I don't buy at the store.

I'll walk off if they start yacking at me. But I have overhead them telling others some scary/stupid stuff.

'What you need is a 6.5 CM, it's a lot more powerful than a .270 or .308'

'You really can't save any money with handloads because factory ammo is more consistent/powerful. They use special powder that we (the public) can't get.'

'You should buy the 12 gauge. In a pinch, you can shoot 20 ga in a 12, but not the other way around. It's more versatile.'

I went to Cabela's to buy my wife a 357 revolver, which she wanted, I didn't pick it out for her but it was gonna be her 18th anniversary gift. The "gentleman" behind the counter began to tell me that a 357 is too much for my wife and I should consider getting her a 38 instead. I asked him how many times he had watched my wife shoot my 44 mag?.?. He then insisted the recoil is much worse in the 357...as he rambled my 16 year old daughter said "daddy this guy knows zero about guns, when are we leaving"? We walked off. I went to Academy told the kid that I deal with regularly my wanted a 357 he laughed and said of she does.
She'd go into Academy and buys ammo all the time when we were going to the range and had bought a lot of big bore ammo so he knows she'll shoot anything you hand her.

I always do my best to research my purchase decisions for big ticket items before I go to the store to buy them. I also believe just about everyone has useful information to share that comes from their own experience. That's also true of salespeople who see a lot of buyers and hear what they have to say about certain products. No matter the situation, you always learn more by asking legitimate questions, rather than trying to come off as the know-it-all. It can lead to answers and useful information that's seldom offered to others. In other words, you can come off as a prick and leave with nothing more than you knew when you came into the store, or you can be respectful and possibly learn something of value that you never thought about.

Like how to kill an elephant with a .22 by shooting it in a vien? Or that you can indeed shoot 20 shells in a 12 guage in a pinch? Some people just don't need to be giving gun advice. Period.

There's a lot more useful information about buying a gun than what you know about the gun itself. What goes on behind the scenes in any business can be very useful for a multitude of reasons. This is especially true during today's shortages guns, ammo, and so many things. I've had clerks tell me when something is about to go on sale, or when new stock is set to arrive. Do you think they're going to offer that information to someone who comes off as a prick?

I have heard all kinds of crap over the years, but I decided long ago to not interfere. If someone is lapping up bad advice, I just let them. How could I possibly know more than an expert at the gun bar.

Let's say that you were a newbie gun owner and just bought your first pistol. Let's say it is a 9mm M&P. And the gun counter guy points you towards the 9mm makarov ammo and says "this will work in your gun. 9mm is 9mm. It's all the ammo we have right now". Would you want the experienced guy that overhears the conversation to speak up?

Do you think coming off as a know-it-all will encourage the guy behind the counter to bring out a second model of the rifle you're buying so you can see which wood stock you like better?

The problem is the word "experienced." I've seen plenty of "experienced" gun owners the don't know crap. The noob will also generally end up taking the word of the gun store guy over the random guy in the gun store. It tends to be a waste of breath. Plus if you can't read 9 Luger on the side of your pistol and understand that nine Makarov is not the same thing, maybe you should do a little research. If random gun Noob ask me, I will give them the correct answer though. But many times people just take advice of who they think they should take the advice from, there's no real helping those people LOL

Or maybe speaking up will cause the guy behind the counter to question himself and then do research to find the correct answer.