Anyone else deal with these guys?

Isn't Hydguy an employee there?  I've only been there once, and it seemed like a nice place.  Crowded (always a good thing in a gun show/range), but it was a  Saturday. Everyone was very friendly there.

Ask for Tim

I have dealt w/the for years...What do you want to know?  They are AR friendly w/Frangible Ammo only.

Tim "Hydguy" is a manager type guy there and a contributer here on ARFCOM>

Because it's been my experience so far that they, well, suck.

My friend tried to consign a SKS there  a couple of months back (he had all the original stuff for it, never illegally modified or anything like that). They told him FLAT OUT that they will not deal with AKs or SKSs. "Because they can't prove that it's been illegally modified or not". Which is the stupidest thing I've ever heard, because that can apply to any weapon.  

Fast forward to this month, I called them asking if they do gunsmithing services.
"Sure" they said, "what do you need done?"

I told them I wanted to get a Barrel extension permanently welded onto an end of a barrel.

"what weapon?", they ask. I say "An AMD 65 I'm building from a kit".

The guy says, "Um, hold on", puts me on hold, then comes back and says they dont work on AK's "because they can't tell if if's been illegally modified or not".

I say, "this isn't a mod, I need to permanently weld this thing on to make it nice and legal"

The guy says "It's not legal now?"

I say, "no, it's still in pieces, it's not done yet. This needs to be added so that will be legal when done"

The guy puts me on hold again, then a different guy comes on "Hello, we don't work on AKs because we can't tell if they've been illegally modified or not"

I tell him, "This is a kit, I'm building it up and adding the US parts to it, it's ok. I just need to permanently weld on the extension so it's nice and legal"

The guy responds" Well, no one will work on that kind of thing, because you can't tell if its been illegally modified or not, in fact i don't think any gunsmith around here will touch it. Some people think if you add 4 US parts and a US Hand grip, it's legal, but it's not"

Now this is flat out wrong, so I cut the guy off  - "I've already added the 5 parts to it, that part's taken care of"

He responds "How do you know they're US parts?"

"Um, because "US" is stamped on the side of them when they were made?"

"That's not good enough, that doesn't mean anything"  

Edited:  I say "Ok, thanks anyway" and sign off.  (this is not what I've heard from many other sources)

IM Tim  (Hydguy) and talk to him directly.  FYI to buy or sell the best place IMO is Virginia Arms in Manassas.

Yeah, I'm going thru VA arms from here on out. I've had no problems with them at all.

I have 2 other examples of BS I encountered from Blue Ridge, but I didnt bother to post them cuz I figured the 1 was enough. I was just curious if anyone else encountered this kind of stuff from there.

Just wait untill you deal with Quantico arms, then you will love other gun shops.

Quoted: Just wait untill you deal with Quantico arms, then you will love other gun shops.

Huh?  Dave is a great guy...

I guess so...that aint right!

Quoted: Why didn't you just give your story in the first post? While I understand your dissapointed with their policy, it's still their policy. They seemed to be up to speed on the law, and are just trying to cover their rear ends.

I didnt give that story in the first post, because I wasn't sure what the common thought was, if everyone said "they suck" i'd just forget about it.

Yes, it is their policy, and that is fine. But I believe the response is a bit weak, and should be just "we dont' work on those for liability reasons" or something like that. The whole "because you can't tell if it's been illegally modified" is a) bullshit, and b) puts a dark cloud over some basic weaponry.

(Yes, it's not my store, yes, they can say what they want, yes this is all IMO)

Their knowledge of the law is also weak, since a US pistol grip counts as a compliance part, despite what the guy said.  

It just was the attitude that I was hitting there that irked me so. And I'm always polite when I deal with people, so the blow-off was a bit rude in my opinion.

It doesn't matter, I'm not going to use them anyway in the future.

I've found that most shops seem to have their heads up thier ass. However there are always a couple guys who know their shit and are generally good guys.

I shoot usually every month or a couple times a month at Blue Ridge, it is almost always crowded, but I can usually get a lane fairly quickly. Tim (Hydguy) is a good guy there, but IIRC they are making him leave because he has his daughter in the shop on the weekends or something like that.

Quoted: I've found that most shops seem to have their heads up thier ass. However there are always a couple guys who know their shit and are generally good guys. I shoot usually every month or a couple times a month at Blue Ridge, it is almost always crowded, but I can usually get a lane fairly quickly. Tim (Hydguy) is a good guy there, but IIRC they are making him leave because he has his daughter in the shop on the weekends or something like that.

I don't think they are making him leave are they?

Quoted: Quoted: I've found that most shops seem to have their heads up thier ass. However there are always a couple guys who know their shit and are generally good guys. I shoot usually every month or a couple times a month at Blue Ridge, it is almost always crowded, but I can usually get a lane fairly quickly. Tim (Hydguy) is a good guy there, but IIRC they are making him leave because he has his daughter in the shop on the weekends or something like that. I don't think they are making him leave are they?

I just found his post and re-read it... I think you are right, they aren't making him leave, just putting him in a bind, between and rock & a hard place sorta thing.

Quoted: Well it's a moot point now because I can't bring my daughter to work anymore. The owners don't want anymore problems with the ATF so... I'm fucked. Time to start looking for a new job.

www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=75&t=259860&page=1

That's what I thought...It's definately a bind.

FYI- In my estimation it's the gunsmith (Joey) that's the weakest link in that shop.  I use the range mostly and it's ok.

The weakest link in that shop is the following:

- cases designed to hold 20 - 30 guns have 10 or less in them
- a case filled with dirty rental guns.  Just have  a sign with a list, maybe note on guns forsale that you can rent one like this one.
- cases with merc. just thrown all about.  I guess that it is up to you to help the clerk sort through it if you want a spring or something
- Things in the cases like Shilen, Douglass and Kreiger barrels.  These should not be in stock unless the shop is in the business of building custom guns

The shop has a lot of potential it is just not optimally utilized.

<rant>

NEVER.

Their prices are usually $50 to $200 higher than other places.  

They refuse to let me inspect various used 1911's.  I was not permitted to do basic safety checks on a Kimber Series 1 CDP.  I had the cash in my pocket :)

It took my friend three months to buy a handgun from them because they couldn't get the paperwork right.  Part of it was his fault (he let the "Fairfax County permit" expire after 30 days), but they made basic mistakes on the forms (which nullified the transaction anyways).  They did this TWICE.

Their service has been consistently terrible since at least the mid 90's.  This includes how they mismanage their stock.  Two weeks ago I was shopping for a nylon belt.  They did not have my size.  I asked two different employees about the belts ("Do you have any more in back?").  Neither offered to make an order.  I didn't offer to make an order either.

Their gun range demonstrates why the government banned lead in paint.  As you walk out, they have a sticky pad.  The pad is usually black with footprints.  YUCK!  Don't get me started on their target runners and lighting.  Go to the NRA range -- you won't get poisoned!

</rant>

Go to Virginia Arms.  They will take care of you and they stand behind EVERY gun that leaves their store, including the used ones.  

I've spent thousands of dollars there over the years because Bernie will get it fixed even when it was my own damn fault!!  Last week, he ate the cost of shipping to Kimber for the front night sight I broke.  I dropped it off on Tuesday and picked it up Monday night.  I had forgotten about the gun ejecting into my face...so I dropped it off Saturday and he sent it out today.  I'll probably have it back soon.

Quoted: Go to Virginia Arms.  They will take care of you and they stand behind EVERY gun that leaves their store, including the used ones.   I've spent thousands of dollars there over the years...

+1  Virginia Arms all the way!

Quoted: Quoted: Go to Virginia Arms.  They will take care of you and they stand behind EVERY gun that leaves their store, including the used ones.   I've spent thousands of dollars there over the years... +1  Virginia Arms all the way!

+2 for Virginia Arms & Bernie.

I've only had a few dealings with them, and they've already cemented any future dealings, versus
years of putting up with Haywood's (sp?) style of doing business.

Well worth the extra few minutes it'll put onto my commute home, to swing by VA Arms to take care
of business.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Go to Virginia Arms.  They will take care of you and they stand behind EVERY gun that leaves their store, including the used ones.   I've spent thousands of dollars there over the years... +1  Virginia Arms all the way! +2 for Virginia Arms & Bernie. I've only had a few dealings with them, and they've already cemented any future dealings, versus years of putting up with Haywood's (sp?) style of doing business.

Haywood was a Prick...notice was.  

He's long gone and the new owners are just rebuilding BRA.  However  Bernie at VAArms is where I go to buy anything I don't get on the net.  I also do all my FFL transfers thru Bernie- Always a gent, even when you don't buy from him...even my wife likes going there!

Well worth the extra few minutes it'll put onto my commute home, to swing by VA Arms to take care
of business.

Blue Ridge:

I have bought one gun from them, in 1995.  I was a member there once, but the range isn't worth the money.  SOme of my less than fun encounters there include:

1.  Having an employee point a gun from the shop onto the range (AT MY HEAD).  I went out after a couple minutes cooling off time and grabbed the nearest employee and asked WTF?  TUrns out is was an airsoft.  Didn't matter to me, I saw the front silhouette of an MP5 and got pissed.  I was offered some free range time.

2.  Years earlier:  having a bunch of gangbangers next to me, missing a HUGE target at 6 feet shooting gangsta' style.  THey would look at my target and asked how I could shoot that well.  Had to tell them that sights are helpful.  A few minutes later (while I had a locked and loaded Sig 220 in my hand) one of the jackasses racks the slide on a Mossberg 500 behind me.  That one got quite a reaction out of me (I HATE having the action closed on a gun behind me).

Add some safety problems to RIDICULOUS prices on guns, equally bad on ammo, and ZERO selection on firearms, they don't need my business.  Now with the waiting period gone it is one heck of an opportunity that is passing someone by...

Virginia Arms:
All of my firearm business that I can justify giving to them inthe future, they will get (my Beretta O/U will likely be from somewhere that stocks them).

shooter

Quoted: I've found that most shops seem to have their heads up thier ass. However there are always a couple guys who know their shit and are generally good guys. I shoot usually every month or a couple times a month at Blue Ridge, it is almost always crowded, but I can usually get a lane fairly quickly. Tim (Hydguy) is a good guy there, but IIRC they are making him leave because he has his daughter in the shop on the weekends or something like that.

Still there, and school is back in, so no problems with the daughter anymore.

DarkKnight, I was the second person you spoke to about your AK. MY understanding of the LAW is 5 parts for a pistol grip, not 5 parts INCLUDING the grip.

THe ATF has been known to change their 'interpetation' at the drop of a hat, and I will not allow the store to lose it's FFL over a friggin' technical violation like that.

I believe that I told you to check with Northern Virginial Gun Works, but also told you that I doubted that they would do it for the same reason. Did you check with them? If so, what did they say?

As far as your buddie's SKS, did it have the bayo on it? Or a detachable mag? If so, can he show me the paperwork that makes it exempt from the '89 ban? If not, we won't take it.

Hydguy,
Since you were the person I spoke to on the phone, I retract my previous insulting statements. I don't want to defame the high character of another Team Member.

My understanding from various sources (many on this site, and some on other sites) is that 5 includes the grip. But, no matter. I had to give up that project anyway because of a budget crunch. My front bay window needs money ASAP to prevent any more rotting of wood.  

The point was, I only needed to get the barrel extension permanently welded on, I had not build anything yet. So the only part going into the store or the gunsmith was the barrel and the front trunnion, (and of course the extension). The rest of the kit was not ready yet.

My friend's SKS is a post ban model.  He was turned down cold. It was stock, and not modified in anyway.

Quoted: Haywood was a Prick...notice was.   He's long gone and the new owners are just rebuilding BRA.

Interesting... so I guess he finally retired, huh? I need to do some practice, so I might swing by
sometime soon, and see what they've done to the place. Attitude has to be better than it used to be...

Does Blueridge allow rifles chambered for pistol rounds with non frangible ammo? I want to have a place to shoot my UMC/UMP conversion (.45).

Bomber

Quoted: Does Blueridge allow rifles chambered for pistol rounds with non frangible ammo? I want to have a place to shoot my UMC/UMP conversion (.45). Bomber

I'm pretty certain you can shoot any rifle/carbine chambered in pistol calibers as long as your shooting FMJ ammo.

very cool....thanks!

Quoted: Does Blueridge allow rifles chambered for pistol rounds with non frangible ammo? I want to have a place to shoot my UMC/UMP conversion (.45). Bomber

All pistol (non Lead) ammo is OK along w/ .223 Frangible(buy it at Ammoman.com).

I have seen up to M1 Carbine and 50AE.  They are on the upswing.  New people who are much more proactive and responsive than before.

John