Another Epps in Southern Ontario ??

Location is critical

Personally I'd love to see a municipal bylaw adopted by every town, city or even hamlet in Southern Ontario with more than 100 residents REQUIRING a minimum of 1 gunshop/gunsmith.
O.K. , I'm awake now from my wet dream.
But further to that another municipal bylaw also REQUIRING these gunshops/gunsmiths to locate just outside of the Greater Toronto area but close enough for ALL to see so this Lieberal bastion of stupidity can't capitalise on the business or property taxes just to say " Hi Stupids, see what revenues you're missing out on "?
Don't think just because moron Miller is history now that the Lieberal machine is sleeping or gone for an extended stay in Cuba. No the anti's are still there so my request to anyone contemplating a start-up business in gun sales and/or service is to choose your location wisely as by the replies I see to this thread, your clientele WILL come to you as soon as the word gets out.
My message here is that the anti-gun Lieberals have been pounding away at our cherished pastime and leisure of choice for decades now. Don't in any way contribute to their municipal coffers. Let them feel some pain for a change. And make damm sure they know why !
 
I am all for it. I have loved Epps since I stepped foot into the store! Amazing service, so much so I have had them mail me my firearms from Ontario to Alberta when I buy from them! Epps is the best for price, service and reliability.
 
Ive bought a few guns off epps. Never set foot in the store either. BUt the other guy's aren't that bad. The only thing is THE AMMO PRICES F*#KIN SUCK IN S.W ONTARIO!!!!!! I found goble's prices on guns to be pretty competitive on most stuff. BUt you get ass-raped on bullets. If I didn't have a guy reloading for me i wouldn't have been able to shoot as much as much as I did. 9mm bullets are $3-7 more per box and .45 is even worse!!!!! When I lived in London I grabbed a few boxes of bullets everytime I visited the friends and family in the G.T.A
 
3strokes said:
LeBaron, because they don't carry it (and if it's handguns you want, forget it) and They will NOT order it for you, not even from their own Head Office (in the case of LeBaron.):mad:
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Le baron only caters to hunters at best at the Woodbine location and their service I will not go there :mad:
 
I bought my first shotgun, a mossberg 12 guage at Epp's in 1974. This store was located in down town Windsor Ontario on Chatham St. East. I think its a strip club now. It's my understanding that this was a distant relative of Elwood Epps. I miss that store. If you are in Belle River Ont. there is a new store, "On Target" who just got his permits in order and is selling Savages. I hope naming the store does not infringe on the rules.

Dino
 
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I don't think so

DinoS said:
I bought my first shotgun, a mossberg 12 guage at Epp's in 1974. This store was located in down town Windsor Ontario on Chatham St. East. I think its a strip club now. It's my understanding that this was a distant relative of Elwood Epps. I miss that store. If you are in Belle River Ont. there is a new store, "On Target" who just got his permits in order and is selling Savages. I hope naming the store does not infringe on the rules.

Dino
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I was very familiar with the downtown Windsor sporting goods store known as Epp's but I'm fairly certain that the name Epp's was a mere coincidence to that of Ellwood Epps in Orillia today. The windsor store was owned/operated by a guy named Lou Bluestone for over 40 years. Bluestone himself was quite a collector but he carried very little for inventory and treated people with much disrespect. Towards the end of his ownership he took ill and evetually sold it to someone who ran it into the ground. It IS now a strip bar (just one of many)
 
my brother lives in england a tells me ellwood epps is quite well known over there also,I dont know why that supprised me ,honestly I am just happy we have at least one epps and as long as we keep supporting them it should stay that way.Roger
 
While in the Orillia store I asked about the Epps store in Windsor and It was there that I was told that it was a distant relative. You appear to have better information than I do. I assumed that with the name of the store and being the same genre of sales it was logical. I believe I stand corrected.

Dino
 
+1 for the Gun Centre in K/W.

EXTREMELY helpful. They've got a good selection, and if they don't have something in stock, they'll make every effort to get it for you.

As a complete and total gun newb, I've never been made to feel stupid, and was actually invited out to do some shooting.

The prices are good, and you should never pay full list price for anything anyway. Negotiation is a beautiful thing.

I cannot say the same things for Shooters choice, which is actually 2 minutes from where I live. I wish I could shop there, but I can't.

http://www.theguncentre.ca/

They're working on a revamp of the webpage. Inventory will be more up to date, and they'll have photographed almost everything.
 
I'm interested in the new store called "On Target" in Belle River, On. Do you know what they might cater to specifically for the shooting sports as our options to competitive pricing for all firearms related products and services are very diminished in our neck of the woods of S.W. Ontario. I reside in Windsor and to date we have General Gun & Supply to which very sadly we lost a valueable asset with gunsmith/part owner Ken Soucie's passing last year.
Next we have Leamington Guns proprietor Manfred Bunke whose current and future business status is very much a big question as per the ongoing and repeated auditing by the O.P.P into his record keeping. This is most unfortunate to all of the shooting community in the Essex/Kent/Lampton counties not to mention also that Manfred is a real nice guy and very qualified gunsmith.
Then there is Wortners Guns in Chatham and rather than open up that can of worms again from a previous thread in this forum, ( I believe ) citing people loyal to Wortners or not, I personally will not give them my business ever again. End of story.
So our choices are obviously limited. Sad but true.
From all my personal experiences and patronage towards the various firearms businesses in the Essex County region for over 45 years now, I feel it's safe to say we need more qualified people to fill a void since the regretable demise and departure of Santarossa & Sons Gunsmithing only a few years ago. Andy Santarossa was a very reliable and trustworthy "smithy" and businessman even considering his limitations with newer firearms technologies and techniques. But most importantly he was a good guy up to when some armchair expert could/would light his very short fuse. He hated the Lieberal slanted CBC for their ongoing attempts to slight the firearms community and let then know it in NO uncertain terms.
If you have any more info on the Belle River "On Target" shop, please reply here or P.M. me.
Thanks in advance.
 
I am about 5 hours from Epps but find myself driving by that corridor a couple of times per year.

I just got home with a years supply of cast bullets and powder, items that are very costly to have shipped. The savings equaled the gas price, more or less, so the trip helped pay for itself.
 
I love Epps, Luckily I now live north of Barrie and its only a 25min drive away. When I used live, (grew up) in Port Credit and Burlington we would always make the pilgrimage to Epps when heading to the South River Area for deer hunting. This was in the day when all the used stuff was open and on racks that you could pick up (No PAL, No trigger locks, No supervision) They had so much stuff jammed in there it was awesome.

Today even though you need a little supervision due to the law, the guys are very helpful. I haven't been able to nail down a time that they aren't busy though.

Still love hunting around the store, ton of stock

Keep up the Good work guys.
 
I live in the KW/ Cambridge area, and I've been to all the gun shop mentioned in this thread, in my experience, if you want reloading supply; new hunting firearms; shotgun shells...etc. Le Baron is the place to go because of their price is usually the best, problem is quite often they're out of stock by the time you got there.

I like Al Simon, selection is a bit limited, however from time to time have some nice 2nd hand guns for sale, price of ammo are reasonable.

Goble in London and Tillsongurg are OK, price a bit higher, service good.

Shooter's Choice in Waterloo I visit quite often, price high on everything, but I wouldn't mind to give them some bussiness from time to time since I like to see them or any other gun store stay in business. Just don't go there on Sat. before or during hunting season.

The Gun Centre in Kitchener, selection kinda limited, however price more often than not is negotiable, especially if its a gun purchase and you are willing to pay cash.

Trigger & Bow, been there a few times, lots of hunting and archery stuff, selection OK but gear toward hunters.

Haven't been to Williams' Arms; Accuracy Plus and Gagnon on the other side of Toronto for several yrs, not sure what they are like right now.

Bottom line, I like to see more gun store in general, IMHO an ideal gun store would be one with lots of used and collectable guns; with a good inventory of ammo and reloding supplies in stock, Epps come fairly close but its a bit too far a drive for me.
 
Anyone who has been in the firearms business in Ontario and likely it's the same anywhere in Canada will tell you it's a very brutal, thankless business, demanding of long hours, dealing with unsympathetic and often very ignorant customers or patrons (read armchair experts) and some very questionable practices of the Ontario CFO's long reaching arms in the past. To say that gun dealers and gunsmiths have long been "under the gun" seems an appropriate statement. And to say if the current crop of gun dealers had not kept up with the newer technologies such as computerized logs of their inventories, sales transactions and the transfers of registrations, their businesses could not have survived as many of the old school gunsmiths just faded into obscurity. I personally knew of 2 such dealers who couldn't cut it especially when the internet sales of guns came on the scene and the old way of a face to face sale was now supplanted with either a phone call, fax or e-mail style of mail ordering. Sydney I. Robinson (now a Cabela's outlet) in Winnipeg played a major role in that transition.
My how things have changed in the last 35 years. And NOT all for the better. But it certainly has put the industry in hyperdrive. Just like the rest of our lives outside of the gun scene I suppose. Nothing is immune or isolated to progress unless you've lived in a cave all of your life.
 
Koko83 said:
+1 for the Gun Centre in K/W.

EXTREMELY helpful. They've got a good selection, and if they don't have something in stock, they'll make every effort to get it for you.

As a complete and total gun newb, I've never been made to feel stupid, and was actually invited out to do some shooting.

The prices are good, and you should never pay full list price for anything anyway. Negotiation is a beautiful thing.

I cannot say the same things for Shooters choice, which is actually 2 minutes from where I live. I wish I could shop there, but I can't.

http://www.theguncentre.ca/

They're working on a revamp of the webpage. Inventory will be more up to date, and they'll have photographed almost everything.
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Are you serious ?? Naturally, a small gun shop has practically no stock, and you always get the famous "we can order it in for you" line, so I asked them to quote me a price on a Savage Weather Warrior in 300 win mag, that I was looking for. Epps price was somewhere around $660, and I was just going around to some local shops, hopeing to find one that could match the price, so it would save me the drive, and I am all for supporting a local store. The Gun Centre at Lovetts quoted me a price of $300 more than the price for the exact same model from Epps....I told him that he must of confused models with a heavy barrel rifle or something else, so he doubled checked again, and then told me that I won't find one any cheaper anywere in Ontario...WTF...As I was at the Counter, another guy was just zipping up a case from a nice used Marlin .22LR rifle, and I happened to notice the reciept as it was on the counter....I felt bad for the guy...He obviously did'nt have access to a computer or he would of know that he could of bought the exact same rifle brand new at Epps for the price that he paid for a average condition, used one at Lovetts. Customer service is important, but at prices that high, its just plane insulting to my intelligence when I am told that I won't find any place in Ontario any cheaper.

To make a long story short, I drove 2 1/2 North to Epps and left with a new rifle the next day.

I actually bought my first shotgun from the old deaf guy from Lovetts many years ago....that guy was hilarious, and back then, when he was running the place, his prices were pretty cheap also. I used to like going there and he would let my kids shoot pellet guns in the store..LOL...that guy was a hoot...try going to a gun shop in Toronto and ask if your kids can test fire a pellet gun in the store !!
 
Gobles is good...its in London

until angels fall

i find it hard to believe gobles is a good store everytime i go in there im a half hour just trying to get someone attention to show a gun behind counter and the prices are way out to lunch but as so many of us do we pay pay pay because we cant be bothered to drive elsewhere. i personally go out of my way to not buy anything there anymore even if it means i have to wait a week for gun patches in the mail

JEFF
 
When perusing your favourite gun store for a firearm, take notice of the "shelf life" for any models of newer guns that have sat for what might seem to be unusually longer than you'd expect especially if it's a hot seller elsewhere. And this I beleive is relevant to long guns excluding of course prohibitive class items simply because long guns are more indicative to a particular hunting season rather than handguns.
A focus to handguns should be seen as a more revealing barometer of a dealer's flexibility to haggle or willingness to haggle as how many times have we encountered a dealer with "that's the price, take it or leave it" Usually those dealers just come on the scene and soon go for lack of sales simply because they didn't embrace the concept of volume sales rather than shorter term profits.
But in defence of dealers I will say that the very slim margin for a mark-up on anything they sell leaves little room for profit after taking into account opertaing costs such as utilities, rent/lease, security sytems, storefront, advertising/marketing, proper storage facilities for firearms, ammo or explosives (regulatory compliances), high business/liability insurance premiums, employee wages and the list goes on. And then there's also the very real possibility of being robbed at gun point where the location of the business plays a major factor.
Having your business in downtown Toronto where it's absurdly higher per square foot of business space rather than say a tangent suburb that would force potential customers to travel further is the tradeoff but it's not always the only factor in competitive pricing and stock availablility (in store).
The firearms business is truly a brutal business that gets very little for appreciation other than from hunters, sport/competitive shooters, gun clubs or law enforcement clientelle.
And then there are the LIEBERALS !
What's the likelyhood a Lieberal would support your local gunshop or the firearms industry ?
Please ALL remember this come May 2 as YOUR beloved guns are at stake hear more so now than ever before.
Harper and the Conservatives offer the ONLY road to survival for the gun industry and gunny's like us.
Go out and support the Conservatives to a MAJORITY government this time and finally kick some LIEBERAL ASS to the curb. And have as much fun doing it for all the misery those tu#ds gave us for the last 40 years or so up to now !
Remember, "the only good Lieberal politician is one that's out of a job, period". That would give them much time to reflect on their choice of politics, or not.
 
CDNbear said:
I wouldn't be surprised if Epps see this thread sooner than later one of their employees told me the interwebb is responsible for well over 40% of their sales.... That said it would be nice to have an Epps in southwestern Ontario
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I can see that. My neighbor and I bought three long guns from them this year on the net, as it is too long of a drive from Alberta to pick them up in person. One could say that Epps is a national store.
 
Try finding a gunshop in Toronto! There's only one now, Al Flaherty's -- and it isn't a full-service gunshop. No gunsmith, no trade-ins and no used guns as far as I know. The last full-service gunship in Toronto was Giovanni's in the former City of North York. It closed two or three years ago because the ownder wanted to retire and there was apparently no buyer willing to take it on. I heard rumours that Epps had considered purchasing the business but decided against it, mainly because of the anti-gun politics at City Hall, especially driven by then-Mayor David Miller.
 
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