Vince's post asking about must see LGS SC-Central FL. got me thinking. Ms. Tejas and I are going to take a leisurely drive from the Mobile area to Houston mostly along I-10. However, between New Orleans and Lafayette we are going to head south on Hwy 90 and pass through/near Houma, Morgan City and New Iberia. Does anyone know of good LGS's along the wayI should visit?

Collector's Firearms

https://www.collectorsfirearms.com/

Either they moved since I lived in Houston, or my memory is failing me. I could have sworn they were located at the corner of Richmond and Fondren.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Collector's Firearms

https://www.collectorsfirearms.com/

Either they moved since I lived in Houston, or my memory is failing me. I could have sworn they were located at the corner of Richmond and Fondren.

They moved to a much larger facility at Westheimer/Voss
Haven't been to the new one, but spent a good 3 hours at the old location just making a slow pass through the store.

Their radio ads claim more guns in stock there, than when the gun show is hosted at the local convention center.

There's a very high end gun/fly fishing shop whose name is escaping me at the moment. It's in the Heights a bit south of I10. Haven't been to this one either, but did browse their very high-priced inventory.
Edit: Gordy & Sons
https://gordyandsons.com/

The old Collector's Firearms store was 26K sq ft. The new location is at least 3X as large. It's the size of a large grocery store.

It's part gun shop, part museum. If you're into C&R guns and militaria, they have tons of that stuff. There are some decent deals to be had if you look around enough, but generally, their prices are sky high. They do a good job of keeping their inventory up to date on their website. You can check out their guns & prices to get an idea.

There are several Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's not far off I-10 if you want to drop by any of those.

You guys know the story about the attempted burglary at Collector's Firearms in the early 1980s?

I do not know about that. I assume it didn’t go too well?

A quick internet search has shown me (well reinforced my belief really) just how bad internet searches have gotten lately. The first dozen hits were all BS anti gun propaganda pieces. Nope no facts just opinion and bullshit.

It's fuzzy, being so long ago, but as I recall, there had been two burglaries or attempted burglaries of the store. The owner decided he'd had enough. He slept nights in his office for a couple of weeks, then, here they come again. He got down behind his desk, and when these three guys came into his office, he stood up and capped all three with an Ithaca Roadblocker. For the uninitiated, that is a semi-auto 10 gauge shotgun.

He killed two of them on the spot, and the third one, well...

I'm at this party in Atlanta in 1989 and I'm telling this story to a few people, one of them being the roommate of a good friend of mine, and he stops me and says "Yeah, I was there."

"You were there," I said skeptically, and he tells me, no, really, he was there. He was going to school in Houston at the time, and I guess there were some apartments there at the corner of Richmond and Fondren, or very close by, and he says he's in bed late one night and he hears thupthupthupthupthupthupthup.... He looks out his window and there's a helicopter landing in the intersection. It was Life Flight, taking the remaining buckshot-riddled survivor to the hospital. I can't recall, but I don't think he made it.

How do you like that? It's a small world, after all.

I love a story with a happy ending.

That’s wild that your friends room mate was there. It is a small world.

They had a burglary in 2014, too---lots of guns taken.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Ithaca Roadblocker. For the uninitiated, that is a semi-auto 10 gauge shotgun.

Would love to try one of those. According to their marketing, it "can stop a car in its tracks".

This shotgun is 2+1, so he had only one shot per crook, but a 00 buck load in 10 gauge is 18 .33 caliber pellets at about 1100 fps. Getting hit with that at a distance of, say, 12 feet- well, as they say, you'll have to strain the remains for the fingerprints.

The new location is impressive. Correct that it is pricey, but you can find unique items there.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
You guys know the story about the attempted burglary at Collector's Firearms in the early 1980s?

I remember! In early 1980, I had just moved back to Houston, my out of town work assignment had ended. I had an apartment a little further out on Richmond. My drive into our office on Kirby Drive went by that store. The notable item in the news reports was the semiautomatic 10 gauge. In my recollection it was sometime into the spring of 1980.

By midsummer of 1980, I had decamped from Houston for a new job in Tulsa, following a burglary of my apartment, at the same time my apartment was being broken into, another apartment was targeted for arson, someone died in the resulting fire. Never knew if the two were linked.

I wonder if he just cleaned it and put the tag back on it and returned it to the display rack. Maybe with a couple new notches in the stock.

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Ithaca Roadblocker. For the uninitiated, that is a semi-auto 10 gauge shotgun.

Would love to try one of those. According to their marketing, it "can stop a car in its tracks".

Collectors Firearms is a lot of fun. It is just around the corner from my office, so if the OP stops by, send me an email and I will meet you there, if you would like to do that.

They have a huge inventory of curios, relics, antiques, and military arms, as well as modern firearms. Plus, as someone said, museum pieces that aren't for sale.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jhe888,

I have been to the old location a couple of times, but it has been 10 years since my last visit.
It is a fascinating place to browse through.

I need to make time to visit the new location.

quote:

Originally posted by BGULL:
I remember! In early 1980, I had just moved back to Houston, my out of town work assignment had ended. I had an apartment a little further out on Richmond.

Well, like I said, it's a small world, after all.

It's on the wrong side of Mobile Bay, but I found a place over New Years this year called Gold Mine Pawn Shop. It's about 2 miles south on 98 from the Spanish Fort/Daphne exit off of I-10 (same exit as Bass Pro). It's a little hole in the wall place, but more of a gun store/cop shop than a pawn shop. They had a decent selection of guns for their size, and are a Glock Blue Line dealer, but that wasn't what I was after anyway since I was out of state. They had a pretty impressive selection of reloading gear, leather concealment holsters and duty gear from quality manufacturers like Galco and Don Hume, and accessories like grips and barrels and stuff like that, and prices were decent. The people were friendly and helpful, and it was like stepping back in time into a real small gun shop, not a sporting goods store like most places have become these days.

We like to go visit the USS Alabama when we're down there, and drive right by on the way from Pensacola, so I'll be making a point to stop in at that shop next time we go.

I remember when that happened. I lived farther Richmond too iirc.

Leftwing local TV reporter covered it very negatively describing it as an ambush. He described the owner lying in wait as if the shooting was a bad thing.

As I recall, the bad guys rammed the back wall with a truck and went in through the opening. Surprise, surprise, surprise!

Later I noticed a “Patched” back wall. I think it was cinder block or brick and a pretty good sized patch. It could be seen from Richmond.

I purchased a pistol from them in the early 70s when they were in their prior location. A much smaller store than the Richmond location. It was a HK 380. Still have it.

quote:

Originally posted by maxdog:
Leftwing local TV reporter covered it very negatively describing it as an ambush. He described the owner lying in wait as if the shooting was a bad thing.

Perhaps a flashing neon sign in the parking lot would be more to his liking: "Welcome, burglars! Come git some!"