Coal Creek Armory

[Major Kong]

I've been a very vocal critic of CCA for a while now based on multiple previous experiences. I decided to drop in today to ask some questions about Class 3 stuff and see what suppressors they had on hand. Today's experience was exactly the opposite of my last two or three times in the store. I received excellent customer service from two different employees and had all of my questions answered. They gained me back as a customer today.

I figure if I take the time to bash them when they suck I can at least praise them when they do a great job.

[tennessee01tacoma]

I too have had bad experiences at cca in the past. I took my hcp class at the cca outpost on gallaher rd 2 weeks ago and have nothing bad to say. It was very informative and somewhat entertaining, but the class is put on by a 3rd party company. That being said the day of the class the staff in the showroom were very helpful.

[Caster]

Hey, even Charlie Sheen deserves a 24th chance.

[RobertNashville]

I've only been there once (since I don't exactly live in that area) but I have nothing bad to say about my one experience.

I would say that on any given day at any given shop you always have the chance of running into an employee who is having a bad day or just isn't down with the concept of customer service and I try not to draw conclusions about one or two bad experiences. Of course, if you run into that almost every time you go there then you likely have a systemic problem.

[ftncityfatboy]

Here we go again........

[Lumber_Jack]

Here we go again........

What do you mean, he was giving the store a compliment.

[Garufa]

CCA threads are always entertaining. Glad you had a good experience there Kong. Personally, I've never had a bad experience at the place. Don't shop there much but when I stop by from time to time it's OK.

[Garufa]

What do you mean, he was giving the store a compliment.

Negativity always ensues in a thread about Coal Creek.

[Lumber_Jack]

Negativity always ensues in a thread about Coal Creek.

Right, but not in this thread. So I didn't get the " here we go again". He should have said "well this is new"

[Major Kong]

Here we go again........

Yeah, cmon Ron, this one was positive. I'm trying to give praise as freely as I give criticism...

[TGO David]

Giving credit where credit is due is always a good policy. Hopefully they'll make that the norm instead of the exception.

[LI0NSFAN]

It has gotten A LOT better in the last 6-8 mo. They got a new manager and seem to be focused on customer service. I have never had a bad experience at CCA but have witnessed an employee being a jerk to someone about a year ago. That guy no longer works there so I think they have done some weeding out of the bad seeds.

[JReedEsq]

I shoot there every couple of weeks. I'm usually alone and try to stop during "off peak" times like lunch time on a Wednesday etc... I'm a fairly busy guy so I shoot alone and usually just browse for a few minutes to see if they have any new handguns etc... I've never had a bad experience.

[Guest nysos]

It has gotten A LOT better in the last 6-8 mo. They got a new manager and seem to be focused on customer service. I have never had a bad experience at CCA but have witnessed an employee being a jerk to someone about a year ago. That guy no longer works there so I think they have done some weeding out of the bad seeds.

I think someone told me that it changed ownership, either way, new managers or owners it has changed for the better. Their prices on most guns were still pretty high imo, but I havent been in there looking around in the last 4 months or so. They may have finally started to come down. I always shoot there when it comes to handguns as it is so close to me. I just wish they were a little more strict on the random idiots that are shooting there. I have left a few times on occasion because they didn't address an issue with another person there.

[LI0NSFAN]

The not addressing the idiot factor is the reason that I did not continue my membership. The last 10 or so time I went it seemed like someone was violating some general safty rules and it was never addressed. I have seen a guy point a loaded weaon at himself to look down the barrel and then fire off a few downrange, mulitiple guys shooting at the same time on a lane, walking around with a loaded weapon in there hand, I even saw a guy shooting blindfolded to practice night shooting. The cust service has gotten a lot better but I do think that not having a dedicated range officer is the only thing standing in the way of them being a goto range.

I asked about the pricing being high and the person I talked to said that the managment before was buying at to high of a price and they had to sell off the oldstuff before the new items witht the better pricing could be put out. I think they are still a little high but they still have better prices than the big box stores.They have glocks priced starting at 500, sig 229 for 800, and 1911's starting at 600. They do get guns with extras so that brings the price up so it looks like the prices are high.

[Guest nysos]

The not addressing the idiot factor is the reason that I did not continue my membership. The last 10 or so time I went it seemed like someone was violating some general safty rules and it was never addressed. I have seen a guy point a loaded weaon at himself to look down the barrel and then fire off a few downrange, mulitiple guys shooting at the same time on a lane, walking around with a loaded weapon in there hand, I even saw a guy shooting blindfolded to practice night shooting. The cust service has gotten a lot better but I do think that not having a dedicated range officer is the only thing standing in the way of them being a goto range.

I have only walked out about 3 times or so. Most of the time I try to go when it is slow, and get a lane off to the side. The last time I walked out my dad and I were there and a guy had rented an airweight 38spl. He couldn't handle the recoil at all and to compensate kept pushing the gun lower and lower and aiming upwards. It was to the point where it looked like he was holding the gun out in front of his crotch, and was blasting holes into the ceiling trying to aim at his target. We were catching pieces of led ricocheting off things he was hitting so we walked out. As we mentioned this as we left, he returned the gun to the counter was complaining about "is this the lightest thing you have in here!?". I don't think he realized a light gun didn't equate to less recoil.

[Sam1]

The not addressing the idiot factor is the reason that I did not continue my membership.

Such as someone giving a lesson to other new shooters on how his Glock was a special model that was designed to never need cleaning? Or how he had special bullets made that would "go through thick clothing and then explode when it touched flesh"

Sometimes it's hard to pretend you can't hear through your ear plugs... But arguing with an idiot makes you look stupid too

[Erik88]

CCA is hit or miss. I've had several bad experiences and a few good ones. The owner really is a world class prick though. I have heard him talk trash about a certain member here who really didn't seem to deserve it.

[LI0NSFAN]

CCA is hit or miss. I've had several bad experiences and a few good ones. The owner really is a world class prick though. I have heard him talk trash about a certain member here who really didn't seem to deserve it.

Pretty sure that the owner you are talking about is not around anymore. I have not seen the guy you speak of since the change over. I never delt with that guy one on one but have heard the same type of comments from him about guys I know did not desreve it.

[BrasilNuts]

A change of ownership would be a huge plus for CCA.

[Guest bulluck533]

Well they might have been good this time let us know if they can make it 2 in a row haha

I have only been there 4 times and really didn't have much good or bad things to say about it.

They really didn't even acknowledge that I was there which could be good and bad depending on if I

ever needed help.

[gnmwilliams]

Prices on the shelf may seem a little high but that is because they expect you to haggle a little. I got my SR1911 for $650 when they had one. Shelf price was $799. It never hurts to ask.

[Guest SpicyMchaggis]

While their range may be a proverbial ####-show, Scott is a good guy. Really the only one worth talking to.

[gjohnsoniv]

While their range may be a proverbial ####-show, Scott is a good guy. Really the only one worth talking to.

It's just that. I've seen people catch targets on fire and then set piles of brass on fire.

[Guest alloyguitar]

I've been to coal creek twice. First time was with a friend shopping for a suppressor about a year and a half ago. Long story short the counter guy insulted him by saying that he couldn't afford one, and he ended up purchasing it elsewhere.

Second time was to use the range with a friend of the family about 2 months ago. It was a slow day so it wasn't bad. Plus, the girl at the counter let my buddy return a box of ammo he bought but didn't shoot, even though it was bending the rules a lot, which was pretty cool of them. Definitely seems like their new management is working for them.

so I'm about neutral on CCA. I've never purchased anything from there, but I think I would if they had what I was looking for.