Gander Outdoors

Gander Outdoors doesn't sell guns anymore — they dumped the entire firearms department in 2021 and went full camping/RV. If you're looking for the old Gander Mountain experience, you're out of luck.

The Gander Mountain story is a textbook example of what happens when a company that doesn't understand gun culture buys a gun store. Gander Mountain was solid for decades — big gun departments, indoor ranges, decent ammo selection. Then bankruptcy hit in 2017, Camping World's Marcus Lemonis bought the scraps, and slowly gutted everything that made it worth visiting.

Here's how it went down:

• •1960 — Gander Mountain starts in Wisconsin as a hunting catalog company
• •1990s-2000s — Builds big-box stores nationwide, becomes legitimate firearms retailer
• •March 2017 — Files Chapter 11 bankruptcy
• •May 2017 — Camping World buys assets for $35 million, rebrands to Gander Outdoors
• •2018-2021 — Slowly bleeds out gun departments while closing stores
• •2021 — Exits firearms completely

What used to be a hunting destination is now just another camping store with mediocre inventory and worse customer service.

The stores are inconsistent as hell. Some look decent, others feel like they're going out of business next week. Inventory is hit-or-miss, and don't expect much help from staff — most of the old-timers who knew guns left when the writing hit the wall.

If you need camping gear, maybe. If you're looking for anything firearms-related, don't waste your time.

They didn't just reduce firearms inventory — they nuked it entirely. Everything went:

• •All long guns (rifles, shotguns, MSRs)
• •All handguns
• •Ammunition (every caliber)
• •Reloading supplies
• •Gun safes
• •Even the indoor ranges got shuttered

• •The transformation from hunting retailer to camping-focused chain

• •Complete elimination of firearms-related departments and services

The Lake Mary, Florida store used to be their flagship — indoor ranges, shooting simulators, training programs. Now it's just another generic outdoor store that happens to be in a really big building.

Camping World never wanted to be in the gun business. They bought Gander Mountain for the real estate and customer lists, then systematically removed everything that required an FFL.

Can't blame them from a business perspective, but it killed what made Gander worth visiting.

Since Gander bailed on guns, here's where former customers ended up:

Sportsman's Warehouse picked up some former Gander Mountain locations and actually knows what they're doing with firearms. Bass Pro is Bass Pro — massive selection but can feel like a tourist trap. Your local gun shop probably has better customer service than any of the big boxes.

Gander Outdoors runs way fewer stores than Gander Mountain did. They closed a bunch after the bankruptcy and never expanded back.

You'll find scattered locations in Florida, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Pennsylvania. Some share space with Camping World RV dealerships, which tells you where their priorities are.

Many of the better Gander Mountain locations got bought by Sportsman's Warehouse or converted to other retailers entirely. The remaining Gander Outdoors stores feel like afterthoughts.

• •Gander Outdoors is what happens when a company buys a brand but doesn't understand what made it valuable.

Gander Outdoors is what happens when a company buys a brand but doesn't understand what made it valuable.

Gander Mountain wasn't perfect, but it served a purpose — big selection, competitive prices, and you could handle guns before buying. The current version is irrelevant to gun owners.

They kept the name but threw away everything that mattered. If you're nostalgic for the old Gander Mountain experience, hit up Sportsman's Warehouse or find a good local shop.

The firearms retail landscape moved on without them. Bass Pro and Sportsman's Warehouse picked up the market share, and honestly, both do it better than Gander Mountain ever did.

Don't bother checking if your local Gander Outdoors "might still have some guns" — they don't, and they're not coming back.