Wasted morning at a gunshow

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acdodd

acdodd

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About every 2 or 3 years I go to a local gun show just to remind myself why I don't go to gun shows.
It was at the Convention center in Yakima Washington.
For this area it wasn't a bad size. A respectful amount of guns and the crowd wasn't overwhelming.
Problem was the prices as usual.
Gen 4 Glocks for $599. same as every gun store.
10/22 for $270. Bi-Mart has them on sell several times a year for $198.
Everything I saw was priced at or in most cases over retail.
Saw one guy selling .22 for $89 a brick.
Saw 1 guy with a private sell. He has a Remington model 12. Wanted $500.
I'm looking for a pump .22 but I passed on his.
At least I'm good for another 2 or 3 years.
 
Everyone's experience is going to differ .... I guess.
I've been to gunshows I walked away from empty handed.
The last gunshow I attended I walked away with a Colt 1877 Lightning revolver in good working order. I won't tell you the price I paid but I later saw at a store a Lightning that was not in good working order for twice the price.
The gunshow before that I bought a very nice Miroku-made Winchester 1892 Limited Deluxe Takedown rifle, 24" octagonal barrel, checkoring, pistol grip, in .32-20.

You take your chances, pay the entrance fee, and have maybe an hour or so of fun, and when lucky, you walk away with a prize. But, even if you don't it can be fun, if you look at it the right way.
 
acdodd
Problem was the prices as usual.
Gen 4 Glocks for $599. same as every gun store.
Why would dealers at a gun show price their firearms for less than they do at their store?

10/22 for $270. Bi-Mart has them on sell several times a year for $198.
I just checked pricing at three of my distributors (Lipseys, RSR & Sport South), out of twenty models of the Ruger 10/22 not a one has a WHOLESALE cost of less than $205. (not including shipping).


Everything I saw was priced at or in most cases over retail.
No, what you saw WAS retail pricing.....think about that for a second.;)

Saw one guy selling .22 for $89 a brick.
No, what you saw was a guy wanting to sell a brick of .22 for $89.
if he managed to find one buyer, bravo for him.

Saw 1 guy with a private sell. He has a Remington model 12. Wanted $500.
I'm looking for a pump .22 but I passed on his.
At least I'm good for another 2 or 3 years.
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:rolleyes:
 
Not all dealers at shows are retailers. Some guys are selling "privately".

Around here I find good deals on ammo, parts, odds and ends and seldom an guns.
 
South Florida Gun Shows can still be worth while. Even if not buying or selling a firearm, there are always auxiliary items to pick up or sell. Gun shows are cool to me.

I go to 3 or 4 a year. We got the freedom. Exercise it. ;)
 
Well, so how was the jerky?

The days of no-shop dealers, who only travel from show to show are pretty much eclipsed. So, at the show you are paying for the lights, phones, and internet to be on back at the shop.

The hassles imposed by Washington state law have an impact, too--on both dealers and private sellers.
 
I go to gun shows to see the guys I know and poke around. A couple dealers actually want to move guns. Most are looking for the sucker. That seems to be wearing just a little thin. The WAC show in Monroe is pretty sparse this winter. I go because I'm a WAC member (free) and it's 8 miles from my house. Guys I used to work with and the occasional WAGUNS/SGN guy, and a couple retailers I have got acquainted with. The rifle case guy has some deals. Spend a couple hours, home. Not a total waste of time...........it's guns!

If anything, 594 should really have zero impact on WAC shows. Non members couldn't/can't buy guns, and there are checks provided.
 
The shows around Memphis or Jackson (TN)--all of which are pretty small--quite often allow a first look at numerous types of milsurp guns, the majority of which are never seen at our retail shops.

Less than a year ago, a guy actually had an all-original VZ-58 rifle (7.62x39):cool:. AK people seldom go back to AKs. This rifle was imported intact...Not a creature from Century. Wish I had been in the market.

The only realistic attitude is to always keep near zero expectations of finding a gun which one hopes to spot, or at a reasonable price.

To solve part of the gun show problem, Armslist has been a solution:). Bought a WW2 Mauser Hsc handgun. Tomorrow, driving 45 min. to sell one of a pair of Polish P-83s.
 
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To solve part of the gun show problem, Armslist has been a solution. Bought a WW2 Mauser Hsc handgun. Tomorrow, driving 45 min. to sell one of a pair of Polish P-83s.
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See, however small. as my brilliant friend Butch of Bardstown, Kentucky told me in 1993, you are helping to grease the wheels of economy! Even when you are at a Miami roach coach, buying a hot dog at 7 AM at the City Motor Pool! :D

Bless you, IO, and Butch ,wherever he is today! :) I Believe. Hope you sell that P-83. Good luck.
 
Red Wind: The buyer accepted my firm price and already has the cash. The price equals the total I paid for just the gun, including TN sales tax.

When he told me on the phone that he is a Disabled vet (his wife drives the car), I thought for a minute about that, decided to do him a favor, put an extra P-83 magazine in the holster's mag. pocket and include a 50-rd. box of ammo. Plus a 9x18 Mak. Snap Cap, even though these guns are just as rugged/reliable as actual Makarov handguns. He's gonna use it for self-defense. These P-83s are such high quality that the other won't be for sale.
 
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As long as you look at them from a perspective of ENTERTAINMENT, you won't ever leave disappointed. I do this and sometimes I walk out with just the satisfaction of walking around looking at all the neat old guns and cool knives I can't afford. Sometimes I can admire a beauty you never get to see at the LGS like a 3" nickel redhawk with stag grips. Sometimes I find a deal on ammo or a holster. Sometimes I find a gun I like. Regardless I always go with the expectation of just enjoying myself for $8. If i leave with nothing, then I saved $!!!

That said the past 2 gun shows I went to had the best pricing of guns and ammo I've ever seen at a show. I was pleasantly surprised to see normal prices and a few good deals mixed in.

It's entertainment!!!!!! What else are you going to spend $8 on? A movie ticket?
 
elano said:
As long as you look at them from a perspective of ENTERTAINMENT, you won't ever leave disappointed. I do this and sometimes I walk out with just the satisfaction of walking around looking at all the neat old guns and cool knives I can't afford. Sometimes I can admire a beauty you never get to see at the LGS like a 3" nickel redhawk with stag grips. Sometimes I find a deal on ammo or a holster. Sometimes I find a gun I like. Regardless I always go with the expectation of just enjoying myself for $8. If i leave with nothing, then I saved $!!!

That said the past 2 gun shows I went to had the best pricing of guns and ammo I've ever seen at a show. I was pleasantly surprised to see normal prices and a few good deals mixed in.

It's entertainment!!!!!! What else are you going to spend $8 on? A movie ticket?
Click to expand...
I agree.

I've only ever bought one gun at a gun show. Last year I picked up a minty Romanian Mosin M44 for a very reasonable price. Perfect bluing, mint bore, excellent stock, the gun was a peach. Turns out the stock has either been refinished or came off a different country's Mosin, but the gun is so nice I don't even care. It shoots very well and I took a nice eater hog with it last fall.

But, usually, I don't see any good deals around these parts, and few interesting guns in general. If I do find them interesting, they're usually WELL above my price range. I used to drive up to two hours to the shows, but no longer travel much further than one hour.

I usually walk out with a couple of stuff like cleaning supplies or ammo, but hardly ever a gun. I too just mainly go for the chance of seeing some old, cool guns that I'll never be able to afford. :D
 
What? You didn't buy any Nazi memorabilia?

Beef Jerky?

Bumper stickers that say, "Fish Tremble At The Sound Of My Name?"

Indian Jewelry?

T-Shirts? Hats? Belts? Those hooks you pull boots on with?

Lamps?

Botulism Burritos?

Handloads loaded at the still by cousin Jebbadya?
 
No private party sales without transfer in Washington state means I will pass.
There has also been an extreme lack of surplus ammo and unmolested surplus rifles which means they are dead to me. But your never know what might show up..:) I just ain't going to be there..
 
I rarely go to them, and then just for entertainment. The prices on old Winchester rifles just blow my mind. Nice to check the prices/values on guns that I do have. Last show, I did buy 200 .30-30 cases though. And a bowl of mediocre jambalaya.
 
No private party sales without transfer in Washington state means I will pass.
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At WAC shows, we've got a $10 transfer area set up; private sales are fairly painless (yes, I-594 stinks, but for now, we're stuck with it).

We have a "Gun Shows suck" thread every month. Frankly, I will miss gun shows when they're gone (and we may not have any in the future since it appears most gun owners no longer vote, at least in the PNW). Where else can you spend a few hours around hundreds of like-minded folk, fondling guns for free with no obligation to buy, occasionally finding that part or that piece you've been seeking for a while, and sometimes, even scoring a good deal on a used gun (at least where I live, that's still possible).

I don't primarily attend our monthly WAC shows to find a deal or something I've been looking for; I simply enjoy some camaraderie, running into folks I don't see that often, talking about guns, shooting and hunting ... And yeah, these days, most often politics.

I can't think of many places gun folks can go to hang out and discuss RKBA issues -- IN PERSON -- with other members of our community.

But sure, y'all go on bashing gun shows. There's a purpose here, some of you just don't want to see it, only thinking about fulfilling your own selfish desires as though the only reason for gun shows is to score that great deal ...
 
Personally I don't mind wasting time at the local gun show. Been going off-and-on since the 1980s.

Sometimes I find what I consider a good buy (Taurus M72 .22 Mag pump-action rifle 16.5" barrel $204; CZ-52 w. holster, spare magazine, cleaning rod, lanyard, $130; Baikal Bounty Hunter 12ga coach gun $200--those thru FFLs so add $10 ea. for BG check).

The banick-panick led to a spike of unrealistic prices, but that was calmed by the last last show I went to Dec 2015. I was looking for bullets for reloading--85gr .312" jacketed hollowpount with channelure is not carried locally and the reloading supply vendor at the show had them. If found searching on-line, shipping and handling or driving fifty+ miles round trip would cost more than the show admission. And I got to see some as-issued .30-40 Krag cavalry carbines and a beautiful sporterized Krag in full mannlicher stock; don't see that at the LGS or WalMart.

The amusement value of some of the over-priced items has always been priceless, at least as good as a bad movie. Like the guy who figured if a late 19th century/early 20th century .38 S&W Smith & Wesson top break revolver was worth $600, his similar looking .38 S&W Iver Johnson was worth $600 too.
 
I regularly attended gun shows for many years, not so regularly anymore. I look on them as an afternoon's entertainment. I would not expect people to purchase a table/s, haul all their stuff there, set up,and tear it all back down after the show in order to give you or me some Smokin' deal. When the stars align, and I find something I want at a price I can bear to pay, I just consider that I was fortunate and had a good afternoon. I expect many individuals there to have obscenely overpriced items on their tables, some good, some junk, waiting for that "fish" even more gullible than me to come along. I like the jerky though, and once in a great while those stars do align.......ymmv
 
One things for sure. If you don`t go, you don`t know.

I was a regular at my local Gun Shows. Then burn out got me.

Haven`t been in several years.
 
I started going to GunShows over 30 years ago. The one that ranks best in memory was in Medina, OH in ~1988 ... still have a Marlin 1894S and a replacement Olean KABAR from that one. :)

By about 15 years ago I had gotten used to having my, by then, minimal expectations almost always met. I was attending to enjoy the firearms, but the Other Stuff was encroaching.

About the time that Hugo's in Opel, VA (just down the road from Clark Brother's Gunshop) closed its doors to Gunshows, I decided that I would do the same.

Now when I feel the need of a "hit", I go downstairs and open one or more gunsafes and work with some of the occupants.

Whenever I see/hear/read the ads for the local Gunshows (Chantilly or Woodbridge) I feel the tug ... but then remember that, for me, the hassle involved in attending it is just not worthwhile.
 
I go to several each year. 9 times out of 10 I don't find anything I'm interested in. But all of my favorite guns and all of my best deals have been purchases at gun shows.

About every 2 or 3 years I go to a local gun show
Click to expand...

You can't expect to go deer hunting once ever 2-3 years and kill a record book buck each time. The more you go, the better the odds of finding that trophy. Same with gun shows.
 
It's a mistake to go to gun shows thinking that you're going to get bargain prices. The reason to go is to find things that aren't available at local gun shops, or to do a hands-on inspection of collector guns.

I don't see how I could pursue my collecting hobby without gun shows.
 
Believe it or not I have found some good deals on AR parts at gun shows - the same as best online price with no shipping. Competition is key. Get two-three+ people with the same stuff, the consumer becomes king. This sometimes applies to ammo.
 
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