When I buy a gun or anything else that I'm going to drop a big dime on, I do my research before I go into a store/dealer. Sometimes if they have a piece of info to share, I will listen to it, but usually they aren't telling me something I haven't heard or read. By the time I set foot in a store, I'm looking for a good price, not advice.
That is the way to do it unfortunately too many people are subject to impulse buying.
The biggest difference I have found is this....Ask the guy at WalMart a question and they get a dumb look on their face and say I don't know...
Or you could ask for a box of Remington 7 mag 140 grain corelockts and get presented with 7-08,7wsm and 7 stw ammo since they didn't seem to know what a 7 rem mag was. BOy was that a lawsuit waiting to happen.