Gun shows....

There are several large shows in Dallas (~40 minutes away) but I got tired of the crowds and the entrance fees. I can look at GunBroker and Gun Auction in my home without fees.

Likewise, I can sell on-line without dealing with too many low-ball offers.

I'd rather go on a pawn-shop crawl than to a gun show.

My most recent on-line purchase was a 6" half-lug GP100 with full length scope rail and Crimson Trace grips for $375. I'd been looking for a half-lug to get back into handgun hunting and the rail was icing. The grips are over $200 new and they found a temporary home on a 4" model I have until I decide if I like them well enough to keep them. If not I can sell them (on-line) for $125 - $150, so the GP100 will be a $225 - $250 find.
 
9x19 said:
...I can sell on-line without dealing with too many low-ball offers.
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Like swap meets for other hobbies, IMHO online forums and auction sites have permanently changed the game, as there is now a good way to find obscure stuff without having to drive places and scour vendor tables every weekend. Additionally, the online resources give people a handy reference as to the actual value of oddball items, making it harder to find bargains.

That said, one still stumbles upon a bargain every once in a while. My problem at gun shows is that it's usually not the specific bargain that I went there to find. :rolleyes:
9x19 said:
I'd rather go on a pawn-shop crawl than to a gun show.
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Ditto; my best bargain firearm buy last year was from a pawn shop.
 
I have to agree, I find at least one or two good buys at almost every gun show I go to. You need to know when to go and how to do your looking. I prefer Sunday morning; and I don't just look at what's on the tables.

Also, you can get near-internet prices on just about anything you might REALLY want that's not rare. Sometimes you can even beat the net. I put an AR15 together with decent parts, nice lower and barreled upper for substantially less than I could find it on the internet. No shipping and no transfer fees.

For rare stuff, noting beats gunbroker, except estate sales if you have the time.
 
I was at a local gunshow this weekend and there were a few good deals but there were a few wackos to. One dealer had a Hungarian FEG Browning hi power clone i was interested in. I asked what he wanted for it. He told me it was $800! I just walked away.
 
The on line forums and auction sites may have changed the game somewhat, but I have never found a really GREAT deal on any one of them.

Yes, it's hard to find anything worthwhile at most of the gun shows and the price gougers and junk dealers always outnumber those sellers who are wiling to offer a good deal on anything worthwhile.

What keeps me coming back to these shows is the fact that I DO occasionally find that great deal. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does it makes the other trips worthwhile.:)
 
Know what guns cost (new and used) and you won't get burned at the fun show.


I can usually find a deal or three on new stuff, and several on used guns. Sometimes I'll happen upon a great deal on a part or magazine.

Last show I walked up to a guy with a table of magazines. I picked up one and asked the guy what he wanted for it. He said "I don't know what it fits, 20 bucks should be good" I shelled out a 20 and took a new BAR magazine home for my old 270. For 20 years I've been too cheap to buy a spare magazine, being cheap finally paid off.

There were 4 dealers with new M&P 2.0's 3 of them wanted 569, one had them priced at 469.
 
Reloading supplies are the first thing that comes mind. I also occasionally need some small part that would cost more to mail than what it is worth. If you expect to find a steal every time you go then yes, you will be disappointed. If you're not there, you definitely won't find one.
 
I love to go to gun shows. I don't give a hoot if I find a "deal" or not. Just walking around the place looking at guns, and talking about guns is a cheap mornings entertainment. I almost never buy anything, but have picked up some brass and powder, books and such. I'm not really interested in plastic pistols or black rifles, but there is enough stuff I am interested in to make it enjoyable.
 
Around here(Dayton,Ohio area) we have big gun shows like Bill Goodman's and little gun shows. The big ones are mostly gun store people setting up tables and charging full retail. There are a lot of guns and a lot of people. At these shows you are more likely to find your deals from people walking around.

I love the little gun show I set up at. Sidney, Ohio. It's just one building at the fairgrounds. You get to know the other people that set up as well as all the customers. You can't always find a good deal , but you are more likely to find one here than at the big shows. It's funny when a unique gun comes around and starts to get traded between dealers. You might see it on one guys table this month, then next month it's on so and so's table. I think the record was 5 tables. It was a SW 686 of some sort. Gold inlays and display case so it was real easy to spot.
 
If gun shows were full of great deals with folks looking to get rid of their unloved Pythons, ditch cheap Belgian Hi-Powers and worthless 1970's Gold Cups, I would:

1. Never get in,
2. Couldn't afford the price of admission,
3. Couldn't wake up early enough before everything was gone,
4. Never want to wake up from this wonderful dream, or
5. be full of dread because I died in my sleep and went to heaven.
 
5. be full of dread because I died in my sleep and went to heaven.
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Nothing to dread about that. If you had died and gone to heaven, you'd...

(1) be in heaven. No down side to that.

(2) The other four things wouldn't apply. You'd be in heaven.
 
Nothing to dread about that. If you had died and gone to heaven, you'd...
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Yes, you're probably right. But, do you think they would really work? Or would they all be beautiful non-firing replicas? Somehow, I picture Heaven as a gun-free zone.:o
 
We have a pretty big show around here at the puyallup fair grounds. There are the usual gouging dealers, David who has a HUGE table of medical supplies, few big tables of ammo, one gentleman who sells any kind of pistol magazine you could ever imagine, my buddy Alex who always has his belt feds on display, and a wonderful gentleman who sells blackpowder pistols and rifles, he's alot of fun to talk to.
Overall I enjoy it but if you come with cash in hand you do need to know what you are looking at. I find having a members badge helps with prices.
 
Skans said:
Yes, you're probably right. But, do you think they would really work? Or would they all be beautiful non-firing replicas? Somehow, I picture Heaven as a gun-free zone.
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There'd probably be carnival .22s or bb guns, for shooting paper targets. That's because there's no bad guys in heaven... :p
 
I hit a show now and then just for something to do on a boring Saturday. Last weekend strolling through one we were laughing at the pricing on stuff. 100 rd. boxes of CCI .22s ran between 8.00 and 23.95 depending on whose table they were on. I didn't need any, just fun to price stuff like that. I was checking out the new M&P 2.0 pistols and saw then between 439.00 and 489.00....and darned if I couldn't help myself and had to buy one of the cheaper ones. I saw where Academy was advertising them at 529.00.
I guess I should have stayed home and watched tv...
 
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I went to my 1st and probably last gun show about 6 months ago. Found all the same issues as stated above. I'll keep my admission fee to cover shipping and continue to buy online.
 
I'll keep my admission fee to cover shipping and continue to buy online.
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Understand, but, at this show where I got the magazine, I also bought 1000 each 200gr SWC for my .45 and 125gr for my 9mm. Primers to match. So 2000 bullets and 2000 primers for only $2 to get in. Would have killed me on shipping and HazMat fees buying on line.
 
Powder and primers can be a good buy at gun shows due to the hazmat fees. I found a magazine for my Astra Constable II at a recent gun show. I also got my Belgian BHP in pristine condition for $500 at a show.

It seems like the good deals are on things your are not really looking to buy.
 
Old Stoney, Did you say you saw S&W M&P 2.0 for $239 at a local gun show? I bought one for $429 and thought I was getting a great deal! Sure about that price?
 
Another issue with gun shows, especially club run shows, is the vendors set up a day before and go around buying up all the good stuff.
 
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