In 2010 my journey with the Marine Corps ended. I got out as Sgt from Buffalo's 3/25. I spent almost 8 full years in the reserves with one short but eventful deployment to Iraq, a year in Southern California and some lower back pain. I met some great brothers and memories, but one of the big things I missed was the range. Trigger time was my favorite experiences and I didn't mind cleaning my weapon for hours on end afterwards.
On the civilian side I found very quickly that getting access to a quality range was rare and expensive. When Uncle Sam was paying for it, I loved those late day Ammo dumps. As a regular civilian, I would just consider a trigger squeeze to .50$.
On top of the expense, I also found local FFL shops to be full of know it all gun guys who felt compelled to tell me their political and personal stories. I found their prices to be not competitive and when I would request a price match or a transfer the shops would look at me like I was personally slapping their dogs. The guns they had were not what I was looking for, ammo was overpriced and their knowledge of the industry was forced upon me. I didn't want to support Gander or Dick's, so I personally ended up at the Dome once a year trying to buy something (anything). Last year I ended up with an overpriced Spike's lower.
After building a sweet and NY compliant AR I went back to a local dealer to purchase some 5.56 ammo. The ammo in stock was steel, overpriced and he only had 40 rounds. When I requested more he said it doesn't sell well so he wouldn't order it. When I asked him can I buy some basic Federal from Ammo.com and have it shipped to him, he told me for 20% fee, a 20% MARKUP on something he wasn't even selling me and he acted like a toddler.
Basically I was done. I wished I could just order my firearms online and have them shipped to my house. Have the ammo, parts and whatever I shipped to my house. I was hoping not to have to deal with anyone with an attitude or ridiculous margines. Then I figured there are probably other people out there thinking the same thing as me. That there is a simple but effective business here where I can help myself, my friends and family. So I went on the Journey to get my FFL.
