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:

---

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.

---

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:

---

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.

---

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:

---

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

---

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?

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….

Back a long time ago I was broke- I'd go into town to sell my plasma and go make a payment on my layaway at McBrides. Did the wisdom teeth trial too. Man, that was a disaster.

Anyways, I can't remember the circumstance but one time I must've been with a friend or something and we went into the back gunsmithing area with an employee. I just remember it smelled like every wooden or carpeted surface was absolutely saturated in Hoppes 9. It was glorious.

I've known the McBride family for 40 years

My dad was an Austin cop and he worked behind their gun counter for many years as a 2nd part time job and I would mow the grass at the store
I also mowed Joe and his brother James' yard and their sisters Janice and Jackie
Many fond memories I have spending time in that store and with the McBride's

Joe and his brothers and sisters ran the family business but most of them are dead now and the few left are in poor health, especially Joe, who is 86 years old

Very sad for me to see this store go away. An absolute Austin landmark