Atmosphere at the Tulsa Gun Show

The Vultures are going to lose and soon. The big box stores aren’t gouging when they get stuff in. I bought 2,000 small pistol primers from Scheels last week for $38.99 a thousand.
Supply is spotty, but it won’t be for long!

I'll disagree about the shortages; none of the local stores can get it, no matter the price.

The panic is starting to slow. I see the lines every Monday at the local Academy sports store getting shorter & shorter.(Academy has their ammo shipment out for sale every Monday morning) I have seen them go in looking for panic ammo but only come out without just because the price was too high. It will take about 6 to 9 months for all the warehouses to get full & the panic will stop, then the prices will come down but they will never come down to where they were before the panic.

Elkins45 said:

I toyed with the idea of attending a show this weekend but didn’t go. I really don’t need anything and I t was a couple of hours away. I didn’t feel like driving that far and paying $10 just to look at overpriced stuff I don’t need.

Click to expand...

Yeah, same here, at least until vaccines are further along.
What I think is overlooked at times (especially by us older members) is that gun shows have not
always been so politically driven by the buyers.

Perceived changes to gun laws? - premium prices from gougers and speculators with lines to look at AR's and polymer handguns.
All quiet on the legislative front? - lots of indifference with the majority of movement inside coming from folks
going back and forth between tables looking to save 50 cents on that new brand x pistol.

IMHO, there are not nearly as many true gun enthusiasts - both wood/blue steel AND black plastic - as there used to be, regardless of age.
(I refer to this dying breed as 'aisle crossers' for their willingness to actually check out tables with both older and newer models).
From my perspective as a table holder/helper, it seems shows today have most of the attendees that are only looking on one side or the other.


JT

AK Hunter said:

It will take about 6 to 9 months for all the warehouses to get full & the panic will stop, then the prices will come down but they will never come down to where they were before the panic.

Click to expand...

I think it's a little hasty to make the prediction that prices aren't ever going to be back to where they were. The same thing was said during the last panic and it wasn't that long ago that prices came back down to where they were, and if you factor in inflation, may have been lower. What was it, 2 years ago that Vista Outdoors had mail in rebates on a lot of their lines?

JCooperfan1911 said:

We live in a society that has demonstrated that buyers are more than willing to bend over backwards to pay incredible prices per each round of ammunition that can possibly be pumped out of the factories as fast as they are made.

I fear this “perfect storm” of events is going to PERMANENTLY inflate the cost of ammunition from here on out. I don’t think it will EVER be as cheap as it was pre Covid.

Click to expand...

It is my opinion that you have the direction of bending over reversed. I'll revert to a slingshot and rocks before paying the prices of today.

Near me, only the gun shops are raising ammo prices. Walmart and Dunham's Sports have Not. I've stopped going to the gun shops and will not go back when all this is over. Dunham's has a dang good selection of guns and firearm related items. So, they have become my "Gun Shop" of choice. I'm thinking many people are going to have a large stash of ammo and all the guns they need for awhile when all this is over. I'm thinking gun shops are going to see a large down turn in business. I'm not going to care. Pay back time.

I really feel for the people that are really POOR and are sucked into this panic.

BCR#1 said:

He then starts trying to talk me out of my primers by offering $100.00 for each brick I would bring him.

Click to expand...

See that right there would make me mad. So he's selling boxes of primers for $200 a pop right in front of you, then offers you only $100 a box for yours? Why so he can just put them on his table for $200? Why should you sell to him for any less than what he's selling them to everybody else for? I probably would have been kicked out of the show for what came out of my mouth.

Regardless, it is nice to not have to sweat this panic. I have plenty of what I need for now. It's lasting longer than I thought it would though. I figured people would be running out of money by now.

I recall my LGS owner telling me that when tempers cooled from when ARs were bringing $2K in parking lots, people who bought them would bring them in to sell, and he had to tell them that it was not his fault that they paid that for a rifle that really was worth about $750.

I have been going to local gunshows since they started up again last summer. Ammo prices are trickling down for some calibers like 9mm and .223/5.56. Primers are still high and scarce as well as powder. A co worker's child has joined a trap shooting club so I checked out some 12 gauge shells and those were rare and priced $25 to $35 per box for generic trap loads. I did not see that happening. The last panic you could find 12 gauge everywhere. I do believe things will calm down eventually.

Despite everything the Tulsa show was well attended, maybe even at record levels. I managed to sell off some unused ammo and guns for what I thought were reasonable prices. Others I saw of the same model/condition were much higher and still there Sunday afternoon. I try to price things to move.

loneviking:
A friend who moved away, now living about twenty miles south of Jackson MS told me today that they are seeing more 9mm and .223 in some businesses.
Maybe the stores simply raised prices and/or enacted box limits?

If not, some of the Ammo Flippers soon might have trouble on payments for their yachts with heli-pads, or their new apartments in Paris' Left Bank.....

I'm rather concerned about their futures as "dedicated followers of fashion".

I'm told that the Walmart near me just started putting a one box per day, per customer limit on ammo. I think that's great. Should have started much sooner.

I'm going to a gun show tomorrow and i really don't know what to expect. I'm taking a buddy of mine, and it's maybe 20 minutes away from me. I'm genuinely afraid, because he just got into firearms and am afraid it's gonna leave a really sour taste. If y'all don't mind, I think I'll make a similar post tomorrow.

Sniper66 said:

What worries you??

Click to expand...

The gun show here is usually full of nice people,but a lot of them are business driven. This guy was "selling" all matching Mosin Nagants for 1k in 2018. You can find cool things for decent prices, but I'm just afraid that all the bad juju from last year is gonna deter him from the hobby.

I was in need of some new work shoes so I went to the big Bass Pro (used to be Cabela's) store and bought a pair of shoes. While I'm there I thought I'd go check out the ammo section of the store. The ammo section was gone and replaced with stuff like ammo storage containers. Their gun stock was down, very down, especially the pistols. They still had an ok selection of new hunting rifles but the racks of used guns were gone. Needless to say, Brass Pro Shops is not wasting time on trying to get ammo at inflated prices and I can respect that because then they have to pass that price on to the customer. Perhaps Bass Pro Shops just don't want to have to wait for ammo to arrive only to have one or two customers come and clean the shelves off creating a tense situation with other customers, who knows?

But the ammo section is gone.

Lycidas Janwor said:

I was in need of some new work shoes so I went to the big Bass Pro (used to be Cabela's) store and bought a pair of shoes. While I'm there I thought I'd go check out the ammo section of the store. The ammo section was gone and replaced with stuff like ammo storage containers. Their gun stock was down, very down, especially the pistols. They still had an ok selection of new hunting rifles but the racks of used guns were gone. Needless to say, Brass Pro Shops is not wasting time on trying to get ammo at inflated prices and I can respect that because then they have to pass that price on to the customer. Perhaps Bass Pro Shops just don't want to have to wait for ammo to arrive only to have one or two customers come and clean the shelves off creating a tense situation with other customers, who knows?

But the ammo section is gone.

Click to expand...

At my local Cabela's (Waco TX) they moved the ammo behind the pick up counter first come first serve 5 box limit.

Lycidas Janwor said:

I was in need of some new work shoes so I went to the big Bass Pro (used to be Cabela's) store and bought a pair of shoes. While I'm there I thought I'd go check out the ammo section of the store. The ammo section was gone and replaced with stuff like ammo storage containers. Their gun stock was down, very down, especially the pistols. They still had an ok selection of new hunting rifles but the racks of used guns were gone. Needless to say, Brass Pro Shops is not wasting time on trying to get ammo at inflated prices and I can respect that because then they have to pass that price on to the customer. Perhaps Bass Pro Shops just don't want to have to wait for ammo to arrive only to have one or two customers come and clean the shelves off creating a tense situation with other customers, who knows?

But the ammo section is gone.

Click to expand...

Exact same thing happened here in El Paso. That's funny.

The Dallas Market Hall show today was packed.
Ammo available in huge quantity (and some extra-large boxes, too)--but was not selling so very much. Pistols were being sold in some quantity. They were in some considerable display, at least when compared to local gun shops.
We may have hit Peak AR, as few were moving.
Seemed to be a lot of grumpy people toting various "for sale" treasures about, but not getting the imagined inflated values expected.
Magpul Gen 3 mags seem to have stabilized at $17 each. Looked like plain-jane 5.56 was anywhere from 80¢ to $2 per round, based on the name and quantity in the box. There were 60 and 120 round boxes available, just not "name brand."
Parking was insane, with people so desperate to not walk a few dozen feet to just drive up on the grass.

Were at least four vendors keeping their stock covered, and customers having to ask if that had something specific.

SunnySlopes said:

Also, families are spreading out to wait at the doors of our local Bass Pro, Academy, and larger gun shops, for them to open and then buy all they're allowed. We're seeing them advertise on Armslist and Tulsa Gun Sales dot com. An employee of Bass Pro told me steps they had taken to try to stem the tide, but he says it's not working.

Click to expand...

I've heard the same thing from employees too. With work, I can not wait in a line for a store to open to pick up supplies or ammo. I just wish the stores would put out the merchandise throughout the day and not have it ready when the doors open.

Last show was weird. Most stuff was priced beyond comprehension and no bargains seen. Sales were brisk tho and all 3 of the transfer tables were very busy. 80% stuff disappeared at 2-3 x 2019 prices. Show was held same day as free vaccinations being held in tents next door and cars backed up for at least a mile around fairgrounds Nearly impossible to get back in fairgrounds if you left show after 11 AM. Given the ambulance sirens many recent vaccinated may not be future Show attendees

The El Paso gun show wasn't too bad. Most of it was older folk just trying to have a good day. There was one vendor who had over inflated prices and barely sold a thing. $1/7.62x39 of Tulammo? Pass. But $20/50 .38 SPCL SWC? Guns were priced up the ass though, but only from FFL's.

There was this lady who had a Liberator Pistol for $4k, and pointed out to my buddy that I wouldn't pay that price because it's missing the floor plate. She walked up to me and asked if I was interested, and told her exactly that. She then proceeded to " Ask God if he knew about this? What should she do? ". Looked me dead in the eyes and said "God doesn't want you to have it anyways. " Walked away from that quickly.

Went to a small show in Ogden Kansas yesterday and was pleasantly surprised. The last show, last Fall sometimes, had only a few tables and nobody selling. This one was as full and busy as I've ever seen it. Prices on guns were reasonable for the most part, given the market; I was tempted several times to purchase at what would have been a high end price a few years ago, but now was acceptable, most by a pair of Savage 1907's selling for $600 each. Ammo was quite high. Saw Federal Champion 525 boxes marked $100. It was tempting to drive home and break out the boxes in my basement that I purchased for 8.50 prior to 2010, but then I would be short myself!

Didn't buy, but it was a pleasant time.