Gun Show

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22250Rem said:
Thank you to the OP and all who have posted input concerning gun shows. I haven't been able to attend one since pre-covid. There are gun shows here and there but not around my area. Was wondering what they were like; I pretty much figured the prices were up on everything due to external factors but it's nice to get some real world feedback from folks who were there.
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You know guns shows are like people they are all different and constantly changing. All you need is just one person showing up with something you want at a price you are willing to pay to make a bad show become awesome.

And honestly going to one or two gun shows a year is not going to tell you anything. (Unless it's the Tulsa gun show) you need to go to 20 to 25 a year minimum. :)
 
bangswitch said:
half or more of the vendors at a gun show ARE gun shop owners, just trying to broaden their customer base
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Yeppers, around here several of the LGSVs (Local Gun Show Vendors) are also LGSOs (Local Gun Shop Owners). In fact, I've ran into LGSOs at gunshows as far away as Salt Lake (150 miles) and Boise (260 miles), but mostly I see LGSOs at the local Pocatello and Idaho Falls gun shows where their gunshops are actually in the same towns. So I've never quite understood how going to gunshows is not "supporting" LGSOs.o_O
Besides, the LGSOs around here don't sell beef jerky, buffalo jerky or agate jewelry in their gunshops. For those things, I have to go to gunshows.;)
 
The local monthly gun show I used to attend was peppered with many gun shops, which always had their names emblazoned on signs that stood above them for easy identification. So you were doing business with semi-locals a good part of the time. The rest were usually people that had parts no longer needed, maybe a few guns, and other items like holsters and sights. Before that, my gun shows were in Detroit at two different locations during Bill Goodman's Gun & Knife Shows' heyday. Those shows were the best. I always said, I generally got my best deals at gun shows, and that still holds true today. Alas, gun shows are few and far between up here, so 75-150 miles are the norm to get to a decent one.
 
I’ve been to some giant shows and not seen a thing I really wanted. I’ve also been to some tiny shows that probably didn’t have more than 50 tables and scored some awesome deals that made attending totally worth the effort. It’s completely a gamble, but often that’s part of the fun.

I haven’t attended a show since the virus, but I might start back up next year if our Governor doesn’t cancel them.
 
FL-NC said:
I have been to 2 shows in NW Fl in the last month. My findings: 1- most guns seem to cost AT LEAST $100 more than they should, regardless of gun type.
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"...they should..." and no one checked with you? The world is dissolving as we speak, isn't it?
2- most centerfire ammunition of any caliber/brand/design costs $1 or more to make a gun go bang. 3- the 500 round bricks of 22 LR that were about $20 at wally world last spring were $50 2 weeks ago, and $70 1 week ago.[/QUOTE]So how much does ammunition cost? Anywhere? Dealers (LGS) cannot get ammunition on a regular basis or at all. Wally world has largely quite selling guns or ammunition. (I quit patronizing Wal-Mart when they stabbed all citizens in the back to foster love by anti-gunners. Besides, most of the stuff they sell is junk from mainland China.)

If you want something at 1950 prices, go to 1950. Gun shows in general are fun to attend. Perhaps you shouldn't go and keep quiet about it.
 
If you want something at 1950 prices, go to 1950. Gun shows in general are fun to attend. Perhaps you shouldn't go and keep quiet about it.[/QUOTE]


Thought the point of a forum was to voice your opinion......
 
Archie said:
If you want something at 1950 prices, go to 1950. Gun shows in general are fun to attend. Perhaps you shouldn't go and keep quiet about it.
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I started going to gun shows in 2004. I stopped going in 2009. They were never particularly fun (for me) but that was a glorious time for surplus, and at the time the shows were the best place to get it. Crates full of Mausers (esp. Zastava M98/48s) that hadn't been out of Cosmoline since they were re-arsenaled, AK and FAL parts kits with virtually new barrels by the pallet, and hundreds of NOS Mosin-Nagant's to pick through for $59 - just to name a few items.

I saw a battered old M91/30 on sale today (LGS) for $400. Cumulative inflation from 2008-2020 is right at 20%, which would make it "worth" $72.

Yes, I know that's not how it works, and one would have to have been frozen in a glacier not to understand the societal and market forces responsible.

I also feel bad for those who didn't "buy cheap and stack deep" Remington Green Box 9mm at $.06/round, for example, but I know a lot of people who did. That was just 12 years ago, not 70 - so I don't think it necessary to silence those who wish to lament these relatively recent changes.
 
Its been about 6 or 7 years since I went to a gun show. The only good parts about them is when competing dealers will undercut the store next to them trying to bring less inventory back to the store. Unless I find a really good deal, by the time I factor in tickets and parking fees I am paying about what I would have spent in the store anyway.
 
Haven't been to a gun show since the Wu-Flu hysteria. But, when I was going, some were good and some not so much. But, all of them, even the bad ones selling rain gutters, were better than sitting home watching brain-dead TV. I really miss the Wanenmacher Show in Tulsa. Missed the last two shows. I've been to maybe 40 shows there and no two are alike. Of course some of the same guys show up selling vintage Henry rifles for $25,000 and the guy who is trying to sell a rusty 12 ga for $100. For me it's everything in-between that is fascinating and endlessly interesting. The atmosphere is like breathing pine-scented air on a cool morning in the mountains. It's the smell of freedom. No other place on earth has this freedom of 11 acres of guns, guns, guns, all for $10 admission to anyone who wants to come. Do it while you can; it may not last.
 
Archie said:
"...they should..." and no one checked with you? The world is dissolving as we speak, isn't it?
2- most centerfire ammunition of any caliber/brand/design costs $1 or more to make a gun go bang. 3- the 500 round bricks of 22 LR that were about $20 at wally world last spring were $50 2 weeks ago, and $70 1 week ago.
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So how much does ammunition cost? Anywhere? Dealers (LGS) cannot get ammunition on a regular basis or at all. Wally world has largely quite selling guns or ammunition. (I quit patronizing Wal-Mart when they stabbed all citizens in the back to foster love by anti-gunners. Besides, most of the stuff they sell is junk from mainland China.)

If you want something at 1950 prices, go to 1950. Gun shows in general are fun to attend. Perhaps you shouldn't go and keep quiet about it.[/QUOTE]
If I want any advice in the future on what to discuss, where to go, or how to decide I should feel about any particular subject... maybe first I'll consult with the appropriate authorities. But what I'll definitely do moving forward is ignore the snarky and unsolicited comments that contribute nothing positive to a conversation.
 
One issue with gun shows and flee market gun sellers in general. Is than many just wants to show their collection off rather than sell.
 
Well there has been nothing of any sort short of a 3 hour ride one way so I haven't bothered. Hopefully that will change next year and all this shutdown craziness blows by. As long as UBC's are not shoved down our throats I am willing to bide my time and wait for better times. At least I will have a chance to save money for the next one.
 
FL-NC said:
So how much does ammunition cost? Anywhere? Dealers (LGS) cannot get ammunition on a regular basis or at all. Wally world has largely quite selling guns or ammunition. (I quit patronizing Wal-Mart when they stabbed all citizens in the back to foster love by anti-gunners. Besides, most of the stuff they sell is junk from mainland China.)


I went in at the end of the day to Cabelas, and they had a fair amount of 380 acp for between $20-24 per box, limit 5 per person. Apparently, I had just missed out on the stacks of 9mm they had earlier in the day. You win some, you loose some.
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I've been attending gun shows for quite a while now and will concede that they mostly "ain't what they used to be" now, at least in terms of getting bargains on guns, ammunition, parts, accessories, etc. But, c'mon, just seeing the varieties of firearms and attendant gear and the camaraderie shared by like-minded, patriotic gun enthusiasts is plenty enough to keep me going to gun shows. And for the uninitiated, there are still deals to be had.
 
SwampWolf said:
the camaraderie shared by like-minded, patriotic gun enthusiasts is plenty enough to keep me going to gun shows.
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This.

I still attend our regional WAC shows (which used to be the greatest, and still are worth attending if we start having them again), but we haven't had any since last spring. Most of the vendors are also commercial dealers, and you could pick up new firearms at good prices -- it wasn't always about the prices for me though -- it was about the selection. Also, if you were looking for used rifles or shotguns, the shows are the only way to go, not like buying from ads, because you could examine them and negotiate. Plus, if I wanted, I could pick up some medical supplies for the prepper kit, various items of military surplus, the Kramer holster guy is usually there, the gun magazine guy (awesome selection, not so good on pricing, but if you really needed something...), some beef jerky, some freeze dried prepper food, some silver jewelry for the girls... Personally, I feel that having some of this stuff at the shows might help bring up the female attendance, which isn't a bad thing.

But mainly, I go just to hang out and visit with a few hundred "like-minded, patriotic gun enthusiasts" as SwampWolf notes. Good times.

Sometimes I wonder about the guys who always chime in to bash gun shows. Don't know if they're all seeing the big picture. I might be in the minority, but I'll miss 'em when they're gone.
 
well the crowd is interesting to say the least, guns bring in people from all walks of life at the shows I went too
 
Maybe this would be a good time for the shows around here as I understand the covid rules are forcing the aisles to be wide enough that you're not constantly bumping arses and elbows. Only been to a few shows since Pops passed on and frankly going without him to one is less enjoyable.
 
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