Well since I've bitten by the 10mm bug, I came across a pistol that from the moment I saw it - immediately I said to my self "MINE". I doubt y'all are as weak-legged as I am when it comes to beautiful guns as I am but I digress. Its a Dan Wesson 10mm 1911 Bobtail Commander. I find one on Guns America and snatch it up. I go to one of my favorite local fun shop/sporting goods place - Meltzer's in Garfield. I see the guy I've bought 4 guns from over the last couple of years and done a few transfers for me.  I give him the info on the seller and as he finishes up the paperwork he sez "You know  what? I don't think I can do this. I sez why? Well if we can get the gun you want  the boss won't do a transfer OR he'll slap $100 on the regular $35 fee - your choice. (he then calls his dealer and asks if HE can supply DW guns and the dealer replies that it  would be a special order for HIS dealer imagine the markup ) I ask him to elaborate and he sez we are not in the business of cutting our own throats - look at it this way -what would you rather make on a gun $100 or $35 if this was your shop?  Soooooooooooo I pause and look at him and say Pete, I've bought and tranfered guns from you in the past right? He sez "yeah but I just work here." OK I say I'll answer your ? with another question:  would you rather make $35 on the transfer or DICK on the entire deal?? Again he states that he just worked there so he doesen't "make" anything. So I sez tell you what - check with your boss and call me if you WANT. He then sez well maybe I can do you a favor this time but I don't want to get in trouble. So I say giving you my $35 is a favor to me?????? I had a pretty rough day that day so I just turned and walked.   Not to sound childish be there are several FFLs that I can lierally WALK to from my home BUT I choose to come to Meltzer's because the staff is generally helpful, they have a nice selection of handguns sporting rifles and a few EBRs along with a great fishing department where I am usually good for a minimum of $20-$30 each visit since I fish quite a bit right along with punching paper.

I understand a wanting to safeguard a price point, margin or what have you but I just think that this is more of a customer service issue. Bottom line if they had it in the case or they were CLEARLY a DW dealer I would most likely purchase thru them. I want to support my local guy but yesterday made it tough in my mind. I know that selling guns must be as big a pain in the ass as
buying them but I wish this guy would have handled it a bit more tactfully - maybe I'm expecting too much?

WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK ABOUT THIS? Sorry if I rambled a bit - typed in a hurry!

NOTE: If you need a transfer (and firearms?), want to avoid crap like this and  live in central/south Jersey DO NOT HESITATE to contact PK90 on this board. Paul is a class
act and very helpful. He has tranferred 3 guns for me in the past but distance makes it tough
to always go thru him .

NO!
That's horrible!  I like Pete, he's pretty funny.  Anyway, I transferred 5 guns through Meltzer's last year, and didn't get any grief from Pete or Al (not the owner).  Meltzer's is my favorite store in the Northern NJ area as well.  $35/gun FFL transfer was pretty good, I thought.

Please tell me this is all just a joke!

With my local FFL, if its something that he has in stock or can get easily from his distributor, he will only do a private transfer  for you if its used. Ask them if it matters that its a used gun? Technically, if you arent the original owner, its used.

I wish it was a joke - but I wouldn't joke like that in any event......and the gun was NEW.
I can respect the policy - I guess what piised me off more than anything was the WAY
it was handled.

Ed, that's the mail reason I don't shop in retail gun stores. I would have walked out too. My guy in Freehold will transfer any NJ legal gun for $25.00. Who needs to pay some dipshits rent???

so, for those of us sad people in Northern NJ, what are our FFL options?  

Meltzers WAS the best, at $35/gun
Bullet Hole - $60/gun, last time I checked.
Caso's Gun a Rama?
Ray's Sport Shop?

what other FFLs are there in Northern NJ?

Freehold is a little far for me, unfortunately.

I second Lugermans endorsement of Vinnie in Freehold...great guy to deal with and at $25 a transfer you really can't argue with that.

Ray's is $50 +NICS
Lou's Gun Shop in Raritan is $40+NICS
Effinger's is $50+NICS

+1 on PK90 a bit of a drive but a fair deal and a class act.

Quoted: I second Lugermans endorsement of Vinnie in Freehold...great guy to deal with and at $25 a transfer you really can't argue with that.

Vinnie is the man. I live in the same neighborhood as him. I went to school with his daughter. I transfer a lot of milsurp stuff through him- in fact, he's holding an M1 Garand, Yugo SKS, and a No4 mk1 for me until spring break to transfer. He's very accomodating.

Others by me include Bergen Sporting Goods (they use the moniker loosely) they have a about a dozen guns, a few packages of hooks maybe a sinker or two and a couple boxes of ammo. These
guys are what is left over from the great NAVY ARMS STORE that went away several years ago.

Another is Mike's in Fairview but the last transfer I did thru him made root canal seem like
a day at the park. He is a police armorer /supplier first second and third. Helps with the family's armenian food business next door fourth and fifth and whatever time is left over is for the walk-ins.
His hours are whenever he happens to be there
Here too is a place where I have bought several guns before I asked for a transfer. Minor issues contacting the selling FFL. Something that could have EASILY been taken care over the phone
became a federal case. I would consider getting an FFL to avoid this bullshit but I hear now that
the feds are making FFLS setup a storefront so there goes that idea-

I'm thinking the 3 hour drive to PK90's place (beautiful house Paul!) doesn't seem so long now.............

alright, someone gimme Vinnie's contact info, and his hours of operation.  

Thanks for the endorsement guys.    I am about 2 hours south of NYC and halfway between Philadelphia and Atlantic City.  A hike for some people here.

I can see how the bigger gun shops charge extra.  Alot of overhead and they have a high volume of sales and don't want to be bothered with transfers.  

They lose control of what comes in and have to be worried if the buyer changes his mind and wants to send it back, or the one who has 3 guns shipped to them and doesn't yet have their permits, or the guy who buys from joe schmoe who demands a signed FFL copy sent snail mail to his PO Box.

I enjoy the plethora of firearms that I get to see and handle from you guys and the conversations about guns.  The coffee pot is always filled, too.

I charge the following:
$37.10 for 1 firearm transfer
$47.70 for 2 at the same time
$58.30 for 3 at the same time
This includes the NICS and TAX

I am also certified as a:
S&W Pistol Armorer
Remington 870, 11-87 & 700 Armorer
H&K MP5, BTG, UMP, USP Armorer
PTC Firearms Instructor

No thanks required Paul but you're welcome - you earn it by the way you do business

The bullet hole told me they wanted 50 buck + 15 for the nics check and..... They are going to charge me tax too Thats another 40 bucks. When I asked him why, he said his accountant told him too. I wonder if the treasury dep would get my tax after all. I would rather pay it with my state taxes. I get a refund so i wont feel 40 bucks less out of the grand I usually get refunded. With that said they will never get another transfer from me. I will still have to do business with them unfortunately because of the lack of ranges in Essex county. +1 on the 3 hour ride

Vinnie is great to deal with.  Also, Woodbridge Auto Parts will order just about anything you want and have decent prices - just give them a call for a quote.  They are a lot closer than Freehold for the Northern Jersey folks.  

I say screw most of these big shops. They really don't see the light.  Pricing in the internet age is so transparent.  I can appreciate their overhead and inventory costs, but it's time to wake up and smell the coffee.  Money talks and there is no way I can justify paying an extra $100 or whatever to support "my local shop".  My local shop had been Ray's before I knew any better.  I paid almost $800 for a Sig 226 and Almost $600 for a G19 there.  And the "extra service" and "special attention" I received for shopping there amounted to being patronized by your typical gun counter clerk. Yeah my asshole felt a lot wider after that, but that's the last time I ever do that.  Imagine how I felt when I learned I could get a new Sig for less than $600 off the internet and pay just an additional $40 and no tax to Vinnie or someone else.  I will never set foot in Ray's again.  Not to mention a lot of times unless you are a cop they don't make you feel too welcomed there. If I want to touch and feel something before buying, I'll wait to borrow a friend's that I can actually shoot and try before I buy.  

I'm sticking with Vinnie.

Guys and Gals,
PK90 is THE MAN to deal with when it comes to firearms.
Throw ANY business you can his way.
Paul and his wife are our kind of people.

I have transfered one gun and I am in the process of transfering two more through Paul.
Can't find a better person to deal with.
Especially when I bring my two boys with me and do not get an attitude about it.
(The killer dog loves their attention!)

EdB,
I have dibs on the house...
Get back! It's mine! (of course when your done with it Paul    )

RW3

Quoted: alright, someone gimme Vinnie's contact info, and his hours of operation.

I've got his business card in front of me:

Hunting World, Guns & Ammo.
Vinny Pugliese
Office: 732-431-5602
Fax: 732-462-2991
Cell: 917-709-8729
E-mail: [email protected]

Give him an e-mail to get the ball rolling.  Of all the rifles I've transferred, everything has been by e-mail except for the transfer itself. He'll set a time for the transfer since he does it out of his kitchen. Keeps the overhead low. Tell him ARFCOM sent you!

paid almost $800 for a Sig 226 and Almost $600 for a G19 there

Holy Crap $600 for a G19 is that the price of new ones...I would have sold you mine used for $450 and brought it to you to look at before you bought it.

Another thumbs up for Vinny in Freehold.  So far I've only done one transfer with him and I could not be happier with the service.  He'll be doing a rifle transfer soon and probably a couple of receivers after that.  It's a bit of a hike for me from Bergen county but it is worth it.  

Quoted: paid almost $800 for a Sig 226 and Almost $600 for a G19 there Holy Crap $600 for a G19 is that the price of new ones...I would have sold you mine used for $450 and brought it to you to look at before you bought it.

Those were the first guns I bought before I knew any better.  I have since acquired firearms and related stuff now well into the tens of thousands of $$ and I am glad to say that not a single additional dollar of that spending has gone to Ray's.

There's another shop on the Jersey shore that I won't mention by name, but they came to my club to sponsor a few matches.  I figured I would give him a try.  I got five buddies together that were interested in buying a cheap AK version the WASR.  I asked what kind of a deal he could cut us as new customers that would probably be repeat customers.  He gave some song and dance about how hard they were to get, etc. and qouted $400 each.  I called Century Arms and they sent them to our FFL for $280 each delivered in two days.  How much margin does this guy want to make? Too bad for this guy on the shore.  Each one of me and my IPSC buddies spend easily $5-10K a year on guns, ammo, and other related supplies.  His loss.

Some of these shops just don't get it.  Avid shooters are going to spend a significant amount of their disposable income on the sport.  They will also know a lot more about what they want than any gun counter clerk will, so the patronizing attitude just drives people away.  If they want to get a chunk of this business, they have to have competitive pricing and some level or service that will develop a relationship.  I guess thay figure they'll get by getting the occassional sucker to come in and pay $30 for a boresnake.  Good luck to them.  Better luck to Vinnie.

Ramsey's Outdoor has a couple locations.  I transfered 9 guns thru the Ledgewood location last year.   They never complained about it being a gun they have or could get.  

Alray:

Do you shoot ISPC in Jersey?  I have wanted to look into some sort of action shooting
in north jersey any ideas???

Action shooting in north jersey? Try Newark!  

Quoted: Alray: Do you shoot ISPC in Jersey?  I have wanted to look into some sort of action shooting in north jersey any ideas???

Quoted: Ramsey's Outdoor has a couple locations.  I transfered 9 guns thru the Ledgewood location last year.   They never complained about it being a gun they have or could get.  hr

How much do they charge to trasfer? I'm not to far from ledgewood and periodically go to that store anyway. Was curious what they would charge but always forgot to ask while I was there. I get near the firearms desk and my attention is instantly split between the ARs and the 1911s...I completely forget why I even walked over there lol!

Quoted: Quoted: Ramsey's Outdoor has a couple locations.  I transfered 9 guns thru the Ledgewood location last year.   They never complained about it being a gun they have or could get.   How much do they charge to trasfer? I'm not to far from ledgewood and periodically go to that store anyway. Was curious what they would charge but always forgot to ask while I was there. I get near the firearms desk and my attention is instantly split between the ARs and the 1911s...I completely forget why I even walked over there lol!

Get Both!

+1 for the Ramsey Store in Ledgewood.  

IIRC for a transfer there it was 30+ NICS.  

Quoted: Alray: Do you shoot ISPC in Jersey?  I have wanted to look into some sort of action shooting in north jersey any ideas???

EdB,

Old Bridge, Central Jersey and Riverdale and Shongum all regularly hold USPSA matches.  check the uspsa website for links - uspsa.org:  check out area 8.  Shongum is your best bet for Northern Jersey

Quoted: No thanks required Paul but you're welcome - you earn it by the way you do business

Amen. I would rather drive across the state than deal with prix trying to pick my pocket. Paul is top notch. gd

Alray:

Thanks for the link - found a place in riverdale - LEO only?? I sent an email asking......

+1 for PK90

EbB, I will say it again, Paul is a great person to deal with for transfers. He charges a great price, and even though I burn more in gas going to him, then say Meltzers (I live in Garfield) it is well worth the trip.

What other FFL will offer you coffee and some good convo.

In reference to your incident at Meltzers, that really sucks. I have gone there once or twice and got the cold shoulder everytime. Idk what it was but whoever I talked to didn't seem to want to deal with me. I'm new to firearms and I try not to go crazy with questions at every store I frequent. My friend has gone to Meltzers a few times recently and he said the guys where pretty good to him.

The store is literally 2 minutes walking distance from my place, I really wish I had a reason to go there for my firearms needs.


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