Getting a good deal on a firearm
SUMMARY of saving money on firearms:
- Online Gun classifieds like utahgunexchange.com
- Buy online, ship to FFL. gunbroker.com, budsgunshop.com and slickguns.com
- Sales, employee coupons/pricing
- NRA Instructor discount for firearms. These discounts are worth getting your basic NRA Instructor for $25, helping the scouts out. Ruger, Savage, Henry, SW and many others have great Instructor Discounts. Of the Instructor Discounts I’ve seen, Ruger is the best IMO!
Over the years, I’ve learned how to get a good deal on firearms.
My most preferred way WAS ksl classifieds. They went commie on us, and don’t do gun-classifieds anymore 🙁
When they stopped, there was about 10,000 gun-classifieds on their website. I know this, because I had the app on my smartphone, and they were not smart enough to disable that access for a week or two.
So, I refuse to even go to their website now, because they compromised!
NOW, we use utahgunexchange.com, ran by my friend Nick! Nick & his website are awesome! I hope you are all addicted to searching for guns on utahgunexchange.com…like I’m 😉
If you know what not to buy, and how to read other humans, this is a great way to go.
I have only bought one gun I considered “used”. Most people break-the-gun-in for you and call it good. Most vendors say 200 rounds and they are broke in…the more you shoot it, the more reliable it gets (unless you are going OVER 100,000 rounds).
My main concern is, did someone “work on it”. Likely NOT qualified to work on guns. Never buy a gun where some jackass has “tuned the trigger”. I always function test and field strip the gun. I spend a good amount of time going over it and I have a set of questions I ask.
Pros of Utahgunexchange:
1) usually a great price.
2) no sales tax
3) no paper trails
4) meet awesome gun owners. no kidding, some of these “exchanges” have turned into friendships.
5) If you don’t like it, off-load it. You are NOT married to this gun 😉 Even though we often pet our guns, doesn’t mean we have a lifelong commitment to them.
Cons:
1) you might get 1 in a million that wants to scam/hurt you. Manage that risk!
2) If you don’t know your product, you “could” be taken in on a lemon. I’ve never had this issue. The worst issue I’ve ever had was a 1911 that was “difficult” to engage the safety. I paid the best 1911 gunsmith on the planet $20 and he fixed it while I waited.
Mars armament. Write him a check for $3,000. wait 3 years, and then you’ll get your Mars 1911. I’d say he is the top of the food chain for 1911s 🙂
I ALWAYS do the following:
1) are you a resident of the state of utah?
2) can you legally own a firearm?
3) bill of sale
4) require UT CFP.
all the bad guys, go onto other adds!
Next best is online-gun-buying IMO. slickguns.com is AWESOME! slickguns.com searches the internet and finds you the cheapest gun with free shipping!
This works really good for me because I have THE BEST ffl on the planet. I pay no sales tax, the transfer is really inexpensive ($50 unlimited transfers in 1 year).
So, between gunbroker.com, budsgunshop.com and slickguns.com — you should be well hooked up!
So, for an example. Last fall, several of my friends buy brand new XDM 9s ONSALE at a local shop for about $600. smoken’ good deal!
Well, I helped a friend last week get an XDM 9 for $505 delivered + FFL transfer fee. I called up the gunbroker.com person and said, if we bypass gunbroker we save both of us money, what price can you do w/o gunbroker?
I’ve done this many times, I always save a bundle!
Another great way to buy a gun is to wait for a cabela’s employee pricing coupon! Or wait for their once a year employee pricing “event/evening” where they feed you and everything in the store is employee pricing — usually a week before black friday.
If you are an NRA instructor, you can get deals on guns & accessories. Call up the manufacture and ask them.
For example, Henry will sell instructors their 22 lever action for 220 ish, good luck finding one that cheap!
http://www.slickguns.com/product/henry-lever-action-22lr-1825-barrel-25650
Keep in mind, usually the margins on gun sales is only 5-10% IMO. Most retail is 30% +…unless you are on amazon 🙂
Gun accessories margins, on the other hand are wide open!
