I still like gunshows!

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wideym

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No matter how big or small I still like gunshows. I often hear or read about how crappy they are, junk jewelery, chinese tools, beanie babies, overpriced ammo and guns, but I have yet not to find a good deal for something at every gunshow.

This weekend was the Hanging Judge gunshow in Ft.Smith,Arkansas. The addmittion was $5.00 or $4.00 if you bring a gun. It's not very big and yes there were plenty of non-gun tables, but I found plenty of items I was looking for. A new Crimsion Trace grip for a Beretta 92 for only $100, two AR-15 "Gappers" for $1.50 each, a NIB Taurus Judge "Public Defender" for $440, a factory LCP mag for $24.00, and a Badger Tac-latch for $15.00.

I couldn't find everything on my wish list, but that list is about two pages long.
 
True, there are still good deals at shows. We complain because we remember when you didn't have to sift through so many beanie babies and $500 skss to find a deal worth buying.
 
The only gun show I ever went to was a few years back, the big one in Tulsa. Ended up selling off a mechanically unsafe Rem. 742 to a gunsmith who loved to tinker with them--it was my dad's, and since he never wanted to see it again (I was building him an 03A3 at the time), he was quite happy when he heard I got $150 for it. And yes, I told the buyer everything that was wrong with it.

Also found 03A3 stock wood there (does anyone even have these anymore?) and most of all the metal hardware I needed, too--when I realized I was still missing a couple parts, I went back and the table-owner simply handed me the remaining parts and refused to charge me for them.

Yes, there were several thousand other tables with overpriced junk, but it was still fun to walk through and see tons of stuff I'd never see otherwise. Only place I've ever or will ever hold a real StG.44, Dardick, or Mateba. :)

Parking was an ordeal, though... a solid half hour of searching, then giving up and parking 1/4mi away. Longest this non-hunter, non-soldier has ever carried a rifle.
 
I still buy most of my guns and gun stuff at gun shows.
True I used to come home broke from buying good deals and now days I usually bring home some money, but there are still better bargains at the shows than most anywhere else.
 
^ what he said!

I like going hanging out, buying if an opportunity arises (Haggling), or just looking and eating a hotdog.

Last show I brought my boy for the first time (4) and we had fun. I had to break up the "shopping" and keep it shorter than normal, but we had fun. I had more than one older guy actually tell me that it was good to see "the next generation". I did buy and he remembers which one it is, and says, "thats our rifle, the one we bought." :D
 
Me Too!!!

Wideym--Glad you like gun shows, and have had good experiences @ them. I too like gun shows, and am puzzled by the negative descriptions that others rant about. Sure, prices now are higher than prices in "the good old days." That has always been the case.

I guess I live closer to Heaven than I thought--There has never been a gun show I've attended, where there was an extra charge for parking, the parking has always been close, and the most I pay for admission is $5.

Sure, there is some junk for sale. The operators of the show take the vendors' money and let them in because that's how the operators make a profit. If the operators couldn't make a profit there wouldn't be gun shows. Simple. Best thing to do about it is to vote with your feet--DON'T BUY the jerky, Indian headdresses, books about Nazis, bumper stickers, T-shirts, etc, etc.

But, DO buy the guns, ammo, reloading equipment, spare parts, etc, etc, which WILL be there.

When searching for gold nuggets, of any kind, you have to pick up and discard lots and lots of plain old gravel. The important thing is to enjoy the search.
 
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I go to 3 gun show a year none are over 40 miles away their are a few more around but if they are over 50 miles away I do not go, I enjoy the ones i go to because I get to see some friend and yak, also now that I older I do not buy anything, but I enjoy standing in the middle of the isles and blocking up traffic same as the old timers did to me when I was young and didn't have the time to enjoy gun shows. hahahahah
 
I think gun shows are great entertainment. I spend about $8 to get in and the room is always full of what I like to look at. Sometimes I find a deal and sometimes I take something to sell. I take my grandson or grandaughter and we have a great time. I have lived places where the shows aren't allowed. We are going to Tulsa this fall and that will be great. Yes I still like them also.
 
Prices are still mostly high at shows here, but it is getting a bit better. I still go to every show though. ;)

The guy I had been getting primers from is still ridiculous on his prices, when he has them. His powder prices are still pretty reasonable. I hope he is at the next show as I want to buy a pound of this and that to try.
 
I went to one yesterday. Had A good time talking to folks I don't see often. They do have A lot of non related junk. Every now and I actualy find something I want.

Now if I could just find that pink donkey beani...............
 
Oh come on guys, you know those beanie babies are plinking targets. I've been to one gun show. It wasn't that big but I found what I wanted. Dealer wasn't very well versed in gun law and so refused to sell it to me but oh well. Turns out I have an FFL dealer that I work with and he will sell me the same receiver at cost. :D
 
Oh come on guys, you know those beanie babies are plinking targets.
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yeah....but they're still cheaper at the Dollar Store and ya don't need $5 to get in the door.

I still like gunshows too, but unfortunately around here, they are pale in comparison to what they used to be. Used to be there would be every gun being currently produced somewhere on the floor. Used to be the used guns were in good enough shape to buy for your kids without feelin' guilty. Used to be the tables/booths that did not have guns and/or ammo on them at least had something gun related for sale. Nowadays the used guns are in worse shape than the the MilSurp of a few years ago, and dealers still want a premium price.

For those of you that frequent gunshows that still are worthwhile, good for you. Consider yourself lucky. Just don't think that all gunshows are that way and those of us that are dissatisfied with them don't know guns or which day to go to them for the best deal:rolleyes:.

I'm fortunate, I have a LGS that sells new guns for a few dollars over cost. They also are picky about what used guns they buy or take in trade and sell them fairly reasonably also. There has not been a gun yet they have not been able to get for me within a reasonable amount of time and always give me a better price than Davidson's or Bud's. So I don't have to rely on gunshows....thank GOD! But I still like goin' to 'em, even tho I bi#*h about 'em.
 
Big Venue Gun Shows

I was dissapointed driving 120 miles to a show at the Reliant Show Hall.
Met up with my best friend from high school, that's the only thing that made it worthwhile. $8.00 admission/$8 for parking. My friend said it was a far cry from the shows at the Astrodome. All I left with was 2 boxes of 12ga. 00 shells.
JT
 
i love shows there a lot of fun and as a bonus you get to touch and play with stuff. for $8 that's a good way to spend an afternoon in my book.
 
There is almost always a jewel to be found in a gunshow. Often the small ones (<400 tables) will surprise you. I really enjoy the big ones, but it is hard to keep track of things without taking notes and they're usually crowded with people looking for that same bargain I am. Ahhh, not really. I'm usually looking for collector stuff.

They are a great way to spend a day looking at stuff, buying some stuff, and chatting with folks that have similar interests.
 
Indy1500 gunshow in Indy isn't to bad. No beanie babies, and necklaces and stuff. I routinely see decent deals there and sometimes good ones too, but I have a fairly narrow list of things I'm looking to buy.
 
At least the one I went to didnt have beanie babies. selection was average. I could only find 1 siaga out of a giant room full of guns(I'm looking for one btw). hardly anything i wanted but it was still fun. Primers were expensive. one thing remarkable was the fact that at a couple a booths had REALLY BIG/auto GUNS(you know, the ones that take a pesky $200 stamp).
 
[Met up with my best friend from high school, that's the only thing that made it worthwhile/QUOTE] The ppl you meet is one of the big atributes for me. Yes the bargains are hard to find. Yes sometimes just the everyday essentials are overpriced, but a place packed with very polite, like-minded americans enjoying there liberties...is hard to pass up
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Never been to one. No aversion to 'em- they're usually just an hour + drive away & I always seem to have something going on.

Would love to go check one out sometime, tho.
 
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