Dorrin79
Member
Went to the SAXET gun show here in Austin, Saturday
on a quest for a Makarov. Came home witha KT P-11 instead.
My thoughts:
Overall, it was not what I expected. Prices were higher that I would have thought, in many cases higher than the local gun stores' retail pricing (with some notable exceptions). Selection was not all that either - especially in the C&R and milsurp categories. Most of the sellers were friendly and helpful, and there was a pretty high turnout (I only spotted two mall ninjas in the 3 hours I was there).
I went looking for a Makarov (and a Mauser 98K if I could find one in good shape) There was, much to my disappointment, precisely one (1) Makarov in the whole place, a much-used Bulgarian. The seller wanted $200 for it, 1 mag, no accessories and only in about 80% condition. After a couple of attempts to negotiate down to <150 (a price I felt was more fair) were rebuffed, I gave up and went in search of something else.
There were a lot of Moisin-Nagant (both the long one and the M44 carbine) for cheap, but in terrible shape. I found a few Mausers, but they were all both in terrible shape and overpriced (the cheapest I found was $150, and looked like it had been run over by a tank and stored in manure for 50 yrs). SKS's and AK's were prevalent (I've already got a Yugo SKS) and seemed overpriced as well. The Yugo's were going for >200; I picked mine up from a dealer in Houston in December for $180, like new. The Norincos were more in the <>150 range, which seemed reasonable.
All that said, there were good deals on certain guns. CZs and Tanfoglios were <350 NIB, as were ruger P-series. There were a LOT of S&W autos in various calibers (didn't pay much attention, never liked them and have always heard their QC was pretty bad for the last few years) for fairly low prices. I also saw some used shotguns for pretty good prices. Rifles seemed overpriced for the most part. A lot of Winchester and Marlin lever rifles for 300+ (when you can get a Marlin 336 brand new for 279 at wal-mart?)
I ended up picking up a "used" (looked like it had never been fired to me) Kel-Tec P-11 with a spare mag & grip extension for $210 (they go for <>275 new around here). Serial number is in the 7XXXX range, which hopefully means it will be problem-free. Do they honor warranties for non-original owners? Their manual says they do not. I also picked up a bandolier of 7.62x39 (200 rds, on stripper clips) for $30 (should have gotten two...)
All that said, it was a good experience. It was not the incredible bounty of cheap milsurp weapons I was expecting, but I got a good deal and learned a lot. I'll definitely be going back next month! (Still want that Makarov...)
on a quest for a Makarov. Came home witha KT P-11 instead.
My thoughts:
Overall, it was not what I expected. Prices were higher that I would have thought, in many cases higher than the local gun stores' retail pricing (with some notable exceptions). Selection was not all that either - especially in the C&R and milsurp categories. Most of the sellers were friendly and helpful, and there was a pretty high turnout (I only spotted two mall ninjas in the 3 hours I was there).
I went looking for a Makarov (and a Mauser 98K if I could find one in good shape) There was, much to my disappointment, precisely one (1) Makarov in the whole place, a much-used Bulgarian. The seller wanted $200 for it, 1 mag, no accessories and only in about 80% condition. After a couple of attempts to negotiate down to <150 (a price I felt was more fair) were rebuffed, I gave up and went in search of something else.
There were a lot of Moisin-Nagant (both the long one and the M44 carbine) for cheap, but in terrible shape. I found a few Mausers, but they were all both in terrible shape and overpriced (the cheapest I found was $150, and looked like it had been run over by a tank and stored in manure for 50 yrs). SKS's and AK's were prevalent (I've already got a Yugo SKS) and seemed overpriced as well. The Yugo's were going for >200; I picked mine up from a dealer in Houston in December for $180, like new. The Norincos were more in the <>150 range, which seemed reasonable.
All that said, there were good deals on certain guns. CZs and Tanfoglios were <350 NIB, as were ruger P-series. There were a LOT of S&W autos in various calibers (didn't pay much attention, never liked them and have always heard their QC was pretty bad for the last few years) for fairly low prices. I also saw some used shotguns for pretty good prices. Rifles seemed overpriced for the most part. A lot of Winchester and Marlin lever rifles for 300+ (when you can get a Marlin 336 brand new for 279 at wal-mart?)
I ended up picking up a "used" (looked like it had never been fired to me) Kel-Tec P-11 with a spare mag & grip extension for $210 (they go for <>275 new around here). Serial number is in the 7XXXX range, which hopefully means it will be problem-free. Do they honor warranties for non-original owners? Their manual says they do not. I also picked up a bandolier of 7.62x39 (200 rds, on stripper clips) for $30 (should have gotten two...)
All that said, it was a good experience. It was not the incredible bounty of cheap milsurp weapons I was expecting, but I got a good deal and learned a lot. I'll definitely be going back next month! (Still want that Makarov...)
