Golden Flash Firearms (Maryborough, Victoria)

Gear & Shop Reviews
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I was travelling to see my parents in Ballarat last week and with my wife having to stay home, I decided to make it a mini gun-shop road trip, stopping first at Smiths Outdoors in Bendigo and then Golden Flash Firearms in Maryborough to purchase some of their homemade .310 Cadet ammo.

I won’t go into detail on Smiths as I’ve done a review of them on here previously and they kept to that high standard. Friendly, great range of everything, including weird old shit which is my thing. Staff had all the time in the world to get stuff out and show me. They also have their second had stuff in cages you can walk up to rather than back behind the counter where you can’t see shit.

Happy as a pig in mud, I made my way to Maryborough. I have actually visited Golden Flash once before but it was a flying visit just to stick my head in. Didn’t buy anything. For those who don’t know, this store’s big thing is that they manufacture their own ammo for a variety of old rifles including .310 cadet and .222. It is pricy but very convenient. The place has also been for sale for a long time. Like, two years or so.

I walk in, tiny store, no one in it. No other customers, no staff. Lady comes out from the back, sighs and says ‘yep?’. Not a greeting or anything, just like, ‘what do you want?’. I ask for the ammo, she gets it off the shelf. I mention that I’m into old military stuff etc, does she have anything like that? Also mention that I’ve been looking for a cheap side by side. She replies ‘I’ve got what you can see behind me…’. The racks behind her are crammed and far enough away that seeing anything other than the super obvious is not going to happen. At that point, I give up, tell her not to worry about it, I’ll just grab the ammo.

Look, who knows what is going on in their lives but if you run a small business, especially a rural gun shop which is a pretty tough way to make money, don’t you focus on what you can do well at? Namely, service? I get that they have a captive market in terms of farmers in the area who need ammo and weirdos like me who need odd ammo but really, come on.

Maybe I’ll mention to Smiths next time I’m in there that they should buy Golden Flash just to take over the ammo making business.

3 Likes
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Yeah and those prices at $4 a round are not exactly cheap either.

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Did you drive through Avoca and stop for a pie? The Goodfellows supermarket there at the west end of town (probably an IGA now) the house behind it/attached to it was my first home as a four year old after we moved to Australia from Fiji.

Gorgeous little place. Where I first learned to shoot a .22 Brno with Dad.
Perhaps you scooted from Maryborough through Talbot and Clunes? Clunes is where the Grandparents lived on Talbot Road, right across from the first shop on that road as you enter Clunes from Maryoborough/Avoca. I love that little town. So many memories, particularly hunting.

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Yeah they must have had enough by now. I looked at the business, I rekon more then 2 yrs ago… but at 395k I just couldnt see the value in it. Everyone else must think it’s too expensive too! That’s funny, I thought it sold, and was progressing…she had an old fella working in there, he seemed nice enough, and knowledgeable.

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Small world. my mum grew up in Bealiba, just near Avoca and I went to primary school with a kid whose parents owned one of the pubs there.

@MaxJon
I think it would be a cracking store if they had good service and a decent range of accessories etc. They have a solid foundation with their ammo business plus a core set of locals who rely on them for their farm gun ammo. If they also sold a decent range of clothing and accessories, which I imagine have decent profit margins, I think it would be good.

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Yeah could be a good thing…

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There are a lot of things country stores can do to attract city people like me. I shit you not, I would drive for 2 hours (have) each way for shit I want and I would pay a lot more than a farmer is willing to pay for their yearly box of 20.

All of these stores have a lot of potential and zero fucks to give. They are in business, they are running, they have no reason to build and improve. I don’t know if it’s the spirit, the know-how or just the care factor (maybe all), but they are certainly leaving a lot of money on the table.

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The amount of times I’ve walked into a gun shop, cashed up ready to spend, and then left disappointed can’t be counted. Not sure if it’s the nature of the business and it’s clientele but a lot of gun shops employees are grumpy fks. Really make you feel like you are disturbing their day.

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This is the feeling I get. You either get guys who are awesome (not often) or those who make you feel like they are doing you a favour (more often than not).

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The turn over figures sounded too good too really, but they have to push the envelope I guess…

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Yeah, it would all be documented through tax statements, so it’s not trivial to bullshit on those, but reading between the lines is also important.

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Yep. I think that some of the old farts, especially in rural areas, really struggle to understand the idea that some people view guns as more than tools or sporting equipment. I get that as far as the fact that when they were younger, milsurps had no value etc but there is a lot of money in that area that they aren’t seeing.

As a general rule, I’ve found that the younger the employee, the better they are to deal with. My LGS (GFD guns and ammo in Kyabram) has just had the grumpy old guy retire and his young right hand man take over and I am super excited to see what happens. The store has already been reworked to be cleaner and brighter, they have way more brands in and now have a new logo and merch for sale.

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I think the local Fullbore club is still pretty active too, so catering for them would be a smart move also…

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Its for this reason I love driving up to Mirboo when Im back home in Melbourne to see the fellas Herrmans Guns. Farking miles away, drive past four gun shops to get there. Worth it though! Great bloke, cool workshop and an AWESOME drive, particularly if you have an overpowered underweight speed machine.

Its effectively Gun Tourism…hmmm. Sounds like a business opportunity.

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Wow, maybe there could be like…RANGE WEEK.
Four days on the road, you drive from club to club and compete in fun and/or serious matches, the winner decided at the end.
Kind of like any Drag Racing week where competitors drive their race cars around the state and compete at faraway race tracks.
You have to check.in at certain places (those would be the gun shops!) And then shoot at the club near them, turn in your best score sheet and the winner is decided at the final location (usually where you left off).
Free camping at gun clubs or discount group bookings at motels along the way etc…a way for small towns to bring in new faces.
Any or all of our Firearm advocacy groups can and should promote it: events for sports shooters as well as hunters and even defence/LE/security people.

A way to unite the clans? And its only once a year so you dont actually have to be friends with those a-holes :slight_smile:

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That’s a great idea, although it’d need to be a bit more Gambler 500 for me so that I could bring the stupidest gun possible!

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There is or was ( before covid) a whole crew of grey ghosts in each state and some nationally that travel the state or country going from one competition to the next stopping at places and friends along the way.

1 Like