Gun Show Reflection
- Thread starter KCFirepower
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It seems like in the old days around here the gun shows were put on by service organizations such as the Shriners or the Moose Lodge as fund raisers. I'm sure they didn't charge that much for a table and an assortment of vendors showed up with good prices on a wide assortment of guns.
Today, the shows around here on put on by out-of-town professionals who travel all over the southeast and put on shows for a living. I'm sure they charge more for tables and the vendors are mostly full-time sellers who do it for a living.
I still go on occasion hoping to find somebody walking around with something that I want. I can't remember the last time I bought a gun from a table but I did have good luck selling a couple of guns to vendors last show I attended.
I think they thought they knew more than I did about the value but they gave me the price I had been asking for several months on several forums.
I believe they were surprised when they tried to make a profit on them.
Today, the shows around here on put on by out-of-town professionals who travel all over the southeast and put on shows for a living. I'm sure they charge more for tables and the vendors are mostly full-time sellers who do it for a living.
I still go on occasion hoping to find somebody walking around with something that I want. I can't remember the last time I bought a gun from a table but I did have good luck selling a couple of guns to vendors last show I attended.
I think they thought they knew more than I did about the value but they gave me the price I had been asking for several months on several forums.
I believe they were surprised when they tried to make a profit on them.
Ignition Override
Member
One company with shows in west TN is attempting to put a nearby gun show company out of business, which operates in Southaven MS and maybe other places.
This is why there were guns shows three weeks in a row late Dec-early January about two years ago, and why we have two in a row starting Dec 23/24.
This is why there were guns shows three weeks in a row late Dec-early January about two years ago, and why we have two in a row starting Dec 23/24.
I have only been going to gun shows since the late 80s and early 90s, but seems to me that the proliferation of the internet (and gun stores that sell firearms/ammunition/equipment on it) has essentially nullified the majority of the reason that gun shows existed.
For me, it used to be that shows were a way to see many vendors at the same place at the same time, and be able to find firearms/ammo/equipment in the right size/color/price that it would ordinarily take weeks/months/years and lots of gas and driving to otherwise locate.
Since now I can shop numerous vendors (and even private sellers), and somewhat easily find obscure products, and then price-compare...all from the comfort of my home...there's really not a consumer need to go to a show.
Certainly there was the "window shopping" value of going to a show, and to some extent there still is. In general, though, as the consumer value of gun shows has decreased (and correspondingly the quality of offerings at those shows has decreased!), it has essentially killed off much of my desire to go to them.
For me, it used to be that shows were a way to see many vendors at the same place at the same time, and be able to find firearms/ammo/equipment in the right size/color/price that it would ordinarily take weeks/months/years and lots of gas and driving to otherwise locate.
Since now I can shop numerous vendors (and even private sellers), and somewhat easily find obscure products, and then price-compare...all from the comfort of my home...there's really not a consumer need to go to a show.
Certainly there was the "window shopping" value of going to a show, and to some extent there still is. In general, though, as the consumer value of gun shows has decreased (and correspondingly the quality of offerings at those shows has decreased!), it has essentially killed off much of my desire to go to them.
I live in Seattle and believe me, everything you've heard about this commie infested rathole is true. Thus, I enjoy going to the gun show, if for no other reason than just to be able to associate with people I can relate to. Also, since I rarely buy from dealers, and I don't like filling out yellow papers, I occasionally find some kind of new toy to take home. I have to admit though that the Puyallup show is becoming more and more like a flea market all the time, and the red-neck women some of you have mentioned are, for the most part, uglier than a mud fence!
How long have you lived there? I lived in the Seattle area for over 20 years during the 70s/80/90s and it wasn't a "commie infested rathole".
The Washington Arms Collectors show at Puyallup used to be one of those great gun shows that I went to back in the late 80s and early 90s.
Might be that way now, after the 80s and 90s migration of the California crowd, but it certainly hasn't been that way forever.
Bobson
Member
Weird. A coworker went to one of the shows here in AZ less than a month ago, and he bought a NIB Gen4 Glock 23 for $450. I don't know anywhere else that could have matched that price, much less beat it.
Steve Raacke
Member
I've been going to gun shows in the Baton Rouge area for many years and have seen the good and the bad. We can gripe about the candle and jerky vendors but the fact is they are obviously selling enough product at the shows to justify the expense of buying multiple table at an average price of $70 each.
It's easy to to find the negatives like this but we can also look at our local gun shows and try to find the positives to. If we aren't seeing positives then we can try to make them.
Here's what I mean. I rarely go to gun shows to buy guns. I will go sometimes looking for parts or accessories. I will also go to look over items that I may be considering buying in the future to try them out. If I can't find what I'm looking for, well there's always the internet or local gun shops.
Another asspect that I've seen alot of locally is not so much selling guns or parts but advertising services. At a recent show in Gonzales, La I saw table displays by at least 3 different CHP instructors who were handing out cards, fliers and other promotional items advertising their classes. Some were offering discounts ($20 off) if you signed up for an upcoming class at the show.
Another set of tables were bought by the owners of Bayou Shooter dot com, the largest Louisiana shooting related internet discussion forum, to publicise their website and tell people about their forum.
I've seen progun politicians campaigning for office with tables at area gun shows.
Pro gun organizations like La Shooting Association, which is a state level NRA affiliated group with a full time lobbiest in Baton Rouge, will often have tables at the gun shows as well as other groups.
I am a member and officer for La Open Carry Awareness League and we are working on putting a table at a gun show in Baton Rouge or New Orleans next year to tell people about our organization, point them to our website and forum and inform them about the right to Open Carry firearms in Louisiana.
Gun shows don't have to be strictly about selling guns and ammo. They can also be places where progun groups, instructors and those interested in learning more about firearms sports can all meet under one roof to shake hands, discuss issues and come away with answers to questions. It's a means of networking.
If your gun shows have become stale and uninteresting then you can abandon them. Or you can look at them as a chance to promote your gun related group.
Do you have a shooting or hunting club that is loking to add members? Get a table at the next show and shake some hands. That's what I'm trying to say here.
Look, the owners of the shows really don't care, for the most part, who sets up shop at the shows as long as they can sell all of the tables for the $70 a piece asking price. If you don't buy a table and the guy selling dream catchers and scented candles does, then that's what you are going to see at your local gun show.
Personally, I'd rather see a bunch of CHP instructors, guys advertising their gun forum, a couple of progun guys running for congress, a few NRA type groups and maybe the guys who put on the area USPSA/IDPA matches there than the jerky guy.
Gun shows are what you and I make them.
Steve
La Open Carry Awareness League
www.laopencarry.org
It's easy to to find the negatives like this but we can also look at our local gun shows and try to find the positives to. If we aren't seeing positives then we can try to make them.
Here's what I mean. I rarely go to gun shows to buy guns. I will go sometimes looking for parts or accessories. I will also go to look over items that I may be considering buying in the future to try them out. If I can't find what I'm looking for, well there's always the internet or local gun shops.
Another asspect that I've seen alot of locally is not so much selling guns or parts but advertising services. At a recent show in Gonzales, La I saw table displays by at least 3 different CHP instructors who were handing out cards, fliers and other promotional items advertising their classes. Some were offering discounts ($20 off) if you signed up for an upcoming class at the show.
Another set of tables were bought by the owners of Bayou Shooter dot com, the largest Louisiana shooting related internet discussion forum, to publicise their website and tell people about their forum.
I've seen progun politicians campaigning for office with tables at area gun shows.
Pro gun organizations like La Shooting Association, which is a state level NRA affiliated group with a full time lobbiest in Baton Rouge, will often have tables at the gun shows as well as other groups.
I am a member and officer for La Open Carry Awareness League and we are working on putting a table at a gun show in Baton Rouge or New Orleans next year to tell people about our organization, point them to our website and forum and inform them about the right to Open Carry firearms in Louisiana.
Gun shows don't have to be strictly about selling guns and ammo. They can also be places where progun groups, instructors and those interested in learning more about firearms sports can all meet under one roof to shake hands, discuss issues and come away with answers to questions. It's a means of networking.
If your gun shows have become stale and uninteresting then you can abandon them. Or you can look at them as a chance to promote your gun related group.
Do you have a shooting or hunting club that is loking to add members? Get a table at the next show and shake some hands. That's what I'm trying to say here.
Look, the owners of the shows really don't care, for the most part, who sets up shop at the shows as long as they can sell all of the tables for the $70 a piece asking price. If you don't buy a table and the guy selling dream catchers and scented candles does, then that's what you are going to see at your local gun show.
Personally, I'd rather see a bunch of CHP instructors, guys advertising their gun forum, a couple of progun guys running for congress, a few NRA type groups and maybe the guys who put on the area USPSA/IDPA matches there than the jerky guy.
Gun shows are what you and I make them.
Steve
La Open Carry Awareness League
www.laopencarry.org
Tygarys
Member
I moved out of Memphis last year, and if you are talking about the promoter I think you are, then I am not surprised. I had quit going to their shows 3-4 years ago for much of the same reasons already listed in the thread.
At the last two shows I went to this fall (Tulsa and Wichita) I got used AR15 magazines at $3 each, G3 magazines at $1.50 each, and .223 Wolf ammo at $179 per thousand. I saw plenty of under $100 mosins and 7.63x54 ammo for them at $75 per 440 rounds. Maybe its just location.
I hate that fact that whatever I am going to buy I am already out $13 out of pocket, $5 for parking and $8 to enter. Most of the time I only go if my brother is visiting from out of town and he wants to attend. If I do buy most of the time it is from a private seller. Got a good deal on a Rem 513T with redfield sights for $300. That was a couple of years ago, since than I have yet to purchase anything. I rather keep the local gun store in business and have then order anything for me if it is not available. At least I know my firearms will be taken care of should it ever need to be.
HankB
Member
I got lucky and picked up a new two-tone E-series SW1911Sc a couple of months ago for almost $300 below list price - cheaper than I've seen on Gunbroker. So sometimes, if you look carefully, you CAN find something that's worth it. Not as often as 10 or 20 years ago, but it DOES happen.
Otherwise, it's overpriced Mosins, an occasional pitted, rusty, and overpriced Luger, mostly rancid jerky, overpriced ammo that some speculators stocked up on during the price peak and are trying to unload now, and table after table of cheap knock-offs from China. I mean 'scopes that look like Nightforce but aren't, red dot sights that look like Eotech but aren't, counterfeit Leupolds, cheap Chinese magazines that are almost right, and all manner of mounts, rails, and accessories, crudely machined out of pot metal.
Otherwise, it's overpriced Mosins, an occasional pitted, rusty, and overpriced Luger, mostly rancid jerky, overpriced ammo that some speculators stocked up on during the price peak and are trying to unload now, and table after table of cheap knock-offs from China. I mean 'scopes that look like Nightforce but aren't, red dot sights that look like Eotech but aren't, counterfeit Leupolds, cheap Chinese magazines that are almost right, and all manner of mounts, rails, and accessories, crudely machined out of pot metal.
Phoenix has the biggest gun shows in my neck of the woods, i.e., desert. They have a $15 entrance fee, $9 parking fee, and no water fountains. Water is $3 for a 16 oz bottle. Temperatures of 110-120 under tents or non A/C buildings can make the summer shows unbearable. You’ll spend another $15+ just to stay hydrated.
The show is a 190 mile round trip for me. Sales taxes are one of the highest in the USA; 10.3 % in my area; not sure about Phoenix since it varies slightly due to local sales tax differences.
I can beat the gun prices over the Internet by paying my local dealer his $15 fee and avoiding the sales tax.
Not into beef jerky or red neck women, but I would need to take home a couple of heifers to make that trip profitable.
The show is a 190 mile round trip for me. Sales taxes are one of the highest in the USA; 10.3 % in my area; not sure about Phoenix since it varies slightly due to local sales tax differences.
I can beat the gun prices over the Internet by paying my local dealer his $15 fee and avoiding the sales tax.
Not into beef jerky or red neck women, but I would need to take home a couple of heifers to make that trip profitable.
X-Rap
Member
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2006
- Messages
- 6,657
In CO closing the so called "Gun Show Loop Hole" put the final nail in the coffin.
It seems that things were always marked to high but when it was more of a swap meet of private sellers and all transaction didn't have to go through the books it made things much faster and more fun to swap and make impulse offers to other exhibitors and walk ins.
Now it seems that FFL dealers make up the biggest part of the gun trade and there are way to many jerky, book, ChiCom knife sellers. I haven't been to one in years much less paid for tables.
Get better deals at the LGS and Pawn shops and reloading componants are cheaper at Sportsmans Warehouse and you don't pay the shipping and Hazmat that you do online.
The last show I was at was in Kingman AZ last March and it was as overpriced as in CO so it seems that they all suck anymore.
It seems that things were always marked to high but when it was more of a swap meet of private sellers and all transaction didn't have to go through the books it made things much faster and more fun to swap and make impulse offers to other exhibitors and walk ins.
Now it seems that FFL dealers make up the biggest part of the gun trade and there are way to many jerky, book, ChiCom knife sellers. I haven't been to one in years much less paid for tables.
Get better deals at the LGS and Pawn shops and reloading componants are cheaper at Sportsmans Warehouse and you don't pay the shipping and Hazmat that you do online.
The last show I was at was in Kingman AZ last March and it was as overpriced as in CO so it seems that they all suck anymore.
I went to my first one this week in Memphis. My observations are:
- lots of people at the big tables displaying semi auto pistols
- not as big as i expected
- kind of unorganized
- not a lot of new hunting rifles (several old used models available)
- despite it being very cramped the crowd was in good spirits and friendly
- no beef jerky stand!?!?
I saw one or two guns that i was almost interested in. And i discovered a deeply ingrained character flaw that i never knew i had...its almost impossible for me to walk past a stainless S&W 44 mag and not want it...no matter how many i already have!
It was an interesting experience. I bought some brass and primers from a guy...came home and reloaded the rest of the day. Ive now got 100 more .41 mag rounds on the shelf just waiting to go make some noise.
- lots of people at the big tables displaying semi auto pistols
- not as big as i expected
- kind of unorganized
- not a lot of new hunting rifles (several old used models available)
- despite it being very cramped the crowd was in good spirits and friendly
- no beef jerky stand!?!?
I saw one or two guns that i was almost interested in. And i discovered a deeply ingrained character flaw that i never knew i had...its almost impossible for me to walk past a stainless S&W 44 mag and not want it...no matter how many i already have!
It was an interesting experience. I bought some brass and primers from a guy...came home and reloaded the rest of the day. Ive now got 100 more .41 mag rounds on the shelf just waiting to go make some noise.
I went to my first one this week in Memphis. My observations are:
- lots of people at the big tables displaying semi auto pistols
- not as big as i expected
- kind of unorganized
- not a lot of new hunting rifles (several old used models available)
- despite it being very cramped the crowd was in good spirits and friendly
- no beef jerky stand!?!?
I saw one or two guns that i was almost interested in. And i discovered a deeply ingrained character flaw that i never knew i had...its almost impossible for me to walk past a stainless S&W 44 mag and not want it...no matter how many i already have!
It was an interesting experience. I bought some brass and primers from a guy...came home and reloaded the rest of the day. Ive now got 100 more .41 mag rounds on the shelf just waiting to go make some noise.
Overall the Memphis show seemed pretty weak.
- lots of people at the big tables displaying semi auto pistols
- not as big as i expected
- kind of unorganized
- not a lot of new hunting rifles (several old used models available)
- despite it being very cramped the crowd was in good spirits and friendly
- no beef jerky stand!?!?
I saw one or two guns that i was almost interested in. And i discovered a deeply ingrained character flaw that i never knew i had...its almost impossible for me to walk past a stainless S&W 44 mag and not want it...no matter how many i already have!
It was an interesting experience. I bought some brass and primers from a guy...came home and reloaded the rest of the day. Ive now got 100 more .41 mag rounds on the shelf just waiting to go make some noise.
Overall the Memphis show seemed pretty weak.
Scuba_Steve
Member
It has changed because this is an outdated way of consumers selling and trading items. We can now sell and buy anything we want over the internet instead of waiting for "Swap meets". IMO it is a change for the better.
The Sarge
Member
Not many private sellers sell on the internet.
Scuba_Steve
Member
There are if you browse local forums (and this one). In the last two weeks I have bought a used Ed Brown and a used Kimber Gold Match from local private sellers and I didn't have to wait for a gun show.
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