Some observed asking prices at the show today-

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NIGHTLORD40K

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Hit the local show today. Thought y'all would find some observations interesting-

Minty S&W M66- $1100 o_O

VG Stainless Palmer MA, DW .357 snubby- $1200

Fair Monson DW M15 6" .357 - $575

Minty 4" blued Security Six- $575

Another minty 4" Security Six- $875

Fair Speed Six- $475

Excellent MAS .22 "Mauser" trainer- $425

Good/ Fair Beretta M51s- $325

Minty 6" S&W M28- $950

Poor cond. S&W 1006- $675

LNIB Vintage 6-shot Ruger Sp101 .22- $1100 :what:

Fair Universal Carbine, 2nd Gen, with a broken slide- $375

Good cond. 6" M10 with rubber grips- $600

VG Swedish Lahti- $1600

Good cond. Nazi-marked Radom- $1100

NIB 6" blued vintage Python- $3000obo

LNIB Nickel 6" M29 in display box- $1500

Fair Ruger Mk2 bull-barrel- $425 :scrutiny:

Good cond. Sav. M99, 300Sav.- $475

Good cond. Official Police in .32-20- $875

Like new SKS Type M- $750

VG Romanian M69 .22- $250

Federal 115 9mm fmj- $35/50

Fiochi .380 fmj- $55/50

Aguila .22lr lrn- $13/50

LC .62gr 5.56mm, $115/100
Remington .30-30- $80/20 :eek::cuss:

I almost worked out a deal on a cosmetically challenged 4" M28, but didnt actually buy anything. Very busy show, about 1/3 of the crowd wearing masks. Selection not as good as in normal times, but better than it has been.

Tons of ammo, but not affordable unless you're desperate.
 
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Did any of them sell?

I've an SKS-M with the Clinton thumb hole stock I'd part with for $750
Well, I didnt buy anything. A fella was looking hard at that SKS, but I didnt dawdle to see if he bought it.

There were ARs and parts for days, but I really didnt notice alot of traffic at the tacti-cool tables. Im stocked to the gills on AR stuff, maybe a lot of other folks are too?
 
When the current situation hopefully ends, and normality returns, a lot of people are going to find themselves very much under water having bought at these prices.
 
NIGHTLORD40K

Great recon job! When I went to gun shows I use to bring along a pen and a little notebook to write down the item I was interested in, it's price, and what row the table was in so I could go back and check it out again!

I would have been sorely tempted by the minty Security Six for $575 and somewhat intrigued by the Good Condition Colt Official Police in .32-20 for $875
 
Although what’s happened in the past is no guarantee, we have seen it happen not too long ago, with overpriced AR’s, magazines, and ammo.
That was probably the biggest surprise for me- no more feeding frenzies over ARs, parts and accessories, apparently. The guys with tables full of AR stuff and Glocks were looking either bored or depressed. The action seemed to be at the private seller tables with old revolvers and milsurps. Of course, this particular show is known for that and attracts a collector crowd in "normal" times anyway- precisely the reason I went in the first place. :)
 
That was probably the biggest surprise for me- no more feeding frenzies over ARs, parts and accessories, apparently. The guys with tables full of AR stuff and Glocks were looking either bored or depressed. The action seemed to be at the private seller tables with old revolvers and milsurps. Of course, this particular show is known for that and attracts a collector crowd in "normal" times anyway- precisely the reason I went in the first place. :)
Perhaps the directed frenzy at AR’s has been dissipated by the frenzy for all firearms and ammo by first time buyers?
Maybe veteran shooters have filled their limit of AR’s and new buyers aren’t so interested in them?
 
The plenty of ammo available but most at ridiculous/desperation prices was my observation at the last two gun shows I went to. I think the ammo supply is catching up and creative vendors tracked down a lot of obscure brands and stocked up to the best of their ability. Now...those who paid premium plus want to offload, but week by week, the demand decreases as folks like me sit on the fence and wait for the prices to continue to fall. I truly think--barring another "event" that stokes the fires of panic buying (which is ALWAYS a possibility)--that prices will continue to decrease slowly...until some major online vendor blinks and offers a major decrease in bulk 9mm or 223/556. Others will have no choice but to follow.

So, I'll continue to wait, as I think and hope ammo will be both available and significantly cheaper by mid-summer. Still well above pre-COVID prices, but more like $20 for 50 rounds of quality brass-cased 9mm. We'll see, but I think the tide has turned and is moving in the right direction for buyers.

I plan to stock deep this time, but I've still got a good 2-3 year supply for all calibers.
 
maybe a lot of other folks are too?
Last time I saw people actively buying ARs was the show in January.
Since then, it's been slim.
I think we may have reached "Peak" AR.
Prices are high enough to stop impulse buys, and that's driven supply up., and the market remains unwilling to respond with lower prices from the increased supply.

Toughest spot after a shortage is being the being the guy buying supply for sale at $1 when the demand drives the prices down to 75¢ or less.

Several years ago this exact same thing happened. A bunch of the big stores stocked up on ARs expected them to sell for $1200 and up, and the market bottom fell out, and they were retailing for $750-800; or well below the wholesale price. Suddenly, those same stores announced that they were all getting out of selling ARs, and tied up the reasons in cute little bows, that had nothing to do with having to eat huge losses.
 
My local gun show was the same. Many things way over priced. $40 for a box of CCI Mini Mags and $69 for a box of 380 FMJ.

Some guns were somewhat reasonable. Most of the Taurus 3" 856 models were around $450. Not great but not too bad.

I ended up buying 4 5 round boxes of Rem 12 gauge #4 buck for $6.99, which didn't seem too bad
 
Remington .30-30- $80/20
Of all the stuff that makes the no sense to me, that one takes the cake.....how in the world is 30-30 ammo that bloody expensive now?
And who bought it all?
You can't get it on the shelves here, and I've been having to scrounge components to make rounds for guys that can't get any.
These guys only shoot maybe a box of ammo a year......
 
I don't believe we have. Builds are still fairly cheap
Well, the "parts" builders are not incredibly common at shows.
It's more about assembled ARs--or that matter, AKs, too. Factory-built was generally moving at around $1050, just not so much at $1200--at least in here in DFW.

The AR parts guys have not really increased prices at the shows, so much. ut, they are competing against online sellers, and can only really offer variety and immediacy for their "bits."

Now, I've seen more vendors of late selling stripped lowers.

and t-shirts.
Dunno, some of the t-shirt slogans are hilarious [:)] The various stickers, too. I have given in to dollar bumper stickers a time or two. Peel them off and stick on magnetic printer paper, and they decorate the safe.

how in the world is 30-30 ammo that bloody expensive now?
And who bought it all?
I have seen, somewhere, that the manufacturers only make small runs of .30-30 since wholesaler/distributor demand for it is generally low. If you are the LGS and know you maybe sell 8-10 boxes in the fall, are you going to buy 20 boxes in the Spring? Or, maybe wait until July or August.
And, this last year, when you ordered the 20 boxes, maybe they just couldn't get a truck to deliver those.

You go to the store to go get dirty-dirty for ol' Bets' and there's only 2 boxes on the shelf, maybe you bought both, even if you knew you only really needed 5-6 for the Five Tags you bought. Bubba comes in a day later and the dirty-dirty shelf is bare, so he gets online to go get more.

Then LGS gets on the phone to the distributor who says, "we can only get you 3 boxes; 5 if you wait until December"--then, what do you do?
Especially since Tiebadeaux just came in and saw the bare shelf and left in disgust "Tey ain' got nuttin, why go back?"
Our world, it is complicated.
 
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