Hey all, I'm looking for some good gunshops in the Springs area. What's out there? Also I'm looking for something that has a good selection of optics and dot sights. Thanks.

Specialty Sports is the usual answer.  It's a large gun shop on the SE side of town.  Some will doubtless complain about their high prices and  bad attitudes.

Sportsmans Warehouse ain't bad.  

Bass Pro Shop is what it is, I've never been there.

There are several smaller shops around town, I can't comment much on them.  There's one near the Chick Filet-A over at N. Carefree east of Powers.  There is or was another small shop off Waynoka Rd just east of Powers, between Palmer Park and Powers Constitution.

A google search shows a lot:

Colorado Springs gun shops

Whistling Pines Gun Club has two locations, one out near the Hwy 24/94 intersection, and one off Garden of the Gods Rd on the west side.

There is Dragon Man's out east of town.  Dragon Man's daughter has a shop called Elite Firearms on Academy blvd.   There's a lot more.  Google is your friend.

That's Springs Armory- they've done me right so far and just expanded their shop a bit.

Specialty is the biggest on selection of guns, and scopes.  Their prices, can vary from the highest in town, to actually cheaper.  I've spotted a leupold scope that was $829 there, but was $900-$1k elsewhere.  Lot of times, they have guns that no one else has, and by the time you buy it online and ship it, you're not far apart from their price.  Attitudes, it can range from shitty to great. Lately, I've seen an improved attitude from most of the staff there, even the owner.  They went to being open for part of the day sunday, and we usually get asked numerous times if we need help.  In the past, you were an intrusion it seemed.  So not all bad.  We've bought a couple of toys there.  Sportsmans warehouse in town is a decent player in the gun business.  Not the selection of Specialty, but better than about anyone else. Prices are normally better than Specialty, but not always.  Inventory can vary and they can pull from other stores.  Some staff there are great, but there's a couple of Fudds that work in the hunting dept that tend to talk down to women, and all you need is a 30-06.  Dragonmans, some hate the guy, some admire him.  Never seen optics there, but never really shopped there either.  As said, Elite is ran by his daughter, and tends to cater towards the female crowd(get the vibe dad and daughter aren't on good terms).  Stop Drop and Shop on Academy has some stuff, they just moved to a bigger shop, and is growing in inventory.  Also good for transfers. I don't waste my time at Bass Pro off northgate. MSRP on all their gun stuff, never liked the vibe there.  I'll go to Cabelas before them.  Magnum shooting center is by Bass Pro, seen a lot of stuff there, don't have to be a member to buy.

Don't buy from magnum.  Everything is expensive as hell without a membership, and a membership is expensive as hell.

My favorite dive is a little place called "Leasures Treasures".  Weirdest damn gun shop ever, but there is stuff there.  They just found some handguns in the basement too, apparently.

I'm not a real fan of Family Firearms on Maizeland but people have insisted on doing private transfers there before.
Decent selection of new toys - got to finger bang a SCAR 17, TAVOR, Skorpion, MPX, Bren 805, etc. But very expensive.

I am not a specialty sports fan and have not been in for a few years.  I was less than impressed when they were at academy and Milton e proby.   Service sucked prices were high.  They moved to the new store and I had similar experience.  I will ocassionaly take some one in to finger fuck stuff as they do have a huge inventory.

Family firearms, their prices on armslist tend to be on the high to MSRP end.  I don't know if they dicker and have never been in their store.

Stop drop and shop.  Never been there.  Their prices on armslist are generally good and the couple of times I have called them (looking for stuff for friends) the staff was a pleasure to deal with.

Sportsmans.  Good guys for the most part though I tend to hear Charlie browns teacher when they start giving me advice.

Bass pro.  Never been to the one in Springs but I feel safe in assuming they are just as fucked up as every other bass pro I have been to.

Big R.  Not sure if the one in Springs carries guns.  The one in Falcon does.  Their prices vary from decent to wtf depending on what it is.  Sometimes the run decent sales.  IF the store is closing out a specific gun you can get a smoking deal.  I picked up a 10-22T for around 250 or 270 out the door on close out a few years ago.   There ammo prices tend to be high from what I have seen.

There is one as you go into old Colorado city.  I have been there a few times and they seemed ok and had some interesting stuff in the used racks a couple of times.

Bullshooters.  Out in Falcon limited selection (home based ffl).  Never dealt with him but he is or at least was active on a couple if the facebook groups.  Seemed like a good guy with decent prices.  Has a website.

Live fire armory.  No experience but they have been running radio adds on KILO a lot lately.  Had a grand opening a couple weeks ago.  According to the commercials they have the ar parts.

Liberty shooting sports in Calhan.  Crappy selection (as in maybe 6 relatively modern guns in consignment.) of modern stuff.  Nice but small selection of the antiques..  Think he has one or two Starr black powder revolvers from the civil war.  Original flintlock and percussion pistols from the early 1800's, a couple three lever actions from the late 1800 and 1900's.  He also has the occasional custom muzzle loader or used ML on consignment.  The two flintlocks hanging up high are not for sale but are beautiful and IMO worth the drive just to see.  They are works of art.   Jerry is very knowledgable about blackpowder and if you are interested will talk about the pro's and cons and help you get started.

Sorry about most of this being somewhat second hand but I buy most of my guns by ordering them either through Jerry in Calhan or a buddy in blende.

Thanks for the info dump gents; much appreciated. I stopped by Specialty Sports recently to look at optics/mini-red dots. They don't keep bitterness in their sights nor do they have the, even remotely readily available. Was looking at Trijicon RMRs and was told "nope, no batteries but I guess we could ask to get some for the RMR you want to see"... WTH if someone is going to drop hundreds of dollars on an optic why in the hell wouldn't they want to see it working properly prior to laying down the cash. Won't be back there as the prices were we high as well.

When I worked on north academy, Stop drop and shop was my go to.
Reasonable prices

I feel like Specialty Sports is overpriced, I've got nothing but horrible service from them. I bought a scope from them a couple years ago, it was an old model so I ended up returning it.

I think Sportsman's Warehouse has good prices, but it can be hard getting service during the busy times. They also don't have a ton of "tacticool" ARs or accessories. They seem to constantly be out of the popular calibers of ammo.

Specialty is my personal favorite.  Best selection in the entire state.  Prices are what they are.  If you want it today they probably have it.  If you factor in shipping and transfer fees it's all about the same.  I am always treated well and have purchased many firearms from them over the last 20+ years.

Springs armory is a new kid on the block but is very competitive on pricing.  Lots of used stuff coming and going.  Excellent parts supply and very friendly owners. Small but worth a stop.  Big plus is the 5% county tax.  

Family is by far the highest priced in town.  Decent selection of parts.  I did witness one of their salespeople actually load a live round into a pistol when the store was crowded because a customer brought in a pistol that was malfunctioning and he was trouble shooting it.  WTF?

Shooting den is small and the prices are decent.  Decent selection and always something new and interesting on consignment.  Nice people.

Magnum is ok.  Inventory doesn't really change. Pricing is high to meh depending on what you are after.  If you want a $75 Magpul MBUS that's the place.

Your experiences might vary but that's where I visit.

A reputation can be a hard thing to live up to, or to live down.  I've bought from Specialty a bunch of times, and much of their poor reputation (attitude wise, at least) goes back to the old days.  I've generally had good experiences with the help.

Whistling Pines had the best prices in town, especially for members, when they opened.  They're generally on the high side anymore, though.  A few years ago they got in a CZ 97B, and priced it crazy high ($800+).  I bought the same gun at Specialty for $600.  That gun sat in the display for years before it finally disappeared.

I was in there just sunday, and they were busy, but everyone was offering to help us.  Even the owner, who was toting two cordless phones, fielding questions, etc stopped no less than 3x to make sure we were taken care of.  I'd say their service has come a long ways from 4 years ago.

Anyone know where I might find a Steyr AUG in the Springs area? Thanks much

check your IMs

Thanks much