Red Tornado
Member
After posting a few threads here and reading a bunch, about deciding on the best relatively low budget .223s, twist rates, twist rates revisited, and fair prices, I finally made to the gun show. As it turned out, there were two in Cape Girardeau that weekend, so I waited until Sunday (to catch 'em ready to deal), grabbed the Mossberg 500A to trade, got my list of rifles, twist rates, and what appeared to be fair prices, (compiled online over several hours), and headed out.
The first show I hit was incredibly small, and didn't appear to be worth the $5 cover charge, but in I went. After making a slow perusal of all the tables I had only seen about 5 .223's total. (I'm not counting AR-15's, just bolties.) Very disappointing. So I headed to the bigger one at Show-Me Center. More disappointing. Three times the tables, but half the .223's. I did look at a Stevens 200, and was interested, but the guy wasn't going to give me a decent trade on my shotgun. Back to the first show.
One dealer actually had 2 rifles that interested me, a Remington ADL (slightly used) and a Savage Model 12 (a little more used). After feeling them both and deciding either would make me happy, I gave him my shotgun and came to a deal at $225 + the Mossy for the Savage 12. (It was listed at $400)
It's pre-accutrigger, but I was thrilled about the heavy barrel and weight (11+ pounds) since it's just going to be used from the bench. The guy threw in some rings, and I was thrilled. He was happy to make a late sale and get an excellent condition shotgun. Good deal both ways.
I got my M1 bayonet sharpened and set out for home happy and amazed that I had success at a small town gunshow. Just goes to show, there are good dealers everywhere if you find them.
I learned that if you're looking for a .243, .270, or 30-06, you have "hunnerds and hunnerds" of choices, but the .223's are in another state I guess. Or at least another part of the state.
BTW, the shows were in October but I waited until I could compile a range report on the new rifle. Since this got so long, I'll post another thread for that.
The first show I hit was incredibly small, and didn't appear to be worth the $5 cover charge, but in I went. After making a slow perusal of all the tables I had only seen about 5 .223's total. (I'm not counting AR-15's, just bolties.) Very disappointing. So I headed to the bigger one at Show-Me Center. More disappointing. Three times the tables, but half the .223's. I did look at a Stevens 200, and was interested, but the guy wasn't going to give me a decent trade on my shotgun. Back to the first show.
One dealer actually had 2 rifles that interested me, a Remington ADL (slightly used) and a Savage Model 12 (a little more used). After feeling them both and deciding either would make me happy, I gave him my shotgun and came to a deal at $225 + the Mossy for the Savage 12. (It was listed at $400)
It's pre-accutrigger, but I was thrilled about the heavy barrel and weight (11+ pounds) since it's just going to be used from the bench. The guy threw in some rings, and I was thrilled. He was happy to make a late sale and get an excellent condition shotgun. Good deal both ways.I got my M1 bayonet sharpened and set out for home happy and amazed that I had success at a small town gunshow. Just goes to show, there are good dealers everywhere if you find them.
I learned that if you're looking for a .243, .270, or 30-06, you have "hunnerds and hunnerds" of choices, but the .223's are in another state I guess. Or at least another part of the state.
BTW, the shows were in October but I waited until I could compile a range report on the new rifle. Since this got so long, I'll post another thread for that.
