I recently entered the wonderful world of firearms, and shortly after making some satisfying purchases in pistols, I wanted a revolver. Specifically, I wanted the cream of the crop, and that meant none other than a Colt. Unfortunately, I learned that Colts are a bit difficult to come by, and usually a bit pricey to boot. After looking at various places, I figured I might as well try Gun World, even though I had heard that they overprice everything, but thought it wouldn't hurt to at least see what they had in stock.
Unfamiliar with the layout, I walked in and meandered around the cases for a minute or two until someone (the owner, Mike) asked how I was doing and if there was anything he could help with. I said I was interested in seeing what Colts, if any, he had on hand, and he waved me over to a section closer to the middle of the store. There were some premium pieces, with prices to match.
I walked in with NO intention of buying, simply wanting to see what was available. Mike asked me about my work shirt (having stopped there on my way home) and asked about a coworker of mine (with a bigger affinity for firearms than myself) and after confirming I worked with him said "he's good people, I like him! And I got a good feeling about you." He then opened the case and pulled out a Colt Lawman Mark III, popped the cylinder and handed it to me.
It felt good. It looked great. It was a Colt. It was out of my price range. He must have noticed how much I wanted it, because then he said,
"I'll knock a quarter off it's price tag."
You might think he meant 25 cents. He was willing to cut the price tag by a FOURTH of what was on it. I was a bit awestruck, since I had never met him before and couldn't believe he was going to part with this particularly gorgeous revolver for anything less than advertised. I won't lie, I thought he was trying something funny, since I had only ever heard people give trashy descriptions about the place. I even believed them, and was going back and forth in my mind about how this could be some sort of scam. Those preconceptions no longer exist.
He talked about the history of the gun. He answered my questions thoughtfully, and cordially. I noticed a gap between the grips. He informed me that I could correct that issue myself, and he would walk me through it, alluding that he made his own grips, bringing a pair of Mother-of-Pearl grips to my attention that he himself crafted, noting how they had to be underwater to drill, less they shatter.
As we made our way to the counter, he pointed to a sign with a cluster of warped pipes and asked me if I knew what they were. I didn't have a clue what they were, and after saying so, he said they were from people who used their black powder firearms at the range that forgotten to remove the rod. There were 7 or 8, and I wondered what happened to those people. I thought with the stories I heard, they would have been banned from the range, but Mike informed me that one person in particular had done it THREE times and bought a whole row of cleaners after one forgetful mishap.
During the paperwork, he flipped to a piece of paper that i wasn't familiar with in the firearm purchasing process. This specific piece of paper, he said, was for his records, which I understood to be a type of liability waiver. He then asked me if I had any intention of putting the barrel in my mouth. I had not been asked this question during a firearm purchase before, and that surprised me.
Not the fact that he had asked me in such a way, but the fact that he asked at all. This was the first time I had ever been asked that question in the middle of a firearm purchase, and I wondered why that was the case. I thought he was joking, but he said very sincerely,
"That right there is a permanent end to what is most likely some temporary shit. And I want you to call me, if you should ever get the idea in your head to do something like that. I don't want anything like that to happen, to ANYONE, and over the last thirty some-odd years, I have talked three people out of it."
He wasn't being boastful about it, and I was inclined to believe him, since he mentioned his long career in law enforcement, from which he said he retired last year. (As I said to him in person, I will reiterate here, Congratulations, Mike!)
After I paid for the revolver, quite satisfied with my experience, he mentioned a cleaning compound called "Flitz." I hadn't heard about it before, but figured I could give it a try, and he placed a small dollop in a Ziploc bag, claiming it would be enough to clean any gun in such a way that it would cut future cleanings in half and keep it in quality condition for good. He even threw in a few cleaning tips and swabs for good measure.
Ready to leave, I asked if the firearm had a box for stowing on my way home. He asked an associate to grab a pistol rug, and I pulled out my wallet. He said the purchase was over.
He only asked for a review in return. read more