This one touched a button for me. Slowpoke was right on, been there, done that, and got the tee shirt. If you folks want technical experts, there will be a cost. The margins in a gun shop are not high enough tp pay the kinds of wages that will give you a technical rep for a hundred companies at your fingertips. Fifty years ago, the guy at the hardwares store read an outdoor magazine and could sell you a model 94 and discuss the difference between a 32 special and a 30/30, and you were satified with his expertise, but today the guy behind the counter needs to be an expert on a world market of guns, ammo, scents, reloading, gun safes, tree stands, dog collars, and every gun sport out there. One place I worked, we had three target shooters, and two hunters on staff. One of the target shooters was only a pistol shooter, the others shot both rifles and pistols. We only had one clay shooter. If one of the hunters was not in, hunters thought we had ninnies behind the counter because they didn't know the perfect game bullet for their whiz bang super mag for shooting charging bumble bees. We stocked more than two hundred rifles and nearly that many pistols and shotguns. No one made benefits, and four of them got less than ten bucks per hour. The store was open seven days a week. We divided the hours, and barely made profit. You have time to spend countless hours on the web and reading magazines, while most of the guys behind the counter are working two jobs.
The chain stores provide training to new employees and make every effort to develop customer friendly sales staff, but they can only offer poor wages, poor hours and all your weekend and holidays at work. That is retail.
So it comes down to higher prices to carry better employees, but that gets us back to the rubbermaid/Walmart quality vs low price battle that Walmart won. Higher volumes in the stores, not the internet, and higher margins might mean better folks behind the counter, but our recent loss of the Models 70 and 94 don't seem to good omens.
Sorry for the rant,
Bfly

Seafire, I've the exact same experience with "Good Guys" in Medford, I wouldn't buy a bottle of used solvent from those jerks. There is a new gun shop in Central Point on N Pacific right next to the 7-11 and Napa store. The guy owns another shop in Reno and seem fair and knowlegdable.
Sportsman Werehouse finally got approval from Medford, they should start construction anytime behind the Costco.

Mike, PM Sent..