I miss gun shows in this time of virus

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peeplwtchr said:
Gun shows seem slimey
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Well, that can be a "thing," too.
As reputable dealers quit buying into a promoter's shows the empty tables get filled up with ever-less reputable dealers. So, the shows get worse, rather than better.

Also, it's harder to get really good dealers to go to rural shows, hard to justify spending a weekend in Podunk to watch a bunch (maybe) of tire kickers who still think expensive revolvers are $50 and all ammo only costs about 1¢ per round. (My hat is off to the folk willing to drive to 75-100 table shows in VFW and Legion halls all over doing an honest business.)

If you go to a show, and it's awful, take a moment to note the promoter. Then, avoid that promoter. This is more important in cities and urban areas, where the same venue may host several promoters' shows.
 
J-Bar said:
I know it is fashionable to bad mouth gun shows and gun magazines these days.
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Not me, I've always liked reading the magazines and loved attending gun shows. :) Still do and I really miss the shows for all kind of reasons, even if the "deals" aren't what they used to be. And they aren't. :(
 
It is torture I tell you!! The .gov sends a bonus check and then the govorner shuts down gun shows.:mad: I like to go to them to people watch almost as much as checking out the hardware. I absoutely love to poke around in the piles of used stuff looking for parts and pieces to fix my three latest projects. As a bonus I just might find a steal of a deal. You never know, just be patient and leave no holster--er stone unturned then lo and behold - a miracle is unearthed. :D
 
The shows in TX were pretty good. Dealers with large selections at better than big box prices for standard new items. Went to a show here before the shutdown. Small and pretty limited, not to insult the folks as the area doesn't have the population demographics of San Antonio. Used to meet with other old farts and we would browse and have lunch. Discussing the personality of different dealers and the crowd was fun.

Some dealers would bargain or politely tell you their best price. Others would have volcanic fits if you asked for a better deal. Some knew their stuff and others were full of BS. Same with the crowd.
 
peeplwtchr said:
I went to my first and possibly only gun show last summer in PHX. I felt like I was in Mexico buying a bad stilletto as a teenager. There was another show a few months later, that turns out to be THE show of the year. I had no idea until I saw people at the range with stuff and prices I had never seen. My instructor told me thats the show of the year. .
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Everybody needs to go to the SAR Show at least once.

But I enjoyed buying a cheap switchblade in Mexico as a teenager.
 
GEM said:
Some dealers would bargain or politely tell you their best price. Others would have volcanic fits if you asked for a better deal. Some knew their stuff and others were full of BS. Same with the crowd.
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Sounds like guns stores, except I've never had to pay to get into a gun store.:D
Just kidding around. I do like going to gunshows, and gun stores too for that matter. However, I can't say that I've missed it because I don't think there have been any gunshows cancelled in this area due to the virus yet, and the gun stores are still open.
I'm not sure, but I think "Lewis & Clark Traders" sponsor the largest guns shows in this area. And from what I can tell (what I've read on the internet anyway) they're just like most gunshows - bargains on guns are few and far between, lots of cheap but expensive knives, beef and bison jerky, knick-knacks, and jewelry.
It doesn't matter to me and my wife. We go for the entertainment, and we usually run into old friends and acquaintances while we're there. So if there is a gunshow that gets cancelled around here before this virus thing is over, I guess we will miss it.:(
 
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No gun shows have saved me quite a bit of money.
I go to get out and walk around, but seem to always find something that calls my name. I started bringing my wife and that was a bigger mistake.
 
I know some of my gun friends go to gunshows so they can buy and sell with ppl that are just attending not the dealers. Heard that's how the better deals are
 
I REALLY MISSED the Wanenmacher Gun Show that was cancelled in the spring; second show I've missed in the last 15 years. I can't say enough good things about that particular show. I can see the possibility without a vaccine by fall that the show would be cancelled again. I just do not see how they could possibly do a show with a dramatic reduction in table numbers, no touching the guns, cutting attendance by 1/2 or maybe 2/3rds. Will hotels be opened? Restaurants? I just do not see it. BUT.....guys like me will be very determined to have the show. So I'll keep hoping.
 
I missed them...15 or 20 years ago. Back when you could pick up an SKS for $150 max. Other Mil Surps were plentiful too.

Now they're just littered with dealers anyway. And the private sellers have all priced accordingly to Gunbroker prices. They really think they have something special. The only thing I miss in recent shows was occasionally finding some reloading components if I showed up early enough.
 
.308 Norma said:
Sounds like guns stores, except I've never had to pay to get into a gun store.:D
Just kidding around. I do like going to gunshows, and gun stores too for that matter. However, I can't say that I've missed it because I don't think there have been any gunshows cancelled in this area due to the virus yet, and the gun stores are still open.
I'm not sure, but I think "Lewis & Clark Traders" sponsor the largest guns shows in this area. And from what I can tell (what I've read on the internet anyway) they're just like most gunshows - bargains on guns are few and far between, lots of cheap but expensive knives, beef and bison jerky, knick-knacks, and jewelry.
It doesn't matter to me and my wife. We go for the entertainment, and we usually run into old friends and acquaintances while we're there. So if there is a gunshow that gets cancelled around here before this virus thing is over, I guess we will miss it.:(
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I went to one gun show back in the 90's and was floored that I had to pay $2 to go to a giant yard sale. No deals, lots of Nazi stuff and jerky, and plenty of overpriced junk. Never been to one since.
 
Gun shows are great fun. Lotsa older stuff, and also my sons and I go see a certain exhibitor cuz he has given great deals and when he's in Denver, way closer than driving to his store. BUT...it's like a bunch of gun stores that you may visit, except all in one place. The inventory numbers, types, variety are what make gun shows great. This whole gig has only been around for about 3 months..I suspect that in 6-8 months, all will be pretty much back to the 'new' normal and there will be gun shows again.
 
I love gun shows. I approach it from a "show" perspective these days. I hear a ton of hilarious BS, see a ton of overpriced "RARE" garbage, but also see some really amazing stuff that I wouldn't see elsewhere. I will buy some powder (nobody else around here carries trailboss), maybe a mag here or there, some jerky for the lady and enjoy the community. Every now and then (once every 3 shows or so) I find a deal I can't pass up on a gun. What makes it really priceless is when you find that one table and your sons are just drooling over WWII era rifles and the man with the table makes your kid pick it up, hold it, explains the history behind each piece, just because. Smiles ear to ear, stories months later from the kids (dad you have to buy one of those) makes the crowds and entry fee worth it.
 
Gun Shows - Where else can you see that much cool stuff under one roof? Sure , a lot of stuff is overpriced , but there are bargains to be had as well. Lots of educational opportunities. And characters - what a show.
There is a quarterly show about 40 minutes from my house. A Wisconsin based commercial reloader is always there, top quality products. If I plan ahead and restock ammo from that source (avoiding costly shipping) , my gas and entry fee are well covered and anything else I find at the show is frosting on the cake.

Yes , I miss gun shows.
 
I would usually go to a show every month or two around here. Go there to meet up with friends, people watch, and see all the guns in person. Every once in a while, something would call to me. Usually it would be something that was just hard to find.

They keep raising the prices, though. I used to do the computer shows in the same buildings. They kept raising the prices too. Eventually no one would come to the computer shows as the internet was picking up around then. I don't see computer shows anymore. I hope gun shows don't go that same way.
 
Our Gun Show was cancelled, I was bummed.

I've noticed the major objections to gun shows is 'everything is overpriced'. Then, after some talking and specific and tactful questions, the real issue is the griper wanted the latest firearm he read about in some gun magazine for about half list price and no one would sell such a thing. Or he remembers the prices of surplus stuff in the 1960s and is horrified the prices have gone up. (We didn't talk about gasoline.)

I collect old guns. The sort one doesn't find in 'new' gun stores; hardly in used gun stores or pawn shops. Less rare, but not really common in gun shows. Takes a lot of looking.

Also neglected is the amount of knowledge. Old guys have learned a lot about a lot of things. 'New' gimmicks that have tried and found wanting, stuff like that.

And I get to see old friends who remember me and like me; at least for an hour or two.
 
It's nostalgia, I suppose. Back before the internet and on-line gun sales there was just the various local gun shops, gun newspapers, and gun shows.
Back then, as I recall, gun shows were a viable place to get a good deal. And it was an opportunity to visit with people that you might only see once a year.
But, times change. Prices are high, deals are few, attitudes are different, and old friends have passed away.
But, I still go to some, like I always did.
There are those with collector displays and sometimes the odd old book shows up at the book tables of old guys like myself.
And you can always chuckle at things like a well-worn RCBS Rock Chucker priced at 90% of the new retail price
 
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berettaprofessor said:
It’s not the prices or the hardware, it’s the experience. It’s walking in to see that ancient guy with his O2 tank still has a table just to show off his Colt selection.
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Unfortunately, the "experience" at large gun shows, as previously constituted, is tailor-made for spreading the virus. And, on top of that, the population of elderly, grossly obese people with their motorized wheelchairs and oxygen tanks (in my experience, over-represented among dealers and attendees) is particularly vulnerable to fatal results if they do catch the virus. Gun shows will not return until we have a safe and effective vaccine.
 
CapnMac said:
Maybe.
Perhaps.
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Gun shows could return, under conditions like those I outlined on the first page of this thread. The more I think about it, though, such things wouldn't be practical in the real world. So the shows will remain closed. Anyway, I personally wouldn't go to one until and unless I had a vaccination under my belt. (I'm 75 with some medical conditions.)
 
AlexanderA said:
Gun shows could return, under conditions like those I outlined on the first page of this thread. The more I think about it, though, such things wouldn't be practical in the real world. So the shows will remain closed. Anyway, I personally wouldn't go to one until and unless I had a vaccination under my belt. (I'm 75 with some medical conditions.)
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What he said, pay your money and take your chances..NO gun shows for me(or any other enclosed group of people, regardless of any rules and regulations)..until the above. 69yo with some of those too.
 
I usually pick up powder, primers and bullets at the shows and usually pick up something I don't need, I can get the same items from LGS for just a little more and don't have to pay to enter, bullets are cheaper on the net, food and drinks are cheaper at home, I would rather spend the extra money at the range with friends
 
I pretty much quit going to the gun shows as I found most times I would pay my $7.00 entry fee and then walk out empty handed. So basically I was paying someone $7.00 to walk around and look at stuff that was either of no interest or way over priced. Then at the shows in this area there were no vendors that had any real reloading supplies or even old reloading equipment. These shows were not like swap meets they are more like monthly flea markets with regular established vendors and most were gun shops. On guns I mostly can find better deals on Gun Broker or Armslist.

Now for a real exciting gun show, I just this week started working at an outdoor range as a Range Officer. So for in three days I have worked on the 100yd and 25yd ranges and have seem such a wide array of firearms and have actually seen them all function. Now that is a Gun Show.
 
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