From a TSRA email:
"Longtime TSRA Life Business Member McBride's Guns (Austin, TX) will close their doors on January 31, 2026.

We at TSRA wish to thank them for their many years of help with our youth programs, fundraisers, and support.

Bummer. That's where I've bought my last few guns.

Does anyone have any idea what it would cost to establish a gun store or buy a current gun store out and start running it? I have no designs on doing either of the above, but just curious how hard it is to open a brick and mortar gun store and have enough variety of stock and aftermarket stuff to get people in the door.

clarythedrill said:

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Does anyone have any idea what it would cost to establish a gun store or buy a current gun store out and start running it? I have no designs on doing either of the above, but just curious how hard it is to open a brick and mortar gun store and have enough variety of stock and aftermarket stuff to get people in the door.

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We do have a resident gun store owner here, maybe he'll pop in.

But to me, the cost is More than most want to take on. But there is no way to know. You'd need to get into the books and talk to attorneys and accountants, owners, etc and find out why this one is dying. Are they're profits from gun sales? Services? Which is the problem? Are they just old and tired of fooling with it? Some things you can fix with hard work, others you can't. You'd need to assume loans, take on new loans, buy inventory, insurance, the whole 9 yards and then decide if you can make it viable. Do you need a partner for funding? Are you willing to sell or mortgage your home to take out a loan? How are you going to manage partners or get them out when you're up and running? It's a lot to consider.

An iconic business! Bummer to see it go out.

clarythedrill said:

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Does anyone have any idea what it would cost to establish a gun store or buy a current gun store out and start running it? I have no designs on doing either of the above, but just curious how hard it is to open a brick and mortar gun store and have enough variety of stock and aftermarket stuff to get people in the door.

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Paging eyeguy

Thanks…I occasionally pop in there when in the area

It is expensive dirt, but not with Austin regulations and the size of the property. Best use remains retail and "as-is".

I wan in there not long ago and am not surprised. They were pretty thin on inventory outside of guns.


To be honest I was pretty unimpressed with the two sales guys that were there. There was a guy in there with a pretty rare old gun and was trying to get a good price on it. I had an idea of what it was but the sales guys just blew him off. I was kind of surprised.

Glad to hear it is staying open. It is a cool store.

tamc93 said:

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It is expensive dirt, but not with Austin regulations and the size of the property. Best use remains retail and "as-is".

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The land is assessed at $102/SF, which means it's probably worth something close to $150/SF or more. At those prices, you can do a lot of things. One of them is not retail without some multi-level office or multi-family component. If you want to go vertical, the city is surprisingly easy to work with.

This has been in the works for a while - about 3-4 months ago I asked them about ordering a gun and they basically told me to go somewhere else until things get worked out.

Heard some Aggie grads and former football player purchased McBride's Guns. Has anyone else heard the same?

Sad to hear. I bought a Ruger Security Six from there about 40 years ago. One of my first guns.

chet98 said:

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Went in there once years ago with a 12 auto that has always jammed, never ejected shells consistently and so was looking for gunsmith work. Still not sure if they'd work on something like that or not bc the guy I talked to was such an a-hole that I never went back in there. Maybe that experience was the exception….

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Sounds like Carters Country protocol. Had the same experience there. From that time forward, I used their store exclusively to look at and handle firearms for a half hour or more and then I'd go buy it online.

I was in there a few days ago. They will reopen this fall under new ownership. Going through liquidation now of the current assets for the current owner. Then a remodel and reopen.

McBrides was the shop I went in to get ammo for my (then) CHL instructor's license back in the late 2000s. I had plenty of 9 but no .38 for my buddy's .357 I borrowed. We had to shoot revolver and semi-auto. That was during the ammo crunch (Obama had been in about 6 mos or so) and most things were picked over pretty good, but I was able to get what I needed. I think I ended up with .38s, but I don't recall for sure. .357s were fine in that heavy, stainless 66 I shot.

Not so for another guy in my class. Like me, he had borrowed a revolver, but his was a .44 mag. He went everywhere in Austin looking for .44 Special and NO ONE had any! So he had to get the .44 mag loads and he had never fired the .44!

So we get to the range the last day of class and he breezes through the semi-auto test but misses the revolver test. I don't think he missed it by much, but he had to retake it. Meanwhile, most of the rest of us were back at a covered patio getting our certificate or whatever when one of the guys is telling us all this -- the .44 mag stuff and all. The guy that did the retake finally walks up and I holler out, did you pass? He gives us a thumbs up and we all applaud!

We were cutting up and giving him a hard time, but he was a good sport about it. We were all glad he passed. I SERIOUSLY doubt he's ever fired another .44 mag since!! Probably avoids Dirty Harry movies as well!