Dave DeLaurant
Member
I've been to lots of gun shows over the years, but before this weekend I attended as a customer. It's going to stay that way from now on too, since working tables is surprisingly hard work for a fat geezer like me!
Back story: my friend Bob involved me in the organization and preparation for sale of the extensive gun collection of his ex-brother-in-law. According to Bob, he wasn't a very nice husband or father, but we both like his daughter Chris and the guy did have really good stuff. Chris has been spending estate money like water for his medical bills, and while she shoots and likes guns, she recognized that she was out of her depth.
As mentioned in earlier posts, I'd bought seven guns from the estate myself and probably gave Chris another grand for supplies and accessories, but that barely made a dent in the mass of stuff he owned. We circulated around the local gunshop and old boy network to sell more, but there was still enough stuff left to cover a couple of tables.
Being in California, gun shows here have become less about buying and selling actual guns (though there were a few good ones at this show) than selling ammo, parts, accessories, optics, reloading stuff, etc. Both firearms and ammo require licenses and other hurdles to legally sell, plus a paid partnership with a local brick-and-mortar FFL to pick up firearms after the pointless 10-day wait. It wasn't a realistic option for that part of this estate. Our rationale for getting a couple of gun show tables was to move the reloading components, bullet molds, gun cleaning supplies and empty ammo cans. We also brought a little of our own stuff to sell while we were here.
The show was held at the local Elks Lodge, a smallish but nice and accommodating venue. The inside is a bit of a warren, with two large rooms and two alcoves with tables in between. The larger room held the main attraction, which was ammo and mostly modern guns and magazines sold by established, full-time businesses.
Easily the most interesting guns were on a couple tables between the two rooms, in the prime if drafty spot directly facing the public entrance and next to the restrooms. They had not one but two Marlin centerfire pump rifles in 32-20 and 25-50 respectively, a restocked Martini Cadet in the original .310 chambering, a Springfield .22 Trainer and a cherry SMLE, among other things. Happily I forgot my wallet (my friend Bob was driving) or I would have risked going deeper into the hole than I already was with the estate.
On the second day I also spotted and handled the nicest Imperial German Reichsrevolver I've ever seen or am likely too -- shorter barrel model with the rounded grip. $1500 and cheap at the price, which I fortunately didn't have. The seller said it would probably be back for the next show.
Here's our tables right after setup (note the 70+ ammo cans in back):
We were in one corner of the second room, which wasn't a bad spot by any means. There weren't many other 'yard sale' types like us in the show (we may have been the only one!), which is another change from past shows. Our neighbors were all fine company and we had a fairly steady parade past the tables, though we had quite a few lulls in the traffic by Sunday.
The bulk of our sales were on Saturday, going through 7K of our 9K primers and quite a few ammo cans before noon, along with a GI Joe my late wife Lisa still had in the box (USMC Navajo code talker edition) and some militaria Bob brought along. I'd rate the show a qualified success, the main disappointments for me being all of the unsold bullet molds and my military body armor collection. I sold only one vest out of nine to a very nice young man, and just three of the molds. I may need to gunbroker the latter for the estate, but even at the giveaway price of $35 each the geezers weren't biting, and the youngsters just said "Whoa, making bullets -- that's tight".
The tables still looked pretty full by day-two -- Bob decided to wear one of my vests all day, since the corner was a bit chilly:
My throat is quite sore after doing the 'how to get started in reloading', "ammo cans make great lunchboxes", "every married couple needs a bag of foam earplugs" and 'the history of modern body armor' talks over again so many times. Bob has done numerous retail shows over the decades for his day job in jewelry, and knew to bring a package of Riccolas along.
We met some nice people. The young guys with interested questions made this very satisfying for me. More twenty-somethings, and families with kids attended than I've seen in shows from previous decades That was also an encouraging sign. Elks Lodge staff were all very friendly and accommodating, even if I suspect that bean burrito they sold me was the cause of some fireworks in my bathroom late Sunday night.
The gun show took a lot out of my feet, but we made progress. By the end we'd recovered about $1500 for the estate, including almost another $200 to go against my personal firearm purchase tab. I don't wanna do it again, but I found the whole experience enriching.
Back story: my friend Bob involved me in the organization and preparation for sale of the extensive gun collection of his ex-brother-in-law. According to Bob, he wasn't a very nice husband or father, but we both like his daughter Chris and the guy did have really good stuff. Chris has been spending estate money like water for his medical bills, and while she shoots and likes guns, she recognized that she was out of her depth.
As mentioned in earlier posts, I'd bought seven guns from the estate myself and probably gave Chris another grand for supplies and accessories, but that barely made a dent in the mass of stuff he owned. We circulated around the local gunshop and old boy network to sell more, but there was still enough stuff left to cover a couple of tables.
Being in California, gun shows here have become less about buying and selling actual guns (though there were a few good ones at this show) than selling ammo, parts, accessories, optics, reloading stuff, etc. Both firearms and ammo require licenses and other hurdles to legally sell, plus a paid partnership with a local brick-and-mortar FFL to pick up firearms after the pointless 10-day wait. It wasn't a realistic option for that part of this estate. Our rationale for getting a couple of gun show tables was to move the reloading components, bullet molds, gun cleaning supplies and empty ammo cans. We also brought a little of our own stuff to sell while we were here.
The show was held at the local Elks Lodge, a smallish but nice and accommodating venue. The inside is a bit of a warren, with two large rooms and two alcoves with tables in between. The larger room held the main attraction, which was ammo and mostly modern guns and magazines sold by established, full-time businesses.
Easily the most interesting guns were on a couple tables between the two rooms, in the prime if drafty spot directly facing the public entrance and next to the restrooms. They had not one but two Marlin centerfire pump rifles in 32-20 and 25-50 respectively, a restocked Martini Cadet in the original .310 chambering, a Springfield .22 Trainer and a cherry SMLE, among other things. Happily I forgot my wallet (my friend Bob was driving) or I would have risked going deeper into the hole than I already was with the estate.
On the second day I also spotted and handled the nicest Imperial German Reichsrevolver I've ever seen or am likely too -- shorter barrel model with the rounded grip. $1500 and cheap at the price, which I fortunately didn't have. The seller said it would probably be back for the next show.
Here's our tables right after setup (note the 70+ ammo cans in back):
We were in one corner of the second room, which wasn't a bad spot by any means. There weren't many other 'yard sale' types like us in the show (we may have been the only one!), which is another change from past shows. Our neighbors were all fine company and we had a fairly steady parade past the tables, though we had quite a few lulls in the traffic by Sunday.
The bulk of our sales were on Saturday, going through 7K of our 9K primers and quite a few ammo cans before noon, along with a GI Joe my late wife Lisa still had in the box (USMC Navajo code talker edition) and some militaria Bob brought along. I'd rate the show a qualified success, the main disappointments for me being all of the unsold bullet molds and my military body armor collection. I sold only one vest out of nine to a very nice young man, and just three of the molds. I may need to gunbroker the latter for the estate, but even at the giveaway price of $35 each the geezers weren't biting, and the youngsters just said "Whoa, making bullets -- that's tight".
The tables still looked pretty full by day-two -- Bob decided to wear one of my vests all day, since the corner was a bit chilly:
My throat is quite sore after doing the 'how to get started in reloading', "ammo cans make great lunchboxes", "every married couple needs a bag of foam earplugs" and 'the history of modern body armor' talks over again so many times. Bob has done numerous retail shows over the decades for his day job in jewelry, and knew to bring a package of Riccolas along.
We met some nice people. The young guys with interested questions made this very satisfying for me. More twenty-somethings, and families with kids attended than I've seen in shows from previous decades That was also an encouraging sign. Elks Lodge staff were all very friendly and accommodating, even if I suspect that bean burrito they sold me was the cause of some fireworks in my bathroom late Sunday night.
The gun show took a lot out of my feet, but we made progress. By the end we'd recovered about $1500 for the estate, including almost another $200 to go against my personal firearm purchase tab. I don't wanna do it again, but I found the whole experience enriching.
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