Cards on the table: this page used to be one of our weekly deals emails from 2017. Every price, coupon code, and while-supplies-last offer on it is long dead, so I’ve replaced them with something that won’t expire: how to tell a real deal from a fake one. After nearly two decades of this shop setting prices (I took it over in 2017), I know the game from both sides of the counter.
I’m Lance Rankin, owner and gunsmith at Western Sport in Roanoke, Texas, just north of Fort Worth. Here’s what I’d want you to know before you chase your next discount.
Package deals can be the best value in the store
The headliner in that old email was a 2A Armament rifle bundled with a Sig Romeo4c red dot. Rifle-and-optic packages are often genuinely good math, because the dealer moves two products at once and can price the bundle below buying each separately. The catch: only if you wanted both halves. A package with an optic you’ll immediately replace isn’t a deal, it’s a markup with extra steps. Same logic applies to factory optic-ready pistols sold with the red dot already installed. If the included optic is one you’d have chosen anyway, buy the bundle.
Closeouts are where the real bargains hide
That email had a Daniel Defense MFR rail in Mossy Oak camo marked down to almost nothing. Why? Because camo handguards are a slow seller, and dealers eventually price slow movers to leave. The part was flawless. The finish just wasn’t popular. Discontinued colors, discontinued attachment systems like KeyMod, last year’s model after a refresh: these are the deepest honest discounts in the industry. If function matters more to you than fashion, shop the closeout section first. My list of the best AR-15 part upgrades can help you sort which parts are worth grabbing when they go cheap.
Know the street price before you trust the sale price
A crossed-out MSRP tells you almost nothing. Manufacturers set suggested retail high so everyone can advertise a discount. What matters is the street price, the number a gun actually sells for day to day. Spend ten minutes checking a few reputable dealers before you buy and you’ll know instantly whether that 40 percent off banner is a real markdown or just arithmetic theater.
Factor in the total cost of buying online
Guns bought online ship to a local FFL, and the transfer fee is part of your real price. Ours is $40 plus a $10 NICS check, and fees vary shop to shop, so a slightly cheaper rifle from a distant seller can cost more once the transfer is counted. If the process is new to you, I walk through the whole thing in how to buy a gun online, and Texans can find the state-specific details in how to buy a gun in Texas.
Buy from people who answer the phone
The cheapest price from a seller who won’t answer questions is expensive the first time something goes wrong. Part of what you’re buying from a real shop is a human who can tell you whether that upper will work with your lower, or whether the optic on sale fits your use. We’re a small family operation and I still answer my own email. That’s worth something, and I price accordingly: fair, not gimmicky.
Current inventory
Today’s actual prices live in the shop, not on this page. If you’re weighing a purchase and want a straight opinion, email [email protected] or call 817-393-4000.
Lance Rankin is the owner and Chief Gunsmith of Western Sport, a family-run Type 07 FFL and Class 3/SOT dealer in Roanoke, Texas, serving shooters since 2007. Born and raised in Texas with over 50 years of experience handling firearms, Lance purchased Western Sport in 2017 and turned his lifelong passion into his profession. He specializes in AR-15 and AR-10 platform rifles, manufactures Western Sport’s own AR-15 line under the Rankin Industries brand, and runs the shop’s in-house Cerakote coating operation. When he’s not behind the counter or the workbench, you’ll find him on his ranch deep into the night, hunting coyotes with an AR-15 and thermal optics. Lance holds an MBA and personally shoots and tests the products Western Sport sells.
