SponsoredHow to Spot a Real Gun Deal
Updated October 17, 2026
A real deal survives contact with the product page. The sale price is lower than the price that retailer was charging, the item is in stock, and a second shop is not quietly cheaper on the same SKU. Everything else is decoration.
Deals that cleared the bar
Great
Parts
BCA M16 Profile 5.56 NATO Complete Bolt Carrier Group – Black Nitride
$49.95
$167.99
70% off
.223/5.56
Get Deal
Great
Parts
Great
Optics
Great
Parts
Great
Optics
Great
Ammo
Was-price games
Some regular prices are real. Some are a number the merchant set so the red badge would look deep. You cannot see that from one page on one day. You can see it if the price history for that product never actually lived at the "was" number, or if every other retailer is already at the sale price. ShootDeals keeps price history when we observe a product, and the score gives extra weight when today's number is under the recent observations, not only under the badge.
Rebates and fees
A mail-in rebate is not cash at checkout. Read who pays it and how long it takes. We score the price on the page. A firearm's transfer fee sits outside the card too. Add it yourself, especially under a few hundred dollars. Shipping and adult-signature or hazmat fees do the same job on ammunition.
Stock and the second shop
Out of stock is not a deal. A lower price at Bud's does not matter if KYGUNCO has the same item for less and both are in stock. The comparison half of the score is there for that. The shooting sports overview explains the threshold. Alerts live on the alerts page.
Questions people ask
What is a fake was-price?
A regular price the shop never actually sold the item for, or a price inflated just before the sale. We look for a current price under a regular price we can see on the same listing.
Do rebates count?
A mail-in rebate is not the same as a lower price at checkout. The card shows the price published on the listing. A rebate you have to claim is extra work and extra rules.