“My dad likes to say he gave me an unlimited budget and I doubled it.” – Garrett Gordy, co-owner Gordy & Sons Outfitters in Is This the World’s Fanciest Gun Store? [via houstoniamag.com]

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

29 COMMENTS

  1. I like o/u and sxs shotguns. A lot. Engraving doesn’t do a thing for me. I guess I don’t have a refined eye.

    • Yes on both shotguns, and the engraving ain’t my thing either, mostly because I’m afraid of ruining really nice things.

      Not sure why you’d do “fancy” on a gun store? I don’t fear ruining those, but it’s not an attraction. If they have clientele that dig it enough to keep their doors open and the lights on, then good on them. Pearls before swine, maybe, but the swine buy guns and don’t require you to go to all that trouble.

    • I had similar thoughts about engraving until I read an older work by W.W Greener about various break-action shotguns. His point was that as a gun aged and wore, the plainer guns ended up looking rough, whereas a bit of engraving would give the gun a nice character. It was the difference between a gun that looked like a classic, vs a gun that just looked tired. I looked around online for examples, and I think I agree with him.

      • Now that you mention it, if you have a plain gun and it gets a knick it sticks out, but if it’s engraved then the knick might not be noticed.

      • save the engraving money for refinishing down the line then , you could probably get a gun refinished 3 or 4 times maybe more for the cost of some engraving

  2. looks like FUDD headquarters.

    ETA:
    “The store is a hunter and fisherman’s paradise.”
    nope, being in the sticks is a hunter/fisherman’s paradise, not standing in a retail store.

  3. Over-under and fancy shotguns do not resonate with me and I have ZERO interest in even looking at them much less purchasing them.

    Having said that, I am glad that they resonate with other people and fully support their efforts to peruse and/or own them. And I wish that store the best as they set-about selling such shotguns to people who like them.

    • I want an O/U for turkey hunting, set one barrel for close shots, and the other for long ones. It doesn’t have to be fancy.

      • Oh, now that is an interesting idea: one barrel with a cylinder choke and the other barrel with a turkey choke.

        • Chokes of different patterns are usually how side by side as well as many over/under shotguns are set up. It’s a big part of the utility.

        • And you can mix and match different loads to different chokes. Load of 7.5s in one barrel for the close flushing bird and a load of 6s in the other in case you miss that first shot and need a little more punch at distance.

  4. Fancy guns are like jewelry. They’re a way for the rich to flaunt their wealth.

    As a died-in-the-wool capitalist, I’m fine with that. But I would like to think that if I had that much surplus cash, I would disburse it in more meaningful or charitable pursuits.

    • Curtis in IL,

      But I would like to think that if I had that much surplus cash, I would disburse it in more meaningful or charitable pursuits.

      You and me both.

      When someone recently asked me what I would do if I won the $500 million Powerball jackpot, I was thinking of an extensive charity to intensively mentor young people leaving foster care at the age of 18 … or an extensive charity to provide MAJOR intervention and intensive counseling for families struggling with serious personal/family crises.

      Sadly, I believe that level of concern about other people’s well-being means I would never be ruthless enough to achieve the professional/business success that leads to that kind of disposable wealth.

      • With 500 mil, how about an extensive charity operation for the Chimps in the TTAG comment section?

        *Hint-hint* 😉

        • I’ll have you know sir that I self identify as an orangutan. You have insulted me greatly by lumping me in with the chimps.

  5. After watching people engrave guns, I understand why it costs so much money, especially if someone who really knows their stuff. However, spending that kind of money on something that ornate, especially when it’s meant to be used, I can’t do it. Even if I had all the money I couldn’t spend, I’d buy guns I could thrash on.

  6. Makes me want to plan a day trip to Houston just to browse. Looking at fine guns, not a problem. Buying one on the other hand…..

  7. I’m glad these guys achieved enough success in the oil business to be able to fund their little high-end man cave. That’s what it is, though: play time at their expensive hobby.

    If this thing doesn’t eventually turn a profit and demonstrate that it’s a real business, the IRS will classify it as exactly that–a hobby–and deny all business tax deductions, leaving a huge tax bill behind.

    • From an accounting standpoint, the inventory doesn’t hit the P&L statement until it’s sold. Then it’s written off as COGS. To turn a profit, they just need to pay rent, insurance, payroll, utilities, etc.

      Besides, I’m sure they can afford really good accountants who will show just enough profit to keep the IRS off their backs.

  8. I have a photo of my great-great grandfather with a Pieper double barrel shotgun, holding a mess of rabbits he’d shot for that evening’s supper. He’s dressed in what looks like a hunting suit (for lack of a better way to describe it), dapper and classy as f*ck. I’ve loved how classy double barrel shotguns look, especially after that. A Pieper side-by-side is literally only gun on my wishlist that I want to own for the sake of owning and keeping in the safe, never to be shot. I wish it could literally be his shotgun, but I’m willing to settle for a similar one.

  9. This may be madness, but I’ve always wanted a nicely engraved semi-auto rifle. Maybe a Garand or something, come to think of it.

  11. This place must have sawdust on the floor to absorb all the drool. I didn’t have a reason to visit Texas until today.

  12. As with most articles about beautiful guns, many people say they wouldn’t buy one because they would never use it, for fear or diminishing its value.
    You are missing the point entirely. The point of a beautiful tool is that you must use it to enjoy it. The value is provided not in the resale potential, but in the full experience of the object. The more you use it, the more valuable it becomes, not less.
    The highest honor you could pay a gunsmith who built a fine rifle of shotgun would be to treat it respectfully, but to hunt with it and shoot it until it was so well used it had to be repaired. When returned to the gunsmith for repairs, share some of those experiences.
    Just the wood for the stock on my dream gun, being made now, has cost me $2k. When I hand it to one of my sons, I hope that it is well worn, with nicks and chips and gouges from hunts all over the world. I hope that it is in such a well experienced shape that he would worry over its safe use.

Comments are closed.