Gun Shows aren't what the used to be
- Thread starter Jbabbler
- Start date
- Status
daddywasapistol
Member
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
- Messages
- 3
New member.
I have been going to gun shows since the late 1960's, although there was a big gap between the mid-70's and the mid-90's, while I was distracted by marriage, child-rearing, etc.
I would certainly agree gun shows have evolved. Seems to me there are less tables by private collectors and individuals now, and more by dealers and non-gun sales.
As far as prices go, as has been pointed out, all gun prices are higher right now, and certainly ammo has gone out of sight, but as always, there are still bargains to be found, if you are willing to look hard and bargain hard, too. Always with humor and respect, though. Same goes for gun shops. Within 30 miles of where I live, I have found over a 2:1 ratio in price for the exact same box of ammo.
Gun shows are still worth it to me, because nowhere else can you find such a large number of sellers and variety of offerings in one location. That, in essence, is why the Democrats want to close the gun show "loophole" (which, of course, does not actually exist), because gun shows make it convenient for buyers and sellers to meet, thereby facilitating trade in firearms, which gun haters do not want.
I have been going to gun shows since the late 1960's, although there was a big gap between the mid-70's and the mid-90's, while I was distracted by marriage, child-rearing, etc.
I would certainly agree gun shows have evolved. Seems to me there are less tables by private collectors and individuals now, and more by dealers and non-gun sales.
As far as prices go, as has been pointed out, all gun prices are higher right now, and certainly ammo has gone out of sight, but as always, there are still bargains to be found, if you are willing to look hard and bargain hard, too. Always with humor and respect, though. Same goes for gun shops. Within 30 miles of where I live, I have found over a 2:1 ratio in price for the exact same box of ammo.
Gun shows are still worth it to me, because nowhere else can you find such a large number of sellers and variety of offerings in one location. That, in essence, is why the Democrats want to close the gun show "loophole" (which, of course, does not actually exist), because gun shows make it convenient for buyers and sellers to meet, thereby facilitating trade in firearms, which gun haters do not want.
Sapper771
Member
The last 4 guns shows that I have went to have been a waste of time. It is the same vendors/sellers as the last gun show , still trying to sell the same stuff they didnt get to sell last time. They cling to their high prices like it is their last bullet and God forbid you try to haggle with them, they just shrug their shoulders and walk away from you.
I guess business is business though , but i dont see how some of them stay in the game though.
I have noticed certain gun shops are getting to be the same way. There are several gun shops in my area that I wont even go to due to either the prices or the people behind the counter. For example: A friend went to a local shop looking for a base model 1911. When he asked the guy behind the counter about seeing a GI Springfield they had in the case, the guy begain trying to sell him a high end kimber. My friend had to endure the guy's sales pitch on why the kimber was a more "elegant" firearm. My friend finally was able to get another one of the gun shop workers to assist him in the process of looking at the GI Springfield 1911.
I went to one gun shop to see about getting a modular forearm fitted to my Bushmaster. Instead of taking my information down , the gun shop owner decide to 20 question me on the GG&G modular forearm that I had purchased. He began by saying that I paid too much money for it, then he had to get his $400 Olympic arms AR out of his safe and show me the $60 plastic rail forearm on his, I guess to rub it in my face or something.
Times are a changin !
I guess business is business though , but i dont see how some of them stay in the game though.
I have noticed certain gun shops are getting to be the same way. There are several gun shops in my area that I wont even go to due to either the prices or the people behind the counter. For example: A friend went to a local shop looking for a base model 1911. When he asked the guy behind the counter about seeing a GI Springfield they had in the case, the guy begain trying to sell him a high end kimber. My friend had to endure the guy's sales pitch on why the kimber was a more "elegant" firearm. My friend finally was able to get another one of the gun shop workers to assist him in the process of looking at the GI Springfield 1911.
I went to one gun shop to see about getting a modular forearm fitted to my Bushmaster. Instead of taking my information down , the gun shop owner decide to 20 question me on the GG&G modular forearm that I had purchased. He began by saying that I paid too much money for it, then he had to get his $400 Olympic arms AR out of his safe and show me the $60 plastic rail forearm on his, I guess to rub it in my face or something.
Times are a changin !
ServiceSoon
Member
Hello and welcome. I don't get it. If they require background checks for all firearm sales the gun shows won't disappear.
tnhunter93
Member
I've been to two gun shows in the last two years. One was to trade a rifle with one of the managers of the show, and at the other I traded for a very nice older Sako, after finding it on a table. 99% of the guns I saw were at best overpriced and worst, ridiculously overpriced. I saw, perhaps 3 or 4 in both shows combined that may have been decent deals. One dealer wanted me to not only do a background check, there at the show(no big deal to me) but ALSO, pay sales tax!! I chuckled and walked off.
logjam
Member
Guns just aren't cheap anymore. I used to buy all kinds of neat WWII rifles for $25 each. Used to be a Colt Navy cost $130, that was in the early 70's.
K98K's used to be considered nearly junk. Now they start at something like $300! Whaaaaa?
Remember when 1917 Enflields would be taken and made into standing lamps? I recall when they were used as re-bar. When I was a high school kid a Rolling Block cost $7. You could get a SMLE, a new one; for about $15 and a case of ammo for about $7 and you'd shoot the thing all summer long. We'd float sticks in the river and blast away at them with original guns and MKVII ammo.
There were no Garands for sale but you could get a new M-1 carbine for $20 and they were good ones too.
Mausers came into the country by the boat load and they were so cheap they were nearly free. Then Oswald decided to take a pot shot at the president and it all changed.
Heck, I recall when they used to advertise Lahti 20 MM canons for $100 in the National Riflemen. The rounds cost $1 each.....every seen one of those Lahti canons? They are really neat.
In the 40's and early 50's trapdoors and Krags were extremely cheap...we're taking $15 here. I went to Robert Abels once, It was on 5th and Lexington Ave, New York, NY. Sharps, Spencer, Maynard, Smith carbines were selling for $35 to $50. Sniders were cheap and you could buy Canadian 577 ammo for about zip.
When I was a kid I decided that I wanted to shoot a muzzle loader. There were no replicas yet. I went to ol Dangerous Dave's place on San Pablo Ave, in San Pablo CA,. He had about a dozen originals for sale. I bought one, a Hawkin type gun, it cost me $104. He had a bunch of mint percussion muskets for $60. I should have bought one of those. I recall looking down the mirror bore. It was a .69 and I was afraid it'd kick too hard. I should have bought it, of course; but that's an old story isn't it.
Guns ain't cheap anymore kids. Buy just a few and enjoy them....before Uncle Sam makes them illegal.
As for gun shows? I sometimes go and sometimes I weaken. Not long ago I bought a M71 Winchester and paid $1600 for it. When I got home my wife asked if I had bought any ammo for it. She wanted to load the thing up and shoot me with it.
K98K's used to be considered nearly junk. Now they start at something like $300! Whaaaaa?
Remember when 1917 Enflields would be taken and made into standing lamps? I recall when they were used as re-bar. When I was a high school kid a Rolling Block cost $7. You could get a SMLE, a new one; for about $15 and a case of ammo for about $7 and you'd shoot the thing all summer long. We'd float sticks in the river and blast away at them with original guns and MKVII ammo.
There were no Garands for sale but you could get a new M-1 carbine for $20 and they were good ones too.
Mausers came into the country by the boat load and they were so cheap they were nearly free. Then Oswald decided to take a pot shot at the president and it all changed.
Heck, I recall when they used to advertise Lahti 20 MM canons for $100 in the National Riflemen. The rounds cost $1 each.....every seen one of those Lahti canons? They are really neat.
In the 40's and early 50's trapdoors and Krags were extremely cheap...we're taking $15 here. I went to Robert Abels once, It was on 5th and Lexington Ave, New York, NY. Sharps, Spencer, Maynard, Smith carbines were selling for $35 to $50. Sniders were cheap and you could buy Canadian 577 ammo for about zip.
When I was a kid I decided that I wanted to shoot a muzzle loader. There were no replicas yet. I went to ol Dangerous Dave's place on San Pablo Ave, in San Pablo CA,. He had about a dozen originals for sale. I bought one, a Hawkin type gun, it cost me $104. He had a bunch of mint percussion muskets for $60. I should have bought one of those. I recall looking down the mirror bore. It was a .69 and I was afraid it'd kick too hard. I should have bought it, of course; but that's an old story isn't it.
Guns ain't cheap anymore kids. Buy just a few and enjoy them....before Uncle Sam makes them illegal.
As for gun shows? I sometimes go and sometimes I weaken. Not long ago I bought a M71 Winchester and paid $1600 for it. When I got home my wife asked if I had bought any ammo for it. She wanted to load the thing up and shoot me with it.
jcwit
member
My God the memories you brought back. I was stationed in Washington D.C. during the early 60's and went to Ye Ol Hunter or something like that in Alexandria, Va. a few times. Don't remember the prices, but there was guns ALL OVER. Ah those days are long gone.
What he said
AllAmerican
Member
Sounds like the Gun Show I went to in Florence on Sunday. Cept it was $7 to get in.
jad0110
Member
Maybe they are out of line for your region, but most of those prices aren't too bad for my area. Not good, but not total rips either. Only the NIB Rossi .357, S&W Sigma and used Mosin strike me as being out of line (again, compared to the prices I've seen around here).
Here are some of the gems I've seen in NC lately. I wonder what grade of crack these idiots must be smoking when I see stuff like this:
Used S&W 686-3 6": $750
Used Ruger GP100 4" blued: $650
Used S&W Model 10-9 4": $500
Used S&W Model 681-3 4": $500
Used Colt Detective Specials: $700-800
NIB S&W 642-2 (no CT laser grips): $479
NIB Heritage Rough Rider Combo, blued (22LR): $250
NIB Spinger XD9: $600
NIB Century C15: $1,000
NIB CZ75B 9mm: $600
NIB Charter Arms 38 Snub: $389
SKS prices have spiked the most, percentage wise, from what I've observed. At the Raleigh gun show today, the cheapest SKS I could find was $250. It it was rough. The average price was about $450.
I saw two Russian SKSs (in very nice condition) for, drum roll: $1,000. EACH.
I was stunned. Maybe they were autographed by Nikita Khrushchev or something. I also recently saw a Mosin Nagant M91/30 dating to 1942 (Izvek? I believe) priced at $750
Geez.
Of course, there were some deals out there. I got a load of small pistol primers for significantly less than my local gun shop. I also picked up some lead .357 bullets from GA Arms (500 for $30). I saw a very nice Colt Gold Cup 1911 for $700, a S&W Model 19 4" for $350 (it did have some end shake though) and a NIB 38 Special Ruger GP100 for $399. I also saw a VERY nice 27-2 for about $600 - not a steal, but not bad either.
So there are some finds at gun shows, but they seem to be the proverbial "diamond in the rough".
Did you see the one with the plastic stock for $800?
Most prices I saw on non-SKS and other black guns seemed to be OK.
I did see a NIB Ruger P95 for 300 which is as cheap as I can recall seeing one.
7.62x54R was priced about average as well.
I always enjoy going and looking around. I always seem to find something to bring home.
jad0110
Member
Ha, I did, I forgot about that one. I usually don't go for bubba-fied SKSs, though I admit that would looked pretty good. Though 30 Tapco SKS mags were onlyl $21 at one table, not bad.
I also saw 6 gallons of cosmoline with a Mosin M38 stuck in it
... for $150. I guess that was a fair price for the M38, which was probably worth $100 or so, as there was a good $60 worth of cosmo there!You are right, the average AR price (for the fairly basic models) was decent, seemed to be about $1,000 by my estimation.
I missed that one, but did see another for $379, which itself was pretty good. And I just now remember seeing some NIB S&W Sigmas for $179-$200! I guess they aren't selling with the new M&P line out.
I hope to get to the one in Charlotte later in the spring. I am a sucker for S&W wheel guns, and they are usually hard to find in Eastern NC. Docs Gun and Pawn in Greenville usually has a few nice S&Ws and Colts (among a ton of other guns), but they are generally a bit pricey.
One things for sure, there were a lot of people out buying guns in honor of our new President-Elect
.The last show I went to was at the Forest Park Farmer's Market and the prices were crazy at all but one table. One table had great prices on Taurus automatics at great prices. I think all of the 9mm Millennium series guns were $318.00. I almost grabbed one but all they had was green.
Gunfighter123
Member
For the last TEN YEARS -- I only go to the shows if I am looking to sell something !!!!
As been said --- I see the same guns , with the same rip-off price tags YEAR AFTER YEAR by the same dealers.
When I go -- I am mainly looking for the person that has ONLY one table. Sometimes I find a deal like opened primers , bullets or other stuff for reloading.
I also make it a point to ask ANYONE walking around with a gun case IF they have something for sale.
As been said --- I see the same guns , with the same rip-off price tags YEAR AFTER YEAR by the same dealers.
When I go -- I am mainly looking for the person that has ONLY one table. Sometimes I find a deal like opened primers , bullets or other stuff for reloading.
I also make it a point to ask ANYONE walking around with a gun case IF they have something for sale.
We must have a little better luck here in Oregon.
I haven't seen any SMOKING deals lately, however I *have* found guns that were below what Bud's wants, sometimes by $100. Just last weekend I found a used Colt 22 for ~$100 cheaper than I've been able to find elsewhere, and a New Agent cheaper by the same amount. If I had more $$ I would have picked up about 4 more new/used...
I haven't seen any SMOKING deals lately, however I *have* found guns that were below what Bud's wants, sometimes by $100. Just last weekend I found a used Colt 22 for ~$100 cheaper than I've been able to find elsewhere, and a New Agent cheaper by the same amount. If I had more $$ I would have picked up about 4 more new/used...
- Status
