The Gun Room Inc

10/16/2015

Went to The Gun Room yesterday to kill a little bit of time and look around.  Inventory is pretty huge compared to some of the other gun stores around.  I have been wanting/needing a good shotgun for a while.  It was about 30 minutes before closing time.  Shawn walked me through the store and showed me what he thought would be the best option for what I wanted.  We looked at them all.  New, Used, Pump, Semi-Auto... everything. He explained the pros and cons of each and helped me decide on a good set up for both home security and occasional hunting/target practice.

Here is where it turns from just a 3 or 4 start review into a 5 start review:  I settled on an autoloading shotgun, the Remington 1100.  Shawn was quick to point out that the older ones were made to a lot higher standards than the newer ones that you would find at say Big 5 or other chain stores.  So we went through the close to 100 used shot guns until we found an EXCELLENT condition Remington 1100. It was tagged with a reasonable price.  Not drop your jaw low but also not noticeably marked up.  It was not about 10 minutes after closing time. I explained to him that I like to make my guns somewhat unique and that I would LOVE to make it into a home defense auto loading shotgun.  Without skipping a beat, Shawn went and rounded up a synthetic stock/foregrip, magazine extender (8+1) and offered to shorten the barrel to something more usable for home defense while still being a legal length.  We worked out a price that included the shotgun, extra stock/foregrip, mag extender, and shortening the barrel/putting a new bead sight on it.  The total price was a LOT lower than I was expecting with all the extras.

It was now about 30 minutes after closing time and not once did Shawn or the other guy behind the counter so much as even remind me that it was past closing time.  They took the shotgun to the back and in about 10 minutes came back out with exactly what I wanted.  To my surprise they also added (no charge) a fiber optic bead sight on the front, a new rifle sock to keep it in and he threw in a box of 25 shotgun shells with the purchase.  Plus I got to keep all of the original parts.

I walked out of there with a MASSIVE smile on my face that only got bigger once I showed off my new purchase to some friends.  Everyone that has seen it loves it.

Couldnt be happier with the purchase or the experience.  I will be back FOR SURE!

2/26/2016

I walked into the gun room today to browse and was seriously unimpressed with the way that I was talked to and treated. I walked in and came up, very friendly and there was a parrot on the counter. I asked what kind of parrot it was, and instead of answering the large man behind the counter coldly leveled with a counter question " Can I help you?" in other words, "what tf do you want?"

I asked about the Springfield XD and they basically immediately begin a tirade about how awful the gun is because it is plastic. I know that there are plenty of good reviews on the gun, and they basically expressed the opinion that it was a conspiracy to sell guns- as if it is completely implausible for a consumer to make a video!? "I'm way older than you, I know what I am talking about..."  OH, OKAY.

Basically the way that I was dealt with was disrespectful. I am a grown man that has owned many firearms, and they judged me because I was dressed really nice that day like I was some silly yuppy that was in the wrong store. The store is unorganized. Treat your customers with respect! When I buy, I try and buy local. BUT... I will be going elsewhere for my arms purchases. Learn some manners.

1/27/2016

A business in which I will not spend my money with...

First time I called to ask about a conceal jacket. "We don't have them". *click*

Today I called about a private transfer. "Yeah we do them. It's $100.."

They must be hard up for money considering everywhere else I called only charges $35. Based on this and other reviews I'm surprised they have any business.

11/16/2015 Updated review

So, here's an update to my old 3-star review.

I popped in last week to see if there was any 22 LR on the shelf.  I know we've been in an "ammo shortage" for what seems like forever, but you never know when you'll luck out.

They sure do have .22 in stock, I was told cheerily.  Bricks of 500 for $100.  $100!!  That's $.20 a round!!!  And before you think this was for ultra-high end target loads, this was for Remington Thunderbolt.  Which is worth maybe $.06-.07 per round in the real world.  Check around online if you think I'm wrong: Midway USA lists it right now for $29.99 a brick plus shipping and others are comparable.  "We've got plenty in stock," the clerk continued happily.  I bet you do, and I hope you don't sell a single one of them.

These are the kinds of people who create the ammo "shortage."  They buy up a bunch of ammo and scalp it for whatever they think people will pay.  Yeah, it's a free market, whatever; I prefer to call it war profiteering.  I honestly can't figure out how these guys are in business.  Their gun prices are pretty ridiculous, and after seeing what they're doing with ammo prices I'll never be back in.

Go in for a look if you want, but I sure as hell won't support a store that's blatantly trying to take advantage of people.  Instead I just ordered 650 rounds of Federal Auto-Match from Natchez for about $60 with shipping.  So much for trying to shop local...

3/15/2016 Updated review

Just picked up a old rifle I had some work done on.  As always the staff was friendly and the repair was priced right.  I'm not sure why others don't have the same experience.   I've gone in dressed in both a suit and sweatpants and been treated the same.  I'll keep going back for great advice and service.  Thanks again.

5/14/2015

I have had three interactions with this shop and its owner...twice on the phone and once in the shop.  Each interaction was the same.  The most recent occasion was a phone call to find out if he had a holster for my M&P Shield9 that I had purchased.  His response..."I don't sell plastic guns".  I heard this same sort of thing from him on both of my prior dealings with him.  He went on to tell me (in an effort to provide superior service) that he had "a lot of holsters and I'd probably find something that works".  Really?  I've been to a half a dozen stores already, and I'm not bound to drive out to see this guy on the premise that I'll "probably" find something.  Not to mention that I'll once again have to hear about how crappy modern handguns are.  BTW, I've never once asked his opinion of polymer frames, but he's always in a hurry to share it.  

My first occasion to interact with the owner was in his store while shopping for a conceal carry gun.  After asking if he had the specific guns that I was looking for, he immediately started to talk trash about them and then tried to turn me on to some honking huge 60's era wheel gun that weighed twenty pounds (slight exaggeration).  It sounded very much like sour grapes to me as I didn't notice any of the most popular brands of new handguns that you would expect to find in any other reputable firearms store.  Made me wonder why not, but I won't speculate on here.

My guess is the store won't last too much longer as there are simply too many good gun shops to waste anytime in this one.  The owner is obviously living in the past and has no appreciation for new technologies in modern guns.  My advice to him would be to keep his opinion to himself if not asked for it.  Insulting potential customers is just not smart business.

As you might have guessed.  I won't be back and would not recommend this business.

5/5/2014

I went to The Gun Room for Archery Supplies. Upstairs is a fair selection of Archery Supplies. Not a wide variety but a good assortment. It's more like a store room of supplies than a store. If you can look past the clutter and get past the large amount of info given on why they only carry certain brands. You may find what you need. I only wanted Nocks. I even showed the sales rep. the arrow I needed a Nock for. He said, You need this one. I buy a Dozen for $4.00. Awesome...... Till I got home to discover. I had in fact NOT been given the correct Nocks. They do sell Free Standing Bag/Targets for cheaper than any other place in town.

So I say, Buyer Beware. You may or may not get what you need.

6/4/2015

This place may have started 50 years ago, but someone needs to tell the old codgers who work there that it's no longer 1965! Anything modern? Not good. Scary. You'll shoot your eye out, kid!  Anything old? Overpriced, overvalued, overstated.

Schools should take field trips here to show kids what it was like growing up in backwards, racist America. Just listening to any of the guys behind the counters for more than a minute will cause a reasonable person's head to explode. I didn't know people with these ideas still existed. I saw an employee berate a hispanic woman for no good reason other than to show her that her business wasn't wanted there. The guy who was selling to me looked like he was wearing lunch from 3 days ago on his shirt still.

When I asked about the prices I got the same garbage about their lifetime warranty that others have mentioned. This was from a guy who just 3 minutes before had been going off about the fall of America and the US dollar, and how it was all going to be anarchy.  When I asked him what good a lifetime warranty was when we were all going to be in anarchy soon, he got angry.

These people are rude, racist, disrespectful and all around terrible. They aren't the people I'd like to give my money too. Will never go there again.

12/22/2014

Owner is a whack job. Says that any handgun with poly in it is junk... Most handguns are poly and his shelf is filled with them. So he bad mouths most of his handguns for sale. Don't even ask him about glocks...
99% of the firearms in there are easily over 30% sticker prices at other shops. Ammo is the same way. .22 is the price of gold. And it's not even good 22.

12/28/2014

This place is a bit cluttered on the inside and looks so unassuming from the outside that this is the first time I've noticed it in the 11 years I've lived here. But they have a large selection of guns, ammo and gear along with a friendly and knowledgeable staff (which is a huge plus for the area/business that they're in). Not to mention their in-store "security" parrot, Milo. I will definitely be going back!

• 

  Store security/my new BFF, Milo, hanging out on my shoulder.

  Store security/my new BFF, Milo, hanging out on my shoulder.

1/14/2016

Terrible customer service, as most reviewers attest to. Twice I expressed interest in buying a handgun from this shop, once in person, once over the phone. Discouraged both times by the salesperson's nasty demeanor. It's also amazing to me that gun salesmen always have to politicize their industry at me. They naysay any kind of gun control, but the truth is, whenever gun control measures are proposed by politicians, that's when their sales skyrocket. They are thus motivated to keep gun control at the forefront of people's minds because it is profitable for them. I also wonder if their rudeness is a strategy to make customers feel inferior so that they are compelled to compensate for their weakness and self-doubt by purchasing a firearm. And really, the meanest, nastiest people keep veritable armories, so it's hard not to feel like decent, reasonable people are at a disadvantage, particularly when civilization finally crumbles and jerks are equipped to be warlords.

3/21/2014

A couple times in the last month I stepped into a conversation midway through where one guy was telling another about a wacky negative experience at a Portland gun shop. On both occasions I said, "you aren't talking about The Gun Room are you?" Both times I was amusingly correct.

In my experience I went in asking for a used .22. The sales guy took me over to a new colt AR15 priced at $3k and said, "this is what they use to fight the Muslims over in Iraq. That's something you wanna take home.." And he eyed me closely, as if testing to see how I would react.

Long story short, I was friendly, said no thanks. The dude helping me didn't get any less curmudgeonly or gruff.

Looked at a couple beat up old .22s and a used, stock, $400 Ruger 10/22 that was worth the extra $200 because it was the older model and was "collectible". Sales guy really tried to hammer the point home that all these guns, despite their cost, were going to shoot up in value any day now so it's like you're buying gold really. An investment.

Essentially the things in the shop I looked at were 30%-50% higher than what I would expect to pay at another shop. The experience was reminiscent of shopping for a car at a questionable used car lot.

I would be hard pressed to recommend this place unless you're an old, extremely conservative dude with money to blow and want to talk with like minded folks about the good old days.

2/1/2014

Didn't even need to visit to give this place a 1 star rating.  I called "The Gun Room" and the person I spoke to was extremely rude.  And he refused to give me the price of their in-stock ammo, claiming that "he doesn't give price quotes over the phone"...
Cool, I'll just take my business elsewhere.

11/4/2013

Gun stores can be a lot like auto parts stores; the staff can be friendly and helpful, or just angry and bitter; I guess they deal with all kinds. But if you are looking for a laugh or a waste of your time, the Gun Room is a hidden gem.

The Gun Room is stocked with rifles and shotguns marked up 90% of their real value, though if you tell them that, they will say  - We cover our guns with a guarantee, unlike others - what does that mean? if you have an issue with it six months down the road they will fix it? We stand by our inventory they say. Most rifles and shotguns they stock our OK, but not high end. I said to the owner after he asked me what I use now, " have a 270. APC Mannlicher-Schoenauer for deer hunting. He said junk - I shit you not! Considered one of the finest rifles in the world by most anyone- this guy - the owner said junk! I looked at him and said why? he said they blow up all the time in the owners face. The last Mannlicher-Schoenauer was made in about 1970.

His staff are something to behold, he hired these "shut-ins" as your salesman; They hate anything they do not carry or if some vendor stop supplying them - "its junk"  if you question their judgment, you do not know what your talking about; they are the last word in firearms.

Its like the old South in Portland - the last stand off. The only reason I would go back is to torment the owner. Try it yourself? Walk in and tell him his prices are way too high. He will probably have a coronary on the spot.

4/29/2015

I'm happy with them they where friendly but when u buy from them make sure to clean and oil before shooting:)

8/30/2013

These guys are assholes. All of them.

I took a break to check them out. They have an amazing selection of firearms! This is because they insult their clientele into leaving without making a purchase.  I told one of the old guys behind the counter that I wanted to price out .40 s&w. his words: 'when people tell me that, they want to know if we sell bad ammunition or good ammunition.'

Frustrated, I tell him I wanted to know the price of .40 s&w.

It wasn't until later that I found out about there bad reputation.

11/24/2013 Updated review

I live in Portland. If this was the only one of two gun shops in a 200 square mile radius and the other 200 mikes away I would make the drive to the other .......... But luckily that's not the case, I go to the Gun Broker.

This joint is the equivalent to a used car lot with sales people trying to push you into purchasing what pads their bottom line NOT what is best for you and/or you want. Only difference is the guys at the used car lot pretend to like and value you. Your lucky if the guy behind the counter will stop eating his sandwich long enough to look in your direction let alone try to help you.....
Yelp, please make it possible to give negative stars!!

8/16/2014

I have nothing but positive things to say about The Gun Room. I found everyone to be very helpful. The customer service has been excellent. If you like Walmart, go to Walmart. If you want to buy a gun from someone who has been in the business for years and actually shoots guns, come here.

5/14/2014

This place is THE PLACE to go for entertainment purposes only! Do not buy here. You will likely be insulted and pay 50-100% more than where you ban find the same suff elsewhere.  Ruger 10/22 you can find all day for $220, these guys want nearly $400.

3/10/2013

The Gun Room is a pretty unorganized, unfriendly, overpriced gun shop located on SE Foster in Portland. I went in for the first time ever and was looking for some 9mm ammo (which is impossible to find right now) and open to the possibility of picking up a couple of new pistols as well as a rifle. When I went in, there were a few depressed looking people at the counter buying handguns (scary) and the guy behind the counter was not ready to help anyone else. I found an older man working in the back and asked if they had 9mm to which he replied, "this is a gun shop isn't it?" I asked how much and a box that normally sells for $15 is now marked at $40, can you say price gouging? I looked around at the hundreds of guns laying on the racks, stacked on each other, many of them dinged and in bad shape. The prices have all been marked up high. There is a lot of stock so that is one plus.

Basically, if you need a weapon and don't mind paying too much and getting little to no customer service, then this is the place for you.