Hampton Gun show a Bust

D

Doc Hoy

New member
Hampton Gunshow was today and will be on again tomorrow.

PACKED!!

Took longer to find a parking place than it did to drive the 25 miles to the show.

Line for tickets was out to the parking lot. I printed my ticket off the internet and I am certain it saved an hour long wait.

There are starting to be more black powder revolvers from Traditions. Prices are running from average (about what one pays through Cabelas) to about fifty percent over the online prices.

Ammunition was almost non-existent. Hi-cap magazines were going like hot cakes. Two of the largest ammo vendors were not even at the show. I figure they did not have anyting to sell. I was looking for .357, .45LC or 45-70. I saw a total of forty rounds of .45 LC at more than a buck a round and that was it. There wasn't even any brass to buy.

The only two things I was interested in was a Heritage Bounty Hunter used at 450.00. (I kept my money in my pocket since I can buy that pistol new on GB.com for under 400.00 any time I want it) and a Officer's model trapdooor. (I put three "o"s in trapdoor since there were three zeros in the price.....$25,000.00...) That trapdoor was sweet.
 
There was a big gun show in Montgomery today and word I'm gettin' back from friends it that it was a lot of chickens and only a couple of June Bugs. ;)
 
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I quit going to gun shows cuz of admission prices are out the roof
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Same with me. I figured out quite a while back that the biggest difference between a gun show and our local gun shops is that the gun shops don't charge admission to get in or make you pay to park.
 
My local Gander Mountain practically is a gun show, with 5,000 guns on display. And the parking and admission are free..... it's the prices that are out the roof.:rolleyes:
There's gotta be a happy medium somewhere. I just haven't found that gun shop/show yet. :cool:
 
We don't pay to park and admission is 8 bucks. Eating there is about like going to a major league baseball game tho.:eek:
 
Nice to hear that you were a brave soul Doc and went to the show. I kind of have a feeling that most gun shows right now are about the same. Cripes, you can't even go to a LGS now without running in to a frenzied crowd on a mission to "panic buy". I guess it's human nature to take advantage of situations but some of the outright price gouging that is going on is beyond belief - but - I guess if someone is willing to fork over the $$ we'd all take a second thought on it.

I'm in AZ now for a few months and up in Tucson, one of the "more enlightened" council members is proposing a ban on all gun shows in the Tucson area - he's worried that proper background checks aren't being made. Now let's see . . . . isn't this the same area whee the BATF put together a "sting" (which they didn't want to admit to) of obtaining weapons illegally, smuggling them into Mexico only to have one of them come back across the border to be used to kill a BP Agent about 20 miles from where I am - and that was the Feds . . . . and we all know the Federal Govt. is working on bans to "protect us".

Anyway, glad you found a parking space at the show Doc. Hopefully all of this "frenzy" will end in the near future and things get back to normal. . . if there is such a thing left in this country.
 
The only time I attend a gun show is when I have one/more guns to sell - which I've generally been able to, in the first half-hour or so, over the past 35 years, by simply walking them around, slung from my shoulder with a "F/S" flag flying from the muzzle.

Since most shows I attend are out of my state of residence, if a private party's the buyer, I make sure to run the sale through one of the FFL's at the show (BP guns excepted), to keep the Feds off my back. (I've witnessed a sting or three, over the years)



.
 
Hawg Haggen said:
We don't pay to park and admission is 8 bucks. Eating there is about like going to a major league baseball game tho.
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I sometimes go to the local Cabelas during my lunch hour to eat, and they serve way better food than I have ever seen sold at gun shows.

Gun show food=hot dogs and nachos mostly.
 
Prices on everything are headed north. Went to gun show last month and paid $12.00 to see table after table of Glocks and various black rifles. There was maybe one or two BP revolvers.

A popular large auction house is selling a REPLICA Paterson, maker and date of birth unknown with an estimated value of $7500 to $15000. Looks like a 3rd Gen Colt.
 
Prices on everything are headed north. Went to gun show last month and paid $12.00 to see table after table of Glocks and various black rifles. There was maybe one or two BP revolvers.
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There's another reason I stopped going to the gun shows. They had nothing that really interested me.
 
I will tell you....

...That the only thing I really wanted at the show was ammunition.

The fact that the only two viable ammunition dealers did not show up, was my major disappointment.

A guy charging more for a used revolver than the price of a NIB specimen is part of the landscape. Gotta know the prices and values to avoid the scams.

My guess is that the Officer's Trapdoor that was priced at 25,000.00 was probably worth closer to 12,000.00 give or take.

I think that every time I go to a show, I tell myself it is the last one I'll attend. It never works though.
 
Gun Show

Out here in California it's a mixed bag. I attend sometimes just to say, "Yes, I own guns in California". Economically it has never been a bargain and BP items are scarce. I'm goin' in March when it comes around, even knowing that the ammo peddlers will be overwhelmed with buyers. That 3rd. Model Dragoon might be there and....
 
Gunshows have become a wast ot time and money. Just go to see what you know will not be there. I ran across a used 1858 Remmie made in 1989 by Pietta the guy wanted $179.00 for it. This gun was not in good shape. :mad: People have gone nuts when it comes to buying ammo. Our family stocked up after the last time this happened. Try going online to buy a bag of bullets for reloading shells for your hunting rifle or pistol. Everything has out of stock no back order. :eek: Do you guys think it will get back to normal?
 
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