My first visit to Bass Pro

[Buckshot]

..........The one here in Rancho Cucamonga that opened a year ago (I think)? I had been given a $50 gift certificate to the place last Christmas. My neighbor Ralf and his son all made breathlessly glowing reports about it. However I was NOT going to drive 50 miles round trip to a Cabelas(ish) sporting goods retailer. So yes I was mentally biased from the git-go and was not disappointed upon my arrival. Donna was along too. Kind of one of those female things ya know, "Oh boy, SHOPPING!!"

It appeared that a goodly portion of inland Southern California was there however, and really enjoying it. They had boats. You live in INLAND So. Calif and have a boat? You do have the whole Pacific Ocean if you wanna drive to it (and haul the boat) or the Colorado River (and haul the boat) etc. I like boats and being on the water, but for me it just doesn't make sense.

Adding to the water aspect I am also not enamoured with fishing. 9.3x62AL has dished out heaps of abuse upon my cringing head about not caring about fishing. He has regailed me with fishing stories and while interesting it just was never anything I cared about doing. But there you have it. Just isn't interesting. Kinda like golf I guess. Just don't care to sit there and stare at a plastic string going into the water. Considering that, that also eliminated a large part of the place

Walking in the front doors and surveying the ground floor reminded me of J C Penny's as it was all clothes. Sports clothes maybe, but other places closer to home sell shorts with a hundred pockets on'em. Vest's too. Nope, nothing interesting especially since I was there basically to look at their gun stuff, so I headed upstairs to the gun department. They DID have a lot of stuff, and a long rifle rack along the wall behind the counter.

Looking at the prices of accessories I realized that $50 wasn't going to go very far Actually the bad part was, was the fact I really didn't have a desperate NEED for anything in particular. There are things I consider consumables like bronze bristle brushes and such but I normally get them from Midway in their 10 packs. Patches I make myself buying diaper flannel at the fabric store. Seeing a 4" tall stack of patches in a blister pack going for $6.99 was rather startling. I am really out of touch with gun cleaning solutions, and have been it appears since forever. I buy Hoppe's #9 by the quart, and the only concession I make I suppose is the infrequent purchase of Sweets. The prices for those 4 oz and similar sized magical wonderous solvents was dazzeling. It seemed as if the average wage earner would really have to think about the fact of actually being able to afford to clean a gun!

One of the things that really upsets me these days is the small simple doo-dads that are made in China. They had bipods labeled Caldwell (Midway) that were made in China. No Harris bipods were offered as a choice. What really ticked me off was the nylon cleaning rod attachments. They were a couple bucks and also made in China. You mean to tell me that they aren't or cannot be made in the U.S. for the same money, or even a few cents more? But then Bass Pro isn't the only one doing this.

All in all I guess I'm getting a bit curmudgenly in my dotage . Add to that I really wasn't enthused about going there as it was as I suspected it would be. I had preconceived notions about what it would be like and I was mostly right. Obviously it was a popular place as even in today's economy it was darn busy, so my personal feelings are probably in the minority and should not be construed to reflect negatively on anyone who DOES enjoy going there. Heck, it might be the ONLY place for miles around for some people. Kind of a Ford/Chevy thing. Most of you don't know what a Turner's Sporting goods store is or looks like as it's a smallish regional chain, but my overall impression of Bass Pro was that of a bloated Turners Sporting goods store.

I have my flame retardent suit on

..............Buckshot

[James C. Snodgrass]

I still ain't been to the one in KC but have been to the original a few times . The original one had a close out store next door kinda like Cabelas bargain cave but it actually was a bargain . Now I hear its all over priced also. Me and JSH was talkin about sinkers at cabela's and found the price of a 10 oz bank sinker is $ 4.99 each we liked to sh-t . I don't know how folks can afford to fish or hunt at those kinda prices. James

[JeffinNZ]

When I visited my friend in Alabama in 2004 he took me a Bass Pro shop in Nashville. We did a day outing. I was well impressed at the size, range, displays etc. Still, coming from NZ I am easily impressed............hehe.

[alamogunr]

There is a Bass Pro at Opry Mills(a humongous outlet mall) in Nashville, TN. My wife likes to go there about twice a year so I check out Bass Pro. About 4-5 years ago on my 1st visit, I stumbled on a floor display of Remington 9mm ammo. It was priced at less that $5 for a box of 50. I bought 10 boxes immediately. Had 2nd thoughts when I got home and called my son, who lives there, and asked him to pick up another 10. Sure do miss those days.
John
W.TN

[crabo]

My wife loves to shop there. She only buys the stuff that is on sale.

I like the resturant. It is quite so that my 83 year old mother can hear and we can hear her. They also have a great buffalo burger. We go a couple of times a month.

I only buy there when I can't find it anywhere else and I can't wait for mailorder.

[HeavyMetal]

Been to the Bass Pro's in Rancho Cucamonga.

Gotta agree with Buckshot It left a little something to be desired.

Big dollar guns? I can get all I want! High dollar ammo, it's not as stacked up today as it was when they opened but it's here none the less.

Primers? If the have them locked up behind the counter and you got to find a "big Box" store reject to get them for you.

Molds? The dork I talked to couldn't even spell mold. I think they had two Lee production pots on hand. Anything else casting oriented? No way!

I was in the building during the opening week and met the "Gun Store" manager who was a recent hire from Turners. When asked he sung a great song about how Bass Pro's was going to be the reloading capitol of Southern California! Powders, casting gear, All the good tools would be here, he was just waiting for the rest of his shipment to arrive!

It never happened and the fellow didn't make it 6 months at the job!

So other than keeping an eye out when I'm in the area for sales at the place I don't do much with them.

By the way anyone in SoCal ever see an advertizment for this place in a paper in any city??

I've been to both Cabela's and some other store I can't remember the name of in Reno, NV.

Better stores, and much better fish tanks, than this Bass Pro's here in the Rancho Cucamonga area.

Having said all that we may be thankful we have them at the rate the small guys are being forced out of business here in California.

Perhaps a letter to the store manager pointing out to him that he's got prospective "customers" that he's missing out on because of the "generic" approach to marketing some genius has pushed them into.

[Marvin S]

I know what you mean, Ive been to the Cabela's and Bass Pro several times in Kansas City. At Bass Pro I usually stock up on Excel brand fishing line its a Stren knock off. And at Cabela's I look at the used guns and buy some tube jigs and jig hooks. Then for the highlight eat at Famous Dave's BBQ across the street.

[mooman76]

I've been disappointed with the one they opened her several years ago. The up side is they are conected to a casino and have clothes so it's easy to talk the ife into going. Probably better suited for fishing of coarse. Their reloading and ammo is spotty at best. I can never coun't on them having anything. They are out of primers most the time and they have always been a little high anyway. The powder is very unreliable. One time they have mostly one kind of powder and then next time I go they have completely different powder. Last time I went they had mostly BP substitue powder and not much smokeless. They carry dies and such but always have different stuff never carrying the same thing like they order here and there with no reasoning to what they get. I still like going there because we don't have much else here but I don't get there offen or bust a gut to do it. Just when I'm in that area of town.

[Ole]

I've been to the Bass Pro shop near my house at least half a dozen times since it opened a couple years ago.

I've bought a total of two things there in those 6+ visits. A set of .380 dies and a game bag for my elk two years ago.

Most of their stuff is way overpriced, IMO.

[archmaker]

I have to agree about going and being disappointed.

I have been several times, because I was close and thought I would see what the sell items are. Like going to Gander mountain, I walk in and walk out with the same amount of money.

Only exception was earlier this year. Bought a Taurus 1911 from BP. Paid at least a $100 more than probably somewhere else. BUT I cashed in my credit card points for the only "sporting good" gift card I was allowed under my program. All business expenses so it was free money to me, $450 worth.

Probably the last time I buy something from one of the big chains, unless I can get more free money.

[TAWILDCATT]

when gander mountain had mail order there were good buys as I bought scopes at very good prices.then Cabela bought the mail order business and both went down.
Faith ass has best prices on brushes and mops,out of NC mail order.like $6 a dozen.

brian@faithassociates.com
brushes mops at $6.00 a dozen.

[alamogunr]

Faith ass has best prices on brushes and mops,out of NC mail order.like $6 a dozen.

What does this refer to? Is it a mail order outlet that I've never heard of?

[BruceB]

I stopped at Cabela's Reno store en route to doing some fishing with 9.3x62 AL and NVCurmudgeon. The reason I stopped there instead of Sheels, was that Cabela's on-line catalog allowed me to decide on certain items before getting to the store (unlike Sheels' pathetic on-line site).

One item that I wanted was a certain light spinning rod, normally priced at $190 but on-sale at the on-line site for $110. Once we found the rod in the store, it was NOT on sale. The salesman said, "Take the rod and your print-out to the cashier, and they will honor the sale price." I did, they did, and I got the $80 discount.

I will continue to shop at Cabela's.

[AZ-Stew]

Yeah, TAWILDCATT, what are "scops" and "Faith ass"?

Buckshot: Gotta agree with you on fishing. My dad used to drag me along fishing because he loved it. It bored me to death. I tried to take it up again in the 90s when my son was growing up and got interested. I bought a used boat and new motor. It's been sitting in the yard for probably 15 years. My son wants to use it but doesn't have time off work to get it re-registered. Anyway, after many trips to the lakes here and even taking a community college course in bass fishing (which netted one (yes, 1) bass), I came to the conclusion that fish are mythical creatures. You hear lots about them, but they don't really exist. If you watch Bill Dance (and others) on TV, I'm convinced they have divers attaching the pen-raised fish to their lines for the cameras.

In all seriousness, though, I think there is something in my body chemistry that is exuded through my skin and gets on the bait that drives fish away. It's the only explanation I can come up with.

As for Bass Pro, the local outlet is expensive. Primers were $3.95/hundred BEFORE the current rush on components (and they didn't sell them by the 1,000. What the Hell kind of gun shop is that?). That's about $1.50 over everyone else in the Valley. They've had some nice guns in the store, but all at full retail. Bass Pro is NOT a gun shop. Thanks, but I'll spend my $$ elsewhere. I just wish they had built the Bass on the west side of Phoenix and the Cabela's on the east side. It's a 40+ mile one-way drive to Cabela's. They aren't a lot better on prices than Bass, but at least before the shortages they actually had a lot of stuff in stock. I just mail ordered 5,000 Remington SR BR primers from them, + 1# of BL-C2. The primers are supposed to ship next week and the powder is just plain backordered. They have a flat $5 shipping on all orders right now, and the HAZMAT was a flat $20 for both shipments. Not bad. $25 HAZMAT and shipping for two items that will be shipped separately. I do get charged sales tax, since they have a store in AZ, but I still make out pretty well.

Sportsman's Warehouse is starting to get components in stock, too. They had a powder shipment a couple of weeks ago that was large enough to actually put powder on the shelf, instead of keeping it on the gun counter. Bullets are picking up, but so far, primers have been pretty much limited to 209 shotgun.

Regards,

Stew

[Old Ironsights]

There's a Bass Pro on the way to Cabelas here. I really don't have a lot of interest in either I suppose.

I don't "shop", I Buy. If I need X RIGHT NOW, I will go to Bass Pro first and if they don't have it, go the extra 30 mi and go to Cabelas.

Otherwise I'll order it online from whichever shop is cheapest.

Really, these "destination" stores give me a headache... and all that "pretty" has to be paid for in markups...

Oh well.

[Heavy lead]

There's a Bass Pro on the way to Cabelas here. I really don't have a lot of interest in either I suppose.

I don't "shop", I Buy. If I need X RIGHT NOW, I will go to Bass Pro first and if they don't have it, go the extra 30 mi and go to Cabelas.

Otherwise I'll order it online from whichever shop is cheapest.

Really, these "destination" stores give me a headache... and all that "pretty" has to be paid for in markups...

Oh well.

Well said, I much don't see the point in paying for "museum markup". Give me an old fashioned gun store anyday of the week, or bait and tackle shop for that end of the spectrum too where you can hear the arreator in the minnows when you walk in the door.

[TAWILDCATT]

reread my post I corrected it.

[Recluse]

I absolutely love Cabela's. I like Bass Pro for my marine needs. We have a Boater's World in our suburb and it took exactly ONE visit in there for me to swear against Boater's World and swear to never even drive through their parking lot. If they were the last boating supply place left on earth, I'd scuttle my boat.

But what I like best about Cabela's and Bass Pro are the clientele.

Think about it: Where else can you go and shop where you're relatively CERTAIN that everyone else in there is a red-blooded American like yourself, who eats meat, doesn't believe that fish have brains (why else would a fish bite a plastic worm that smells like motor oil?), that hunting and guns is what made America great, boats are fun and not a threat to the so-called ozone hole and global warming farce, encourages membership in pro-gun and pro-hunting associations and it's all under one roof?

Best of all, I've never seen one stinking Obama bumper sticker in the parking lot of either place.

When I go to Cabela's or Bass Pro and chat with fellow customers, I actually end up having a little hope for the country.

[Bret4207]

Gander is the big one up here. It's a 45 minute drive and of course it's at "The Mall". I've bought a few things and it used to be the only place I could get Fiocchi Golden Pheasant 16 ga #5 loads. Now they don't even carry that. They had a good gun selection for a while, it's all gone down hill now. Reloading? Yeah, Barnes bullets and overpriced brass. Casting? There's a Mag 20 for close to $300.00 that been there since it opened.

For what I need I get mail order, through Ebay or Craiglist and by scrounging. Since Borders opened at "The Mall" I don't go to Gander.

[EMC45]

Been to the one near me in Macon Ga and the guns and reloading stuff are out of this world!!! Prices that is. Everything was high! They have a cool atmosphere in there, but that's about it.