Gun shows....

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.
Click to expand...

I've thought about hauling some of my collection to a gun show, paying for a private table and putting ridiculous prices on them just so that I'd have access to "the good stuff". I would have to use several locked glass cases, put HUGE PRICE tags with even huger prices on them to avoid folks wanting to pick them up. Oh, and I won't forget the sign that says: If you don't have the $$$ DON'T TOUCH MY GUNS.:D Yes, I'll make lots of friends that way.
 
I don't go tto the gun shows much any more either. I have pretty much everything I need or want that I accumulated over the years. Gun Shows around here have gone down hill, same sellers, same merchandise, and a lot of stuff not even gun related. Also most have high prices. Seems they throw a high price on items hoping someone will come along and buy it. There is a large gun shop close by that I have been dealing with since the early 70's. They treat me good and give me discounts on everything in the shop. So I prefer to just go there.
 
I go to see friends I've made through a local shooter's forum that I don't get to visit with very often, stock up on powder & components & sample the hot sauce vendors' wares.

The people watching is usually good, though. Spotted a tacti-cool hipster this year. Funniest thing I've seen in a while.
 
I've gotten some good deals, and I've sold some guns for fair prices. I like going just to look around. I usually run into 2 or 3 old friends which is fun.
 
34% Honest gun, knife, and accessories dealers.
Click to expand...

This is pretty high, IME....usually that is closer to 20-25%.

Lot's of stuff but little of it at a price I would consider....I think most price for a herd of idiots go pass by their table. From what I see, they done good.
 
The only good thing about gun shows is that you can actually see and handle new models when local gun shops haven't got them, yet. And you might find some oddball ammo and accessories. Here in NC, the admission charges are getting outlandish: $9 to the one I went to a couple of weeks ago... that's getting too high; it just isn't right.

That said, I have picked up some good buys over the years, but most of my deals, nowadays, are FTF with other members of local gun forums. NC lets CHP holders bypass FFLs.
 
Like anything else, knowledge is the key. You have to know what things are worth. Some vendors will deal if they know you know the market value.

Having said that, I've attended a lot of gun shows and never once bought a gun. I buy accessories (and have been burned with cheap mags) and bulk ammo.
 
Entertainment and Education . . .

I see gun shows and gun auctions as mostly entertainment and education (Which, by the way, are the classic purposes of the performing arts). I go to handle guns I haven't handled before, learn thing from other attendees and maybe buy if I know the price is decent. The admission fee is usually about five bucks and if I am there for 90 minutes then I have paid less than I would to go see a movie. When I go to a gun show or auction and realize I am totally bored then I'll stop . . . for a while at least.

Life is good.
Prof Young
 
I just went to gun show this weekend in Illinois and it cost $5 to get in. I like to go to shows to get my hands on many different guns to find what feels right for me. Once I find the right gun I often just return home to local dealer to purchase gun. The only thing I like to buy at these shows are bulk ammo, magazines, or accessories.
 
I enjoy gun shows purely from the angle of something fun to do. Last time I went to the big show in Northern Virginia admission was $13.00, no way I'll ever go again.
 
When I first started going to gun shows in the early 1990's, I had very few guns and generally was on a mission to find that one gun I was searching for. If I didn't find the gun I wanted, or if I thought the prices were all too high, I felt the gun show stunk and was a waste of time.

Now, I go for the fun of it. I can usually find a couple of things that interest me at most shows. I don't care what price someone has on their stuff. If I want it, I make a reasonable offer and that determines whether they really want to sell it or not. I've made many reasonable offers and ended up not being able to strike a deal. No big deal to me, but I feel certain that those folks who turned down my offer(s) thought twice about it later on.

Every now and then my offer is accepted, or I accept a reasonable counter-offer. I follow several simple rules - these are just my rules, I'm not telling others what to do:

1. I Carry lots of cash - I never know when I might see my Holy Grail gun; I carry cash separately from my wallet;
2. Really look at what people are selling - not just what I THINK I am looking for;
3. I don't touch anything I'm not really thinking about buying, even when offered - I let my eyes do all of the initial looking;
4. I now need to remember to bring my reading glasses, small bore light and even a small loop;
5. I NEVER try to buy anything if the seller has a bunch of people crowed around - I'll circle back around later;
6. I try and go through the whole show first before making offers. However, I break this rule if I find something hard to find, that I really want and that I've already talked to the seller about. You show your cards too much when you come back around for a second bite.
7. I try to remember to be nice, genuinely complementary and make reasonable offers. 95% of the time, I can see the price as marked - I consider that the Seller's initial offering price and the next move is mine. I never ask "how much will you take for that...." I just come right out and say what I'll be willing to pay for it. Everyone is different, some like to engage in offers back and forth and others don't. You have to gauge that quickly and try to adjust.
 
Last edited:
All good points, Scans, and all are sensible "rules" I've followed over the years. In rule no.3, you advised: "I don't touch anything I'm not really thinking about buying, even when offered..."; is especially wise advice, I think, and makes the dealer's sign on his table-"If you don't have the $$$ DON'T TOUCH MY GUNS"-as reported by a previous poster a legitimate request/demand.
 
Not having to touch gun(s) you might be interested in also shows the seller that you know what you are looking at. Part of getting a fair price on a gun is subtly convincing the Seller that you really do know all about the gun being sold....and what they actually sell for, without being obnoxious about it.

Once you've established that you have some degree of expertise with the Seller, then price is more of a matter of how much the Seller has into the gun (which he may divulge) or flushing out any unreasonableness on behalf of the Seller.
 
Been to three gun shows locally in the last three weekends, with yet another coming up next weekend. I have to admit that it has been a very good three weeks and I'm optimistic about next weekend.

First show I bought the little 22 that I mentioned in my earlier post for about 2/3rds its current value.
Last weekend I picked up two boxes for a total of 100 .375 projectiles for $20.
Today I picked up 20 pieces of new factory .375 Winchester brass for $5.
I didn't need them because years ago I bought a little over 200 pieces the same in anticipation of one day owning a 94 chambered in it, just acquired one a few months ago. Who could pass them up at .25 per piece?

Some shows are worth the trip, fee, and the crowds... just sayin.
 
I usually give them my $8 and look around. You never know.....

I've had friends buy thing but most of them could have been bought cheaper outside. You can run across a few gems/deals from the older collectors; I really enjoy talking to them. There's a lot of history in those older collectors.
 
I used to like to walk around with something good on my shoulder. You can soon find out who the honest dealers are. I went to one last year for the first time in years. I believe the internet will eventually do away with them.
 
Before I got hip the world of internet shopping, I use to go to gun shows. My first one was cool because it was my first one. Went there looking for a Springfield M6 Scout and to this day have not seen one in person be it gun show or local store.

I did walk away with 1000 rds of .22 LR back when .22 was nigh impossible to find, let alone buy for a decent price. Thought that was cool, but now it's three years later and .22 is everywhere again.

The next few shows I went to were more lackluster. Bought lots of ammo because ammo was still tough to find at that time, but when I'd look at the guns, I was very disconcerted there was nothing I wanted or was interested in and the prices were all dealer prices. I'd go and look for a Kel Tec Sub 2000... nothing. I went to every table at a show and asked if they had an NAA Companion, the black powder muzzleloader mini revolver, nobody had one, even at their store.

I did eventually find a Sub 2000 at the lgs 5 minutes away, but still one table at a gun show should have that. Instead, they got the High Point carbine because it's cheaper and appeals to more people I guess.

After a few shows, I realized that gun shows aren't warehouses full of stuff like people on the internet claimed they are. I mean, maybe back in the 80's and 90's they were, but a lot of things were different back then and maybe the people making such claims today in 2017 are out of touch with reality.

I haven't been to a show in almost 2 years, but am considering going one more time. It's a two hour drive, but there are other reasons I'm going to the city where the show is. I mean, I have a list and all of what guns I'm interested in or what prices I'm willing to pay for certain things in my head.

I've been dying to get a .32 S&W Long revolver in working condition for under $250. I'll go to the show and keep my eyes out for it, but I'm more than likely just going to walk by the same booths I did 2 years ago and see backpacks, safes, books, and all the .45 ACP Winchester White Box that was recently purchased at the local Walmart for $3 less that what it's being sold for.

Now that I say that, I'm waiting for those die hards to say, "If you don't like, don't buy it. Don't even walk to the table and look at it cuz ur wasting their time." Yeah, I don't buy it and the only way for me to not buy it is to look at it and decide it's not worth it.

So, gun shows, at least in New Hampshire are pretty much over for me. Maybe when I go in a couple months I'll be surprised because Obama's not holding a knife to the 2nd Amendment and there will be less people and more stuff to choose from, maybe better prices even.
 
I almost feel guilty. A couple tables down I saw the exact same magazine in the package marked $30. Yep, every now and then you find a good deal at a gun show
Click to expand...

Yeah I had almost the same experience last outing . Been wanting a free float rail For a AR for awhile but they're always way expensive . I was passing a table that had a bunch and picked up there 15" key mod QD with barrel nut included. Asked "how much" He says $45 . :eek: how much? I ask again ? $45 he says :eek::eek: I to could not get my money out fast enough . I did not see another rail at that show like mine for under $180 , SCORE !!! .

I really should have went back and bought more but was afraid they would have realized there mistake . I know I would not of owed them anything but did not want to deal with that type of thing .
 
I still enjoy going to a gun show now and then. It's cheap entertainment. The last one I went to I found a great deal on powder but mostly my friends and I walk around making jokes about the crazy prices and the "weird" people...like the booth full of roller derby "babes" in black stockings selling autographs. :D

And there is always the after show beer and chow at the local pub. We make a good day out of it.
 
I make it to one or two gunshows per year, and the only thing I really look for is older Remington shotguns, every now and then you can find a well broken in Wingmaster for a reasonable price.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top