axeman_g

I looked into this about two years ago and had a place in Cherry Hill and one in Haddonfield picked out. First off you your town selection is good, but beware the Harrison Twp officials. They are known to talk out of one side of their mouths one day, the other side the next day. I have had business dealings with them many times in the past 5 years. Make friends with them, get in with them through events, volunteering or flat out bromancing them. Now, you also have competition closer then you think. You have Hagues, he has great frontage and signage. You have Bob's in Glassboror, only a 10 minute drive and he has a range. You have Ed's in Deptford, about 15 minutes. You also have Butch's in Vineland, 20 min+ south of you. Butch and Bob will be your biggest comp. You are going to have to figure a way to separate or differentiate yourself. It sounds like your not going to open a range, so that is removes your biggest initial cost but also your biggest money maker, by far. My research proved out a range can make you a couple grand a day easily on rentals alone if you have 8+ lanes. Then ammo and accessory rentals and sales, add another 1k. Even see how expensive ammo is at a shop with a range, usually a dollar or two more, pure profit from the trigger happy. Moving on, you have to target your niche, black rifles? Hunting? Handguns? Budget buys? Accessories? Here was my plan and take it for what I paid for it, nothing. I was going to open a shop that was mainly high end handguns and shotguns. I was going to cater to the wealthier sportsmen in the area. I was going to fill the place with shooting books, accessories and memorabilia for sale. Even some fishing gear. Think tiny Orvis store. There was going to some chairs and table for sitting and shooting the breeze, tv with vids playing of shooting adventures and a rustic look. What this would allow me to do was to get a premium price for things, carry high end products that would attract moneyed clientele and dreamers (such as myself) and often times get some great trade in and estate guns. My initial overhead and inventory was $110-120K estimate. Personally, I think you could do this in Mullica Hill. You have a moneyed demographic, you have the quaint town look and feel that will get men shoppers in while their women go antiquing. Plus, with the still rural outlying areas you might get in some great trades or estate guns from some of those old farmers. I know a few down there that have some VERY impressive collections. Why did I not follow through.... I got a great job. I figured I might make $80K from the store if I had a decent year. It would have been fun, challenging and I would have been my own boss. But the legal aspects and costs loomed high in my head... it was a big unknown. I could not get a handle on that expense. Then I got offered a job with the federal gov that is very challenging and very rewarding. I had to make a decision and security won out in my instance, I have kids and a too large mortgage. I say go for it 100%. I considered Mullica Hill for my store also but I had a better feel for Cherry Hill. If you need some help, let me know. I will even do some work for store credit to help out a new store.

JohnKimble, You already got off to a bad start, by wondering if you were going to miss much work. That means that you cherish you career more then your service. And this is not a bad thing, and dont think I am putting you down. I am not, because anyone that is processing the thoughts you are is worthy of further conversations. I will say this, listen to what Griz just said. I dont know him, but IMHO he spoke volumes. Plus, if you really want to give back for the nice life you lead, very admirable, join your local volunteer EMT squad. You will get to help and give back to people in ways you never dreamed of.

Outstanding!

Nodonut... this is the third post where your input has been less then helpful. Judging by your commentary and your avatar you seem to wish to engage in some sort of confrontation with people on this forum. My suggestion is to make a decision whether you would like to be a contributing member of this forum or go somewhere else.

somebody is quickly reaching troll status.

I love the Tok, they are a blast to shoot also, sheets of flame with little recoil. Good fun. I shot one at a fun steel shoot last spring and while the sites were adequate, they at least were spot on. And when you hit 9" steel drop downs, they dropped with authority. It was a really fun gun. I think two of those and a thousand rounds would be a perfect cache firearms for SHTF. My problem... hard to find a smith to add a ambi safety to the gun.

Tuk... I dont know what I would do if one of my little guys got sick. I would turn to any avenue open for prayer and support. This forum is one of the avenues. By the way, I have a Guardian Angel, I sure she will pass it to someone else quickly. Get well soon little Rafael.

Krd... I was thinking that also. Specific limitation or by design I was wondering. The buyer did mention that he was going to use it on whitetail, but then why not suppress a rifle. The Masterkey was ridiculous and for $3K!!!! And what did he pay for the used AR with the 37mm attached... $1500! Spikes Tactical has one for $300... http://store.a51tactical.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1569&currency=USD I hope that was a Colt he bought off that guy. Entertaining, but only just a tad. I will stop watching after 5 episodes just like I stopped watching Orange County Choppers and other suck.

It was awesome and will be again someday.

Mack... Fellow CH resident here also. Until recently, Cherry Hill was a breeze... but new Chief and new Detective hanndling the process have thrown up some speed bumps. Besides the usual process, they now ask that you get two references to sign forms and get them notarized. They also send a letter to you SO if you list one on your application notifying that person of your interest in acquirring a handgun and if they have an issue with it. That letter must be returned also, signed and notarized by the SO. Both of those stipulations are against the law. You can just go ahead and follow through with their hoop jumping or fight it. I am in the middle of my process currently. I will keep everyone here informed of my progress. On a lighter note... welcome. We have a good group of people in the area and we share a good bit of info, compare stores, ffls etc etc, shoot together and swap bs. Wade on in and once it thaws out around here, we will get you out shooting.

None... it wont happen and he knows it. He will let Lautenberg and McCarthy scream for it, and wont touch it himself.

Hey.... I smell enough interest in this thread to start a state wide NJGF league. Why not have 4 shooters from the interested ranges do this. One Sat morning a month or every other month, we have a comp. All in the name of fun, and beer of course. I think I can put together a Square Circle Team, myself, Tactical Monkey, Yaz... Maybe CivicTuner will join, down here in South Jersey. Maybe the guys over at South Jersey would like to indulge each other in the first match. Then next weekend we travel up there? Any interest or is this getting to involved.

Just go buy a glock. You going to own one eventually anyway.

Good for you. I have been wanting to get into reloading, but I find it to be a daunting task, somewhat intimidating. But I am determined to be setup and churning out 10mm this spring. What was your biggest hurdle and how did you overcome it? Was the process easier then you expected?

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Can I throw some intel into this discussion. Have a good friend, someone I highly respect for his service to the city of Camden for 30+ years. His son whom I know also, is high up in the Camden PD. His son used the line "too many Chiefs and not enough Indians" on the force during a discussion we had. It seems that EVERYONE was promoted by the last leadership and there were too many "staffers" and then they refilled the holes with new officers. His POV is that they were overstaffed. That laying off the street officers and demoting the staffers back to the streets was the smart thing to do. They were going to have to do layoffs. There is also the angle that nobody takes is that the population of Camden is plummeting, estimate in the 2010 census to be 70K people, down almost 10% since 2000 and 20% since 1990. Less pop, less LEO. Smart folks move out when they better their positions. Nobody WANTS to live their. Even the criminals.

Shane... I promise not to let u try it.

ok... keep me in mind for one. List it here.

Bastard! Thats cheating. I hate when people try to screw their buddies. Send ME the list and I will make sure it gets disseminated to all the members at the same time approx 72 hours later. Seriously, you have gotten good advice here. You should be able to clear your inventory here fairly easily if the items are quality and are priced fairly. People here know their hobby, so gouging or overhyping a firearm will get you flamed.

I like the Taurus revolver rifle in 22lr/22wm also. That looks like a practical little application. I might have to add that to the collection.

you know... I had some great experiences at the shoot I attended. I got to shoot a Garand at 400yards. I got to shoot a .50 Steyr at 500 and 1000 yards. I made some great friends, learned how to shoot and learned alot about our history as citizens, free citizens and what that meant to the colonials. But one of the best things I took away from my experience, was the satisfaction of being able to hit very well with a 22lr up to 100 yards. I am not talking pie plate accuracy.... I am talking 2"x2" gray square at 100 yards. Try to hit that... without optics. I need to practice. I might take the GSG out tomorrow to shoot.

Fail.... the answer is 2. All the others could happen, high probability, but if the above incident does occur, then #2 is a 100% spot on.

Fast Action Gun Bag..... I like that. Love mine. But then again, I never had an inclination to pee sitting down or put another mans junk in my hand, so I am good with it being a shoulder bag and not a MURSE.

Hmmmm.... I stopped in there a few months back, thought maybe it got better. Still staffed with Gun store wannabe commandos that now hae an inordinate amount of a lack of sense. I witnessed maybe some of the same thugs Aim n-pull did and I was not impressed. If ever a place exists where one thug is going to shoot another thug by "accident" while in the range ever existed, I dont know where it is. That place WILL get all NJ gun ranges shut down. When I was last there they had about 8 WASRs marker $899 on a rack behind a new counter. I wonder if they sold? HA.

I used a Mossberg 597, but I had a M1a with me. Most will alow you to shoot any caliber, optics or not. The goto setup is a Ruger 10/22 with TechSites. you really need a sling, one of the slide types so you can create a good triangle support. At least three mags and 500 rounds. Bring a shooting mat or piece of carpet.