Business Spotlight: Guns and more at Wild Bill's Too

There's a new gun store in Carson City, and it's packing, loaded heavy with an enormous selection of firearms and ammunition.

The breadth and depth of choices for firearms enthusiasts are what make the business stand out, Store Manager David Powell said.

"We have a huge selection of basically everything," he said. "Our store is huge. The selection is gigantic."

The store's south wall, around 75 feet deep from door to counter, is loaded with rifles and shotguns of various lengths, sizes and calibers.

The counter space features dozens of handgun models to choose from, too.

"We have a lot of shotguns and hunting rifles," Powell said. "We have the most handguns I've seen in any store except for maybe Scheels in Sparks."

Wild Bill's Guns in Elk Grove, CA, decided to expand its operations to Carson City this past May because of the area's favorable business and tax climates, Powell said.

Powell said the business wanted to find a second location that did not have the tax or regulatory structure of California.

Reno, he said, was out of the question, too, because of the tax climate in Washoe County.

"Its taxes are higher, which is an appeal down here because they are lower," Powell said. "A lot of people don't like paying high taxes."

This advantage, he said, gets passed down to customers, who can find both popular and rare items, the combination of which are not typically carried by other gun stores.

"I can get very hard to find stuff like 6.5 Japanese and 30-34 Krag that no one else carries that I know of," Powell said. "

While firearms and ammunition are at the heart of what Wild Bill's Too specializes in, there's even more to the store.

"We offer a wide range of equipment that the average hunter or self-defense advocate would want," Powell said. "From bows to handguns, rifles and shotguns. We've also got a ton of accessories."

Wil Bill's Too even carries black powder pistols and rifles, Powell said, including the 1851 Navy Colt and the Italian Uberti, both in in 50-caliber.

Old West style single-action weaponry and accessories, in fact, are among the store's more popular items, Powell said, because of the number of reenactors in the area.

"We get a ton of reenactors," he said. "The Virginia City Outlaws, the Bucket of Blood, a lot of guys from Virginia City come down here to buy single action guns."

There's also western clothing available at the store to help reenactors look the part, Powell said.

"It's one of our big appeals," he said. "We sell so much of that."

Powell said his business feels welcome in Carson City as first-timers have become repeat customers and have spread the word to other consumers.

"The response has been pretty good," he said. "We've been getting a lot of repeat customers, which is awesome. Word is spreading around that we're here."

Powell said he invites the community to come visit Wild Bill's Too and see the jaw-dropping selection throughout the store.

"Come out and see the gigantic selection of guns that we have," he said. "Not a lot of people have this many guns in a gun store."

Wild Bill's Guns Too is located at 1901 N. Carson Street just a couple of doors down from Butler Meats and next door to It's A Girl Thang in the southwest corner of the Frontier Plaza shopping center.

The store is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. Call Powell at 775-434-7125 for more information.

Wild Bill's Guns Too can also be found here on Facebook.