Trip Report: Holiday Gun Shop Tour 2009!
Christmas was over but we had some time off, so INGO member esrice and I took a tour of eight gun shops in central Indiana. All but one was outside of I-465 and most were in counties surrounding Marion county.
We decided to take a few pictures and record our impressions of these shops to share with our INGO friends.
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We found out that Guns and Ordnance is out in the boonies!! It snowed the day before our trip and we took this picture along the way to show how remote it is. We went through Hall, Indiana to get to the shop. It was the first visit to Hall for both of us!
On way to Guns and Ordnance
Shop #1
Name: Guns and Ordnance
Address: 7279 Hall School Road, Martinsville,
Hours: M-Sat 10-7
Met: Butch
Impressions: Butch made us feel very welcome and gave us his introductory spiel about the business. We learned that they are a Class III and Class 10 dealer. They manufacture a beefy semi-auto shotgun. They have a large stock of long guns, goodly amount of handguns, and lots of accessories. They are a Barrett dealer for those of you who like to convert $5 bills into recoil and noise!
This shop is a real gem and worth the drive into the hinterlands of Indiana. One caution…You will have difficulty convincing your wife that you ‘just happened to drive by’ this place!
Exterior of Guns and Ordnance
Interior of Guns and Ordnance…and Butch!
esrice with the shop’s own production semi-auto shotgun at Guns and Ordnance
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Shop #2
Name: Plainfield Shooting Supplies
Address: 3735 Shady Lane, Suite C, Plainfield
Hours: M-F 10 -6, Sat 10-3
Met: Bob, the owner
Impressions: Plainfield Shooting Supplies is well known to many INGO members. Bob has lots of handguns and rifles and a friendly staff ready to take your money!
Bob said that INGO members have helped his business. During our time in the shop, Bob kept eyeing the INGO coat esrice had on. He even offered to trade him for one of the coats on the clothing rack!
Exterior of Plainfield Shooting Supplies
Interior of Plainfield Shooting Supplies
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Shop #3
Name: Fort Liberty Firearms
Address: 8401 E. US Hwy 35, Suite C, Avon
Hours: M-F 10 -6, Sat 10-5
Met: Mike and Tony
Impressions: Super clean store. Had a recent break-in; thus the new steel posts in the picture below. Had a modest inventory of handguns and long guns. Very friendly team.
Exterior of Fort Liberty Firearms
Newly Installed posts outside Fort Liberty
Interior of Fort Liberty Firearms
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It was time to make a pit stop so we grabbed some burgers and fries at Five Guys hamburgers on US 36. Good Cajun fries..and they give you tons!
Thanks go to VUPDblue for recommending the restaurant and joining us for lunch!
Standing in the parking lot of the restaurant after lunch, we looked up and saw this Fort Liberty billboard!
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Shop #4
Name: Premier Arms
Address: 417 East Main Street, Brownsburg
Hours: M-F 10 -6, Sat 10-3
Met:
Impressions: Small store but navigable. Some older guns and collector pieces along with current arms. Friendly sales associates. Didn’t come away with a sense of their ‘speciality.’
Premier Arms exterior
Premier Arms close up of sign. We appreciated their clear support for the Second Amendment!
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Shop #5
Name: His and Hers Target Sports
Address: 408 S. Main Street, Sheridan
Hours:
Met: Ron Cooper, owner
Impressions: The store had a comfortable old-time feeling and a modest selection of handguns and long guns. They also had a good, basic selection of accessories with some ‘hidden gems’ like the Gemtech suppressors! Ron was very personable.
Target Sports exterior
Target Sports interior
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Shop #6
Name: Wyatt’s Sporting Goods
Address: 40 East Buckeye Street, Cicero
Hours: M-F 12-8, Sat 9-6
Met: Zach Wyatt
Impressions: The new store showroom is spacious and clean. There was coffee brewing and more open floor space that either of us had seen in a gun store. Zach was friendly and helpful and told us about the design work that went into the range backstop. The range is planned to be open in the Spring of 2010. Zach noted that both handgun and long gun inventory was currently low. They had a little bit of many accessory types. We both came away a bit unsatisfied with the visit. Saw lots of potential but the shop didn’t deliver it on this trip.
Wyatt Sporting Goods exterior
We weren’t able to get an interior picture, but here’s one from their website.
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Shop #7
Name: KS&E Guns
Address: 8756 Pendleton Pike, Indianapolis
Hours: M-F 11-5, Sat 11-5
Met: Ed
Impressions: We arrived right at closing. Darryl was already driving off and Ed was closing up. I have visited KS&E several times, but esrice had not. It’s a small shop with a modest inventory. They sell lots of guns. They are a stocking CZ dealer. Ed will put together some good bulk ammo deals if you give him some time.
KS&E exterior
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Between shops we met Mini-14 on the east side of Indy for a quick FTF on a cabinet I bought. I appreciated him driving a few miles to meet with us!
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Shop #8
Name: Beech Grove Firearms
Address: 207 Main Street, Beech Grove
Hours: M-F 10-6, Sat 9-3
Met: Greg, Paul, and the whole crew!
Impressions: It was great to cap off our day of gun shop visits with this stop at Beech Grove Firearms. We’ve both been here several times. The shop has been in business for two years and has a strong reputation. They have a mid-sized inventory. They are a Class III dealer and have been selling lots of suppressors. Their ammo selection is adequate and some case lots of ammo are available. Good people, good place.
Beech Grove Firearms exterior
Beech Grove Firearms interior
I caught esrice fondling a short barreled rifle that Greg recently built…. (POF 9" piston SBR)
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It was now dark and time to head home. We managed to keep most of our money in our pockets this time!
What a great day…talking guns and looking at guns…and meeting gun people….and eating …..and talking guns………..
Christmas was over but we had some time off, so INGO member esrice and I took a tour of eight gun shops in central Indiana. All but one was outside of I-465 and most were in counties surrounding Marion county.
We decided to take a few pictures and record our impressions of these shops to share with our INGO friends.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We found out that Guns and Ordnance is out in the boonies!! It snowed the day before our trip and we took this picture along the way to show how remote it is. We went through Hall, Indiana to get to the shop. It was the first visit to Hall for both of us!
On way to Guns and Ordnance
Shop #1
Name: Guns and Ordnance
Address: 7279 Hall School Road, Martinsville,
Hours: M-Sat 10-7
Met: Butch
Impressions: Butch made us feel very welcome and gave us his introductory spiel about the business. We learned that they are a Class III and Class 10 dealer. They manufacture a beefy semi-auto shotgun. They have a large stock of long guns, goodly amount of handguns, and lots of accessories. They are a Barrett dealer for those of you who like to convert $5 bills into recoil and noise!
This shop is a real gem and worth the drive into the hinterlands of Indiana. One caution…You will have difficulty convincing your wife that you ‘just happened to drive by’ this place!
Exterior of Guns and Ordnance
Interior of Guns and Ordnance…and Butch!
esrice with the shop’s own production semi-auto shotgun at Guns and Ordnance
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Shop #2
Name: Plainfield Shooting Supplies
Address: 3735 Shady Lane, Suite C, Plainfield
Hours: M-F 10 -6, Sat 10-3
Met: Bob, the owner
Impressions: Plainfield Shooting Supplies is well known to many INGO members. Bob has lots of handguns and rifles and a friendly staff ready to take your money!
Bob said that INGO members have helped his business. During our time in the shop, Bob kept eyeing the INGO coat esrice had on. He even offered to trade him for one of the coats on the clothing rack!
Exterior of Plainfield Shooting Supplies
Interior of Plainfield Shooting Supplies
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Shop #3
Name: Fort Liberty Firearms
Address: 8401 E. US Hwy 35, Suite C, Avon
Hours: M-F 10 -6, Sat 10-5
Met: Mike and Tony
Impressions: Super clean store. Had a recent break-in; thus the new steel posts in the picture below. Had a modest inventory of handguns and long guns. Very friendly team.
Exterior of Fort Liberty Firearms
Newly Installed posts outside Fort Liberty
Interior of Fort Liberty Firearms
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was time to make a pit stop so we grabbed some burgers and fries at Five Guys hamburgers on US 36. Good Cajun fries..and they give you tons!
Thanks go to VUPDblue for recommending the restaurant and joining us for lunch!
Standing in the parking lot of the restaurant after lunch, we looked up and saw this Fort Liberty billboard!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shop #4
Name: Premier Arms
Address: 417 East Main Street, Brownsburg
Hours: M-F 10 -6, Sat 10-3
Met:
Impressions: Small store but navigable. Some older guns and collector pieces along with current arms. Friendly sales associates. Didn’t come away with a sense of their ‘speciality.’
Premier Arms exterior
Premier Arms close up of sign. We appreciated their clear support for the Second Amendment!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shop #5
Name: His and Hers Target Sports
Address: 408 S. Main Street, Sheridan
Hours:
Met: Ron Cooper, owner
Impressions: The store had a comfortable old-time feeling and a modest selection of handguns and long guns. They also had a good, basic selection of accessories with some ‘hidden gems’ like the Gemtech suppressors! Ron was very personable.
Target Sports exterior
Target Sports interior
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Shop #6
Name: Wyatt’s Sporting Goods
Address: 40 East Buckeye Street, Cicero
Hours: M-F 12-8, Sat 9-6
Met: Zach Wyatt
Impressions: The new store showroom is spacious and clean. There was coffee brewing and more open floor space that either of us had seen in a gun store. Zach was friendly and helpful and told us about the design work that went into the range backstop. The range is planned to be open in the Spring of 2010. Zach noted that both handgun and long gun inventory was currently low. They had a little bit of many accessory types. We both came away a bit unsatisfied with the visit. Saw lots of potential but the shop didn’t deliver it on this trip.
Wyatt Sporting Goods exterior
We weren’t able to get an interior picture, but here’s one from their website.
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Shop #7
Name: KS&E Guns
Address: 8756 Pendleton Pike, Indianapolis
Hours: M-F 11-5, Sat 11-5
Met: Ed
Impressions: We arrived right at closing. Darryl was already driving off and Ed was closing up. I have visited KS&E several times, but esrice had not. It’s a small shop with a modest inventory. They sell lots of guns. They are a stocking CZ dealer. Ed will put together some good bulk ammo deals if you give him some time.
KS&E exterior
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Between shops we met Mini-14 on the east side of Indy for a quick FTF on a cabinet I bought. I appreciated him driving a few miles to meet with us!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shop #8
Name: Beech Grove Firearms
Address: 207 Main Street, Beech Grove
Hours: M-F 10-6, Sat 9-3
Met: Greg, Paul, and the whole crew!
Impressions: It was great to cap off our day of gun shop visits with this stop at Beech Grove Firearms. We’ve both been here several times. The shop has been in business for two years and has a strong reputation. They have a mid-sized inventory. They are a Class III dealer and have been selling lots of suppressors. Their ammo selection is adequate and some case lots of ammo are available. Good people, good place.
Beech Grove Firearms exterior
Beech Grove Firearms interior
I caught esrice fondling a short barreled rifle that Greg recently built…. (POF 9" piston SBR)
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It was now dark and time to head home. We managed to keep most of our money in our pockets this time!
What a great day…talking guns and looking at guns…and meeting gun people….and eating …..and talking guns………..
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