Do you avoid Gunshows?

[Gunnutz13]

PHILLY Gun Shows

Yea...admission prices are going up...lots of rusted junk...wannabes parading around...prices on most guns too high...but that beef jerky !

I usually go because they only come around once every three months...and I usually can pick up some .223 plinking ammo for my M4...early Sunday morning is usually the best time to go !

 

[Tamara]

Zach S,

there's no real point anyway, my dealer can get it to me for about the same price of not cheaper if its a factory gun.

Heck, I work at an FFL, but still browse the tables at gun shows. It's kinda hard for me to order a pre-war .38 Regulation Police, a Chilean M1895 Mauser carbine, or a Mle.1874 Gras rifle from my usual wholesalers.

I guess it's all about what you're interested in.

 

[FPrice]

I enjoy going to a good gunshow. I even enjoy going to a so-so gunshow if I can see or learn something. This past weekend's Big E gunshow in West Springfield was just barely so-so.

From this past Sunday:
1 pr of original grips for my Colt 1908 .25 Pocket Hammerless (1 of the grips that came with the gun had broken).
2 books - Fjestad's Blue Book and Harrison's book on the M-1 Garand.
1 1889 Silver Dollar (okay, it was an impulse buy, a prop for some future gun pics).
Drooled over an almost mint late 1920's Colt 1908 .25 Pocket Hammerless with original box, instructions, and cleaning tool which the dealer (from New York) could not sell to me because it is illegal due to "restrictions" imposed by the Commonwealth AG on out-of-state guns. :banghead:
Spoke to a rep from our state gun rights organization about future events and helped urge a non-member to join.
Spoke to a couple of dealers about what is available and future changes in state laws.
Saw a couple of friends I have not seen for a while. Through them a met a lady whom, after 10 minutes of small talk, discovered we had a very good mutual friend I had not seen in years.

Better than staying home watching Sunday morning TV.

 

[Kramer Krazy]

The last several shows I'd been to were just to look without actually looking for anything. I quit going for several years as other hobbies took priority over my firearms, but, this one I went to on Saturday, I was on a quest. I was pricing various used automatic pistols for the wife, looking for HK91 mags, a scope for the wife's Ruger 10/22, sling and magazine pouch for an M1 Carbine, and anything else that tickled my fancy. I'd priced used HK-91 mags from $3 to $20 on the internet and would still have to deal with shipping, but at the show, I picked up 6 NEW 20-round mags, still in the shipping wrappers from the HK facility for $5 each. I got the carbine sling and a spare factory mag for my AMT Backup 45ACP. I saw some scopes for the wife's rifle, but every one of them I can buy over the internet and save money, so, I think that is what we will do. Overall, this is the first show in at least 5 years, where I felt like I saved money instead of just wasting the admission fee.

 

[OH25shooter]

I'm re-thinking anymore visits. I pay $6.00 entry fee. Buy some ammo that is a dollar cheaper per box compared to local retail store prices. If you add the entrance fee and the couple dollars saved on ammo, it probably costs more to attend the gun show. Plus, you can only be around so many wannabe commandos before one feels the world is coming to an end.

 

[ALS]

As most have pointed out occurs at the local show here in Pittsburgh. I haven't been to that show in 3 or 4 years. It is a good size show but it has the same venders which are either selling junk or I can buy what they are selling cheaper at a local gun shop. The best deals are had at the shows outside Western Pa. I went to a show up in Altoona and spent more money that day than I ever spent in the Pittsburgh show. Went to a show outside of Cleveland at the Fairgrounds and scored big time on AR and HK used magazines.

 

[R.H. Lee]

There aren't any gunshows in California worthy of the name. I avoid 'em.

 

[mtnbkr]

I love gunshows.

Here in Va, the prices tend to be equal to or slightly better than the local shops. There are individual exceptions, but overall the pricing is fair and good. The selection is better than any shop. This goes for guns, parts, reloading supplies, and accessories.

Chris

 

[hso]

I go to them frequently.

When people complain about gun shows I'm puzzled. Sure there are folks pushing high prices across the table a lot of times, but there are all the other folks around with interesting things to sell to fellow civilians. Consider I traded a .22 squirrel sniper setup for a '99 Krag Carbine and got $100 to boot out of it. A militaria dealer had a K98 ammo pouch in perfect condition that I got for my Mauserwerks K98 at a reasonable price. If you go expecting great deals across the table you're missing the fun of gunshows. If you go expecting it to be a gun flea market where you never know what you might find for a deal then you'll be happy.

 

[mtnbkr]

If you go expecting it to be a gun flea market where you never know what you might find for a deal then you'll be happy

Tru Dat.

That's the entire reason I go to gunshows. If all I wanted was gun stuff at a good price, I'd call up MidwayUSA.

Chris

 

[Lonestar.45]

Where else can I go to look at/handle so many different varieties of guns and accessories? Looking at 'em online just ain't the same.

I could spend $5 at a matinee movie that will probably suck, or spend $5 going to the gunshow once a month on a Sunday. Or, I could save the $5 and stay home raking leaves, doing yardwork, painting the house....

Yeah, that's what I thought!

 

[Stand_Watie]

I like them, and I frequently meet very nice people. Most often I go to the Big Town gun show in east Dallas. I have discovered that there are several high volume dealers there that have o.k. prices on some new inexpensive firearms, and I think it's because of the competition.

When I go it's usually to get a particular gun, and I can frequently find 3 or 4 dealers selling the same gun and compare prices. For example yesterday I bought my daughter a christmas present, a stainless ruger bearcat that was 299 before tax (NIB). That was comparable to what it was selling for on 'gunsamerica' (except no shipping and handling charges, and I didn't have to pay a dealer fee) and my local dealer wanted 429 for it. There were three other dealers with the same one there for 329, 309, 303 dollars. I also got some good advice about a gun I was considering selling, and is now back in my safe.

Other examples of what I thought were ok prices that I got from a dealer at the show recently. All NIB.

Colt Cadet .22 - 199

Ruger 22/45 (stainless) -219

Bersa thunder 380 - 199

Rossi .357 (stainless) -189

 

[Pappy John]

I always go if I can find the time, even if I don't have money to spend. I find them to be fun and educational. This weekend was the big Mid Atlantic Arms Collectors show for the Harrisburg area...1200 tables, that comes around twice a year.

It was the best one I've been to in a while. I found several things that I haven't been able to find at any shows lately. It's too bad that I could only afford one new toy this time around, because I saw a nice tight S&W 624 snubbie like I've been hunting for,for only $369. What I took home was a $295 CETME, some spare mags, and a case of Aussie ammo to go with. There were a lot of other nice Smith revolvers there too that I was drooling over.

I bought NO jerky.

 

[xv920j]

gun shows

Gun shows! Love 'em.
I have been lucky enough to get some good deals at gun shows.
It's a great place to compare prices from several dealers on an item I want. ( they don't all charge the same price for that new pistol).
Also: my wife and I are both "impulse buyers". We often go to look but end up buying a new gun we hadn't even thought about before.
What's not to like?

 

[Steelcore]

I love gunshows>I've bought all kind of cool stuff over the years.AKs,FALS,Cetmes.I bought a M44 made in 1946.Looked brand new for $50.Much better made than wartime models.If everthing starts looking the same stop going for a few months.No way I would have the gun collection I have today if I had to buy them from a storefront dealer.
Whats really cool about gun shows is the sheer variety of gunz available.

 

[Old Dog]

Love guns shows also. The Washington Arms Collectors (WAC) shows up here are typically pretty well attended and though there may not always be much in the way of deals to be had, there's lots of fun stuff to look at and a lot of nice people to talk to.

 

[roo_ster]

I generally like gunshows. Here in DFW, there is one about every weekend, so I have ot ration myself to 1 per quarter or when buddies are visiting.

Worst one I ever went to was the transplanted "WOrlds Biggest Gunshow" from California. What a stinker. Pay for parking, pay to get in...for a few tables with Nazi flags.

 

[aerod1]

I love going to gun shows. I have been going with my friends for years. It gives us a place to congregate and BS about our favorite subject. Once in a while you will run into a good deal. Most of the people I run into at the shows have been very nice.
Three of us guys at our Church went yesterday after the services and had a great time.

Jim

 

[Ryder]

I went every Spring for many years to the area's largest.

Around here you need to get a pistol purchase permit from the cops so they can register your gun. I'd get a permit or two prior to the show, they're free, and good for 10 days. Then the cops began handing them out at the show. I thought that was pretty nice of them until I found out they were charging money. That's probably to compensate all these gangs of cops milling around which didn't even used to exist? Heck if I know, or care. What's for sure is that they moved in and made themselves at home like they own the place.

I am not paying the state's bribe nor do I browse flea markets. Half of the tables which actually sell guns (not very many) are local dealers and I know where to find them when/if I need them. The other half are old worn guns being sold for new gun prices. There's a sucker born every minute but it ain't me.

Haven't been to a gun show in at least a decade and I don't miss them.

 

[bill2]

Ca gunshows

There aren't any gunshows in California worthy of the name. I avoid 'em.
_________________________________

True in the bay area. I used to go to the one at the Santa Clara county fairgrounds. No decent prices on anything except ammo, and now I'm going to start buying over the phone (Load-X for my .45). Lots of flea market garbage, WWII memorabilia, and stupid T-shirts like Kill 'em all, let God sort them out (usually purchased by some bozo who has never heard a shot fired in anger, and would be changing more than his T-shirt if he ever did). and the price to get in is $8, way too much.
If the anti-gunner are just patient, they won't have to worry about gun shows, they'll just go away by themselves without any laws.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

I avoid them only when I've no money to spend. We have one at least once a month. Fri-Sun, and Fridays are free since some of the dealers aren't there yet. Sat-Sun is 5 bucks. I always go on Fridays because the dealers that I frequent are big enough that they are ALWAYS there. Got some good deals and some good-enough deals. But it's always fun.

 

[kaferhaus]

I attend six or seven a year...

I almost never buy a gun from a dealer. If i buy a gun it's usually from someone who's just come in the door with it. Most of the "dealers" at the shows here are "wannabes", "nut cases" and arrogant asses. There are some good folks but alas they are the minority anymore. I buy all my reloading supplies at the shows as there's a couple of traveling dealers that sell only reloading stuff, powder, primers, bullets, dies etc. and the prices are much cheaper than any of the local stores and usually a good bit cheaper than I can order online even before shipping...

sometimes I can find a part or accessory I'm looking for. Magazines and ammo.... forget it! Walmart and Academy have the best prices around by far and the only way to save online is if you buy bulk (which I do for my AR and AK ammo)...

Most of the show dealers are asking new gun prices for the used beaters they've got on their table and it turns my stomach to hear them lie to some poor slob who's wanting to trade or is interested in someting on their table...

I've easily bought 30 guns at shows in the past 3 years and one of them was from a "dealer".... the rest were walking the floor.... or even the parking lot..

 

[orangeninja]

This leads me to another question....is it rude to interupt a sales person who is knowingly ripping someone off right next to you? I've seen it dozens of times and said nothing...I think next time, I'll say somthing.

 

[Borachon]

It's sort of fun to go to gunshows and play "Spot the Fed."

Crew cut? Highly polished shoes? Unsmiling demeanour? Oh, yeah...gotcha!

 

[Coltdriver]

I am attracted to gun shows like the proverbial moth to a light.

Can't resist em. I have attended big ones and small ones.

The hucksters are always good for a laugh, the good guys are always good to say hey to, and the deals are far and few between but they are especially rewarding when you can close one up.