Would you work full time at a gun range/shop?

[Texas Solo]

Umm....
The bad, Some customers are just ANNOYiNG... good god, i can't stand some people.

I also have a hard time biting my tounge when i hear something stupid..

.. probably the most common "You don't have to even aim with a shotgun" or "The sound will scare the perp away"... Jesus.... there was some DUMB stuff lol.

Amen to the above. I don't mind at all when a customer knows nothing and asks questions. It's the mall ninjas and internet commandos that drive me crazy.

"my friend said" or " I read on the internet...." or " Glocks are unsafe because there's no safety"

To the latter, I hand them a DA revolver and ask them to show me the safety. Hummm, there isn't one. So I guess all DA revolvers are unsafe too? The same stuff, every day. Sometimes it gets old.

 

[cougartex]

Sure, but first I would have to unretire.

 

[Texas1911]

I work at an indoor range here in Austin and it really has it's ups and downs.

Ups:

Customers - There are some very knowledgeable, very skilled, and very good people that come into our doors on a regular basis. I've shot all kinds of wild stuff, learned alot, and met some good friends.
Price - Free range time is nice, and a little discount on items. The nice thing currently is that I can get first dibs on alot of hard to find items (new guns, primers, etc.).
Schedule - 4 Days ON / 3 Days OFF and it's still a 52 hour work week, and the OT adds up for a decent paycheck.
Incentives - Every so often we'll get a rep in that brings us some neat logo'd stuff. I got a Benelli hat not too long ago. Supposedly S&W is getting us shirts.

Downs:

Lead / Powder Fumes - Working on a firing line exposes you to alot of lead. It's not detrimental now, but down the road, who knows. Plus all the powder fumes aren't the best for you, especially the cheap ammo powders that have a ton of ammonia in them.

Children with Guns - Old white guys, women, and Indians are the worst on the range. Old white guys simply don't listen to me (what do I know I'm just 25), women care but half the time are scared out of their wits, and Indians ... they have somehow uniquely bred all of the above into their race. I love the 1960s shooting style of pointing the gun at the ceiling with your finger in the trigger of your 2.5# SA revolver / 1911 with every shot, or the "my gun has malfunctioned" so I'm going to clear it with my finger on the trigger, shooting our trashcan with a .270 because they don't check to see if it's loaded before they pull it out of the case, shooting our benches because of bad trigger control, getting swept by loaded firearms almost on a weekly basis and sometimes getting to stare them down, people trying to eat our guns ... and succeeding.

Gun Store Idiots - The people that come into a store and want to ask you questions that they already know all the answers to evidently. People that want to argue with you after you've given them advice.

Special Mention:

Fan Boys - I love the people that come in and will talk your ear off about their SIG (or enter gun here) and how accurate it is and in the same breath downtalk the accuracy of a 1911 whilst holding a target that I could have shot a tighter pattern with a 6" side-by-side blunderbuss at 25 yards.

Boyfriends - Ah ... the douche bag award. They bring their girlfriends up here to presumably teach them how to shoot, or to have a good time, but they don't spend a single second to teach her the proper mechanics and safety of shooting. Just stuff a gun in her hands and let her bang away. It's OK that she shot the ceiling, target holder, and muzzle swept 15 people ... she's so cute! Meanwhile the poor girl's thumb is about to be removed by the slide, she's frustrated from being inaccurate, and she's aiming high so she can compensate for her flinch. I simply do not understand the degree of idiocy associated with not wanting to teach anyone, especially women, how to shoot properly. I've flat out embarrassed some dudes because they wouldn't take the time.

People that Buy Saturday Night Special Pocket Guns - I am tired of fixing your shit, go buy a real gun.

 

[Texas Bulldog]

Gun Store Idiots - The people that come into a store and want to ask you questions that they already know all the answers to evidently. People that want to argue with you after you've given them advice.

hahaha... I love that one.

"what do you think of XXXX"... and you answer and then they say "NO!... Thats not right"... or some variation.

IF you know the answer, or the only answer you will listen to, then whey the hell did you ask? Damn

 

[TheDan]

I'd rather work in the shop and learn some smithing skills

Me too... I live to tinker.

I think I'd really enjoy working in a store or a range with a store, but I wouldn't want to be a range officer. If that's what it took to pay the bills, tho... there are worse things than that.

 

[TxEMTP69]

I have considered it, I have seen some of what has been mentioned here (as I am sure most who spend any time on a range have) and that can be a concern. I would like to do it for some experience with what I am not familiar.

 

[Al Swearengen®]

I like hearing range stories.

Here's one:

Dude comes in...around mid twenties, and immediately rants, "I NEED a gun, I NEED a gun!!!" I'm like, "OK, do you have any firearms experience?" He replied, "No." So I said, "Sorry sir I can't rent you out any guns unless you know what you're doing." The place I worked at was a rental gun range that didn't sell guns, but supplies and accessories. He goes on and says, "What the Frick? I thought you guys were a shooting range!!!??? I NEED a gun because my parents' house was just broken into!"

After the dude calmed down a bit, I explained to him about self defense laws and that you are responsible for every bullet that comes out of your gun.

Let's just say after further explanations about gun ownership made the dude think more about not making emotional decisions about shooting people...

I enjoy education folks about the correct way of gun ownership...it's not exactly what the movies portray.


And another thought....I would not want to work in my Golden Years at a range/shop...unless I'm the smith who works at the back test firing guns. Whenever I talk to an old timer behind the counter at the gun shop, I usually have to repeat myself a couple of times....NO DISRESPECT to the Seniors here of course.

 

[txinvestigator]

I was the training director for a local gun range where we ran weekly CHL and armed guard classes. I don't mind the guy who knows nothing, or the guy who thinks he knows everything but knows nothing. I did mind when a mall ninja tried to interject when I was with someone else. I would politely, at first, shut him down.

Two other employees and I nearly shot a security guard one day. We were justified. That's a long story, and rather than retype it I'll see if I can find a copy.

We used to get a lot of people from other countries in. I liked showing them how to shoot and letting them rent guns. The people from England and China LOVED the Uzi.

It was overall a good experience. Now for the ugly;

I was there one day when a guy came in, rented a gun from me, shot 26 rounds into the target then ate his pistol, killing himself right there. It was tragic, and screwed with my head for a few days, which was odd. As a cop, I saw plenty of death and suffering, and observed more than one person either shot to death or shoot himself. Although always sad, it never messed with me like this guy did.

I'll see if I can find that written up too; unless the consensus is that's just not wanted here.

 

[M8_Carry]

Sounds like Bells on Mannheim?

I worked for a large gun shop in Chicago in the 60's. The place had an indoor range and it was really cool to work there. There was a story to remember every day.

The boss had a Polar Bear stuffed from one of his many hunts. I saw those expeditions on TV and imagined the great white hunter bringing down the bear with a single well placed shot. One day my curiosity got the better of me so I asked a long term employee about the bear. He smiled, gave and laugh and told me the truth. The boss took 17 shots to bring that bear down.

I saw one guy shooting a pistol and the safest place in the range was directly in front of him! He hit the ceiling, floor, wall...........scary stuff!

Another guy was shooting a pistol with the biggest fireball I've ever seen coming from a handgun. It was one of those Hi Standard .22 magnum Derringers.

A brinks guard used to come down there and fire rapid fire his .357 mag revolver "123456". The center of the target was always gone. Yup, it sure impressed me!

In all, it was a great job where I made $2.00/hour. A gallon of gasoline and pack of smokes were 25 cents each. I had a horny girlfriend and a 1956 Ford. Life was good!

Flash

 

[Acesn8's]

Well I thought I wanted to work in one till I read Alan's post

 

[Adionik]

Not just no, but HELL no.

I say that because I fly for a living. I used to fly for fun. I worked as a lifeguard in highschool and college to pay for my Private Pilot License, about every 2 days of work bought me an hour in the air. Best money I ever spent, hands down.
Now flying is my job. As a job, it doesn't get any better, a litteral dream come true. But when I get home after 12-16 hours mission planning, flying, debriefing, etc, the last thing I want to do for fun is go fly. I haven't rented an airplane for recreation in over 3 years.

I have guns for fun now. The last thing I want to do is ruin another hobby by getting paid to do it.

This.

Plus, it looks like just your average clerk/cashier job after you strip the glamor of being around guns and answering ridiculous questions for people.

 

[bikerbill]

I'm retired and, except for being a Harley salesman , working in a gun shop or at the range would be the only thing dragging me off the lounge chair ... or starvation ... that would work, too ...

 

[ROGER4314]

Sounds like Bells on Mannheim?


Yes, exactly! I worked for Mr. & Mamma Bell for the princely sum of $2.00 per hour. I grew up just down the road from the gun shop. Mr. Bell is the one who ventilated the Polar Bear.

I think the gunshop was located farther into Chicago when I was a kid then moved out to Manheim Road.

Incidentally, I grew up in Chicago during the mob attempt to muscle into the restaurant business. If they didn't play ball, the places were bombed. Places like Algauers, The Ivenho and some really nice places were blown to bits. I remember 80 businesses were bombed during a period of 18 months. Anyway, Gene Autry the "singing cowboy" bought into a place not far from Bells Gun Shop. The bad boys blew that place into a pile of rubble! Autry rebuilt and they bombed him out of business again! After the second bombing, he went back to California.

Some years later, I moved to Missouri and the same bombing thing started in Kansas City. I saw one of those businesses that didn't have two bricks left stacked one on top of the other. It was totally gone!

Small World!

Flash

 

[M8_Carry]

Thanks for sharing, it is a small world. I had family in Franklin Park that we used to visit, so got to see a lot that doesn't exist anymore; Dave's Hamburgers and O'Hare Speedway for example. My Dad would always visit Bell's, but I don't remember him buying anything. I remember that polar bear near the entrance of the store.

 

[308nato]

I grew up in Des Plaines and did a lot of shooting at Bells.
It was a fun time back then.

 

[hkusp1]

i used to work at elm fork in dallas back when the old man owned it, it was fun and i made alot of money pulling skeet, but now im not to fond of the new owners. i would love to work at a gun shop some time, the only downsid is i would probably never see a paycheck from the place because of my gun addiction.

 

[txinvestigator]

i used to work at elm fork in dallas back when the old man owned it, it was fun and i made alot of money pulling skeet, but now im not to fond of the new owners. i would love to work at a gun shop some time, the only downsid is i would probably never see a paycheck from the place because of my gun addiction.

You worked for Charlie Reed, or his son?

 

[ROGER4314]

I always wondered how they filled all the holes in that Polar Bear. Bondo?

Flash

 

[hkusp1]

You worked for Charlie Reed, or his son?

I don't remember I worked there in 98-99 the old man drove a green bronco and alway had 2 black labs with him.

 

[txinvestigator]

I don't remember I worked there in 98-99 the old man drove a green bronco and alway had 2 black labs with him.

That was Dennis. I thought you might have gone way back to the '70s. Charlie was the best guy. I started going there back in the mid '70s with my Dad when he was running a state grant program for armed guards. Dad was the Dallas Sheriffs office Firearms instructor and the state grant allowed for nearly as much range time as recruits got.

Elm Fork was a different animal back then. Good times......