Gun Show Finds

K

Keltyke

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Went to a local gun show this weekend. Georgia Arms was there with plenty of ammo at reasonable prices - it sold out quickly. Ammo II had good prices, too.

On Saturday, my wife took a one year old Keltec PF-9 to trade. She saw a NIB Springfield XD-9 Sub-Compact that whispered "take me home". So she gave the guy the Keltec and $220 and took it home.

We went back Sunday and she took a Steyr M40 - a duplicate of one we had in our collection. She saw a 97+% 4" nickel S&W Model 19-4 and swapped even.

Dunno if these were good deals or not, but we think so. She got what she wanted and got rid of what she didn't.

The show was CROWDED. We got there one hour before it opened and there were already 200 people in line. Lots of 1911-types and full size semis. Not many compact/carry types. Plenty of snubbie revolvers. Lots of long guns.
 
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I'd say you and the wife made out well!

Even though I attend a couple shows a year with a pretty open mind I rarely come home with anything. :o
 
Attended the WAC gun show in WA State this weekend and the "gougers" were hard at it, saw a box of 50 RELOADS .380 asking price $50.00!!! Saw prices like $350.00 for a USED Kel Tec .380! I left and don't plan to return till the panic ebbs and the proofitiers come back to earth. :mad:

It was not like there was a shortage of anything. Plenty of everything just prices that are appt to hit the moon if they don't watch it.
 
saw a box of 50 RELOADS .380 asking price $50.00!!! Saw prices like $350.00 for a USED Kel Tec .380!
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Yea, we saw some of that. Reputable ammo dealers were holding their prices pretty well, though. Saw several used PF-9s for over $300 and the 3AT's were out of sight!!!
 
2 weeks ago the gun show had .45acp for 80.00 more than Dicks Sporting goods same ammo. Pointed it out to the gent and was told I could take a drive and hope it was in stock or buy from him. I took the drive and yep it was in stock. Guns were out of site, everyone was scared of potential gun bans and ammo taxes etc.
 
The Michigan Antique Arms Club Show...

Same deal there on some ammo. .30 Carbine ammo was going for as much as $25/bx. There was one guy there who was trying to sell some W-W .380, and was asking $50/bx. Don't know if he ever sold it.

Since this is an "antique" arms show, there's generally less in sales of ammo, since a lot of the guns are collectible antiques, military arms, shotguns, etc.

A lot of the guns are either "safe queens", or strictly "show and tell". You could tell simply by the starting price on some of the guns.

For example, I saw a K38 Masterpiece from the early '50's. It had been fired, had a cylinder ring, some obvious flash stains on the cylinder face, and the original box and tools. The guy was starting at $700. At that price, there's no bottom price I could start for bargaining purposes.
 
Port Arthur, TX gun show last weekend:

Found the exact home defense shotgun I was looking for:
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And swapped a Smith M60 for this fine tool:
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One happy camper here.
 
In my experience, good deals on ammo are usually only found a big show where large, reputable ammo dealers are present. Small show with nothing but the local characters usually don't generate enough competition to keep ammo prices at reasonable levels. Likewise, the good deals on guns usually come from used guns whose owners don't really know what they have (usually something that's at least uncommon if not outright rare). It is extremely rare for me to find a price on a fairly common new gun at a gunshow that my local dealers or even some of the big box stores could not match or beat.
 
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