[Artist]

Although I have had some good experiences with "behind the counter experts", for the most part, if I had to sum up the general message I have received coming over to me from the "expert" side of the counter, it would be this: "Me (store owner/worker) smart, you dumb."

Over the years, this has turned me int a bit of a suspicious customer, when it comes to acquiring reliable information from store employees. I now tend to do my own research ahead of time, and simply purchase what I already know to be the exact product I'm looking for, regardless of what a store employee may try to convince me of. I've found that they will often try to steer you in the direction of what they have available to sell you (and I guess that's understandable to a degree). I once had a store clerk trying to sell me on Bushnell scope, that Nightforce was garbage. (He wasn't a Nighforce dealer).

Over the years, I've learned more from good forums like this, than I ever learned from the average gun-store employee.