Walking Tour of Three Nashville Gun Shops -- April 2015

[dak109]

LMW, I thought we agreed to blur out my picture? One of those little black boxes across my eyes would've worked too. I noticed it was th last picture, must have broken the camera. Lol

i actually hit all three shops twice that day. Early with my Father in law, while our wives were at a craft show. And again in the afternoon with LMW's. Other than a little rain it was the next best thing to shooting.

 

[lovemywoods]

LMW, I thought we agreed to blur out my picture? One of those little black boxes across my eyes would've worked too. I noticed it was th last picture, must have broken the camera. Lol

How's this?

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Thanks for the great write up LMW! I haven't been to Nashville in a couple of years. Looks like 3 great excuses to remedy that!

 

[AA&E]

It's been a few years since I've been to Brown co. Looks like a summer trip is in order. Thank you for the info.

 

[dak109]

How's this?

Much better! Now I look like the hillbilly operator I think I am!

 

[wizardfitz]

Great write up and very good pictures. I was thinking about taking a ride down, now I am definitely taking a trip and a few friends. Thanks for turning a maybe trip to a definite trip

 

[esrice]

Well done gents!

 

[Dakota12B]

Had no clue these were there. Guess I'll have some places to visit next time I'm on leave.

 

[indiucky]

My love of Nashville ended when they closed the John Dillinger Museum......About 18 years ago my new bride and I went there (I had not been in a while) and I kept telling her how cool the Dillinger museum was and how it was a big part of my childhood...We would go camping at Brown County State Park annually and the Dillinger museum was something I would always go to......

Fast forward to 1996 and my wife and I walk into the Dillinger Museum and it was an ART GALLERY!!!!! And not just any Art Gallery but a Thomas Kinkade Art Gallery....It was awful.......

I have bought many a Peterson Pipe from the "Men's Toy Store" however...Nice to see them getting into firearms....

 

[throttletony]

great post, thanks for the write up.

it doesn't take much convincing to get my wife to go to Nashville

 

[walleyepw]

Will be having a date with the wife this weekend. She enjoys Nashville and the shops, Now maybe I can enjoy a couple of shops!

 

[dak109]

My love of Nashville ended when they closed the John Dillinger Museum......About 18 years ago my new bride and I went there (I had not been in a while) and I kept telling her how cool the Dillinger museum was and how it was a big part of my childhood...We would go camping at Brown County State Park annually and the Dillinger museum was something I would always go to......

Fast forward to 1996 and my wife and I walk into the Dillinger Museum and it was an ART GALLERY!!!!! And not just any Art Gallery but a Thomas Kinkade Art Gallery....It was awful.......

I have bought many a Peterson Pipe from the "Men's Toy Store" however...Nice to see them getting into firearms....

the owner of the Dillenger museum died,unexpectedly. Most of the stuff ended up in Crown Point if memory serves, they had a smaller museum that is now a larger one. Loved that place when I was a kid.

 

[bikeman]

Just a hop, shkip and a jump from Unionville. Guess I will make over this weekend. Thanks for the write up.

 

[gregkl]

I'll have to hit all three the next time I am in town. My wife takes our dog to a vet there and she thinks Nashville is neat so now that I know there is something there to interest me, we will head that way soon. It is interesting; two of the three are some of best merchandized gun stores I have seen in a long time. Very well done. PSS should send some employees down to see how a retail establishment should look like.

I can see myself patronizing them if their prices are not out of line just based on what I saw and read here.

 

[Alamo]

THREE gun shops!! Nashville has hit the big time.

I grew up there, and remember when Nashville got its second stoplight, its first elevator, its first chain/franchise fast food joint, the Hobnob was Miller's Drug Store, the buildings the gun stores (and Big Woods) were not close to being built yet, and tourists came only in the fall. The closest gun shop was in Bean Blossom, and the nearest pizza was in Bloomington. Now it has three gun stores, a brewery (or two?), and pizza out the wazzoo. The times, they are a'changin'.

 

[tat2clod]

Looks like I'll have to go the next time the ol lady says wanna go to Brown County?

 

[shooter521]

Bump! I found myself in Nashville with the wife and kid today, and remembered this thread. We visited Men's Toy Shop and Apache Tactical.

Men's Toy Shop is a physically small space and was packed with people, but we were still able to get around and see what we wanted to see, more or less. The firearm selection was rather limited. The knife selection was better. The handmade wooden plaques described in the OP were really, really cool.

Apache Tactical is a spacious, clean, well-lit and well-organized shop, with a great selection of Oakley glasses and apparel, knives, firearm accessories, optics, and outdoor/survival/tactical gear. Prices appeared to be very competitive. BUT they really need to get an FFL and start carrying some guns! It was kinda weird seeing the complete line of Magpul accessories and a case full of Vortex optics on display, without an AR to be found, other than an upper and some barrels in the next room.

The one thing that disappointed me about both shops was that, aside from a perfunctory greeting when we came in and "have a nice day" as we left, nobody asked us if we needed help, offered to show us anything, or engaged us in conversation. And at Apache, we were the only customers in the store! Nashville is a tourist town - a simple "where are you guys from?" or "is this your first time in?" would've been an easy ice-breaker. Heck, we weren't 10 seconds inside the Carmel Corn place when the kid behind the counter was explaining the history of the business, all the different products they sold, and what was on sale that day. It's called hustle. Get some.

We did not get down to Buck Shot III, partially because it was getting late and we were about shopped out by the time we got to that end of town, and partially because I don't recall seeing them listed on the map in the Nashville visitor's magazine we were looking at (I was not able to log in and reference this thread during our visit). Guess we have something to look forward to for next time!

Thanks again to LMW for creating this thread. I am glad that Nashville finally has some shops to offset all the candy/ice cream/fudge, blown glass, nick-nack and artsy-fartsy stuff.

 

[sugarcreekbrass]

Thought about starting a new thread but thought I would bring this one back up. My wife and I took my stepson and one of his friends to Brown County during spring break. We zip lined and stayed at the Abe Martin Inn. I searched for this thread to find what the gun shops were in Nashville. Men's Toy Shop was closed the day we were there but the other two were open. Definitely a nice change from all the other shops that I had to go into, even though I never bought anything!! Just wanted to share that Apache Tactical had an 8# tub of Titegroup along with other powders, including Varget, and quite a bit of primers.

 

[307SD]

The original post was excellent info, thank you to LMW. Thank you sir, may I please have another. When you get a chance of course.

 

[bonkers1919]

IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, GO DURING THE WEEK!!!!!!!!!!! So crowded during the weekend with tourists it's hard to enjoy Nashville. I live 10 miles from Nashville and will do anything to avoid SR 46 and 135 on the weekends.

Sidebar... If you are going to the Story Inn on a weekend via SR 135, slow down and stay in your lane. I ride Sport bike motorcycles. I can not tell you how many times CARS AND MOTORCYCLES have drifted into my lane.