The wife the kid and I are in North Nashville in a hotel and tomorrow Saturday will have time to go to this areas best shops.  

SO I need the best you have got to go see. The best of the best. Decent long gun collection. I have cash if they have interesting long guns as I am from GA so no handguns.  

If they have a range with Full Auto rentals !!!!

Guns and Leather in Greenbrier always had a good inventory of guns.  They have a range but I'm not sure if they have full autos for rental.

If you want to make a drive to Murfreesboro which is southeast of Nashville, there is a nice gun shop down the street from Barrett Firearms. It's called Outpost Armory, right off Interstate 24 (exit 89) on Miller Lane in Christiana, TN.

You can buy ALL the handguns you desire, sir. You simply have to have them transferred to your local FFL.  

Royal Range in west Nashville has a very nice range in which you can rent all kinds of cool full-auto stuff.

Yeah they want 24hrs notice to shoot NFA of any kind.   OH WELL. NEXT.

The only NFA rentals I know of are at the Nashville Armory just south of town on I65.

Long gun selection is shit at every store... it's all stuff any dealer could order anytime.  But, I'm also not in the market for new stuff, so maybe I don't appreciate it.  


The only exception is Franklin Gun Shop.  They have a lot of used guns, but they price everything like it comes with a blowjob.  

And yet they don't even offer a reach-around...



And if shooting FA stuff was on your agenda, OP, a little research before your arrival would have benefited you, instead of the usual "I'm here, entertain me!!" posts we get from out of towners.

Are you speaking of black rifles, shotties or bolt guns? Ass Pro has a nice selection of Fudd guns. Several shops have a nice option in black rifles but not so much for Fudd stuff.

So I am anxious for you to detail your claim there.....................    

Yet a better deal is the one-table dealer at the Goodman shows who will blow the buyer while waiting on the background check...................

Damn, your boss is down to one table now.

Hardly. He's almost always the largest dealer at any of the TN shows.

I look forward to our next meeting too...........

 
New guns don't even hit my radar.  "Look at all this shit I'm not going to buy!"  I've seen yokels down here buy the most outrageous shit, so if you're the one selling to them, God bless you.




I judge stores based on service and used guns.  Used gun selection is a nightmare down here, so everyone is on equal footing... except for Franklin, but they suck ass.  So I choose where to go based on service.




Guns are an investment.  I don't plan on losing money.  Once in a blue moon, I'll buy something I'm not confident I can get my money back out of... but I have to really want it.






I'll go years hunting a gun sometimes.  My collection isn't the biggest, but there's a $10k+ swing in value depending on how I play my cards.


 


On the plus side, the TN Mil Collectors Assoc. is a breath of fresh air.  Quality collections, knowledgeable people, and good taste.  I have no fucking clue where they are the rest of the year.  

I'll make sure to tap you on the head next time.

People's tastes are all over the place. If everyone liked/wanted the same thing, then there'd only be one handgun, one rifle & one shotgun model sold, would there not?




Horrible decision using used guns to base one's opinions on, IMO. Most dealers have no control over their trade-ins as most owners want retail + $100 for their 12ga pump with fixed choke & 30" barrel. Ditto for the .40 cal gun-of-the-flavor handgun someone wants to be rid of.





Rare are the guns that increase in value in only 10-12 years. They're out there, but not common at all.





TMCA is a narrow, narrow niche on the gun market. Obviously as the name implies, they focus on the mil-surp genre of firearms & very, very rarely stray from it. But if that's what floats your boat, have at it, eh? Ain't that what America is about: freedom of choice in what they like/want?

But good luck trying to run a retail establishment using only mil-surp products. You'll be broke & out of business in six months, if not sooner.

Your old boss already has someone to give him a 'handy' anytime he wants, Bob. Besides, you probably have callouses.

 
The sad truth down in this region is that money dictates taste, not much else.  People I'm talking to and dealing with have a couple guns, and they view a purchase as something they have to live and die with.  Once a collection goes over twenty, you start to view them as an asset... an asset that can swing up and down.  Now buying something off the rack, adding sales tax, and then walking off the lot for a loss suddenly means something.  It may not be a huge deal for a single $500 purchase, but swing that 30% loss across a $50,000 collection and now you're just doing damage.


The majority of stores are going to cater to those low volume buyers... desperately trying to talk them into a Glock, or a whizbang black rifle.  You're right, you can't run a store on milsurps alone... but having a herd of new guns on a rack doesn't make a store "good."  Good stores have good service, because everyone knows any dealer will order something they want that's new.  A prick behind the counter will be the end of my loyalty to a shop.  Lucky for me, shops are fine with a prick on the buyer's side.


If someone in this region needs something, I always direct them to the Gun Crew.  I've personally driven a buyer in to get her first gun there.


But when someone from out of the area asks what store to hit, I have to give an honest answer.  It's a disservice to someone to direct them to a place that doesn't have something out of the ordinary.  I travel the country and I regularly ask people where I should go to look for guns... and nothing is more frustrating than when someone sends me to their buddy's shop... with a wonderful rack of Glocks and ARs with nice, pretty new tags.  It is a waste of my time when I can just go to The Gun Crew for off-the-rack needs, yet I get directed to a shop with two cabinets in bumfuck Albuquerque.  (Side note, Albuquerque does have one kickass shop... bought a Colt there, shipped it here, took off the 3x20 scope I wanted, dumped the rifle for what I had in it... boom: free 3x20 scope.). I travel and ask people the same question... "Where should I go?"  I need hinest answers, too.


But, used guns IS a good way to judge stores for this purpose... because the rest of inventory is just stuff anyone can order.  They're all on equal footing in that regard.  I come from a region that, for its MANY faults, had money.  We would go to the local stores weekly to see what came in.  Trade-ins follow money, and that's why Franklin is the only area with a good used selection.  I've seen FN49s, HKs, Galils, etc. come in.  The problem is they don't research shit and just slap the highest price they saw on Gunbroker on it and walk away.  And the staff is douchey.


So, again, I'm not trying to piss on anyone's Cheerios, but I'm also not sending out of staters somewhere that just has the same stuff they can get five miles from their house.  But if they're local, there's only one clear option to send them to, in my view, and I have directed people there.


I'm NOT shitting on shops that don't have a ton of used stuff, because 99% of stores are like that here.  I have to fall back on service... and their threshold for putting up with my shit... and, boy, have I brought in some headaches this year.


If a buyer is like me and are looking for unusual or harder to find stuff, I have no choice but to direct them to Franklin, but I let them know damn well I'm not a fan of that shop, and I basically tell them to bring lube.


I also have to throw in an admission that I do know some shops get in massively cool shit and immediately go for an Internet sale, and we never see the cool shit on the rack.  This local market is brutal for finding buyers for higher end stuff, because people aren't slinging a lot of money down here.  I respect that, too.



I'm not a high roller, but I do a decent amount of purchasing.  I don't like pointing out that the used market is heavily reliant on regional incomes, but it's the truth.  

"Can" doesn't = "do", yes? Ever see a Les Baer or Wilson Combat at Specialty Arms? Ass Pro? Reloaders Bench? Nope, nor will you.





No argument there with the service point-of-view.




No disagreement there, but couldn't one say that about almost everything, such as used cars?

I think where you & I differ is that *I* see certain shops focusing on certain product niches. Ass Pro & Specialty seem to lean towards the Fudds with bolt actions. Guns & Leather, The Armory & On Target seem to thrive on their indoor ranges but still cover a decent amount of inventory. Reloaders Bench seems to follow their name, with a small lean towards the Fudd side.

So my point is, there isn't the dearth of THE perfect gun shop all in one single place. It is simply depending on what you want to see, i.e. what type of firearm you're looking for. Car dealers, appliance dealers, clothing shops, all are the same way in the retail world, IMO.

BTW, Darryl's Guns is my go-to guy for all things in the used gun department. I know he doesn't carry much in your interest of mil-surp, but he's hell on wheels for excellent S&W's, Colts & such. No, he's not cheap either..........    

I thought we were friends, John. We've shared meals together, we've made road trips together. I guess I was wrong about our friendship.

*snort*


'Buddies' is more accurate, and I'm just pointing out that your praise of one certain shop in the area over any other is bordering on shilling, or nut-hugging. Our mutual buddy doesn't need any help in that area, as he's doing quite well on his own.

 

That's pretty creepy BUCC_Guy.

 

You misspelled "hot."

You two can do whatever tickles your collective fancies.