What Distinguishes Smokin’ Gun Worx from Others?

In Doc’s August interview on the Riley & Joe Morning Show he highlighted several key aspects that distinguish Smokin Gun Worx from other gun ranges.

Some of these include:

• A focus on excellent customer service, which includes a welcoming attitude toward new shooters, ensuring they feel comfortable and supported.
• Prioritizing safety by having a range safety officer on duty at all times.
• Offering a variety of firearms for rent, allowing customers to try out different options before making a purchase.
• Extensive training classes, from basic handgun classes to concealed carry renewals, emphasizing the importance of proficiency with firearms.
• Diversity of staff, including knowledgeable women who can assist customers.
• A certified gunsmith is on site for firearm repairs and maintenance.
• Cleanliness and safety are paramount at the facility, with regular lead testing and spotless restrooms.
• Smokin Gun Worx recently expanded into archery, and plans to grow this department further.

Tune in to 1440 WROK every second Monday of the month as Doc joins Riley O’neil and Joe Dredge to share his expertise and passion for firearms.

Read the transcript of the interview from August 12, 2024:

Interviewer: Yeah, this segment of the show brought to you by Smokin Gun Worx, and our friend Doc is here in the studio with us. How are you, sir?

Doc: Very good, and good morning, gentlemen.

Interviewer: Let me see. Does he have his switch on that one?

Interviewer: xx. I didn’t know that.

Doc: Good morning, gentlemen.

Interviewer: Yeah, now we got you. How’s things at Smokin Gun Worx?

Doc: Very good. Over the summer, it’s a little slower, but things are looking good for us.

Interviewer: Last time you were in, I talked about my trip out there, which I still think about quite frequently, as a matter of fact. You have one of the finest operations I have ever been in, and I’ve been in a bunch of gun ranges around the country. Most recently out in Vegas. I hit a couple of their ranges out there. They’re nice. They’re well-equipped. They’re well-run and all that. They don’t hold a candle to what you’re doing at Smoking Gunworks. Why is there such a gulf of difference between what you’re doing and what I see in so many other places?

Doc: So many times the ball is dropped with customer service to start with. Just a simple hello or acknowledgement when somebody walks in. May I help you rather than a condescending attitude? We get a lot of new shooters in, and they’re very intimidated by the firearms to begin with. The worst thing you can do is have a poor attitude when they come in and have their questions.

Interviewer: I’ve been in ranges where someone who was, like you talked about, very new to it but wanted to learn, wanted to learn everything, wanted to learn it right, was condescended to, talked down to, and told what they needed. Who cares what you want? This is what you need. I was uncomfortable as a customer who knows his way around it a little bit, watching this sort of thing take place. Then I was over at your place where you have a wonderfully diverse staff. You have lots of women on your staff as well.

Doc: Yes, we do.

Interviewer: Who know their stuff.

Doc: Quite well. You must compliment them.

Interviewer: You’re not rolling anybody out there. Look at the diversity I have. Everybody there knows their stuff, is wonderful at customer service, and can answer your questions.

Doc: And we want to know what the customer can best handle. What will fit properly in their hand? What are they going to use it for? There are a lot of recommendations out there. Well, you need this particular caliber firearm or whatnot, but what can they actually handle? That’s what our rental cases are all about. We may not have exactly what you’re looking for, but we’ve got something very close. Can you shoot it proficiently? Can you handle it?

Interviewer: Yeah. So when you come to the range and you want to practice, you have an availability of a bunch of firearms that people can then rent to try out to see if this is the suitable firearm for them without having to go out and buy something and go, “I hate this stuff.”

Doc: And why did I get this? Yes. And we really want to hurdle that problem. And then when you’re on the range with our range safety officer, they’re there to help. Answer questions if there’s a malfunction of any kind, make sure they’re safe. It’s a very important part of the whole overall experience at Smokin Gun Worx.

Interviewer: And the range officer, that’s not something you see everywhere.

Doc: That is correct. I don’t know why, but we decided right away, if we’re going to have the range, we want to arrange a safety officer on duty at all times when they’re actively shooting. It helps maintain safety, of course, is paramount, but somebody might have a problem or have a question about something. And the guys are out there ready to answer those questions.

Interviewer: Yeah, they’re there to keep you safe, make it better, help you understand what you’re doing, and enjoy what you’re doing more because going to the range is supposed to be fun.

Doc: It truly is. And it can be intimidating. We want to, again, get the customers over that hurdle to have them enjoy their time in the range.

Interviewer: One of the great ways of getting over that hurdle is to take some classes, which I know you offer extensive classes.

Doc: Yes, from one-on-ones, basic handgun classes, concealed carry classes, concealed carry renewals, getting your FOID Card or concealed carry license is just the start. You need to be proficient with the firearm.

Interviewer: Sure. Don’t just get your permit, buy the firearm, and then put it in the safe and never touch it again. Be proficient with it.

Interviewer: If you got a driver’s license, but you never sat behind the wheel ever, ever, ever, ever, where do you think you are 10 years down the road with road skills?

Doc: Exactly.

Interviewer: Firearms are the same thing.

Doc: They truly are.

Interviewer: Yeah, it’s a skill that can deteriorate, it’s like riding a bike. You don’t actually forget things, but you can forget important processes.

Doc: Exactly, and that’s what we’re there for. If you would like a class, we have plenty of those available. A lot of my staff are actually licensed instructors. We have one in particular that’s quite the competitive shooter. So even me shooting with him on the range, I always learn something.

Interviewer: Oh yeah, and that’s the key to developing and learning more.

Doc: Exactly.

Interviewer: There’s a lot of noise out there when it comes to guns. There’s a lot of noise when it comes to what you need, how you should do it, how you should go about it. You remove all of that noise because you’ve got the pros there who can walk you through everything step by step.

Doc: And that is exactly our goal. When you leave, we want you to make sure you’re comfortable with that firearm and proficient with it.

Interviewer: For people who’ve been to another range or another place and went, “Well, it kind of seems like there’s the gun bro crowd around there. I didn’t feel like I fit in because I got some macho types who know their guns and they’re looking over at me.” That doesn’t happen at your place.

Doc: No, we really do not want that to ever happen.

Interviewer: Yeah, you’re going to be greeted warmly. Your questions will be answered. You’ll be guided through whatever it is you’re looking for. Your website is spectacular. One of the great things I think about your website, I know you’ll be embarrassed by this, but it’s you. You’ve got some wonderful videos up on the Smokin Gun Worx website that detail how to do this, how to do the [inaudible] equipment, best practices.

Doc: We really enjoy doing that. We really do. We really don’t want to toot our own horn or anything like that.

Interviewer: Go ahead.

Doc: But we really do want our customers well-informed, and not a lot of BS on the line for fear of a better term. We really want them to be informative. We’ve got a couple out there on hunting rounds, the new hunting cartridges. We tested them out. What did we find? We compared them. We have cleaning videos on there that are wonderful.

Interviewer: Yes, they are. I’ve gone through them.

Doc: Yes. Well, they work quite well and we’re extending the list of firearms that we clean and go through. It’s quite a list already, but we’re building on that every day.

Interviewer: Speaking of firearms that you go through as well, you have a gunsmith on site.

Doc: Yes, a certified gunsmith.

Interviewer: Certified gunsmith.

Doc: He is a wonderful young man. He lives and breathes firearms. He knows how to fix them. He’s on it all the time. Loves the history of firearms as well.

Interviewer: So if you’ve got something around the house that, “Well, I don’t know how old this is. I don’t know if it’s in working order. I don’t know what I should do.” [crosstalk].

Doc: We can help out. We so enjoy that, especially the antique firearms. If they’ve been hanging around the house for a long period of time, you never know by a firearm, just by looking at it, if it’s going to work or not. We can check it for function and make sure that it does and make sure you’re safe firing it.

Interviewer: Lots of rules, lots of regulations, lots of hoops to jump through, but your people know all of them. And that’s the other thing. You get armed with knowledge. So there’s no surprise later on about things.

Doc: We want to avoid the surprises. We truly do. So making sure everything works right, making sure the customer’s trained right, making sure that they have exactly what they need.

Interviewer: People have bowling leagues and dart leagues and all that, you’ve got shooting leagues.

Doc: Yes, we do. The one in particular that’s really growing again is the women’s league. They meet once a month. They’re overseen by one of our trainers. They always have a little competition going on. It’s a lot of fun. And we have female shooters from the complete novice to those that have been in it for many years.

Interviewer: Including members of your staff.

Doc: Exactly. My staff is out there as well. They help out. Those that need the help are helped by other customers and of course by the trainer. But it’s an hour every first Monday of the month. It works out quite well. It truly does.

Interviewer: Smokin Gun Worx is a place that you can bring your younger people along to learn and teach them firearm safety and all that goes with it. You can bring mom, you can bring grandma, you can bring other people in as well. They’re all going to be welcomed the same. It won’t be one of those, “Oh good, a group of women over there. Let’s try to ignore them.” No.

Doc: No, we really avoid that. A lot of times, we’ll even have private little parties, or a group of ladies will come in. We’ll cater lunch in for them if they’d like or some dinner and an hour or two on the range. Let them run a whole wide variety of firearms so they can try them out and see if they like them.

Interviewer: Yeah. And usually walking out of there going, “This was the best day ever.”

Doc: Yes. Always with a big smile.

Interviewer: The best day ever. You guys are in Forreston. Now that’s quite a hike. Let me tell you something. It’s worth the ride. It is absolutely worth the ride.

Doc: Thank you. I believe it is as well. I encourage everybody at least to come out and give us a try.

Interviewer: Sure. What haven’t I asked you this morning? You walked in here going, “I want to make sure people know about this.”

Doc: Well, we just started getting involved in archery. We started our own archery department, starting specifically with crossbows, but the area is actually severely underserved for an archery club or an archery department of some sort. Smokin Gun Worx recognized the need and we’re starting to get into their archery.

Interviewer: Oh, that’s really cool. Because there are a lot of people, bow and arrow hunters, archery enthusiasts around this area. You’re right. There’s not many places to go.

Doc: No, there really isn’t. I don’t know why they’re closing, but I had the opportunity to get involved in that. And I look forward to expanding the archery department at Smokin Gun Worx on a regular basis.

Interviewer: Guys, you got to take the ride out to Forrester to go to Smokin Gun Worx. It is so cool. You’re going to love everybody that you encounter there, you’re going to be blown away with just how beautiful, clean… Safety’s number one with you, but cleanliness doesn’t follow by far.

Doc: Oh, it’s a very, very short second on that one. Retail facilities, typically judged by the cleanliness of the restrooms to start with.

Interviewer: Yep. Yours are spotless.

Doc: Yes. We’re very up on that. The facility is always tested for lead, for example, we’re an indoor range. So we have to do our lead test. Not only the air that we’re breathing is ventilated out, always tested to make sure we’re well within limits, but also what tracks out of the range on your shoes. So we’re testing the floor, making sure there’s no lead contamination anywhere in the facility.

Interviewer: I think you’re giving an indicator of how much care goes into Smokin Gun Worx that you have to see in person. Check out the website, smokingunworx.com. That’s your first step. After that, you’re going to see a bunch of things you’re going to go do. You’re going to want to make the ride out. You’re probably going to want to sign yourself up for classes. My son and I are out there at the end of the month for renewal of the CCL. So we practice what we preach. There’s nothing about your place that isn’t to like.

Doc: And I truly look forward to seeing you in the class.

Interviewer: We’ll be out there. Doc, thanks for coming in this morning.

Doc: And thanks for having me, gentlemen.