Shooting a Shiloh Sharps rifle in .45-70

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We recently took the opportunity to shoot a beautiful used Shiloh Sharps rifle that we had in the shop. This rifle is chambered in .45-90 and can also shoot the .45-70 cartridge.

Needless to say, it was quite the experience!

Check out the video.

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Ammunition Supply Continues To Be Tight

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As anyone in the shooting sports knows, ammo supplies continue to be difficult to come by. Between the massive increase in new gun owners and the continued strain on the supply chain in the United States, ammunition has been scarce.

We have been working very difficult to obtain the ammunition our customers are looking for. This is not always easy and prices are not what they used to be, but we tend to have just about any caliber or gauge ammo you might be looking for.

Give us a call to see if we have what you are looking for.

We are STILL deemed non-essential and where do we go from here?

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We have heard from many of you that gun shops have been deemed essential businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks for reaching out on this, we appreciate the support!

The issue is that the DHS states in their document that individual states are free to use their list as guidance. Massachusetts has stripped the part about guns shops out of the list. We’re working with State Reps to get this issue addressed but we don’t have any news on how long that could take, if it even happens. I just checked the MA list and firearm stores on still not on it. I feel this is an even more clear indication that gun shops are classified as non-essential as Massachusetts is clearly omitting it at this point, from the federal list they based their closures on.

Now what?

At Tombstone Trading Company, we researched available options and came up with a plan on how to address this issue. We have outlined the process we are going to take on our website on our COVID-19 Sales page. If you are looking to find a reputable place to purchase a firearm during this pandemic, please consider reading that page and decide if it is the right choice for you. Tombstone Trading Company has always worked hard for our customers and hope to be able to help you, even though the ways we have to do it are unorthodox at the least.

We are offering an online meeting tonight where you can ask questions about available guns we have and even pre-order something so once we are able to open, you’ll get a priority appointment to come in and get it. You can sign up for that meeting on the COVID-19 Sales page on our website, which is linked above.

Thank you. You really are the best customers we could ask for!
–Jason

Gun Shops Deemed Non-Essential In Massachusetts During COVID-19 Pandemic

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We received word this morning, from a State Official that gun shops in Massachusetts are classified as “non-essential” and must close per Governor Baker’s order on shuttering businesses.

Your 2nd Amendment rights are being trampled with this shallow thinking. Protection of one’s life and liberty is indeed essential but apparenly not in the eyes of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

We highly encourage you to contact Governor Baker’s office and express your opinion on this matter and let him know how you feel about your rights being stripped from you.

Governor Baker’s Constituent Services Main Office
(617) 725-4005

Update On Shop Hours

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We will be open on Saturday from 11:00 – 4:00 with limited amounts of people allowed in the shop at any one time.

Between 10:00am and 11:00am, we will be taking phone orders at (508) 867-6800. Placing an order over the phone and paying for it with your credit card will get you priority entry in to shop. Essentially, you’ll be able to “cut the line” to pick up your gun. This does not mean you’ll be able to just walk in when you arrive, but will mean that you are “next”.

New policies in place:

  • First and most important. If you are not feeling well or have been in contact with someone that has been exposed to the COVID-19 virus, please stay home. Please consider this, not only for your own safety, but also the safety and health of our staff and other people you may come into contact with. If someone shows up at the shop and we have a reasonable suspicion that they are sick, we may politely ask you to leave. Please don’t take it personally.
  • We have set up barricades out in front of the shop and ask that no one cross those barricades without being escorted by a staff member. Do not wait on the porch of the shop. This allows up to maintain proper social distancing from our door as people enter and exit.
  • We will not be allowing any more than 3 customers at a time in the shop. This allows us to maintain our safety protocols and social distancing requirements and still allow our skeleton staff to adequately service you.
  • We will not be doing any “ammo only” sales. We do have a limited amount of ammo and that ammo has been allowed to those that purchase a firearm.

Existing policies:

  • You must possess a valid Massachusetts LTC or FID card and be a resident of Massachusetts to enter the shop.
  • Nobody under the age of 18 will be allowed in at any time. There are no exceptions to this policy.
  • Only the purchaser of the firearm will be allowed in the shop, no friends, family or spouses.
  • As we did last week, we will be giving every customer their own pen. No one will re-use a pen that another customer used.
  • We ask that only serious buyers show up at the shop. It’s very hard to accommodate browsing at this time. We’re happy to discuss some options with you but ask if you are unsure of what you want, try to do some research online before coming in.

Moving forward:

Moving forward, our hours will be announced each day. It is still our goal to announce our hours by 10:00am the days we will open. There will be days we will close for re-stocking/ordering and cleaning the shop. You can check our website at tombstonetrading.com and our social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Again, I speak for all of us when I thank you all for your patronage and understanding during this time. It is not the way we like doing business. We are a shop known for taking the time to work with customers and to have to rush people through the process is quite unsettling for us.

See you on Saturday!

A Message From Our President

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Not THAT President. It’s me, Dave Bourdeau, President of Tombstone Trading Company, Inc. As I relax at home for the first time in over a week, I think of things that I should have said but have not.

First, I need to thank Jason Turcotte, our fearless leader (aka, Manager). Thinking back to when I graduated from Providence College, I took on my first management position, running the family business. Within six months, we were suffering through the oil embargo of 1973 and heading into deep recession. I remember my father, my mentor, telling me “Anyone can manage a business during good times, but only a true manager can shine when things are difficult and challenging.” Let’s just say that Jason has been our “beacon”!

Next, I want to recognize my wife, Nancy. She has come out of retirement to perform any and every task asked of her. This is no surprise to me. Nan is the love of my life, my partner and my best friend. She has had my back though good times and bad for over 45 years and has been irreplaceable for any success I have ever had.

Lastly, to our many customers, both old and new. Thank you so much for the support and cooperation during these difficult times. The three of us have handled hundreds of people in the shop and many more on the phone over the last ten days. My regret is that we have not been able to maintain the level of customer service we have always strived for. In an effort to make our inventory available to people, and to keep everyone as safe as possible, we have enacted some rather Draconian protocols. These are not intended to offend, but to handle numbers customers as safely as possible.

Out of literally hundreds of people, I can only think of a small handful that have taken exception to this process. “Incredible” is the only way to describe the cooperation and response we have received from you, our valued customers. Thank you so much!

Looking forward:

On Monday, March 23rd, Jason and I will be reviewing our inventory and checking on restocking possibilities.

On Tuesday morning the 24th, by 10:00am, Jason will announce on our website and related social media platforms how we will move forward in an effort to serve you.

Regards,
David P. Bourdeau
President
Tombstone Trading Company, Inc.

Tombstone Trading Company Announces Expansion

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BROOKFIELD, MA, January 25, 2017

Tombstone Trading Company, Inc. is excited to announce the expansion of their 1 Main Street location in Brookfield, Massachusetts.

Long known as one of the premier gun shops in Massachusetts, the goal of the expansion is to increase not only the size of the retail sales floor but also to expand into additional product lines and services.

“When I came on-board with the company in August of 2016, one of my main responsibility was to grow the business. This expansion is not only a result of those efforts but also allows us to continue to head in a direction that provides our customers with a wide selection of both new and used firearms as well as a significant expansion of our accessory lines.” said Jason Turcotte, Shop Manager.

David Bourdeau, President of Tombstone Trading Company said “It has been an exciting time in our business over the last 12 months and we want to continue to position ourselves as one of the largest and friendliest gun shops in Massachusetts. This physical expansion is just one of our plans for 2017. Just wait until you see what’s coming!”

Remodeling will take 2-3 weeks and the business will be open during the majority of it. “We will be closed the week of January 29th, but that’s a week we would be closed anyways as we have back-to-back guns shows. When we have those back-to-back shows, we typically close for the week in-between. This gives us a great opportunity to get a lot of the noisy part of the remodel done while we’re closed.” Turcotte said.

About Tombstone Trading Company, Inc.

Tombstone Trading Company is located in the small central Massachusetts town of Brookfield. Located are just seven miles north of Exit 9 off the Mass Pike and Sturbridge, MA. Located right on Route 9, we are easy to get to from any part of the state.

Founded by David Bourdeau as a firearms training company in 1994, Tombstone Trading Company became a full line gun shop in 2002. Since then the business has established itself as the premier gun shop in Central Massachusetts. Carrying a wide selection of firearms from new and used handguns, shotguns and rifles to hard to find collectibles and militaria.

Tombstone Trading Company Shoots the Cobray M11/Nine 9mm Sub-Machinegun

Tombstone Trading Company is a Class 3 firearms dealer, which means we can sell everything from blackpower firearms all the way up to fully-automatic machine guns.

Recently, we took the Cobray M11/Nine 9mm sub-machinegun out to the range and put it through it’s paces.

This Cobray M11 is capable of shooting up to 1200 rounds per minute, and as you can see in the video, it doesn’t take long to empty a 32 round magazine! https://www.youtube.com/embed/ikFmsegr9ek?rel=0

Tombstone Trading Company is a Class 3 firearms dealer, which means we can sell everything from blackpower firearms all the way up to fully-automatic machine guns.

Recently, we took the Cobray M11/Nine 9mm sub-machinegun out to the range and put it through it’s paces.

This Cobray M11 is capable of shooting up to 1200 rounds per minute, and as you can see in the video, it doesn’t take long to empty a 32 round magazine!

Tombstone Trading Company Announces New Shop Manager and Expanded Hours

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BROOKFIELD, MA, June 28, 2016 – Tombstone Trading Company, Inc., a leading Massachusetts firearms dealer in Massachusetts names Jason Turcotte for newly created Shop Manager position.

Beginning the week of July 24, 2016, Turcotte will begin assisting the company with day-to-day operations management, inventory levels and sales growth. Turcotte brings a strong customer service focus with him, having served as a Sales Manager for the Grossman’s Lumber home improvement chain before its closure in the late 1990’s. Turcotte also brings extensive management experience having held the position of Director of Technical Support for a national public-safety software company.

“One of the first things I wanted to do right away was increase the amount of hours that the shop is open.” said Turcotte, and in discussions with company president, David Bourdeau, they have set that plan in motion. Beginning the same week as Turcotte joining the company, the already busy gun shop will expand its hours and be open 5 days a week, up from 4. New hours will be Tuesday – Friday from 11:00am – 7:00pm, Saturdays from 10:00am – 4:00pm with the shop being closed on Sunday and Monday. This is not only an additional day but also more hours per day than the shop had previously been open, increasing the total hours to 38, up from 27.

Company president, David Bourdeau, said “Having Jason on board with us is going to do some great things for the business. He brings a skill set that will truly complement the demands of our customers and the busy firearms industry.”

About Tombstone Trading Company, Inc.

Tombstone Trading Company is located in the small central Massachusetts town of Brookfield. Located are just seven miles north of Exit 9 off the Mass Pike and Sturbridge, MA. Located right on Route 9, we are easy to get to from any part of the state.

Started as a firearms training company in 1994, Tombstone Trading Company became a full line gun shop in 2002. Since then the business has established itself as the premier gun shop in Central Massachusetts. Carrying a wide selection of firearms from new and used handguns, shotguns and rifles to hard to find collectibles and militaria.

Massachusetts Attorney General Bans So Called “Assault Weapons” and Their Copies

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Like most gun shops and gun owners in Massachusetts, we were surprised to hear that Attorney General, Maura Healy, made a unilateral decision to re-interpret the 22 year old Massachusetts Assault Weapon Ban, particularly the definition of what a “copy” or “duplicate” of those weapons are.

This directive came with no notice and, according to our sources in the Mass Legislature, no consultation with the Representatives that create the laws of the Commonwealth. A complete end-run around the system.

In an article published in the Springfield Republican and shown on the MassLive.com website, Tombstone Trading Company owner David Bourdeau said “The conversation’s premature until we get a notice and see how it’s written by the state.”

We have spent the better part of this morning reviewing the directive by the Attorney General and believe we have an understanding of what semi-automatic rifles and shotguns we can and cannot sell, from this date forward. We are working diligently to get those items in stock and suggest you follow us on our Facebook page for the latest “up to the minute” updates.

Action Needed By All Firearm Owners

This is a time for all firearm owners to band together and take action. Even if you don’t feel that there is a need for an “assault rifle”, this is only the first step they will likely take in an attempt to ban all semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.

You need to take the time to contact your State Representative as well as the Governor’s Office. You can find a list of State Representatives on the Mass Legislature website, which we’ve linked below.

Members of the House of Representatives

Write, call and email your Representative and the Governor today to help preserve your 2nd Amendment rights and get this overreaching directive eliminated.