If so, just to let you all know, I have given up IT for a living, 18 years was quite enough for me, I decided to help my friend run his web shop and website at his Gun shop.

We do a whole host of things from Air powered, to Shotgun's, Black Powder to Full Bore, anything you can think of we can obtain in line with UK law's.

So if you are interested and want to know more, please check out our website, it's an ongoing procedure keeping the website up to date (That's where I come in)

www.aaronwheelergunsmith.co.uk

We can send some item's through the post, but all Airguns, Shotguns and indeed Firearms would either have to be collected, or sent to an approved RFD (Registered Firearm Dealer) and we would need a copy of there licence emailing to us in order for transactions to be completed, we can send Firearms and Powders etc via TNT courier.

Please take a look at our website, and by all means contact me if you have any suggestions or complaints with how the website is working.


Cheers

Nick

Website looks, good and the F3 looks good. However it would be nice if you could sort the guns by price that way I can see like prices guns together.

Cheers, I will look into the logistics of making that happen

Nick

The shop local to us that seem to be successful are those which have either their own clay shoot or good connection with the local gun club. The ones which have great shops, loads of stock but little connection with the local shooters are struggling.

Not much profit in cartridges so use them like the supermarkets do bread/milk, keep them cheap and maybe email out to customers special deals. There's not many times that I go and buy some cartridges and end don't end up walking out without something else!

A really successful one in Oxford runs novice clay shooting days for 12-18 year olds, keep cost reasonable and use the power of kids wanting loads of the latest kit to make sales and long term customers.

Would also try and up stock on Beretta, not my cup of tea, but they sell something like 20-1 to any other make in the south, with Midlands mad on Miroku. Boxlock used market is very slow, too many very cheap guns at auction, unless 20 bore.

[Edited on 10/9/14 by zetec]

I like the fact that you send the 'powders' via TNT :-)
Nice website BTW

I no longer shoot clays due to the cost. I could shoot 100 sporting (practice) in just over half hour, so that's £25.00 for the clays and £17.00 for the shells (£170 per 1,000). My son is into HFT, he has an S400 and I use an Airworf MCT, once the guns / scopes have been bought then the shop makes very little from the tin of JSB's.

He wants a new sporter, so do I buy a second hand gun with possibly 100,000 shells through it or do I buy a new Silver Pigeon that will last him years. I'm a big advocate for buying second hand, I've shot all my life and being an engineer I know pretty much what I'm looking for.

But here's the curve ball, I stumbled across Allcocks Outdoors, offering interest free credit on guns, using PAY4LATER, I think Sportsman are going to be doing it too shortly. This should increase sales, although you're not making so much on the gun (to cover the interest cost) the volume should increase.

Is your mate any good at fitting guns? There is a good market for gun fit / ISIS pads etc.

It's difficult stocking up on guns, have to agree Beretta sales are big, BUT there is bad press at the moment especially for the build quality of the 692. Browning / Winchester would be my other line, these fit totally different to Beretta's.

If mail order is you main area of concern then cut back promoting shotguns / firearms, as they have to go to a registered firearms dealer (they charge for receiving) so unless its a niche gun, I wouldn't walk into my local RFD having bought a gun elsewhere!

Air rifle scope sales, no need to send to an RFD, so straight to your door, Optisan are very popular at the moment.

Camo clothing, perhaps import from abroad yourself, cut out the middle man, and sell on?

Something I know very little about, but seems popular, is airsoft. They seem to have all the gear etc etc.

Yeah we do shotgun cartridges at cost price to get the volume through the door, this company has been in business over 5 years here, and my boss has been a gunsmith for a previous company since he left school, he is a gunsmith of 30 years so is very well established in Yorkshire as one of the very few competent gunsmiths to be able to hand make stocks, parts and even guns from scratch.

We have good business already, not sure we would go down the Buy Now Pay Later route, can't say for sure, but you make so little on a gun that i'm not sure it's cost effective, but I will look into it, as we don't want to lose customers to other dealers.

We deal with a number of clubs and offer a discount on bulk purchase of ammunition to them and customers alike.

By all means contact Fran or Aaron in the shop if you need some advice on the right route for you on a Shotgun.

We do a Gun Fit service because we are a gunsmith not just a shop selling guns.

We do repair's, Bluing, Custom build guns etc:

We do a full range of Camo, Realtree and Mossy Oak clothing, but as you can imagine, so much stock lines, and only me doing the website 5 days a week. The chances are if we haven't got it on the website, it is in stock, but if not, we can obtain anything.

Please spread the word :-)

Cheers

Nick

[Edited on 10/9/14 by The Venom Project]

Agree with Beretta quality issue, that's why Miroku all the way, and they fit us better! My son wants to join one of the London gunmaking companys when he leaves school, if not the best paid job he likes doing stock work and the number of 50+ gunsmiths and no younger ones means he might have plenty of work.

I can't say about Beretta issues as we don't get may orders for Beretta, mainly Browning for Semi-Auto guns, and we have a number of second hand Mirokou's in and out all the time, we currently have a few Browning Cynergy guns, but again, not the best quality with Ejectors flying out all of a sudden.

I believe Benelli make some nice guns, and for a budget gun if you are on a budget, you won't go far wrong with a Hatsan or Armsan, for £368 or £389 for a new gun with full chokes, its a bargain.

I am more into Firearms than Shotguns so can't really advise on what is going to be best, however Fran or Don in our shop are the Shotgun guru's.

We also offer a Try before you Buy option on our second hand shotguns, not sure anyone offers that at all. You can try and second hand shotgun for 72Hrs for free.

Licence required of course.

Cheers

Nick

[Edited on 10/9/14 by The Venom Project]