Ok. First, thank you to all of you that shared on this post. I have just spent a very entertaining (albeit a bit frightening) couple of hours reading this from start to finish.
I consider myself very lucky that the private gun stores near me seem to employ people willing to tell you that they don't know and grab another employee that is more familiar with what you are asking about. Perhaps, I don't appreciate them enough. (or didn't before reading this thread)
The only story that I have to add comes from the seller's side of the counter courtesy of my girlfriend. She and I have been shooting together for many years now including Cowboy Action, and recently a bit of 3 gun. I make all our ammo and over the years, she has picked up a fair bit of reloading information from me (I'm no expert by my judgement, but I have managed to not blow us up in 10 years of loading ammo). She worked for a while at a local big box sporting goods retailer that also sold reloading supplies. She is a 5' tall, slightly built woman and often had trouble with customers not wanting to be helped with firearm purchases by her. One the one occasion that really merits telling here, she was working with only one other employee (male) in the firearm/reloading section of the store when a customer walked up to the counter directly in front of her and begins loudly calling "Hey, buddy!" to the male employee (who was working with another customer at the time). She asked the fellow politely if she could assist him. He declined and began again calling loudly to the other employee across her shoulder. After a minute or two of this, she politely (the girl is an angel) explains to the customer that the other employee is busy with another customer and she would be happy to help him with whatever he needs. He (a bit rudely) says he will just wait on the other employee.
After several minutes go by, the male employee finishes with the other customer and finally gets to the person that was calling out for him. My girlfriend and the other employee shared a quick look (they were used to this sort of thing by now, unfortunately) as he walks up beside her. She turned away from the customer and resumed stocking product that they had received that day and had yet to get put away as the male employee asks the customer what he needed help with.
"I need some help with reloading stuff." the customer tells him.
"You need her then." the employee says and turns and walks away again.
Apparently, the customer was acting both stunned and sheepish while my girlfriend got him sorted out and on his way with what he needed.
(No one else in the store did ANY reloading so my girlfriend helped where she could and would reach out to me or one of our shooting buddies when she was hit with questions she couldn't answer.)
This story was told to me by the male employee the next time I visited them in the store. He said it was all he could do not to laugh in the jerk's face when he saw the stunned look the customer gave him when he told him he should be talking to my girlfriend.
Ruffy