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Forums10
Topics38,522
Posts545,772
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Apr 29th, 2024
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Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 271
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 271 |
I carried a 1894 10ga AE with damascus barrels and perfect bores. I took the gun there looking for an offer due to their famously unqualified experts. There was a new guy there who looked at the gun, commented about the barrels, and said he would need about 30 minutes to get an offer. So I waste 30 minutes in the store before returning to the gun room. Same fellow sees me and says, verbatim,"We will not be able to buy your gun because damascus barrels are not safe to shoot."
I cock my head with a smirk and respond,"You sell damascus guns." He says, "That gun over there came from another store and has been in inventory since 2001." At which point I tell him I think what he has just said is completely ignorant and then say,"So that gun isn't safe to shoot but you're going to sell it anyway?"
What a bunch of unethical dumbasses.
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,112 Likes: 595
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,112 Likes: 595 |
Damascus is a conundrum for the big boxes. They just don't know how to deal with it. They are so fearful of any potential for liability that they tie themselves in knots trying to work around it. Any form of Damascus barrel needs to be evaluated by a competent person before it is used, and....the person using it needs to be competent too. Since Cabelas can't be guaranteed of a fully competent staff at each gun library (they don't pay squat!) they have to stay safely in the relatively idiot-proof areas of firearms.
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 9,430 Likes: 315
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 9,430 Likes: 315 |
Among the Parker listings under Cabela's Gun Library there are lots of pattern welded barrels, almost none of which are listed in the gun's description as Twist or Damascushttp://www.cabelas.com/catalog/search.cm...mp;x=10&y=7 As in medicine today, 'WNL' no longer signifies 'within normal limits' but 'we never looked'. In reviewing the last Julia auction I noted a number of barrels mislabeled, and with a single 'MWT' number without mention of any other wall thickness measurements.
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Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 271
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 271 |
If it ain't safe to shoot then don't offer it for sale.
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,112 Likes: 595
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,112 Likes: 595 |
All of the big boxes have at one time or another, been saddled with guns that they don't know what to do with. Each company (Cabelas, Bass Pro, Gander Mountain, etc.) and then each branch seems to have a different policy on the subject. When there is employee turnover, the problem seems to be compounded even further. Bass Pro sells Damascus guns locally that they say are "wall hangers" only. Cabelas may end up there as well.
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Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 388 Likes: 4
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 388 Likes: 4 |
As you were walking around for 30 minutes, the "new" guy was probably looking for someone to tell him what to do with a gun he had never seen anything like before. The regular dept. manager may or may not have even been there to ask, so he may have been talking to people equally un-experienced with the level of gun you brought in. Instead of dropping 1000's of dollars on a gun they had no idea about, which in their mind if they are wrong about could very well get them fired, his best answer was to tell you they just don't buy damascus barreled guns. So instead of worrying about potentially getting his ass chewed out by store management, the guy making about $8 an hours came up with the answer he gave you. Of course not the right answer, but one which carried little risk for someone who is new on the job and is probably hoping he won't be working there for long to begin with. Maybe he'll learn more about vintage guns in the future and be able to help you, but more likely he'll move on to bigger and better things, which is the case with most people making minimum wage. I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised with the situation you found yourself in. I took the gun there looking for an offer due to their famously unqualified experts.
What a bunch of unethical dumbasses. So if I understand your first statement, you were intentionally going there to find some in-experienced person in the hopes of him giving you a ridiculously high offer on a gun they didn't know anything about. I'm not sure if your second statement is referring to the minimum wage worker you corresponded with, or with yourself.
“I left long before daylight, alone but not lonely.”~Gordon Macquarrie
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Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 271
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 271 |
As you were walking around for 30 minutes, the "new" guy was probably looking for someone to tell him what to do with a gun he had never seen anything like before. The regular dept. manager may or may not have even been there to ask, so he may have been talking to people equally un-experienced with the level of gun you brought in. Instead of dropping 1000's of dollars on a gun they had no idea about, which in their mind if they are wrong about could very well get them fired, his best answer was to tell you they just don't buy damascus barreled guns. So instead of worrying about potentially getting his ass chewed out by store management, the guy making about $8 an hours came up with the answer he gave you. Of course not the right answer, but one which carried little risk for someone who is new on the job and is probably hoping he won't be working there for long to begin with. Maybe he'll learn more about vintage guns in the future and be able to help you, but more likely he'll move on to bigger and better things, which is the case with most people making minimum wage. I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised with the situation you found yourself in. I took the gun there looking for an offer due to their famously unqualified experts.
What a bunch of unethical dumbasses. So if I understand your first statement, you were intentionally going there to find some in-experienced person in the hopes of him giving you a ridiculously high offer on a gun they didn't know anything about. I'm not sure if your second statement is referring to the minimum wage worker you corresponded with, or with yourself. The hourly people are not the ones who make the final call. I was dealing with the manager of the gun library, not an hourly worker. And yes, I did go there because I have found that they sometimes pay more than most people, but you can scratch all of that out of the conversation as it is basically unrelated - the point was that they said damascus was unsafe to shoot yet are still trying to sell their "unsafe" damascus guns to the public. It doesn't matter if they are correct or not regarding the gun's safety. In their minds the gun is unsafe yet they still want to sell it to someone. As for their knowledge level and perhaps not wanting to get in over their heads - nope, that's not the case. I spoke with someone right after the store opened about that very issue and was told they have people in either Maryland or Virginia who serve for that very purpose. I am assuming their telephone service was in a functional state today, although I could be mistaken. Wouldn't they have simply asked me to return, rather than risk their jobs by having me call their corporate headquarters to complain about the BS story they concocted. What you are suggesting would actually be far worse. They missed out on an opportunity to turn a nice profit had they purchased the gun from me.
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,038 Likes: 48
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,038 Likes: 48 |
This is a lot of wasted bandwidth.
1. The attempt was made to take advantage of inexperienced counter personnel at a large chain store.
2. It didn't work.
3. The seller is dismayed at the golden opportunity missed by the dealer to turn a tidy profit.
Is that about it?
The whole damascus/safe issue is just sour grapes.
Perhaps Cabela's is smarter than the poster thought and not about to make an offer on a loser. We get just one side of the story.
Proof is that the poster didn't come home with the 2001 stock gun. IF this story is square, that gun should have been a very good bargain.
"The price of good shotgunnery is constant practice" - Fred Kimble
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,112 Likes: 595
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,112 Likes: 595 |
I don't know how any of the big boxes deal in English (or Damascus) guns without having a good set of tools on hand to measure barrel wall thickness. It is my understanding that most do not.
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 7,733 Likes: 492
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 7,733 Likes: 492 |
A Remington 10 AE is not going to be an easy item to sell for them. Think about it. They don't even have a shell in the store to shoot in that gun. It is heavy double barreled gun, and choked for lead shot, with no screw in choke tubes. If it was a 12 it would have been an easier sell for them.
I am not surprised that they were not interested in it. Walk most guns shows with that over your shoulder and you will be bringing that one home as well. Now if it was a "Parker" there might have been more interest in it as a collectors item. To them that gun might just be in inventory for years. If I was running the gun room you would not like my offer much if I even made any. My local Cabelas has had a 12 AE in stock for three plus years and will never sell it. they paid too much for it and they want three times as much as it is worth. The kid just did not want another forever gun in inventory.
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