There’s nothing wrong with card counting, per se…. after all, what you do in the privacy of your own skull is strictly your business. But, if the casino catches on that you’re counting cards and getting a bit of an advantage they will ban you from the casino (assuming they first don’t take you in the back room for a little ‘talk’.) I think Cabela’s is about two steps away from posting my face on a sign at the register saying “Do not admit”. Why? Well…here’s the story…
The local Cabela’s had a deal where they would price match any store within 100 miles that a) had a physical presence (“Brick-n-mortar”) and b) had the item in stock. A reasonable policy, I think. And then it changed. Now they will price match any place that meets the criteria but they removed the proximity qualifier. This means if a legitimate gun shop in Arkansas has the price cheaper, they’ll match it. And that’s when my brain went into ”game the system’ mode. (I swear, my Indian name should be “Dances With Weasels”.)
Cabela’s had a Ruger PC9 carbine for $549. My dealer cost is about $430. This outfit had it for $408.99. So, I print out their advertisement off their website, print a picture from Google Street View of their physical store, and trot down to Cabela’s. Turns out, Cabela’s still had their 10% off deal going on with the gift cards. So, I bought a $410 gift card for…$369. ($410 x .9 = $369) Headed to the gun counter, had some back-n-forth with the manager (Who grumbled that he would be selling the gun at $10 below his cost..I didn’t bother to tell him that with the gift card it was actually around $40 below his cost.) And I walked out the door with my shiny new Ruger carbine at $60 below my dealer price and didn’t have to pay $30 to ship it.
You gotta remember: pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. So, I only plan on abusing this sort of policy fairly infrequently (like when theres a 10% sale on gift cards). Because even though technically it is company policy to price match in the way that they are doing it, and therefore I should be able to do it as much as I want, it would be a bad idea to piss off the people there too much.
As an aside, the history of me wanting a takedown centerfire carbine goes back quite a ways. I wanted something that could fit in a ‘three-day pack’. The AR was out because with a 16″ barrel you still had about 8″ of receiver on the end making it way too long for the bag. Choices, at the time, were pretty limited and thats one of the reasons I got the Uzi. (Note this was before the ‘arm brace’ craze.) However, this Ruger will probably replace the Uzi in that regard since it will share mags with my Glocks. Thus, a tidy little bag sitting in a corner will fit my needs with a little carbine and pistol that share ammo and mags, allowing me to streamline logistics considerably. I am pleased. Only took about ten years.
A Good choice! I paid moree like 1100$ for mine with the long barrel (47.25 cm) version (legal on a hunting license in sweden). Sweet gun, especially at what you paid for it.
Now i only need to prioritize the funds for a modern sight. I put a aimpoint 3000 ön it just to have a red dot for the time being.
Never heard of an Aimpoint 3000, so I looked it up!! Came out in 1989. Wow 30 year old optic. Yep, time to upgrade.
score!!
Good buy, brother. Got a can for it?
A buddy has one of those and I got to shoot it last weekend. Seems like an oversized 10/22. Shot well even with basic sights.
Can’t think of what I would do with it though.
Something more compact like a CZ scorpion “pistol” would be my choice. A good fits in a backpack/ overnight bag motel room gun kind of thing.
I’ve got a way you could save more money. So your local Rosauers (other stores probably do as well) occasionally puts gift cards on promo (buy $50 save 5 or Buy $100 save 10) The latter is currently going on during until probably the 18th. So if you buy a $100 visa (note there is a $5.95 fee from Visa) you would save $4.05 from the discount making that Visa card $95.95. Buy a few of those and you could have saved another $20+ by using those to buy the Cabela’s cards.
The gift card promo’s are usually around Valentines day, Mothers Day/ Graduation, X-Mas. The discount is through Blackhawk which is the company that services and processes the cards so i’d venture to guess other stores that sell them may run promo’s as well.
Looks like Cabela’s has added to their policy now:
Online:
If you find a lower advertised price online from any of the below approved online competitors (only), we will match that price.
Approved Online Competitor List: Academy, Backcountry, Brownells, Dicks Sporting Goods, Field & Stream, Gander Outdoors, L.L. Bean, Mack’s Prairie Wings, Midway USA, REI, Scheels, and Sportsman’s Warehouse.
Cheapest I could find was $499
They still have the 100 mile retail store limitation on there as well…
Bought a S&W 380EZ at Bass Pro a couple months ago. I mentioned price matching, and that the pawn/gun store across the street had the gun for $26 less. The guy behind the counter volunteered that he’d look in his computer to see if he could do better. Yup, he found Bud’s Gun Shop had it for $80 less, plus by signing up for their credit card got a $25 gift card.
It never hurts to ask.