean small! Basically enough room for a small desk and a chair in front of it. There was one person working and a customer when I was there, and I had to pick up my son from school so I didn't have time to talk; but it didn't appear that there was any place to lock up any weapons so I don't believe they keep them on site...

 

[TheDan]

I was under the impression that an FFL had to store and sell the firearms at the same address listed on the FFL, or is that incorrect?

 

[majormadmax]

I don't think so, I know of one FFL that doesn't have a storefront. However, they do have to be a business...

 

[Skip]

What a tease...lol

 

[shortround]

There was a fellow who ran a little gun shop inside a hardware store on Nacogdoches Road. Stopped in when I saw the "Guns" sign.

It was was a family run place, as a young woman greeted me when I entered and asked how she could help. "Guns," said I.

She called her Papi, and he unlocked the door to the "gun shop" cubicle. It was very well laid out, kind of like a miniature gun room at Cabela's or Bass Pro Shops.

He had a few new guns, but mostly collectibles. IIRC, he had some Luger P-08s, an M1 Carbine, M1 Garand, some Winchester lever actions, and a shotgun or two.

Said he could order guns and sell them for 10% over his price + tax. Also offered to do transfers at $15 per gun. Also said two of his sons were in the Army, he also being a veteran.

The place slipped my mind for a while, and when I happened to drive by the other day, the place had folded.

Sad that some little mom & pop operations don't last for long in this economy.

OTOH he might have been a lousy entrepreneur.

Be well.

 

[Gun Shack]

Hi, my name is Noemi, and I'm one of the owners of Gun Shack along with my husband Lance. I remember seeing you come by our office that day. I went to look for you after my customer left, but unfortunately you were gone. Yes, we are currently a small operation (we got started in July). Much of our business is through Internet sales, gun shows, and word of mouth. We do not keep inventory in our small office and just handle transfers there. We strongly believe in providing excellent customer service and offering outstanding prices. This formula has been working well, as we have been getting a lot of attention both at the gun shows and on the Internet! We can order just about anything and strive to provide our customers the best prices around. We are also looking into provided CHL courses in the near future.

Best Regards,

Noemi

 

[Texan2]

Thanks for joining us....good luck with your new business.

 

[majormadmax]

Hi Noemi! Sorry I couldn't stick around, I had to pick my son up at O'Connor.

I think there was some misunderstanding from the SAXET gun show the weekend prior, based on the inventory you had there I thought you folks had an actual storefront at the address on the business card I was given. That may have been wishful thinking on my part as we don't really have any good gun stores out in our part of town. I had a little time to kill that afternoon, so I thought I would see if I could find you.

But I gotta ask, are there plans to actually grow into a storefront or is your intent to focus on online sales and gun shows? I would hope it would be the former but also understand if it's the latter. As you can see in the other discussion on a shop up in Buda, we realize the sacrifices necessary in running the traditional brick-and-mortar gun shop; but I for one would love to see a "real" gun store in Helotes!

Either way, I do wish you all the luck and hope your new business grows rapidly. We'll still stop by at the gun shows and say 'hi!' (a buddy of mine bought a STI GSG 1911 from you on Saturday, and we were trying to talk another one into getting the same pistol). Folks on here understand it is a mutually-beneficial arrangement to support firearms businesses that support us, so we'll spread the word and maybe we can help the Gun Shack grow even further and faster!

Cheers! M2

 

[Gun Shack]

Thanks M2! We are so excited and have really enjoyed this opportunity so far. I worked in investment banking for 10 1/2 years, so this is a whole different ball of wax for me. But I'm slowly learning. We would love nothing more than to have a storefront at some point, but for now our plan is to keep our overhead low and pass on the savings to our customers. We have been expanding our inventory each and every month. Anything you see as "in stock" on our website we can arrange to have it at the office for inspection and/or purchase. We are also a Class III SOT and we carry a small inventory of suppressors. Let us know if there is anything we can do for you.

Regards

Noemi

 

[ChunkyMonkey]

suppressors? Got my attention. Could you PM me with brands you carry?

 

[majormadmax]

suppressors? Got my attention. Could you PM me with brands you carry?

Gun Shack Suppressors

 

[Gun Shack]

I have been handling all of the suppressor sales so Noemi is not up to speed on these yet. In stock we have Huntertown Arms Guardian for 22LR/22MAG/17HMR with prices starting at $199 and we will soon have their Kestrel model rated up to 5.7. We also recently received a shipment of YHM's in 5.56, 7.62 and .338. These include both direct thread-on and the QD models. We can order just about any other brand of suppressors if you are interested. I can arrange to give anyone a demo in select models and it will be especially easy if anyone has a legal place to shoot near the Helotes area.

Regards,

Lance

 

[Younggun]

Congradulations on your business. I kicked around the gun shpt idea and after a small amount of research I understand exactly why you didn't pop up with a large inventory. Good Luck, hope things work out well for you.

 

[ChunkyMonkey]

I have been handling all of the suppressor sales so Noemi is not up to speed on these yet. In stock we have Huntertown Arms Guardian for 22LR/22MAG/17HMR with prices starting at $199 and we will soon have their Kestrel model rated up to 5.7. We also recently received a shipment of YHM's in 5.56, 7.62 and .338. These include both direct thread-on and the QD models. We can order just about any other brand of suppressors if you are interested. I can arrange to give anyone a demo in select models and it will be especially easy if anyone has a legal place to shoot near the Helotes area.

Regards,

Lance

I'd be interested in something for the 5.56 as well as something for a 7mm......I had been eyeballing Silenced America as well, but never hurts to compare.

 

[SniperRN]

I ordered one gunbarrel from Gun Shack in Helotes, TX 78023. They ended up sending me two barrels, three days apart not to mention charging my debit card twice. This error, on their part, costing $170 in returned check fees. This was ridiculous as I usually never write checks, but my daughters yearbook and pictures came in and I thought it was the safest way to send money to school with her. The checks were $25 and $38 and they each cost me $25 from my bank and $35 from each vendor, a total of $120. An additional debit charge of $45 for my Internet service was not paid, which cost me an additional $50. When I called Gun Shack with the problem, they told me they were going to refund my money immediately on the 2nd gun barrel. Two days later, according to my bank, no refund was in process. I was also told that they were going to send UPS to pick up the second gunbarrel and then they told me that they were going to send a UPS return slip. So far I have seen nothing.

I asked Gun Shack to pay for the bank overdrafts as I told them the consequences of their business error had cost me $170 and that I did not have an extra $170 to spend.


The solution I was given from Gun Shack was to send both barrels back, they would refund me the costs of both barrels ($194.95 times two). And then, when I could afford to once again purchase a barrel to get in touch with them. So basically, they were telling me "too bad about the $170 in fees" you are going to have to pay for them. When you get enough money saved up again. "Give us a call" and you can re-purchase another barrel from us when you save up more money.

So that is it in a nutshell about my experience with Gun Shack. This is a company, I will never use again and plan on distributing my story on every gun forum and review site I can locate on the Internet.

 

[pcnotpc]

I asked Gun Shack to pay for the bank overdrafts as I told them the consequences of their business error had cost me $170 and that I did not have an extra $170 to spend.


The solution I was given from Gun Shack was to send both barrels back, they would refund me the costs of both barrels ($194.95 times two). And then, when I could afford to once again purchase a barrel to get in touch with them. So basically, they were telling me "too bad about the $170 in fees" you are going to have to pay for them. When you get enough money saved up again. "Give us a call" and you can re-purchase another barrel from us when you save up more money.

So that is it in a nutshell about my experience with Gun Shack. This is a company, I will never use again and plan on distributing my story on every gun forum and review site I can locate on the Internet.

Take them to Small Claims Court. As long as you have all your documentation and can prove you only ordered one barrel you should have an open and shut case.

 

[Big Phil]

I had a great experience at the Gun Shack.

I'm a little confused at the use of the word "store front". They have a store. It's not made from bricks but it is a store.

 

[SniperRN]

Since I live in AZ, filing in small claims court might be a little more complicated, but I am sure it is doable nonetheless. They contacted me today and I believe they are attempting to rectify the situation. Nonetheless, they have one very irritated customer on their hands. I am still taken back at the first response from Naomi was to send both barrels back, get credit back to my card, have me pay the $170 in bank fees, and repurchase the barrel when I had saved up the money.