Well, I dropped by the local Cabela's to grab some things and decided I might as well check out the airgunning stuff section, both in the main area and in the Bargain Cave. Now, don't get me wrong- the Cabela's I go to has always had the usual big box store markup compared to online retailers, so I'm not usually expecting anything worthwhile. But they do occasionally have the pellets on sale or a gun will turn up in the Bargain Cave for a respectable price.
Not so this time. Instead, in the Bargain Save I saw 'the usual suspects:' a few Hunter Extremes and a Diana 460 Mag. I'm guessing that people new to airgunning probably consistently get the supermag's then discover they can't shoot them and return 'em. Just as I was about to leave the Bargain Cave I caught a glimpse of something that looked like a bolt amidst a pile of gunstocks. I walked over and fished out a Benjamin 397! I looked it over and it was dinged up pretty good. I thought "oh, they should have a good price on this if it's beat up." Then I took a look and saw that the discounted price was $140. Geeeezzzz…
Fast forward to the main airgun section. They had the usual Gamo + Umarex + Crosman selection, heavy on the Gamos. I saw an endcap loaded with "New Raptor Supersonic Performance Ballistic Alloy Pellets." Oh lord. Well, I guess velocity sells. Then I saw another. Then another. Then another. Then I finally made it to the pellet section which, of course, had a section for the raptors. And don't forget the ones packaged with the guns too. They were everywhere. Talk about depressing! I think I also saw some Gamo Rockets labeled as "GAMO PBA Armor Piercing Pellets." Geeeezzzz again.
Looking through the pellets everything was, of course, a bit pricier than online retailers, especially the Predators at $17. I saw Gamo Master Points and Magnums in .22 for $4, but I got suspicious and, sure enough, they rang up as $5. They also had the Cabela's branded pellets in .22, which look to be the same thing as CPHPs. They were $10 for 500. Still overpriced, but I got some to see how they do because I see them at steep discount on occasion. If they perform well then I might stock up sometime in the future when they're cheap again. It'd be nice to not have to wait for ammo to ship from an online retailer. A quick sift through the tin didn't reveal any flawed pellets. Hopefully I can get out tomorrow and do some shooting, because if not then I'm probably done until next year
I mean, ok, the high prices are to be expected. But the used stuff has always been at ok prices. $140 for a beat up 397? And Raptors all over the place, being advertised explicitly as supersonic? And "Armor Piercing Pellets?!"
Whoever's setting the used prices at that Cabela's is officially greedy now. And whoever is in charge of Gamo USA's marketing is an evil genius. Emphasis on evil. And unfortunately on the genius part too.
Oh well, I guess.
