doublegunshop.com - home Forums Thread Like Summary - Gun Library Blowhards??

Son-in-law and I were in local (Grandville MI) Cabela's/Bass Pro Shoppe today, following a visit to the big Outdoor show in Grand Rapids. They had about 12 uncrated Zavasta Mauser mil surp rifles for sale at $599.00- all had cosmoline in the bores and all over the bolts--2 mid-aged dudes were looking them over- The blowhard went on and on about how great the Mauser BA was/is-and stated that our 1903 and 1903-A Springfield BA rifles were based on the Mauser design (correct and that during the War, the Springfield Armory had to pay a royalty payment to Mauser Worke in Obendorf.. The other dude asked him: "WW2?"" Yep, he said, both in WW1 and WW2, for as long as we produced the 1903 rifles here.. Someone please confirm this for me.. I just can't see how the USA could justify doing this while we were allied with others to defeat Hitler. RWTF

I worked at the Cabela's Gun Library in Lehi, Utah both as a lead and manager for over 10 years. When Bass Pro shops bought out Cabela's in 2017 it went to hell in a hand basket quickly. Bass Pro in their infinite wisdom eventually got rid of all the senior library staff with all the knowledge in favor or hiring joe blows off of the street for $10 per hour. I left a little over a year ago and actually stayed 5 years too long, but in truth it was going down hill even before the Bass Pro fiasco. Now, all you will find are black plastic handguns and rifles and lots of Turkish shotguns. I personally ordered a barrel wall thickness gauge on the company credit card and caught hell for it. They eventually got over it. Bass Pro does not care about loyal old time gun owners. They are only interested in Boats, fishing, and their name on NASCAR. They have no business buying classic SxS shotguns as the knowledge base is long gone. If you walked into a Cabela's today with your Parker, Fox, L.C. Smith, Purdey, Boss, Francotte, Darne, German drilling, English double rifle, cape gun, etc., etc.,....they wouldn't know what to do with it. It is very sad but all good things seem to have an end at some point. The traditional Gun Library concept as intended by it's creators is long gone.

One reason Cabela's ran into difficulties even pre-Bass Pro: Too many stores and too difficult to find people who know not only classic shotguns but also handguns and rifles. I bought a Belgian sidelock that they had marked as "German" even though it said "Liege" on the barrels. Never mind the proofmarks, which were pure Belgian. When Cabela's started the whole Gun Library deal, they hired some pretty good people. The expansion and all the new stores also meant that it was difficult to fill the racks in the Gun Libraries with guns that actually belonged there. I think of it as "the good old days" when I'd drive to Owatonna, MN (only a couple hours for me) just to look at what they had. They didn't have just one rack with classic doubles. They had one WALL. And (for better or worse), it was seldom they didn't have at least a couple guns that grabbed my attention. And a great guy to deal with when Bill Taylor was in charge. I bought a 16ga Greener from them. Station 1 skeet on its maiden voyage, the stock split at what was a almost invisible crack in the wrist. I knew I'd get my money back, but I liked the gun. Asked if they would restock it for me. They did.

But it's not only Cabela's that suffers from that problem. I remember seeing a 20ga Superposed in a Scheels Premium Gun Room. The tag said it was a 1930's gun. I pointed out to one of the employees that there weren't any Superposed 20s until after WWII.

It's worth spending a bit more if necessary and dealing with someone who knows their business and makes an effort to learn about the guns they sell. If they can also repair them if needed, that's another plus.

They say disparity in information is what drives the stock market. Same with used guns. About 15 years ago I stopped by the "new" Bass Pro store in Denver and looked through the Fine Gun Room (as opposed to Cablela's "Gun Library"). They had a pair of Parkers they'd just taken in, one a 12 ga. CHE with 30" Titanic barrels in 90% overall original condition and another vent ribbed D grade in Trap configuration in similar condition. They had a $5K tag on the C, which was about $3K less than I figured it would sell for on the Parker site, so I whistled up some gumption and asked him (an older guy, no spring chicken but no double gun expert either) whether he had any "flexibility" on the price. He went and checked with the other old guy in the room, and came back and said they could go 10%. I almost stumbled getting my wallet out. Got the C for $4500 plus a brand new Boyt Estancia soft case thrown in and walked out the door before they changed their minds. Hunted it once, killed a pheasant with it, and decided it was a little too pretty and heavy for the kind of hunting I do, so I flipped it a couple of years later for market price. Those poor guys just didnt know what they had, and didnt know they didnt know it. The Fine gun Room folded about 2 or 3 years later. Thats my story and Im sticking to it.

A little knowledge is dangerous in little minds. Ironic they speak with such conviction and force. But if a blind squirrel finds a acorn sometimes, most of the time he finds nothing at all. It makes sense. Even a blind squirrel will quit when he finds what he is looking for after he finds it. When he finds it he is so happy. Kind of like a few experts who know what they know, even if it is not so.

Absolutely true. I enjoyed the Gun Library and some purchases in it's heyday, now sadly long gone as mentioned.
Karl

The original Gun Library Managers we six figure guys. In other words, they were paid because of their knowledge. Trying to replace that knowledge with $10 guys won't work in any scenario!

Lima papa, if they sold it to you for $3,500 below value you can just imagine what they paid for it. I bought a near mint Remington Model 12 in Remington Special for under $200.00 because the salesman told me they don’t make ammo for it anymore. Remington Special22 is the same as Winchester ammo. A Remington collector found out I bought it and tracked me down. It went home with him.