Walmart

[steve]

I picked up a Simmoms 8-point 3x9x40 at Walmart.  When I got home I checked the price on it against my distributors price.  Walmart charged me $49.96 for the scope and the manufacturers suggest price is $49.99.  Scope went back.  Walmart likes to brag about there low price "THATS A JOKE"

[huntsman]

Not only does Walmart brag about low prices when some 30 to 50% of their inventory is often NOT the lowest price around, but they very often don't stock anything but the most common products. Lately they have begun to stock quite a lot of junk products as well (contrary to their infancy when they stocked mostly superior products). The Simmons 8-point and all of the rest of their scopes are no exception. Be glad you sent it back and save up some more money and buy a good scope. You'll be glad in the long run. JMHO

[TheOpticZone]

Or they are good for having a sale and only having one available in stock.

[victorcharlie]

I stopped in at my local gun shop and chewed the fat for an hour or so with the owner.  According to him, a Walmart gun is not identical to a gun purchased some where else.  He gave me a couple of examples, one being a winchester 94.  He says the wood is much different on a Walmart gun.  He also told me to look at a Winchester model 70.  His has a removable box magazine and he tell's me walmart doesn't.  

I know years ago, when everything in a circular saw was a "skil saw", Walmart went to skil and asked them to build 10,000 low end skil saws that would sell for less than $30.  Skil did, and Walmart sold truck loads of them.  Skil's reputations suffered as the cheaper saw's just didn't hold up, and Skil was bought out by foreign competition several years back, but the brand name is not near as popular now as it was, and my have been dropped.  People who work at Skil blame the Walmart deal and labeled it the beginning of the end for the Skil brand.

I personally haven't looked that close, but I do believe the possibility  exist that a model 94 bought at walmart may very well be slightly different than non Walmart 94's.  Same with other goods.

I will be looking closely from now on.

[bluebayou]

I don't know about differences between the "WalMart" Winchesters and a private FFL's Winchesters.  I find that hard to believe.  I can tell you that the WalMart and Skil issue more or less true.  Skil gives their tools' model numbers a "coded" meaning.  A circ saw is a "5000" series for example.  A circ saw with the numbers "5200" is a low-grade, consumer saw.  A circ saw with the numbers "5800" is a high-grade, contractor saw.  The higher numbers in the second number place are durability ratings more or less.  Skil was bought by the Robert Bosch Group, largest tool company in world.  They sell their lower end tools at WalMart but not their Bosch tools.  This is the same as Black and Decker and their Dewalt tools not being sold at Wal Mart.  They don't want to cheapen their image.  Kinda off the topic there.

[KN]

The only difference may be cosmetic. I bought a kind of green laminated stocked 10-22 from walmart and was told they were the only ones that had them. When they buy a hundred thousand of some thing they can do this. As far as code numbers on products being different, manufacturers will sell special packages of a product to a retailer and the retailer puts there "special" number on it. Thats why when you look at a manufacturers web site you usually can't find the same package that the retailer is selling. Its walmart or home depot or lowes specific.   KN

[KN]

Swampman, Thats what I was trying to say. The only real difference is basically cosmetic.   KN