I would contend that the local shops actually *lose* money
by vehemently fighting mail order ammunition in MA. I think
that while some ammunition sales would suffer, it would be
mostly in the plinking/surplus ammo, not the high quality ammo
which really does not have a great savings via mail order.
Where the dealers stand to make money is with the sale of
firearms in non-standard calibers. A couple of cases come to
mind right now. I would like to buy a nice lever gun in 45 Colt
or 45/70 Gvt. Why won’t I buy one? There is squat for ammo
available in MA! Almost no hunting loads in either caliber,
no variety, and no cheap plinker ammo. So my local shop is
not going to get the $500+ I would have spent on a nice rifle.
Another case is the large number of oddball-caliber surplus
rifles in the local shops. I’ve seen some really nice k-31’s
and MAS49 rifles, but where the heck am I going to get a
dependable supply of 7.5 Swiss in this state? I could not
even get anything other than expensive hunting ammo in
.303 British when I owned my Enfield, and those rifles are
*common* in the northeast. And how about 7x57 or 8x57?
These have got to be one of the most common calibers on the planet,
with hundreds of millions of rifles chambered in them, but I
challenge you to find good ammunition locally.
It’s close-minded protectionism at its finest/worst. I like the local shops,
and would like to buy more from them, but they can’t afford to carry
a huge selection and inventory of ammunition in all calibers. So until
there is another way to get the ammunition, guns in calibers like 45Colt,
45/70, 444 Marlin, 500 S&W or foreign surplus will just sit in the shops.
F