Sportsman's Warehouse?

[Ben]

Thumbs up or down? They just opened one where my folks live. It looked way too crowded with holiday shoppers when I drove by it today, so might check it out after Christmas. There's never been an "outdoorsman oriented" store like a Cabelas, Bass Pro Shop etc. near anywhere I normally frequent. Kinda excited to see this one but am wondering if they have good stuff or not.

[mtnbkr]

Big thumbs up.  The one in Roanoke, Va is like a Cabelas without the hype.  They have the best prices on reloading gear and supplies I've seen.  For example, the Cast Performance .44 300grn WFN-GC bullets I like for my Redhawk are cheaper there than at Midway with my dealer discount (which is cheaper than everybody else).

Chris

[Lennyjoe]

I'll second Chris's input.  I love the place for reloading gear. 

I just wish the hell they had one down here near Martinsburg/Winchester area.

[41magsnub]

Missoula getting a SW a few years ago was awesome, before that the only sporting goods stores were the various smaller outfits with very unknowledgeable staff and poor selection.  For example I could go into any outdoor sporting section and know more about that area than any of the staff which is really saying something since I don't know jack.  SW seems to keep the high school kids as checkers and clothing department, and hire at least somewhat knowledgeable staff for hunting, fishing, and outdoors.

[cosine]

There's one near where I live. Friendly, fairly knowledgeable staff, decent prices. Overall, it's a nice place, and is usually where I go when I need something outdoorsy.

[Ben]

Wow, unanimous so far on the thumbs up. Looks like I'm dropping by to check it out. :)

Also great to hear about the reloading supplies. I've pretty much always done mailorder for reloading stuff because even my local gun shops don't have much of a selection.

[AZRedhawk44]

Here in AZ, meh.

Boolits for rifles are expensive there.  More than midway, by a healthy dose.  They only sell premium rifle bullets by the 50 or 100 pack.  You want 500 or 1000 or more inexpensive bullets?  Some Remington 165gr PSP .308 bullets?  Some pulled milsurp 150gr FMJ's?  Not at the SW near me, at least.  For pistols, I get better deals from mastercast online even after shipping.

I do commend them on their powder prices for 1lb cans.  I get AA2520 from them, but I've found a local resource just this last week that even beats their prices by a healthy margin, especially in 8lb cans.

Also:  you can dicker on prices with smaller shops.  Can't do that at big chains like SW.

I mostly go there for powder, the odd box of premium bullets I might want, and outdoors gear.  I can't stand the granola nature of REI or the theme park attitude of Bass Pro or Cabelas.  There used to be a store chain around here called Popular Outdoor Outfitters that I swore by, but they went out of business.  Perhaps having an acronym of "POO" wasn't such a good business strategy.  I dunno.

[Gowen]

I like the SW we have here better than the Cabela's or the Scheels.  I find better deals on ammo there.

[gunsmith]

The Reno one has a "please do not reload after trying out the concealed carry holster" policy

The guy telling me was genuinely sorry about the rule, and he said "nearly everyone here is packing anyone robbing the place isn't getting out alive.

real friendly pro gun folks, good archery dept, fishing etc.

[stevelyn]

I end up dropping a couple hundred bucks there everytime I get into SkAnchorage.

[El Tejon]

I frequent the one here in Lafayette, Indiana.  I buy maybe 6 or 7 guns a year from them as I spread the gun wealth around.

Just bought the GF her gun present last Friday (and it was on sale, what luck).\

The gun department is good to me.  SW is where I bought the Ruger Blackhawk which broke before shooting it.  SW boxed it up and sent it back to Ruger for me with no whining.

[charby]

The problem I have with Sportsman's Warehouse is that they don't have a lot of stuff in stock all the time, especially reloading supplies. Seems like everytime I go do there to pick up misc stuff they are out. They were out of Winchester Small Pistol primers for most of the summer. It almost impossible to get 1# cans of popular powders also. Maybe this is only consistant with the store in Ankeny, Iowa.

[Jamisjockey]

I can't speak to their reloading stuffs, but I've always been an SW fan.  We had one in Utah and it was usually the place I went for ammo, camping gear, and fly fishing gear. 

[S. Williamson]

Ammo is overpriced, gun prices are lower than most other shops around here.  Fine selection of knives, scopes, GPSs, and so on for standard prices.

[Jeff B.]

We had one here in the north DFW area, but it closed after last Christmas...

I liked it very much, and it was more convenient to me than BS or Cabela's.

You should like it!

Jeff B.

[grislyatoms]

I'll drop in from time to time to get a pound of 231 and some primers. Also seems to be the only place I can find Gold Dot ammo consistently. Better prices than a lot of local places. I get my bullets from Rainier via Midway, though.

I also like to just poke around, go through the fishing section, camping/hiking, look at canoes, etc. I can easily spend an hour in there.

[ArmedBear]

I have been singularly unimpressed with their prices.

However, I haven't checked on the reloading stuff. Might be worth a look. Thanks.

[charby]

I have been singularly unimpressed with their prices.

However, I haven't checked on the reloading stuff. Might be worth a look. Thanks.

I have noticed that their reloading prices when they are in stock are close to the prices in the mail order companies.

[slingshot]

We have one near us.  I go there fairly frequently.  Prices are probably just a tad under places like Cabela's and Bass Pro.  Staff is knowledgeable.  They have always done me well.  No complaints. I would like to see more Kayak supplies since they sell kayaks.  The only other chain type sporting goods store is Dicks in my area.  I buy most of my firearms elsewhere although I have bought a couple at SW. 

[Unisaw]

I go to the SW in Federal Way, WA to buy powder and primers.  I also bought my last handgun there: a S&W 642 was significantly cheaper there than any of the LGS.  Surprisingly,iIt was also one of the few places around here that had Hogue Bantam grips in stock.