So I just got back from a gun show, One of the better shows in my area, of which there are few.
Let's see...powder was $60/lb and primers were 10¢ each. Perhaps that's reasonable. It's only the second time I've seen powder and primers for sale anywhere in my area since the 2020 riots. (Although, the powder and primer I saw once before was $40/lb and 8¢ each.)
I saw a blued Ruger Security Six 4"...for $800. And it was about an 80% condition gun. Wish I had never sold mine and have been wanting to replace it since the 90s. I don't think I ever will.
A Springfield Armory XD-E for $550. They're $500 at the local Sportsman's Warehouse. A heavily used Beretta 92FS for $600. I just bought saw one used, new in the box for $550 at a LGS. Sportsman's has them new for $700.
I saw a lot..a lot...of older blued and wood hunting rifles though...for the same prices you could buy a new Ruger American or Savage Axis. I mean, run of the mill guns that have seen many miles in the field-nothing like pre-64 Winchesters or anything like that.
There were, of course, the collector pieces: M1 Rifles for $1500, Pythons for $3k. Every S&W Revolver I saw was over $800, as were the several Hi-Standard 22 pistols.
Needless to say. Prices were...unattractive. No real deals. Still...it was pretty crowded, but I didn't see a lot of buying going on. Does this match what you are all seeing?
Your experience is that you are sharing is echoed by many of us as the consumer and I share some of your points that you have made. You aren't alone.
However for example: I took leap into the deep end of the pond this weekend and tried my hand at being a seller at my local gun show in Baraboo Wi. and I have a different perspective now.
Here is how it went.
I contacted the promoter last month to reserve my table yes just one and the cost was $40 for the entire weekend no problem. Not really a big risk just to get my feet wet and I live in the next town over not far. Besides I can drink that much up at the bar in 4 drinks and just have head ache the nest day.
I have to tell you it is a different experience being in the deep end of the pond. I was one of the lucky ones who sold any thing to the tune of 3 C notes on the first night from the tables that I was next to and I didn't have to travel far. Many of the sellers/ venders travel from a long ways. One guy came all the way from Missouri just to attend this show. I must say it was tuff to sell anything. Because of the competition from the other venders and the key board commandos lurking on the internet with the cell phones for what they think is a fair price. I had to bring a few buyers and a few that were trying to sell me their guns down to earth. The internet auctions are live auctions and shouldn't be relied on as the only source for information. The real world doesn't work that way.
It was really hard to be polite to some people because they are just !@#$%^& that goes for buyers and sellers alike.
Let me also say when an individual as buyer/consumer wants what I have it would behove them to remember that what I have for sale is my property until money changes hands and I don't have sell them a damn thing.
Be polite and treat my property with respect and ask to look at an item don't just pick it up. It isn't yours yet and if you break it you buy it. I watched a buyer knock a very nice Winchester model 70 super grade custom off a table next to me and break the heel off of the stock and the !@#$ show ensued for the next 20 minutes. I have to admit as an observer to the significant emotional event that took place. It is one of those events that both were at fault and so was the promoter of the show. Steps could have been taken to avoid the situation.
First the promoter could've made the isle between the venders tables wider not just stack us up like canned sardines.
Second the vender should have had his long guns laid completely on the table to avoid a passerby from knocking it off the table or had them up right in racks.
Third the young man should have been more careful and looking where he was going.
Fourth parents need to watch their children more carefully especially teenagers and not run though the isles like bulls in a China shop. A 2 year old is tall enough to reach up on the tables. There are dangerous items within their reach.
FifthWhen selling a firearm treat it as if it is loaded. Clear it before you hand it to me. I had a customer get escorted out because he handed me a loaded muzzle loader he was trying to sell. Thank goodness there wasn't a percussion cap on the nipple or enough static electricity to ignite the FFF black powder and I had the presence of mind to check it with my own ram rod. Not cool!!!
Sixth if the buyer or the seller want realize the full value of what is being haggled over have some self respect and clean your !@#$. I don't want to buy junk and I don't sell junk.
Seventh superlative terms such as scarce or rare are really meaningless unless the production run can quantify such term. A story of provenance is worthless without legitimate documentation. I don't want to hear a sob story about living on a fixed income either. We all have story and live on a fixed income.
Finally nothing is personal its just business. Don't make it personal and start using profanity and calling names. I exercised my right to refuse business to quite a few rude people this weekend. Maybe thats why I didn't do as well as I should have. The truth is I don't care I'm not desperate and it is my property and I'll just take it home. I met a lot of venders that feel the same way. I still had a good time and I plan on doing it again.
After all events like this are supposed to be family friendly and it is in public.
