Been to a gun show lately?

[mortablunt]

The scent products, jewelers, and other non-firearm sellers keep my wife busy while I look at firearms. I've got no problem with that.

They also give me a nice excuse to go to gun shows under the premise of buying Christmas/birthday/<insert thing here> presents. I just say I'm going shopping and everybody thinks I'm just going to one of the local malls. I get to handle guns and partake in the hobby while others don't get alarmed and receive nice presents. At my current schedule, I can only go to maybe one or two a year, unless I take pains to come home from college just for the shows, or I start attending MD shows.

 

[EBShooting]

I go to the gun shows here in CA in hopes that my attendance will keep them coming. However, it seems they have less and less guns and parts and more and more jewelry and t-shirts. Also seems that prices are going up from the dealers that set up and there are less private party sales.
But still, it is an excuse to get out of the house for a couple of hours every couple of months.

 

[locnload]

Here in Colorado, just after the Columbine School shootings, the Politicians, including our "Conservative Republican" Governor, jumped into action to close the Barn Door and stop the "Gun Show Loophole". Seems that some of the guns used at Columbine were purchased at the Tanner Gun Show by a young woman that bought them for Harris and Klebold. She of course became the tearful poster child for "Ammendment 22" reasoning that if she would have had to go through a background check she may have stopped and thought about the wisdom of buying guns for two underage twisted freaks. She never spent a day in jail.
We used to go to gunshows to find bargans, people would walk around with personally owned guns and you could make a cash deal that you could both be happy with. We can still do that, but now you have to pay for a background check, pay Denver sales tax, and hope the system is not so backed up that you can't finish the transaction that day. Gun shows just haven't been the same since.
I really don't mind the background check, I'll pass, and I don't care if Big Brother knows I have guns, if he doesn't, I'm not doing my part as a gun owner. I mostly hate the delay and the extra exspense, and of course the risk that someones wires will get crossed and I mistakenly end up cuffed and stuffed. The people that are not allowed to be in possesion of guns should know who they are and the Gobment should leave the rest of us law abbiding types alone. :banghead:

 

[trickyric]

I love going to Gun shows. There are 2 a month I never miss (miami and West Palm). Ammo is always a deal because of cash pricing and no shipping costs and I find that when the big companies are there all the smaller dealers prices come way down to compete.
As for selling your old stuff a person has remember you are almost never going to get "What it is worth" because the dealer has to buy from you and then sell it at a profit. If you can get 60% of value you are doing well. The only way to get about 80% is if you are trading because they make their money on the one you are buying.
I always find something I like at the shows.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

I'm guessing that, from his member name, it was the Topeka show..? Went to one there once. Not impressed.
Used to like going to the big ones in Tulsa when I lived down there but I hear they have gone down hill too...

 

[NoAlibi]

QUOTE]locnload: "Seems that some of the guns used at Columbine were purchased at the Tanner Gun Show by a young woman that bought them for Harris and Klebold. She of course became the tearful poster child for "Ammendment 22" reasoning that if she would have had to go through a background check she may have stopped and thought about the wisdom of buying guns for two underage twisted freaks. She never spent a day in jail."[/QUOTE]

She makes a “straw man” purchase at a gun show that caused so many deaths and she doesn‘t go to jail?!? Please tell me how that happened!!!

 

[Swichblade]

I was at a gun show last week. I went to try to find a military surplus gun that can't regularly be found in a gun store. I did see some things that were outrageously priced. There was a Nagant revolver that was priced at $250 and Hi Point carbines that were $400.

 

[HOWARD J]

It's been a while since I was at a gun show--about 20 years.
Last tim I was there all they had was people selling new weapons.
I quit because most of the shows had NO surplus military parts.
I can get a new weapons at any gun shop.

 

[sig220mw]

Last time I went was just about a year ago. I sold a rifle with a scope attached and got $25.00 less than what I was asking so I was happy. The buyer was a dealer that wanted it for himself and not to resell.

The reason I haven't been since then is that I always seem to be at work when there is one going on that I know about. I like to go and look around and like others said, get the feel of a gun that I may later get. I also like the fact that the shows always seem to have those people that have little gun cleaning or maintenance type gadgets that you don't often see elsewhere.

I also am always on the look out for reloading supplies.

 

[The-Reaver]

People around here and other places like to dis gunshows quite a bit.
I still go, dealing with some high prices yes... some misinformation yes. But there is always a deal. You just have to have the patience and know how to make the best of things.

 

[KansasPaul]

When I posted this thread last night I was still in "complaining" mode (S. McCoy, yes it was in Topeka). The majority of the show was made up of the same dealers that were present the last time I went (about a year ago). There was one guy selling mil surplus parts and a few independents. I wasn't necessarily looking for cheap deals and I am always willing to pay a fair price for a new or used firearm. I guess that I just failed to have realistic expectations before going. At this point, I've got past my complaining. I'm not sure that I will attend this particular show again, and instead I may visit one of the larger shows in Kansas City or Tulsa.

Thank you, my firearm enthusiast friends, for your input and for allowing me an opportunity to vent a little.

 

[DammitBoy]

I go as often as I can. I don't care whether the place is full of "great deals", since if I find one gun that I wanted but have never found anywhere else, at an acceptable price, it's a good day. The shows also help me keep an idea what my older guns might be worth. I have also come to usually buy ammo in bulk and the shows are where that can be done most easily around here.

+11 - I find your attitude greatly affects what kind of deals you will find at a show.

 

[pharmer]

I went 2 weeks ago. not looking for anything. Found this 1954 S&W. Joe

 

[Plan2Live]

I went yesterday. Yes, some had crazy prices but I'm generally not interested in the stuff that brings a premium. It's still a great way to buy bulk ammo at good prices without paying for the shipping. I also like to see and touch most things before I buy them. Earlier this year I was shopping for flashlights and found a great little flashlight (SC1 Eluma by ITP) I had never heard of and probably would have never found online. A month or so ago I found a guy selling handmade carry belts with a kydex liner stitched between the two layers of leather for about half what I would pay at Galco and again, I get to see it, touch it and not pay the shipping charge. There was a much larger array of range bags at the show than at the local gun store. Oh, and I found a guy that lives around here that does custom engraving on wood or metal. A real craftsman.

I didn't find the pistol I was looking for but I got to look at a bunch of other guns I might eventually be interested in AND I got to pick them up which I can't do over the Internet.

All in all I still enjoy going out to the shows when they roll through town. You just never know what you might run across.

 

[jon_in_wv]

I went to one about a week ago. I sold my Russian Makarov and bought a Polish surplus flare gun, a box of flares, two boxes of 8x56R in the clips, and a case of 7.5 Swiss. It was a good day.

 

[Ignition Override]

Yes, just over a month ago: Southaven MS, by Memphis.
My nice Longbranch Enfield (all LBs and Savages have two-grooves) made nasty wide "keyhole" gashes at 100 yards with boat tail bullets.

I traded it (plus $20) for an Enfield #4 with four or five-groove rifling and good bore, as these were built only in England. Unlike that LB, this "ROF (F)" Fazackerly has no replacement mag, barrel bands or front sight. Even the magazine matches. An extra $20 for them meant nothing-it was their loss......

Some sellers at our shows, all of which are small, admit that they are there to socialize, because they usually sell little, and I like some of them. Most buyers don't factor in the cost of the sellers' fees, travel costs for some.
I only began learning about guns in late '07.

Shows are places to learn both facts from the my gun buddies and other good people, in contrast to the nebulous, convoluted 'Kuhscheisse' ("This Garand #@*&()0%#<^^>...) from a couple of very fast-talking types, whose baloney makes Bill Clinton's slick talk seem almost as clear as that of a Marine Harrier pilot. They think that we are so easily dazzled, or persuaded by abstract hype.
It might as well be Basque or Sanskrit as we stroll away.

 

[Wildbillz]

I still go every chance I get. Some times there are some deals and somtimes not. But its normaly worth the cost of getting in just to wonder around the room for the day and look at the stuff for sale.

WB

 

[The-Reaver]

I mean hell nowadays its worth the entrance fee to simply be around some like minded people.

 

[Dr Dave]

I like gun shows because I can hold the guns and meet cool people. Same reason I prefer Half Price Books to Kindle downloads. Kindle doesn't smell like books.

 

[leadcounsel]

Yep, a lot of crazy prices this weekend. Literally saw a $1200 "pre-ban" AK47. Dude tried telling me that it was better than the cheap $500 AK47s being made now!!! Oh really....

But I've always managed to find something worth buying - you have to hunt, but those dealers or private sellers with reasonable prices can quickly do business.

 

[BBDartCA]

The smaller ones had a similar situation, the only thing that fluctuated was the guy selling the swords was sometimes replaced by the woman selling the Beanie Babies, and the guy selling the jerky would sometimes be replaced by the guy selling the cheap holsters.
After a few years, you get tired of the bad deals, worse attitudes, and downright lousy prices.

That's funny!

Gun Shows are the only place I've found ammo and reloading supplies well under market pricing, Maybe 1 out of 3 shows I find these deals.

 

[Double Vision]

The gun shows in the Allentown Agri-plex are a great way to spend a few hours on a Saturday. Some prices are good, some are not. It's easy to decide who to buy from when you can compare prices on the spot. Or go home with nothing.

Other than the guys with the Nazi "memorabilia" there's always something interesting to look at. If nothing else, we wander over to the farmer's market and have lunch.

IMHO there are worse ways to spend a Saturday than at a gun show.

 

[JoeMal]

Gun Shows are the only place I've found ammo and reloading supplies well under market pricing, Maybe 1 out of 3 shows I find these deals.

That's interesting because usually at gun shows all I see is 100 round WWB 9mm boxes going for $30 when I can buy them locally for $21