The selection is great - if you can't find it at Mackey's you're gonna have to order it on-line as no one in the region comes close to their selection. The pricing is also convenient as what is on the tag is the out the door price - and if the stock number is a little old, they'll usually be willing to deal on the price. They also don't re-price, when the whole sale costs go up, so older stock number items will have a lower price than the same item that has just arrived.
I am surprised at the negative reviews.
First, I have yet to walk into any shop in NC and not be asked if I had a concealed carry permit or pistol purchase permit before being allowed to handle or inspect a handgun in the store. Per NC statute, it is unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation to sell, give away, transfer, purchase, or receive, at any place in the state, any pistol, unless the purchaser or receiver has first obtained a license or permit to receive such a pistol by the sheriff of the county where the purchaser or receiver resides. Given the wording of the statute, I suspect all the gun shops I've done business with in NC have interpreted "transfer" to include handing the handgun to you for inspection. That's a common legal interpretation of the word - and not just in NC.
Second, I was surprised by the rude staff comments. I've done business with Mackey's for several years now since moving to NC from VA, and I've purchased several firearms over that period of time. The number of customers in the store varies at any given time - it's a large store, but in a very rural area, so it's not staffed at the same level you've find in an urban area, mostly because they'd all sit around bored most of the time and you'd pay a lot more to cover staff only needed for a few peak times. Consequently, there are times I've had to wait a few minutes for service, but I've never found the staff to be rude - even as a new customer. As a regular customer, I've found them to be very friendly. It's primarily a family run business and they've always struck me as being very good people.
Third, I've also noticed the staff often have lunch at the same time. That's probably because they are a rural shop and any hot lunch needs to be ordered and picked up by someone who goes to Janesville to get it. The alternative would be to have half the staff working while half eat, but that just extends the time when staff are in short supply. The other alternative would be to just close the store for an hour over lunch. Personally, I drive 90 minutes to get there and I appreciate being able to go in and look around over the lunch break, even if I have a wait a few minutes to check out. I have no problem letting folks eat lunch. read more