Gun Show today. Waste of time?

[jmr40]

I go to 4-5 shows per year. There are 1-2 within 10-50 miles of home every month. I try to hit one of the bigger shows in Atlanta at least once per year and some of the smaller ones closer to home. Most of the time I find nothing of interest to me, but never think of them as a waste of time.

All of my favorite guns are gunshow finds. I'd have never run across them if I'd stayed home. Same with hunting. At least 90% of the time I come home empty handed, but I'd never have taken the game I have taken if I didn't go.

 

[fpgt72]

You have to change how you approach them....I don't go looking for a good deal any longer....I go to see that odd thing here or there, but really to people watch....that is really fun.

Depending on what you are looking for you can find good deals, I am looking at small hand guns of all kinds now, last show I found a nice model 8 and a 1903 colt in real nice shape....both came home with me for under $300 each.

The deals are out there, but if you come up dry just watch the people and listen to the sales pitches....that is also quite fun/

 

[3212]

I probably shouldn't tell.I got my best deals at household auctions with few gun people in attendance.

 

[rgwalt]

I'll throw in with the Houston crowd here. Our shows are, on the whole, pretty good. You can catch one, sometimes two shows almost every weekend out here. The saturation effect is bad for everyone. It is tough to convince promoters not to put on a show as the majority of their money is made selling tables ($80/table here), even though admission is declining. The most recent panic has made dealers reluctant to give up tables, and there is still a high demand to get tables despite low turnout.

This all being said, for a buyer, it is a good time to go to a show in the Houston area. You can see and hold a ton of different guns in a relatively low pressure environment. Prices for new guns tends to be competitive if not better than local gun stores, and even competes against on-line vendors when you account for the transfer fee. Even ammo is starting to get better down here. Plus, you can pick up odds and ends that are difficult to find elsewhere. I'm probably going to end up at the Pasadena show to buy some cleaning supplies from a certain vendor I know will be there. He has exactly what I want, and I can't seem to find it elsewhere. On top of all of this, you do still get to see older, collectable guns (old colts, etc.), and I'm seeing good values on police trade-ins.

The breakdown of stuff at gun shows can fall into these categories:

Junk (sheets, art, jewelry, etc.)
Food (some jerky ain't bad though)
Knives & tasers (some junk, some decent)
Gun-related junk (cheap/crappy holsters, lights, lasers, scopes)
Quality accessories (holsters, lights, lasers, scopes, & sights)
Ammo
Old, worn, used firearms (some may be collectable, others are junk)
New commercial firearms
Used recent production firearms
Collecter grade firearms

Good promoters will manage their tables to try and keep shows more on the side guns (bottom of the list) than junk (top of the list).

I've started splitting a table with a friend of mine at some of the shows here in town. For $40+parking, I can spend two days at the show at a fixed location, and have the opportunity to sell some guns, mags, ammo, and/or accessories that I no longer have a need for. Plus, I bring cash and have the opportunity to see many of the guns people bring through the door. Two shows ago, I bought a couple of nice .22 rifles, while selling some other not-as-nice .22's. Fun times.

 

[Elkins45]

I used to love gun shows. But now the biggest gun show on earth is gunbroker.com. I buy most of my guns there.

This weekend is our wanamacher 4,000 table show. I just choose not walking around for 8 hours, looking at seriously overpriced merchandise, and still having to contend with isles and isles of beany babies, jerky and junk.

I'm surprised the internet hasn't killed gun shows.

Gunbroker (and Armslist) have sort of 'expanded' gun shows so that there are essentially a couple of shows happening 24/7/365. But GB can't (at least in my mind) replace the brick and mortar show because of the impact of Hazmat fees on shipping powder and primers, and because of the $40-60 overhead of shipping and transfer fees.

Armslist is only FTF to me, and GB is too because I limit Gunbroker searches to my home state. I don't see nearly as many guns as others do because I automatically exclude ones that I can't touch first.

At a physical show 100% of the guns are there to be examined before purchase. I've never paid shipping or a transfer fee on a gun I picked up off of a guys table. That has to be worth something.

 

[Queen_of_Thunder]

You don't say. If there are no others interested in the same item you better get a good deal.

 

[Beach Nut]

As most of the previous posters have said, gunshows are not the place to go if you
are looking for bargain basement prices for firearms and shooting supplies. I haven't
been to a show in about two years now since I have had three new gunstores open
within fifteen minutes of where I live. Most of the firearms and ammunition is overpriced
and unless the dealer is willing to haggle, they stay that way. I will check out what
Georgia Arms has to sell at their ammunition table and occasionally that hard to find
firearm you have been searching for will pop up at the right price.

At the last gunshow I went to, I spent about $60.00. I didn't buy any guns or ammo
but I did find a good deal on a Abu Garcia baitcasting reel in a size I had never seen
at any of my local sporting goods stores. It works great too! I also had an interesting
talk/debate with a couple of the John Birchers and saw a lot of interesting people,
what most people would call characters. There is another gun show coming to town
in a couple of weekends and since I haven't been in a while, I might go check it out.

 

[Scoped]

95% of the time I feel gun shows are a waste of time. As repeated in this thread, They are over priced and its more of a "show and tell" as someone mentioned earlier. I seldom go, but when I do, (I drink dos xx's?) am looking for a certain breed of firearm.. say a lee Enfield. Something that I am very similiar with and able to talk them down (if they even have it)=

 

[BP Hunter]

I feel that my $7 entrance fee is worth the handling of all the pistols and long guns without asking an LGS employee to handle them one at a time. I also just like seeing so many guns in a small place. I have only bought 2 handguns from them because of a decent price, would you believe. Otherwise, I agree that most of the items area way too expensive.

 

[Delford]

I haven't been to a gun show in several months but have been noticing the largest LGS around here has been posting some very good prices. Glocks under $500 and compacts and self defense guns under $400. Some good rifles from $200 & up. Prices seem to be declining and coming into realistic figures for the brand and caliber. Ammo is becoming more available but I don't think the prices will ever go back to where they were 2 years ago. I used to get .45 acp for $.33 a round and now it's approaching $.43. Hopefully it will drop back but it will take a while, if ever. Gun shows are a little slower to react but hopefully they'll come back in line soon.

 

[theotherwaldo]

Down here on the border there are only about four to six shows per year. They are all by Saxet Shows and the sellers are almost always the same folks, selling the same stuff. There are about six sellers that sell things that I would want, and, as they are not locals, I can only see them at these shows.
There are only about ten gun shops in the whole valley, and most of them are high-ticket joints that only handle the most popular items.
So- if I want anything different, the gun shows (and sometimes the pawn shops) are the only way to go.

 

[Sniper66]

I go to several shows each year including twice a year to the Wannenmacher show in Tulsa. I have never gotten all the way thru the Tulsa event. I usually run out of money, time, or energy. That said, I rarely come away with a gun, but always with a great experience. I talk to dozens of people and handle 100s of guns. This year I went with the intention of trying numerous options for CC. There are dozens of options and the experience helps me narrow the search and get an idea of cost. Following the show last weekend, I have been shopping on line for a Walther PPK/S .380. There are lots of them available. I had thought about a KAHR or a S&W, but after handling a few, I changed my mind. Also found the best Winchester Model 12 in 20g with a solid rib I've seen in years. But, moved too slow and someone else got it. Found lots of gun powder I had been looking for. 22LR ammo is still ridiculous. Such are gun shows. I love the atmosphere.

 

[bubba in ca]

i haven`t bought a single gun, bullet, or magazine since Sandy Hook because its a sucker market on the buying end..

Before that, I`d buy ammo and misc. Odd boxes and broken boxes of ammo can be a real value under normal circumstances. It takes some knowledge to find out which promoters have decent shows and which are there to rent tables and sell overpriced lunches. I like to go to one promoters show at the county seat, in part because it is near my favorite Thai restaurant and a big Walmart that has deals and good selection.

Used to be gun shows were very informal and mostly shooters . Now most are FFL holders with new stuff or the same wheeler dealers with overpriced stuff.

When the panic ends and we settle into the Ten Year Window I might seriously look for bargains on used models, especially models I had before and wished I never had sold and maybe a small gun or 2 for my grandson.

 

[Potatohead]

Hell, I'd just like to find a show. Never been to one.

OK, got an email from my uncle. Going to my first show Saturday in the fabulous city of Cullman, Alabama! Cant wait.


Oh no, Im talking to myself again....

 

[bobinoregon]

I go to gun shows looking for specific things I want. the best and most entertaining part is listening to the crap the people behind the tables spew to the buyers who don't know better.

 

[SunnySlopes]

Elkins said,

GB can't (at least in my mind) replace the brick and mortar show because of the impact of Hazmat fees on shipping powder and primers, and because of the $40-60 overhead of shipping and transfer fees.

Plenty of local stores, including a Bass Pro a couple miles from my house, sell reloading components. I don't need to order ammo or reloading components.

And, re buying the components at a show. On our local (Tulsa) gun forum, one of the wanamacher attendees said, on a thread re the show, "All the deals I got could've been had on this forum." The only things he found that he felt worth buying were reloading components. He could have scored them from the local stores.

Armslist is only FTF to me, and GB is too because I limit Gunbroker searches to my home state. I don't see nearly as many guns as others do because I automatically exclude ones that I can't touch first.

Those are limitations you place on yourself. I've gotten lots of great guns off the net, and I've gotten burned on face-to-face purchases.

At a physical show 100% of the guns are there to be examined before purchase.

Yes. And off gunbroker, I deal only with people who have a large number of transactions and positive feedback. This is a very important criterion. It has worked well, thus far.

I've never paid shipping or a transfer fee on a gun I picked up off of a guys table. That has to be worth something.

Have you ever actually bought a firearm from a gun show vendor? Because here in Tulsa, you're going to pay sales tax. On a $1,000 gun I buy, I pay $85 in sales tax if I buy from a ftf transaction from a vendor. The last gun I got off gunbroker, the seller charged $25 S&H, and another $25 for my local FFL to receive the gun, process, etc. Not to mention, I also save on entrance fees to the gun shows.

But if you're methodology satifies you, that's what's important.

Mine satifies me. That's what's important.

 

[TRX]

At $7 to get in, it was worth going to one every couple of years. Then they went to $15, with multiple giant "NO GUNS ALLOWED" and "NO CONCEALED HANDGUNS" sights all around the door. The more-than-doubled price turned me away, while the rampant stupidity of the "no guns" signs left me laughing. Since many vendors sell both guns and ammunition at the same table, the sense of that escapes me...

 

[SunnySlopes]

Since many vendors sell both guns and ammunition

One of the last shows I attended, just as I arrived, the police were cleaning up a situation involving a dealer. Seems he had a loaded shotgun on his table and he stupidly picked it up and pulled the trigger. The discharge shattered his display case as well as the vendor next to him. It also shot said vendor next to him.

This has happened several times locally and has made me a wee bit leery of gun shows, viz. too many stupid people are there.

 

[Hanzo581]

I go mainly to sightsee. I have certainly found deals, but that really is no longer my primary goal.

 

[Dr.Zubrato]

I've found gunshows to be a waste of time, vendors overcharging for junk.
Not to mention the scalpers who purchased all the good powder and primers, trying to hock it for 3x what they bought it for. Just the worst kind of people imo.

 

[gym]

What annoys me is that they charge 20% more for a gun like a Rock Island, than you can pay online or in your local store.
Why bother if you aren't going to be competitive?