338MX- cluless sales people irritate me

[quietman]

Looking for a 338MX locally. Most places have been really nice and told me they aren't available YET as Marlin sold all their stock and hasn't done the 2010 run yet. One store said their distributors called Marlin after they inquired for me and were told, "yes they will be doing a run of the marlin expresses this year".

Then I asked about the 338 in Specialty Sports in Colorado Springs. They didn't have any, and when I made the comment, they're as rare as hen's teeth, the guy behind the counter replied with:

"that's because they (gun stores) haven't been able to sell any so no one's carrying them." The corker was his next statement "The marlin expresses are a dead gun, they won't be making any more"
And I find out later this was from their GUNSMITH.

Even though I mentioned Marlin had sold out their entire production run, he still insisted they weren't on store shelves because no one wants them. His reasoning was "No one's come in and asked us for one"

Well no Sheet sherlock, they haven't been asked. After he told me that, I looked at the marlins on display. They charge about $10 under MSRP for the marlins on their rack. For example, they had a stainless 45/70 with the walnut stock on the rack at $783 and MSRP is $793. Other stores in the area have the same gun for $680 to $700.

Their pricing would put a 308/338MX at $635 to $640 and an MXLR at OVER $820. No wonder no one asks them for one.

And when I asked them about carrying Redfield scopes, they referred to a couple of their imported lines and said they already had scopes in that price range. US made means nothing to them obviously.

Last time I'll ever set foot in that store.

[Chuck 100 yd]

BS alarm went off huh??
Lots of it at the big stores in our area.
The smaller shops ,where the salesman is the owner and knows something about guns don`t BS ,they know better.

[Rusty]

Be sure to tell someone further up the food chain why you'll never be back. Maybe they'll fix something. A local chain store near me has a guy in the "lodge" section that must be a brown noser cause he sure doesn't know a thing about guns.

[Hobie]

We have a local store (a competitor of the place I work) who became successful because of location, the closing of an old store and because of the personalities of the owners. Now, so I'm told, the owners are never there and they've hired a bunch of young and unknowledgeable staff. colo native works there (he is neither ignorant nor is he young, (sorry buddy )) and he might have something to say about this but it is what our NEW customers are telling us. You see, you aren't the only one to be more than just put off by higher prices and ignorant, arrogant staff.

BTW, just because he's a "gunsmith" doesn't mean he knows it all. Everyone has an area of interest as there is just too much in the market and too many changes for any one person to be absolutely knowledgeable about everything all the time. The boss man knows all about most of the new stuff but he has to rely on a couple of us to answer his questions about the older models, traditional muzzleloading and reloading.

[Pete44ru]

[Last time I'll ever set foot in that store.]

Yup, THAT'LL add to the "non-asker" population - BT, DT, NTS.

FWIW - The last time I was in the Kittery Trading Post (They regularly do telephone/online firearm sales), they had TWO blued/walnut Marlin 338MX's, in stock, on the sales rack/floor.

www.ktp.com

.

[.45colt]

Quietman, that place sounds just like our local Gander Mountian and there Gunsmith . look around for a small shop. I got my MX from a tiny little sporting goods nearby about 6-7 weeks ago and when He called the distributor they had 16 MX's in stock. He also got it for less out the door than any I saw on gunbroker for the last several months.

[Bogie35]

That sounds like the gun shop in downtown Aiken, SC. I stopped in to look at their Marlins, and they were ALL marked 20-60 dollars ABOVE MSRP!
Also, they were asking $36 for 200 grain Remington Core-Lokts!
Needless to say, I don't even bother to stop in there anymore. Their greed is astounding!

bogie

[quietman]

For those suggesting small shops, have been to them with no luck yet. Still looking. Some can get the 308MX, but the 338 is a different story out here (blame it on the elk hunters )

Hobie
The reason I made the comment about it being the gunsmith wasn't because that means he knows more. It's important because other people walking in there will assume he knows what he's talking about because he's the gunsmith. He's in a position to have more than the normal amount of influence because of what he does. And he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Rusty:
As for telling someone higher up the chain, that's in the works. They don't have an e-mail address posted, so I'll be sending a letter.

I'll bet if I told the gunsmith my 30-30 is good out to 200 yards for deer, he'd think I was smoking something.

[Hobie]

For those suggesting small shops, have been to them with no luck yet. Still looking. Some can get the 308MX, but the 338 is a different story out here (blame it on the elk hunters )

Hobie
The reason I made the comment about it being the gunsmith wasn't because that means he knows more. It's important because other people walking in there will assume he knows what he's talking about because he's the gunsmith. He's in a position to have more than the normal amount of influence because of what he does. And he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Rusty:
As for telling someone higher up the chain, that's in the works. They don't have an e-mail address posted, so I'll be sending a letter.

I'll bet if I told the gunsmith my 30-30 is good out to 200 yards for deer, he'd think I was smoking something.

And that is why I said what I said, so that the lurkers will understand...

BTW, the boss man's shop is physically small but he's got about $500,000 in stock (think about that) and will order anything for about 20% markup (usually much less than MSRP) but he can't compete with big stores with buying power. He also can't compete with some shops that sell a lot of specialty stuff, like Lipsey's special runs. Last year I had to buy a gun from Jengel and ship it into our shop. We STILL haven't received one that was ordered and the flattop .44 Specials are now catalog items.

I tell you that because some shops simply can't get product from their distributors. If they switch they are the "new guy" and we all know what the new guy gets, nada.

[tman]

when winchester came out with the bigbore 94 .356wcf. i found my holy grail. unfortunately nobody bought it. the gun writers didn't write about it, unless to damm it with fain't praise to compare it to a 35 rem instead of a .348wcf. I hope the .338m catches on, it looks like a great lever cartridge, but, if u read history, it won't last l

[pharmseller]

When the Weatherby Ultralightweights came out I got into an argument with a clerk at GI Joe's. He had a .270 and an .30-06 on the rack. The .270 was priced at $1175, the -06 was $575. I asked why, and he told me the .270 was the new model and the .30-06 was "just a Mark V." I told him the only difference was the diameter of the hole in the barrel. He insisted I was wrong.
I went back the next day and bought the .30-06 for the price on the tag secured through the trigger guard.
I never saw that clerk again.

P