Cabela’s at Owatonna, Minnesota (Post One)

[xl_target]

Sunday was a clear, bright day. The temperatures had risen above freezing and the roads were finally clear of ice and snow. Supplies were running low and my friend Dave and I decided to get out of our Igloo’s and head over to that Sportsman’s heaven; Cabela’s.

I needed powder, primers, bullets and dies for .40 S&W. Time to start reloading for range sessions and the coming summer. A new press and other ancillary supplies have eaten a hole in my pocket book this month so I could only afford so much at this time. Tomorrow is Valentines day and just before I left, my wife slipped me some twenties and said “Happy Valentines Day”. Did I mention; I don’t deserve her?


WooHoo! Time to shop. We got there about 11:00 am and found that the store is in the middle of a major makeover. The flooring was torn up, sheetrock had been replaced and wasn’t yet painted. Displays were being moved. Well, we weren’t going to let that stop us. Even then, acres of goodies awaited us. This is the firearms/hunting section.


The used gun section. The glass cabinet contains the used pistols.


Milsurps; Mosin's are $97. AK variants (used)are $499. SKS's are cheaper than that.



The firearms section.
See the overhead lights? The walls are lined with guns all the way to the end of the row of lights.
In the first photo, the boxes in the cabinets under the long guns are ammunition.
In the second photo, the bottles under the long guns are bottles of powder for reloading.
Handguns are in the glass cabinets.

[Bill Poole]

we got a Cabela's here in Phoenix Arizona too Bhai, but what's all that white stuff on the roof and all over the parking lot, we don't have any of that!

Poole

[xl_target]

Bill, that's just frosted sugar left over from when Santa stopped to visit.

[timmy]

XL, Cabela's has been pretty good for quite a long time. Their prices aren't that cheap, but they do have a lot of stuff. I heard that they are building one north of Dallas soon, so we won't have to drive over to Ft. Worth to shop. However, i understand Jim & Dick have sold the business to some bean-counter outfit, and the company no longer has the family atmosphere it used to have. I also note that they are expanding big time all over the country. This doesn't usually bode well, hope that doesn't happen this time. (Remember Herter's?)

I have kept an eye on those Mosin Nagants. Unfortunately, all of the 91/30s that I've seen are nicely arsenal refurbished, however there are only the round receiver versions. Quite some time back, when I was broke, I saw an M91/59 that had the octagon receiver for about $125. It was really nice, but I didn't have the money with me. I wrote on another board and one of the guys went over to grab it -- but it was gone. Shucks!

Maybe the new store will give me an opportunity to browse regularly.

I would like a nice 91/30 if I could find one with an octagon receiver; they are the only ones that interest me.

However, what I'd really like is to find an SMLE 410 musket in decent shape. Particularly, one that is in the original chambering based on the .303 British case, not one that's been reamed for the US .410 shotgun shell. I also need to dig up an Ishapore bayonet for my RFI 2A.

Other than something really odd, I think my Mosin thing has faded and I would like to concentrate on stuff from Ishapore from now on.

Don't they have any taxidermy there? The Ft Worth store has an African exhibit, a big North American one, and a pretty good sized aquarium display of Flatlander-type river fish. If I think about it, I'll try to remember to snap some pics and post them.

[xl_target]

Timmy,
I made a second post with photos of the wildlife display.

We have a Gander Mountain in my town and they don't carry any reloading supplies. Their prices, in general, are also pretty ridiculous.
We have another large sporting goods store in town but their prices are high and their selection is limited so Cabela's is it. It is only about an hour away and the selection is huge.
I was able to get 1000 CCI small pistol primers for $30. They are closer to $40 where I live. Almost all Cabela's prices are cheaper than what I can get locally. The only other option is mail order and then the Haz-Mat fees really get you for stuff like powder and primers. It is unfortunate that many of the mom and pop gunshops have disappeared.
I could go up to Minneapolis-St Paul but then I have to deal with traffic and crowds. Owatonna still has a small town atmosphere. When we went to eat, one of Owatonna's finest smiled and held the door open for us as we went into the restaurant. The Twin Cities Cops are known for their bad attitudes.

I didn't pay attention to what kind of receivers those Mosin's had. If I had known your interest, I would have kept an eye open.

[vrohan59]

Stop teasing us gun starved people

[prashantsingh]

Stop teasing us gun starved people

The Board at the entrance says "Gear Up for the Hunt".

With strict gun laws, depleting forests and a ban on hunting in India. A store like this would go bankrupt.
On the other hand if NAGRI did succeed in their fight for RKBA ...I am sure we would have quite a few of these all over India.......
much like all the fast food joints and coffee shops that have mushroomed in every town and city here.

[xl_target]

Stop teasing us gun starved people

The Board at the entrance says "Gear Up for the Hunt".

With strict gun laws, depleting forests and a ban on hunting in India. A store like this would go bankrupt.
On the other hand if NAGRI did succeed in their fight for RKBA ...I am sure we would have quite a few of these all over India.......
much like all the fast food joints and coffee shops that have mushroomed in every town and city here.

Well, parts of it might flourish. I didn't post photos of the Fishing section. I will do that when I get home. It was at least 100 feet long and about 40 feet wide.

[timmy]

XL, I see your point, especially about the decline of mom-and-pop stores. One story I heard a couple of years ago was that the small gunshop owner heard of the prices down at the local Walmart and sent his worker down to buy as much of the sale ammo as could be obtained. His salesman told him he could not sell it to the shop owner for the prices that Walmart was selling it for retail.

I checked out Post #2 and your Cabela's looks pretty much like the one in Ft Worth and the one we used to go to in Sidney Nebraska, which was the closest store to Denver when we lived there.

I have family out toward Waconia. I hear you loud and clear on the "evils" of the big city. I long to go back to some nowhere in the mountains of New Mexico and disappear. It's been a fairly long time since I scouted the gun shops of Albuquerque and Santa Fe; I'm sure that what I'd find would be a bit dismal there, as well, compared to my memory.

I suppose it is our turn to gripe. The common gripe amongst older shooters was how cheaply guns could be bought mail order: Lugers and M1 Carbines for $30, for instance. I seem to recall the ads in American Rifleman for the Browning set of pistols: a Hi Power, the 380, and the .25 ACP in Renaissance grade engraving, for something like $255. Can you imagine the worth of that set today?

Years ago, in the 80s, I recall SKS "Paratroopers" being sold in Shotgun News for about $80. About 8 years back, I paid a little more than $200 for mine in mint condition. As the old saying goes, we've got to grab it while we can.

I'll bet that those primers are going to be a bargain at that price in 10 years. Now that so much of the ammo is coming in from overseas, from Prvi and Russia and the like, I wonder how much longer it will be before our reloading components are also made overseas.

Frankly, I'm a bit shocked about Gander Mountain!

You may have heard of "Cheaper than Dirt" which is in Ft Worth. They've opened up a store north of Dallas that has a lot of ammo, but as they cater to the "Rambo" crowd, while their ammo selection is good, their reloading supplies are nil. Dick's Sporting Goods is a big chain here, but they have steadily cut their gun dept and no longer have handguns at all. I do need to get over to Military Gun Supply in Ft Worth, as I haven't been there in years. They don't have reloading stuff, but do have a lot of milsurp ammo.

Now that I think of it, I would hate to see what a 440 round tin of 7.62x54r goes for now

[xl_target]

Here are the photos of the fishing section. Lots of choices in fishing rods, lures, etc.


It was kinda cramped in there, so I couldn't get a photo of the whole section. This is just a couple of the rows of aisles.

Now that I think of it, I would hate to see what a 440 round tin of 7.62x54r goes for now

Timmy, I used to see those "sardine cans" everywhere at one time. Can you even find them anymore?

[ckkalyan]

Thank you for the images xl_target. A veritable Aladdin's cave!

[timmy]

XL: I see AIM has them:

http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx? ... roupid=186

Military Gun Supply has them, too:

http://militarygunsupply.com/index.php? ... cts_id=925

There are also others who might have some. If you'd like I can PM you my surplus links.

[xl_target]

Thank You in advance Timmy. I would greatly appreciate it.

[boris]

amazing photos,sigh!!just a few more years of patience and i'll be there

[vrohan59]

Thanks for posting the pictures,really nice By the way,can anyone tell me if sport fishing is legal in India?