Apocalypse Arms and Military Surplus — Local services in Sierra Vista

Story time, I was interested in using Apocalypse Arms to facilitate a trade. I had a car, and the buyer had a gun. Because I’m military and an out-of-state resident, I needed an FFL to legally complete the transaction. I had used Apocalypse Arms before to sell some of my personal gear, and those transactions were fine overall. I took well below market value for the items, but I understood that they needed to make a profit, so I didn’t mind.

When I went in this time to facilitate the trade, the store initially refused to help. They claimed there was a Fort Huachuca policy against selling firearms to soldiers in a student status and warned me that I could get in trouble. After some questions, their story changed—they said it was actually a “word-of-mouth” position from the base commander, who supposedly threatened to blacklist local stores that sold to students. I wasn’t thrilled with that explanation, but it’s their business, and they can choose whom to serve. I decided to find another FFL. It was an annoying situation, but not unreasonable.

As I was getting ready to leave, the manager or owner stopped me and said she would go ahead and facilitate the transfer. She told me to bring the buyer in that day with the firearm and assured me the transaction would happen. Because it was going to be at the end of the day, she turned to a redheaded employee and verbally confirmed that he would handle the transfer. Taking her at her word, I called the buyer, who drove several hours to meet me and pick up the car.

When he arrived, he liked the car and agreed to the trade. We both went into Apocalypse Arms, found the redheaded employee, and he began the process—checked the firearm, reviewed the documentation, and was about to finalize the paperwork. Then, just before we signed, he disappeared into the back “to talk to the manager.” When he returned, he said they wouldn’t do the transfer after all. Personally, I am not even sure he called anyone.

I wasn’t upset when they originally declined based on a nonexistent base policy (the actual policy only prohibits students from purchasing firearms at the on-post PX). I wasn’t upset that they wanted to protect themselves from an unofficial “blacklist” rumor. But I was upset that they wasted both my and the buyer’s time—and more importantly, that they broke their word.

I cannot recommend this store because they fail to stand by their promises. This likely isn’t the first or last time they—or their employees—chose the easy option instead of the right one. The store might be fine for routine transactions, but if any complications arise, don’t expect them to...

*Edited with response to owner: I appreciate your response and concern, and have adjusted my review in good faith that the owner will address what I have to say. The following 3 examples were the justification of my review: I spoke to a female working in the store several months ago inquiring if the store would be interested in purchasing a specific firearm of mine, and her verbatim response was a stern “I don’t know what that is but we will absolutely not pay anywhere near what you want for it.” She said this without knowing what the gun was, what it was worth, or what I was asking for it, which struck me as a bad-faith approach to business. I referred a friend last week to your store for the purchase of a Glock 43. When he inquired about the process for purchasing the gun from you as an active duty soldier scheduled to PCS in 3 months, he was refused (potentially understandable and not a big deal), but when he inquired for justification, a female employee threatened to call the post commander to report him if he didn’t get out of the store. I would be shocked if this was merited from my friend’s behavior, but I confess I did not witness the encounter first hand. Regardless, my friend purchased an identical Glock 43 from west side pawn with zero issues the same day. I attempted to enter the store yesterday to quickly purchase an NVG base plate, but had the door locked in my face 15 minutes prior to posted closing time with several other customers still in the store. Fully understand that it is the owners prerogative to close when he/she pleases, and I could have entered the store at another time for the purchase, but the exchange struck me as very disrespectful, and when the other customers left the store, they told me “wow that guy was a real (jerk) to you, sorry about that.” In summary, I appreciate your concern and trust that these issues will...

Save yourself a headache and read this or the other recent one star reviews.

By far the WORST business experience I’ve had.

Long story short, I purchased a weapon online and attempted to use Apocalypse Arms as an FFL for the weapon transfer.

I called ahead of time, asked them what documentation I needed and they were polite when they gave me that information. Fast forward, my weapon arrived on 14June and they strung me along until 05/06 July;where they finally told me they wouldn’t do business with me due to them having an issue with my documentation (I provided supporting documentation, and offered further supporting documentation that would work for any other LGS in the area).

The owner (female) is extremely rude. She wouldn’t give a clear reason why she wouldn’t do business, and relied on bullying techniques in an attempt to scare me (lines like “you better slow down before you get in trouble”) and insinuated that the documentation that I submitted was altered or fraudulent in some way.

This place IS NOT military friendly. Truthfully, the owner (female) isn’t friendly at all. I had no issues with the rest of the staff as they handled the situation as best they can.

If the owner would like to dispute any of this, I welcome them to listen to the audio tapes from the phone calls they recorded. I only know they were recorded because she emphasized it to me numerous times in one phone call.

In my opinion, you could save yourself time, effort, and money by taking your business to any other LGS; just...