270Win
Member
Here's what was going on at this weekend's gunshow. Should even interest people who aren't local to me.
I went with a friend who was expressly looking for South African surplus .308 - and we all know how hard to find that has become. For that reason, we arrived at opening on the first day - in the third of three buildings, he found the only dealer at the show who had any - $65 per battle pack of 100 rounds. He bought five.
He later discovered some Argentine surplus and bought several boxes of that - $8.50 for 20 rounds. I have no idea if that's a good price for either, but thought I should report that both are possible to buy if you look hard enough.
I decided to feed my 1931 hex-receiver Mosin a different diet, since it didn't really care for either of the two surpluses I have (Hungarian light ball, Bulgarian heavy ball). I bought some Igman 180 grain soft points (Bosnian) and some Silver Bear 185 grain FMJs (Russian). I was looking for Czech surplus, but no dice. Also looking for the Barnaul boat-tail rounds, no dice on that either.
For those 7.62x54R addicts out there, here IS what is commonly available: Wolf and Wolf Gold (at almost every ammo table). Wolf Gold was $13 per 20, regular black-box Wolf was $10 per 20. The only military surplus ammo was Hungarian - both 50s and 70s manufacture (50s was in a tarnished silver-colored tin, 70s was in the familiar drab green oblong metal box). They were either $75 or 80 per 800 rounds, respectively. Brown and Silver Bear were everywhere also. Igman at more than a couple tables. They were both $6 per box of 20.
For the other MilSurp readers, Wolf Gold and Prvi Partizan were everywhere - a true flood of .303 British, 7.5 Swiss, 7.5 French, 6.5 Swede, you name it. If it's made by Prvi Partizan / Wolf Gold, it was out there. The going rate for almost all of it was $12/13 a box of 20.
I was also in the market for some handgun ammo in 9x19 and .45 ACP - just some range ammo, no JHP or anything unusual. I was disappointed in the 9mm selection there - I found Winchester White Box for $10 per 50 (can do better at WalMart), American Eagle for the same (maybe a dollar or two cheaper than MidwayUSA, but usually can be found cheaper), MagTech for $11 per 50, Speer Lawman for $10 per 50, etc. Even the Aguila 9mm was $10 for 50. All just plain-jane 115 grain FMJ rounds. I've found much better at Wideners and elsewhere, so I passed on all of it.
One odd sighting: at one table I found boxes and boxes of "Performance Cartridge Company" or something along those lines - box was black and yellow. Relatively cheap - $7.50 for 50 rounds... then I read the fine lines, which noted that these were reloads in VERY small print. Made in, I think, Indiana.
Now for the .45 ACP... other than the Wolf steel-cased stuff (which I tend to avoid for handguns) and the CCI Blazer aluminum stuff (same)... the best I found was "Lake City Match," which is actually Hungarian, for $10.50 per 50 (230 grain FMJ). So I picked up five boxes. Oddly, the 9x19 stuff from the same company was only fifty cents cheaper (?) per box. Go figure. What little I've read about this stuff has been pretty positive, so I'm hoping for good things.
Now, for rifles. Saw one table full of beautiful Colt Sauers and Weatherby Mk Vs. The walnut stocks on both were just mouth-watering. The Sauers were averaging about $1400-1600 and the Weatherbys about the same, although certain models of both were upwards of $2000. I don't know either platform well enough to tell why.
A hot item seems to be "sniper-readied" Remington 700 PS in .308 - the dealers add rails, scopes, a trigger and sell it as a package. Going rate was $850 (used) or $1000 (new). No idea what scopes were on there. Several tables had these, and they seemed to be selling well.
The Howa table was doing some brisk business (or seemed to anyway) on Sunday. People were crowded around, trying out the actions, the thumbhole stocks, etc. I did the same; actions were silky smooth (like always), but the larger thumbhole stocks didn't fit me well.
MilSurps were out in force, as always. Going rate for repro Mosin snipers is about $400 or so, although on the second day I think they were down to $375. K98 Mausers (completely battered, bore condition unknown) were going no lower than $200. $260 got you two Nazi crests and a completely chewed up stock. Better quality stocks and less rust and the price was closer to $400. Saw some very nice VZ24 Mausers for $175-300 depending on condition.
Saw a M95 Steyr carbine for $150, but I have zero knowledge about them so can't report much else. Mosin M44s are still up around $150 at these shows. Swedes have all but disappeared, at least at this show.
The price on all SKSs are still more than a little crazy at these shows. Plain ol' Yugo 59/66 models were $225-280 now, Norincos running from $280-400 and Russian models from $250-350. Go figure.
That's all I can think of right now; if more comes to me, I'll post again!
I went with a friend who was expressly looking for South African surplus .308 - and we all know how hard to find that has become. For that reason, we arrived at opening on the first day - in the third of three buildings, he found the only dealer at the show who had any - $65 per battle pack of 100 rounds. He bought five.
He later discovered some Argentine surplus and bought several boxes of that - $8.50 for 20 rounds. I have no idea if that's a good price for either, but thought I should report that both are possible to buy if you look hard enough.
I decided to feed my 1931 hex-receiver Mosin a different diet, since it didn't really care for either of the two surpluses I have (Hungarian light ball, Bulgarian heavy ball). I bought some Igman 180 grain soft points (Bosnian) and some Silver Bear 185 grain FMJs (Russian). I was looking for Czech surplus, but no dice. Also looking for the Barnaul boat-tail rounds, no dice on that either.
For those 7.62x54R addicts out there, here IS what is commonly available: Wolf and Wolf Gold (at almost every ammo table). Wolf Gold was $13 per 20, regular black-box Wolf was $10 per 20. The only military surplus ammo was Hungarian - both 50s and 70s manufacture (50s was in a tarnished silver-colored tin, 70s was in the familiar drab green oblong metal box). They were either $75 or 80 per 800 rounds, respectively. Brown and Silver Bear were everywhere also. Igman at more than a couple tables. They were both $6 per box of 20.
For the other MilSurp readers, Wolf Gold and Prvi Partizan were everywhere - a true flood of .303 British, 7.5 Swiss, 7.5 French, 6.5 Swede, you name it. If it's made by Prvi Partizan / Wolf Gold, it was out there. The going rate for almost all of it was $12/13 a box of 20.
I was also in the market for some handgun ammo in 9x19 and .45 ACP - just some range ammo, no JHP or anything unusual. I was disappointed in the 9mm selection there - I found Winchester White Box for $10 per 50 (can do better at WalMart), American Eagle for the same (maybe a dollar or two cheaper than MidwayUSA, but usually can be found cheaper), MagTech for $11 per 50, Speer Lawman for $10 per 50, etc. Even the Aguila 9mm was $10 for 50. All just plain-jane 115 grain FMJ rounds. I've found much better at Wideners and elsewhere, so I passed on all of it.
One odd sighting: at one table I found boxes and boxes of "Performance Cartridge Company" or something along those lines - box was black and yellow. Relatively cheap - $7.50 for 50 rounds... then I read the fine lines, which noted that these were reloads in VERY small print. Made in, I think, Indiana.
Now for the .45 ACP... other than the Wolf steel-cased stuff (which I tend to avoid for handguns) and the CCI Blazer aluminum stuff (same)... the best I found was "Lake City Match," which is actually Hungarian, for $10.50 per 50 (230 grain FMJ). So I picked up five boxes. Oddly, the 9x19 stuff from the same company was only fifty cents cheaper (?) per box. Go figure. What little I've read about this stuff has been pretty positive, so I'm hoping for good things.
Now, for rifles. Saw one table full of beautiful Colt Sauers and Weatherby Mk Vs. The walnut stocks on both were just mouth-watering. The Sauers were averaging about $1400-1600 and the Weatherbys about the same, although certain models of both were upwards of $2000. I don't know either platform well enough to tell why.
A hot item seems to be "sniper-readied" Remington 700 PS in .308 - the dealers add rails, scopes, a trigger and sell it as a package. Going rate was $850 (used) or $1000 (new). No idea what scopes were on there. Several tables had these, and they seemed to be selling well.
The Howa table was doing some brisk business (or seemed to anyway) on Sunday. People were crowded around, trying out the actions, the thumbhole stocks, etc. I did the same; actions were silky smooth (like always), but the larger thumbhole stocks didn't fit me well.
MilSurps were out in force, as always. Going rate for repro Mosin snipers is about $400 or so, although on the second day I think they were down to $375. K98 Mausers (completely battered, bore condition unknown) were going no lower than $200. $260 got you two Nazi crests and a completely chewed up stock. Better quality stocks and less rust and the price was closer to $400. Saw some very nice VZ24 Mausers for $175-300 depending on condition.
Saw a M95 Steyr carbine for $150, but I have zero knowledge about them so can't report much else. Mosin M44s are still up around $150 at these shows. Swedes have all but disappeared, at least at this show.
The price on all SKSs are still more than a little crazy at these shows. Plain ol' Yugo 59/66 models were $225-280 now, Norincos running from $280-400 and Russian models from $250-350. Go figure.
That's all I can think of right now; if more comes to me, I'll post again!
