Mackey's Landing Firearms — Local services in Plymouth

It's actually my favorite shop in the area. If it were closer than an hour away I'd visit more often. They have an excellent selection and they will deal on prices a bit, especially if it's been sitting there awhile.

They also sell a lot of their firearms on Guns America and a search by seller name will let you see a lot of their existing inventory and will let me know in advance whether a drive there is in order.

The prices look high on the tag, but there are three things you need to consider:

1. They are the out the door price including tax, so you need to mentally deduct about 7% when comparison shopping.

2. They will do a return in the first 30 days if you discover the firearm will not function properly (function, not poor accuracy) and they fully understand the companies like Rossi and Taurus have poor quality assurance, so they take the hit with a refund or exchange rather than make you deal with the company.

3. They don't seem to normally re-price their in stock merchandise when the MSRP goes up, so the longer it's in the shop the better the price tends to be with inflation and a falling dollar. For example, I bought a new in the box Browning 1885 in .22 Hornet that had been sitting in the shop for about 5 years, and I got it at the original price - over $400 lower than the current MSRP. Similarly, I bought a lever gun in .45 Colt that was about $300 under the current MSRP.

I've read some of the negative comments and they need to be taken in the proper context:

They are about 5 or 6 miles from Jamesville, so lunch has to be delivered - thus all the staff tend to eat at the same time. They call in an order, it arrives, and they eat it while its hot. The staff have to eat and would prefer to eat it while its hot and I don't see that as either a problem or a deal breaker.

It's a large shop with a large inventory, and the staff have a lot of ground to cover. But I've never had problems finding one when I needed assistance. You may have to find one and ask for assistance, but on the other hand you don't have pushy sales staff trying to hustle you for a commission.

The rifles and pistols are well organized by caliber and by collectibility, The ammo is also organized, although the system is a bit less clear until you recognize the rifle, pistol and rimfire categories and how they are laid out on the shelves. Since the ammo shortage has begun they've also held some ammo back to ensure that if you purchase a firearm you can get ammo to go with it. No one likes to buy a firearm they...

Mackey's serves a purpose, but you have to understand it to tolerate a visit. Yes, everyone complains about their service, which is horrible, and their prices, which are high (even with sales tax built in), but their selection is great.

I've been visiting them a few times a year for about 10 years now, and I don't know how they stay in business. They have a ton of inventory, but most of it has been there for either months or years. With pistols, it is less obvious as they are under locked glass cases, but for their rooms and rooms of long arms, most are covered with dust, and some have even started to develop surface rust.

What this leads to is a lot of people going just to window shor for what they want to buy somewhere else (GunBroker, etc.) but haven't yet "touched" the product.

And what this leads to is a sales staff that doesn't expect you to buy anything, doesn't want to waste their time with you, and certainly isn't inclined to dispense advice. They are indeed rude if you try to call them on this poor service, but they likely see their customers as rude also and are just responding in kind.

You MAY be able to find an unsold years-old firearm that has dusted/rusted away on some back rack for less than you would pay for a new-manufacture one (I don't think that they ever update prices once they are put out, and they certainly don't maintain them), and they MAY take a few dollars off if the item you want seems to have been there for a very long time.

But if you want to leave with a smile on your face, plan on going just to do your research on what you want your local store to order or transfer for you. Be patient and polite to the staff, and they will generally be civil to you. And if you find something that you actually want to buy for what they are willing to accept in compensation, consider it a bonus.

It really is a shame; they could be so...

I've driven past this place for 15 years, finally stopped in to buy some ammo for hunting and the range. What a disappointment for anything that is not a firearm.

I found the ammunition area, and grabbed a basket. There were 4 calibers I needed. Grabbing the basket was my first mistake. That was a red flag that I actually wanted to purchase ammunition. Guy immediately ran up to me and told me I can only buy one box of center fire. I asked, "one per caliber"? No. One box. Period. I was confused, and must have appeared so - so the guy went on to explain multiple stories of people buying his ammo and using their phones to see if they can sell it for more. Ok.... But, why does he care what anybody does with it if he is selling it at a profit??? Anyways, I looked around and they didn't have 3 of the 4 calibers I needed. The 4th one must have been made from gold. I decided the ammo was a bust. Guy even said the ammo doesnt keep the lights on. They a nice selection of firearms I must say, but they should just quit selling ammo - or actually sell it.

I then went on to find reloading stuff. Same thing. Poor selection of way overpriced stuff. Another bust. Ok... then I went to grab some targets. Found what I wanted, about $10 in targets. Went to the front to ring up and pay. Lady rang it all up, I pulled my credit card out and she was not happy about that. Apparently if you don't spend more than $20 there then you can't use your card because, according to the lady, it's too expensive to run a card for under $20. I was prepared to spend 20 times that on ammo. I just left at that point.

Went to another store and got ammo and targets...