You can have a time as good as you let yourself have. If you go in with fluid expectations and looking to have fun and browse around, then you'll have a blast. If you go looking for bargain basement everything, then you're going to waste your time. I get the feeling that maybe 60% of people who go to shows just go for the spectacle and the atmosphere.
I always try to get back home for large gun shows. The fun is browsing around, feeling up guns, and swapping theories and yarns with other gunnies. If I wanted to get the low bottom prices which seem to be the definition of "acceptable" here, then I'd surely have a dreadful time. $110 91/30's, $500 AK's, $200 10/22's, and $300 SKS's. They're not peerless prices, but they're not anything to grumble about.
I always go looking for cool thinks like gifts and I always go camouflage shopping. I know a guy and I actually have a sort of business arrangement with him. I buy camo from him and sell it elsewhere, giving him 10% of what I make. I also sell him some of the stuff I get. If you're interested in getting into the National Guard, a militia, or a state defense force, then a gun show is a great bet. Also be on the lookout for slogan shirts and oddities. Finally, you can meet a lot of veterans and people with interesting stories. I always go in with flat expectations and see what I can do.
Only bring as much cash as you are willing to spend and take several hours to go through the whole thing. it's a gun show- not a gun remedial accelerated cram summer school course. Bring company, as that always ads something to the experience. Bring along a friend or someone you don't see too often. In the end, it is onl ya waste if you feel that it was a waste.
