Not gun library related, but recently had a bad experience with bass pro/cabelas online ordering of a firearm.

I recently tried to purchase a firearm on "clearance" to use my points. So long story short and after dealing with three different locations, even though they are not labeled as display or damaged in shipping, the clearance gun I tried to purchase was not "new" as they were trying to pass it off as that. It had excessive wear to finish and gouges that were deeper than just rub marks. Three different store managers still wanted to claim it was "new".

I asked them if they went to a car dealer because they advertised a discount on a new car and they got there and the car was damaged, would you still buy it as new?

I guess after talking to someone honest in their sales team, this is so common practice that they email pictures of the damage to the "new gun" to you, before they even ship it to your local store.

Just marked it display or damaged!

Just a heads up

 

Not gun library related, but recently had a bad experience with bass pro/cabelas online ordering of a firearm.

I recently tried to purchase a firearm on "clearance" to use my points. So long story short and after dealing with three different locations, even though they are not labeled as display or damaged in shipping, the clearance gun I tried to purchase was not "new" as they were trying to pass it off as that. It had excessive wear to finish and gouges that were deeper than just rub marks. Three different store managers still wanted to claim it was "new".

I asked them if they went to a car dealer because they advertised a discount on a new car and they got there and the car was damaged, would you still buy it as new?

I guess after talking to someone honest in their sales team, this is so common practice that they email pictures of the damage to the "new gun" to you, before they even ship it to your local store.

Just marked it display or damaged!

Just a heads up

Similar experience, but didn’t buy the gun…I looked at a “new” Big Horn Armory Model 89. The store had a good no interest deal if you used your card. The gun had a pin head size chunk out of the stock, not a scratch. I asked if they would take $150 off the price ($3600 gun), they said no. I walked.

 

I ordered a gun online from them early this year. The process was straightforward but glacially slow. It took a week for the other store to finally ship the firearm, and they wouldn't give me tracking info so I had to wait for my local store to call me saying it was in. And then the excruciatingly slow transfer began. I went in and did the paperwork, and between all the checking and re-checking of documents (by multiple employees) I was there for nearly an hour. After that I had to do the state two-week waiting period. I finally came back after two weeks to pick it up, and once again I went through yet another gauntlet of document checking and re-checking by multiple employees. That last trip took about an hour and a half.

The only thing that made the whole ordeal worth it was the fact that it was a very hard to find gun that I'd been looking for for several years, so dealing with all that bureaucratic bullcrap was just something I had to endure.

 

I found a new Winchester 1873 Saddle Ring Carbine Deluxe at a Cabela’s in Texas. Good news - ships for free to my Cabela’s in Maine with no FFL fee. Paid for it with my Cabela’s credit card on a Saturday. It arrived in Scarborough on Tuesday morning but they didn’t acknowledge that they had it until Wednesday. I went to pic it up that day. Part way through the 4473 process the sales guy who I knew and liked said “By the way, you have to wait 3 days under the new state law.” Uh no I do not! The 3 day wait starts when you “purchase” the firearm and Saturday-Wednesday is 4 days. Besides a federal judge had put a stay on the new law so it wasn’t in effect anyway. “Well it’s corporate policy.” When I went back on Saturday to pick it up, it took nearly an hour - just like a second background check. And there was a tiny new scratch on the barrel.

I had another stupid conflict with “corporate policy” there a couple months ago when I needed something that day and placed an online order for in-store pickup. Had to get a manager to let me take the item I‘d ordered off the shelf “Because yours is in transit.” 🧐

 

I stop at kittery trading post on my way up to bear camp... nice selection of used and new guns

 

Ordering something from the Gun Library is kind of hit-or-miss nowadays.

It used to be that if you saw a gun in the Gun Library from another Cabela's, you could pay $25 to have it shipped to your local Cabela's for examination... I really liked that, as I'd rather be out $25 dollars instead of the full asking price. All that changed with Bass Pro Shops. Now, you have to purchase the gun, and it will be shipped (for free) to your local Cabela's, but you can return it if you don't like it - I don't know if they'd give you the full purchase price.

On top of that, I've noticed that policies between different locations differ - some claim it's store policy to wait three days, some claim it's a week, some won't let you take the trigger lock off during inspection. They've all made it clear to me that all sales are final, even if there's a problem that could have been found by taking the trigger lock off for inspection. It's a real pain.

I still look at online offerings, but I'm very cautious about purchasing from them.

 

Before seeing this thread I looked at their used gun library for the first time and prices were usually very reasonable for the older Colts, Rugers, and S&Ws I looked at.

 

I just think it's decefull to sell guns as new when they have been displays or other customers rejects due to damage in shipping...

If selling for a discount for those reasons then just label as such.

The honest employee said he would rather just discount and stick them on the shelf locally so you at least know what your getting

 

I didn’t realize ME had left the ranks of free states.

 

I have purchased at least 7 -10 guns from Cabela's over the past 5 years. Never been charged a transfer fee to my local Cabela's. The only hassles are getting a hold of the Gun Library in the first place and then not been able to check function of the gun at the receiving Cabela's. Additionally, not every gun library is as well staffed. Sometimes I leave a message and they never call back. Other times, they take additional pictures and email them to me. Hit and miss…

 

I have purchased at least 7 -10 guns from Cabela's over the past 5 years. Never been charged a transfer fee to my local Cabela's. The only hassles are getting a hold of the Gun Library in the first place and then not been able to check function of the gun ant the receiving Cabela's. Additionally, not every gun library is as well staffed. Sometimes I leave a message and they never call back. Other times, they take additional pictures and email them to me. Hit and miss…

Depending on who's working at the Gun Library and how busy they are they will often let you function-check the firearm inside the office, after removing the lock and making you point it into a clearing barrel (never know... the empty gun might go off anyway). They let me do that with a vintage S&W K-22 I was thinking about buying. It was a good thing they let me do it because I checked for hammer push-off and sure enough the hammer fell. I wouldn't have been too happy had I bought it, taken it home after two weeks and only then learned I'd spent a grand on an unsafe paperweight.

 

Never had a problem with a return for full price paid. Not long ago had a nickel Colt 1908 .380 shipped in. In spite of not being allowed to remove the trigger lock, I was able to rack the slide to find that the slide lock safety was damaged. Overall condition wasn't that good up close and the price didn't match that of a project, so I politely refused the purchase. Skipped the 4473 and background check, obtained a refund to my credit card on the spot. Redeemed points came back too. We have two BP and one C in our area. I've learned that customer service is not a priority at one BP and the C is woefully understaffed. The other BP has on-the-ball staff, so that's who gets my business. (A BP gun counter staffed with a handful of associates beats only one holding the fort in a traditional C gun library.)

Back in the day before the takeover, C gun library prices were negotiable - especially when you could get to know the manager. Not the case now. There is some kind of date-driven policy that allows for a discount or sale price eventually but I don't pretend to understand how it works.

 

True, not every Gun Library is adequately staffed. After the BPS buyout, most of the knowledgeable folks left. My local Cabela's seems to have different staff in the Gun Library every month, and most of them know absolutely nothing about guns. They have to "get a manager" to answer the simplest questions.

At one point, they had an 18 year old working the Gun Library. Not old enough to own a gun, but he wore his orange plastic trainer with pride; and tried talking like he'd been in the business for years. Couldn't answer a single question. At one point he asked me if I was sure I knew what I was talking. I told him that I wasn't the one wearing a toy. Another employee laughed, and that was the last I saw of the kid.

 

Well, I did just by one from them a couple weeks ago. Shipped free to my local store, 3 hours away. Supprisingly easy to purchase. However, the paperwork had to be checked by three different supervisors(?). And they had a problem with one of my 5's, it looked like an 8. Line though, inital and date here, and then back around the horn. At least an hour. And, yes, you can't take the trigger lock off in the store. So, there is that. But, I only had to pay 10 bucks for the paperwork and out the door.

Carl

 

And, yes, you can't take the trigger lock off in the store.

Also don't forget the fact that, after all that rigmarole and after they've at long last verified that you're okay to buy a gun they still insist on an employee walking out the door with it and not handing it to you until you're in the parking lot. I'm just waiting for them to change that policy too and force you to drive out onto the street first, then they'll hand it to you at the first intersection.

 

Good news. I tried to buy a S&W model 19 from a store in michigan last year. Tried calling every morning for 2 weeks without ever getting anyone to answer the phone. Online will be simpler

 

Once again I was lucky. I bought a Winchester 101 Quail Special from the Cabela's in Alaska before Covid and they overnighted it to my FFL dealer in Texas.