Posted on 06/18/2016 6:28:03 AM PDT by Drew68
After reading that Academy Sports was pulling their AR style rifles off the shelves, I headed to my neighborhood Gander Mountain here in Jacksonville, Florida to see if they had wussed out as well.
If Gander Mountain is pulling their AR rifles off the shelves, it is only because they are putting them in boxes and sending them out the door with customers.
I approached the hunting department around 7:00 pm. I hadn't planned on buying anything, though I hadn't dismissed the idea either. I was just there to look around.
AR-styles have always interested me. I am familiar with the weapon from the military. I earned my rifle qualification on an M4. Although an "AK Guy", I've found the AR to be easy to handle and fun to shoot.
Anyhow, I wasn't the only person occupying the three sales clerks' time at Gander Mountain. They were quite busy. There were a lot of men, some women, young, old, white, black all amongst the crowd at the Gander Mountain firearms department last night.
A half dozen of us were gathered specifically around the rapidly diminishing AR section of the firearm shelves. The salesman, who had grown well-rehearsed at what he was about to say grouped us together so he could deliver his sales speech at the same time.
He then proceeded to sell us on the virtues of the Armalite Eagle-15, an AR flattop with MilSpec construction and a .223 Wylde barrel.
They were selling them for $599. They currently had four left, even after doubling their orders following recent events. A quick internet search showed this price to be a bit high. The catch was, Gander had them here and right now while the lower-priced dealers were out of stock.
Normally, I'd think about it, go home, do a whole bunch of research on "what's the best base-model AR" and then return to the store to buy something three times higher than I had planned on spending.
But this time was different. Something stinks in the air right now. I'm feeling it. I think we all are.
It is the time to buy, not think about buying. I was the first man in the group to raise my hand and say, "start the paperwork." Within an hour, all four Armalites were gone as well as some S&W's, Sigs and other variants.
The rifle came with one 30rd magazine, no sling, no rear sight. Some overpriced ammo and accessories set me back about a grand total.
Not a bad Father's Day weekend at the gun store at all.
And lost it in a tragic boating accident.
Enjoy!
Congrats.
Nice.
That sounds like a decent price to me. In 2009 after 0bama got elected, you probably would have had to pay twice that much.
Don’t need one. Have another type which suits me just fine. Also, don’t plan on getting involved where I might have to use it. I’m more of a .22 short kind of guy with a real small pistol as I limp along on my cane carrying a potato in my pocket for a snack.
Congratulations!
Happy Father’s Day—you did fine.
Looks like you found a rear sight somewhere.
Now get a red dot for it. They are great at normal carbine range shooting.
Oh, and you did not buy an AR15, you bought “your first AR15”.
You done good.
Has it shot you yet?
Spot on! They're like potato chips: you can't have just one!
This is one of mine, although I have a green dot scope and a bipod on mine:
I’m jealous!
I’ve been thinking a lot about getting an AR-15 quite a bit lately. Thanks for the sales pitch. Now I’ve got to try to find one for $599.00. I think I could talk the wife out of that much. LOL! I want one.
Rock River Arms makes a flawless AR-15. Very pleased with mine. Thousands of rounds of ammunition through it, not a single jam. Note: you void the warranty if you use re-manufactured or re-load rounds in it. To me it's not worth the risk.
Congratulations on your purchase!
thanks. I believe you void the warranty on any gun if you use reloads. It’s not worth the risk to me either.
Yep. I didn't feel like researching optics so I bought an obscenely overpriced Magpul flip-up sight just to have something on the rifle.
$599 is a very good price. Congrats on the AR.
Those sights are a bit pricey, but they are US made, and give good service. I like them better than the USGI flip up sights.
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