Hello all,

I am new to your forum but have been reading posts for some time now and there seems to be a wealth of knowledge here.

I would like to ask a question if I may.

I have been looking at scopes lately and found the one I want. My question is regarding Wal-Mart. They have the scope I want at about the same price as I could order it for plus I wouldn’t have to pay shipping. Some people seem to think they sell seconds. I can’t really imagine a reputable manufacturer selling seconds to such a large chain. They the (manufacturer) would still have to do the repair/warranty work and their reputation would also be on the line.

Does anyone have any insight into this or a way to confirm this?

Thank you for any information.

Walmart doesn't sell seconds, they can sell items at a lower price because of buying power. Just remember that if your local gunshop charges a bit more he is still making far less profit than Walmart on the same item and he actually has what you need.

Welcome to Shooters Forum dlhumprey.

Here is my take on the Wal-Mart situation you describe;

The world's largest retailer is NOT going to risk their reputation on selling "seconds". The suppliers to Wal-Mart are NOT going to risk losing Wal-Mart's business by supplying "seconds".

Now ,admittedly Wal-Mart does have some items made to their specifcations that may not be available at other retail outlets. And Wal-Mart usually does not offer the top line of a supplier. For example, you won't find a Leupold VX-III scope there. You will find a Leupold Rifleman series scope which is cheaper and does not offer the same features as the Leupold VX-III.

This "seconds" story has been around for awhile and seems to perpetuated by disgruntled retailers that don't want to compete with Wal-Mart.

Disclaimer; I do not work for Wal-Mart, seldom shop there, and don't own any Wal-Mart stock.

Dave

It’s kind of what I was thinking.

Now don’t get me wrong I would love to support the local economy but I live in a small town with no gun dealers/retailers. There is a BI-Mart fairly close and I do shop there however most things are ordered so I figured what the heck I can have something shipped free to the local Wal-Mart.

Thanks for the input.

Welcome to the forum dlhunphrey. Rules are simple, be nice and join in.

You got some good info. I've bought several scopes from Walmart with no problems at all. You do any coyote hunting over in the Oregon country?

I hear this a few times a year from the gunshop "guru's". I have even heard that certin weapon manufacturers make certin weapons to be sold in Wally World ONLY. Marlin levers come to mind.

I believe that this is total BS as is the scope thing,for all the above mentioned reasons,plus the local gunshops love the idea that their "dedicated" customers are willing to simply hand them the extra green for a scope or firearm instead of shopping around.

I say shop around,the scopes and firearms stocked in Wally World,Academy,etc., are not inferrior. They are not made especially for certin vendors.

Gunshops could compete with the larger retailers....they simply do not want to.

I shop for the best deal,end of story.-----pruhdlr

Gentlemen,
Let's not get confused here. The gunshops could compete but they offer different service levels. WW offers no service just product and your local mom and pop store offers so much more. As Americans we have been sold convenience over quality. We choose and we lose! It costs money to have knowledge available.
Greg

Greg, You are right about the fact that knowledge is worth paying for. There has been times when the person behind the counter of the sportingoods department clearly had no knowledge of firearms, and I have gone to a gun shop and paid more for someone to give me some information about the product. Luckly for the shooters around here; my younger brother-in-law works at the local Wal-mart sports department, and he is probably one of the most knowledgable persons on firearms and ammunition as anyone I have ever seen. The bad thing is that this particular store is carrying less and less shooting products; they have stopped carrying muzzleloading stuff all together, and I have noticed that every year this section gets smaller and smaller. They stopped selling guns years ago; I have read other threads on this and some say thier stores still stock a great deal, so I guess its different store to store. I just cant understand why they would do it in such a big hunting area as western Kentucky. How much does your local store stock? Just wondering.

Doc "Zero"

Something to keep in mind...

The Sporting Goods manager at the local Wal Mart told me that all Walmarts were going to be out of the fireamrs business within 4 years.

There is already a marketing strategy at Wal mart to phase out firearms and related products in stores that are "demographically unfit".

I did not ask what this means to those of us that have products that we purchased previously. I will write and email to them and see if I get any skinny back. More when I hear back.

Doc,
No guns sold in the stores around me. No muzzle-loading. A few catridges and a few packaged scopes. Some clays, shotgun shells, that kind of stuff. I've never been a WalMart customer so I haven't watched it decline.
Greg

Yeah, its unfortunate that these same Wal-marts put most of the local shops out of business years ago and now decide that they don't want to carry firearms and supplies. Well the good thing is maybe we will see more room in the market for some more local shops and keep the money in the community. I would rather give my money to a local person than a large corporation, but thats just my oppinion.

Doc "Zero"

The Flip side is, I walked into a local gunshop (large) and saw so many pricing issues, up and down I talked w/ a couple of boys behind the counter. The Statement made to me was "you need to understand, we are not all gun guys" All I could say was "what" The one individual said well I know pistols. From his accent he was British. I asked how long he had been here and how does his experience make him Qualified. 8 years in the U.S. with only a .38sp and he is qualified. I need to talk to the owner! I am no expert by any means, but come on! Jim

Right now I have two choices, one I can drive about 30 minutes to a Gander Mt. where they usually have most reloading supplies but prices vary, and thier people are pretty knowledgable. Or I can go to the only local shop that sells these items; where they are highly over priced and the guys that run it think they walk on water. So right now its pretty inconvient to get stuff; I have ordered some stuff from Midway and thier prices have not been to bad, but its out of the question to pay the hazardous charges on powders and primers. As soon as I settle on a couple of loads for my new 22-250 I'm going to stock up on the bullets/primers/powders it likes from Gander and order the rest.

Doc "Zero"

The Flip side is, I walked into a local gunshop (large) and saw so many pricing issues, up and down I talked w/ a couple of boys behind the counter. The Statement made to me was "you need to understand, we are not all gun guys" All I could say was "what" The one individual said well I know pistols. From his accent he was British. I asked how long he had been here and how does his experience make him Qualified. 8 years in the U.S. with only a .38sp and he is qualified. I need to talk to the owner! I am no expert by any means, but come on! Jim

hahaha, I know where that is! I was in there the other day! I did get a good deal on a little 9mm though.

You are all right about some of this. I bought a Tula 91/30 from J & G for $59.99 and the guys down the street had the same item in the same condition for $293. This is the same place that charged me $45 for a transfer on a $130 weapon. I haven't bought a weapon from a small shop in years. Either the net or a larger sporting goods store like Academy. Hey guys Gander has reloading stuffs at 20% off. That's about $16 a lb for powders. They don't have much inventory but that must be why their having this big sell off due to their inflated selling prices on their weapons.

Greg

The Flip side is, I walked into a local gunshop (large) and saw so many pricing issues, up and down I talked w/ a couple of boys behind the counter. The Statement made to me was "you need to understand, we are not all gun guys" All I could say was "what" The one individual said well I know pistols. From his accent he was British. I asked how long he had been here and how does his experience make him Qualified. 8 years in the U.S. with only a .38sp and he is qualified. I need to talk to the owner! I am no expert by any means, but come on! Jim

LOL! That's usually what happens in Dept. stores! I was in the local Wal-Mart a few weeks back, and looked at a Mossberg 4x4 rifle in 30/06. I handed the rifle back to the clerk and mentioned that the price seemd to be very good for the rifle that you get, and he replied "I dunno about guns, wouldn't have one if you gave it to me." While things like that do irritate me, sometimes ya just gotta let it go, and remember to vote because people like that don't give a whit about the second amendment.

Greg,
I saw the sell at Gander; I bought some powder, but there wasn't a primer one on the shelf. They were picked clean of most everything; one of the guys said they were putting it on the shelf as fast as they were getting it. I guess everyone is trying to stock up before the prices and restrictions get any higher.

Doc

You want to talk about guys selling guns that don't know squat about them; I was recently in Branson on vacation and stopped in Wal-mart to look around as we all do on vacation. I was interested in buying a new rolling block action muzzeloader and asked to see one. The guy unlocked it from the case and handed it to me, but it had a trigger lock on it that prevented me from rolling the block down and looking at the primer nipple assembly. I asked him if he could take it off so I could look at it, and he said he would only take it off if I bought it and then only once it is outside the store. I said thats crazy if you want to sell me a gun then I have to see how the action works; he told me that if he took it off I could load it and possibly shot someone. I could not help from laughing out loud, and I don't believe that he appriciated it. I said, do you know how long it takes to load a muzzeloader and how much crap you have to have to do it, because I was standing there in with nothing more than my pants and t-shirt. I could tell by the look on his face that he had no idea what I was talking about; as far as he knew those muzzeloaders where cartridge style guns and he was really scared to take the trigger lock off. I could have really given him a hard time for his ignorance in the product he was trying to sell, but I just turned around and walked out. When I got home I found the same gun on sale at Gander and bought it from a guy that told me everything about it. Alot of these people are put in those department that really don't want to be there so I try to cut them some slack, its really thier stupid managers fault not thiers.

Doc

WalMart is America's proof to the world that price matters first, last, and foremost. We talk a good story, but deep down we are cheap. I fully admit to guilty, too. If Wal Mart stops selling guns, it will be because they are not making them money. That is their sole agenda - money. They stopped selling guns here because they never sold any, but the Supercenters both ways still have them.
A lot of local gun stores are run by what seem to be ex-Marine armourers with the people skills of a telephone pole, and they don't do much to help themselves either. The good guys get it from both directions.

Of all of the guns that I own, the only ones that I have any trouble with, came from high end dealer, have 4 that came from WalMartr and all of them are great.

I bought a Bushnell Elite 3200 from Wal-Mart for less than 100.00 new because it was the "Inventory Prep" that sat in the case to look at. It's on my .270 and will stay there because its great and has never lost point of aim.