From the shop · Yerington, Nevada

A Dark Horse in the Valley: Serving Lyon County and Northern Nevada

For a long time, buying a box of shells in Yerington meant a decision. Drive nearly an hour to Fernley, Dayton, or over the hill toward Carson, or make do with what you had in the safe. For a town that shoots as much as this one — for hunting the Pine Nuts, plinking out past the valley, or keeping a defensive gun ready at home — that was a long way to go for the basics.

We opened Dark Horse Guns & Ammo in June of 2025 to close that gap. Not to be the biggest shop in Northern Nevada. To be your shop — the one in the valley, run by someone who lives here too.

Why "Dark Horse"

A dark horse is the contender nobody counted on. Underestimated, right up until the moment they aren't. That felt about right for a gun shop opening in a town of a few thousand people, in a county where the established names are all a highway drive away.

The blue eye in our logo isn't an accident either. In some Native American and First Nation traditions, a blue-eyed horse carries "heaven eyes," or "sky eyes" — said to have looked on the Great Spirit. We liked what that stood for. A little watchfulness. A little reverence for something bigger than the transaction at the counter.

Lyon County has real options — here's the honest map

We'll be straight with you, because you'd find out anyway: Lyon County is not short on good gun shops. Fernley alone has a few, Dayton has a well-regarded one, and there are solid, veteran-owned shops scattered across Northern Nevada that have earned their reputations. Competition like that is good for you. It keeps everybody honest on price and service.

What Lyon County didn't have was a real gun shop in Mason Valley itself. Yerington, Wabuska, Smith Valley, the ranches out along the Walker — that whole southern stretch of the county was the drive. That's the gap Dark Horse fills. If you're closer to the valley than the interstate, we're the shop that saves you the round trip.

What we stock, and why

We don't try to be a warehouse. We try to carry what people around here actually shoot, in the quantities they actually buy:

• Ammunition in the calibers this valley runs — range volume and defensive loads both, priced so buying local doesn't cost you extra.
• Firearms for defense, hunting, and the range — new and used, including the occasional collector and C&R piece worth a second look.
• Optics, sights, and the small stuff — holsters, slings, magazines, cleaning gear, and the parts that always go missing the morning you need them.

If it's not on the wall, ask. Special orders usually land in a few days, and we'll quote it straight before you commit.

More than a shelf of boxes

Selling isn't the whole job. We also do the work that keeps a firearm running and makes it yours:

• Gun cleaning — field strip through full detail. We clean what you shoot so it runs when it matters, and we'll tell you straight if something needs a gunsmith instead of a rag.
• Firearms laser engraving — names, dedications, required markings, done in-house. We confirm text and placement with you before anything is marked, because engraving doesn't come back off.
• FFL transfers — bought online? Ship it here. We handle the paperwork and call you the day it lands.

The person behind the counter

Before Dark Horse, I ran a gun shop in Modesto that specialized in restoring military and classic firearms for customers around the world. After that, sixteen-plus years with the National Rifle Association as a field representative covering northeast California and northwest Nevada. When I retired to Yerington, I lasted about a year before the itch to open a shop came back.

All of which is a long way of saying: when you ask a question at our counter, you get a real answer. Even when the real answer is the cheaper option, or "you don't need that," or "let me point you to someone who does that better." That's how a shop earns a valley, one honest conversation at a time.

Dark Horse Guns & Ammo LLC is a federally licensed dealer in Yerington, Nevada. Firearm sales and transfers are subject to all applicable federal and Nevada law. Bring valid ID.