Buying Guns Online: What Actually Happens After You Click Checkout
Scott Torres Sep 14, 2026
Buying Guide
Real Gunsmith. Real Inventory. Shipped Nationwide.
How to buy firearms, ammunition, optics and gear from Scott Torres Gunsmith Arms & Ammo — whether you live twelve minutes away in Benicia or two thousand miles away in another state.
If you have shopped online for firearms or shooting gear lately, you already know the problem. Search for a red dot, a box of 9mm, or a shotgun, and you will land on a dozen sites that look identical: enormous catalogs, stock photos, no phone number, and a checkout button. Half of them never touch the product they sell. You order, you wait, and three weeks later you get an email saying the item was never actually in stock.
That is the gap we built this shop to fill. Scott Torres Gunsmith Arms & Ammo is a licensed, brick-and-mortar shop in Benicia, California with a working gunsmith bench in the back and inventory you can put your hands on. We sell online because our customers are everywhere — but we are not a catalog with a domain name. We are a counter, a bench, a phone that gets answered, and a shipping desk.
Here is exactly what we carry, how ordering works from anywhere in the country, and what changes if you are local.
What We Actually Stock
Our storefront is organized the way you would walk a shop, not the way a database dumps a spreadsheet. Four departments:
Firearms
Pistols, shotguns, and revolvers from names like Mossberg, Winchester, Sig Saue, Springfield, Remington, Browning, Kimber, Smith & Wesson, Winchester and Mossberg Firearms group — plus NFA items where they are legal for you to own.
All firearms · Pistols · Shotguns · Revolvers · Silencers
Ammunition
Range volume and duty-grade loads, sorted by what you are feeding. Not sure which bullet weight to start with for a specific gun? Call before you buy a case of the wrong thing.
Optics & Observation
The department where the wrong purchase hurts most, because a bad optic ruins a good rifle. Hundreds of options in red dots alone — Leupold, Holosun, Sig, Burris, and Trijicon. and more.
Red dots & magnifiers · Bases & combos · Rangefinders · Binoculars & spotting scopes · Night vision & thermal · Mounts & accessories
Everything That Goes With It
The boring categories that decide whether your setup is pleasant to own.
Holsters · Magazines · Slings · Lights & lasers · Cases & safes · Cleaning supplies
Or just browse the whole store and see what catches your eye.
Buying From Out Of State
We ship nationwide, and the process is simpler than most first-time online buyers expect. It splits into two paths depending on what is in your cart.
Path 1 — Gear, Optics & Accessories
Holsters, magazines, optics, slings, lights, safes, cleaning kits: these ship straight to your door like any other online order. Add to cart, check out, done. Nothing special required.
Path 2 — Firearms
A firearm you buy online does not land on your porch. It ships to a licensed dealer near you — your receiving FFL — and you pick it up from them. Four steps:
Order from us
Pick your firearm and check out normally.
Find your receiving FFL
Any local gun shop with a transfer service works. Call ahead and ask two things: what they charge for an incoming transfer, and whether they need to send us a copy of their license.
They send us their license, we ship
We ship dealer-to-dealer, insured and tracked.
You finish the paperwork there
Your local dealer handles the check and the form, and you walk out with it.
If any of that is unclear, call us at 707-742-4005 before you order. Five minutes on the phone is cheaper than a shipment that sits in limbo.
One Thing On Ammo
Where ammo can ship depends on where you live. If you want it delivered, check your cart at checkout or call us — we would rather tell you up front than refund you later.
Buying Local: Benicia & The North Bay
If you are in Solano County or anywhere in the greater Bay Area, you get the version of this that the internet cannot replicate: you can come see the thing before you own it.
We are at 538 Stone Road, Suite I, Benicia, CA 94510, open Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. That puts us minutes from Vallejo, a short run up I-680 from Martinez and Concord, and an easy drive from Fairfield, Suisun City, American Canyon, Napa, and Walnut Creek.
What local buyers actually use us for:
- Order online, pick up in person. Reserve what you want from the website, then finish the transaction at the counter without the shipping wait.
- Handling before buying. Grip circumference, trigger reach, how a holster carries on your actual body — none of this is knowable from a product photo. Come try it.
- Mounting and zeroing on the spot. Bought an optic? There is a gunsmith on site who can mount it correctly, torque it to spec, and make sure your rings are lapped and level before you drive to the range and discover a problem.
- We handle the California part. Waiting period, safety certificate, the handgun roster, the ammo check at the counter — you do not need to go research any of it. Ask us, and we will tell you what your specific purchase needs.
Already Bought Somewhere Else? Send It Here.
If you found a deal on an auction site, a distributor, or a private out-of-state seller, we can receive it. We handle FFL transfers and we do them quickly.
One Rule, And It Matters
Call us before anything ships. A firearm that shows up unannounced slows everybody down. Ring 707-742-4005 or email scotttorresgunsmith@yahoo.com first, get our current transfer price, and we will make sure the sender has what they need.
Why The Bench In The Back Matters To You
Most online retailers are a warehouse and a checkout page. Most gun counters are a display case and a cash register. The difference here is that the person selling you the equipment is in a shop that also repairs, fits, and builds it.
That changes the advice you get. A shop with a gunsmith on site has seen which brands come back broken, which optics lose zero, which magazines are worth the money and which are worth avoiding, and which "upgrades" solve a problem the shooter never actually had. When we tell you a cheaper option is fine, it is because we are not paid to tell you otherwise. When we tell you to spend more, it is because we have taken the cheap one apart.
You are also not on your own after the sale. If something you bought needs fitting, sighting in, or work down the road, you already know where to take it and who to ask for.
Common Questions
Do you really ship nationwide?
Yes. Gear and optics ship to your door; firearms ship to a dealer near you for pickup. A few items cannot go to every state — check at checkout or call.
Can I buy from you if I do not live in California?
Absolutely — that is most of what nationwide shipping is for. Your local dealer handles the pickup end.
Can ammunition be shipped to me in California?
No — in California ammo has to be picked up in person. Order it online and grab it at the counter.
How long does an FFL transfer take?
We move as soon as it lands and the paperwork is squared away. California still has a waiting period before you can take it home, so build that into your plans. Call for current timing and pricing.
Can I order online and pick up in the store?
Yes, and local customers often should. It reserves the item and skips shipping entirely.
Will you mount and zero an optic I buy from you?
That is the advantage of buying from a shop with a gunsmith. Ask at the counter or call ahead so we can schedule bench time.
Do you buy, trade, or take consignment?
Call and ask — 707-742-4005. It depends on what you have.
Ready To Order?
Real inventory from a real shop. Ships nationwide. Pick up in Benicia.
Shop The Store Talk To A HumanScott Torres Gunsmith Arms & Ammo — 538 Stone Rd, Suite I, Benicia, CA 94510 · 707-742-4005 · scotttorresgunsmith@yahoo.com · Monday–Friday 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM · Serving Benicia, Vallejo, Fairfield, Suisun City, American Canyon, Martinez, Concord, Napa and the greater Bay Area — and shipping nationwide.
Contact Info
BENICIA, CA 94510