My last gun show for a time

Really lousy gun show today

I haven't gone to a gun show since 1992 or around there... and now I remember why.

I went to the gun show today, it's gotten worse than when I remembered it.

Mainly the gun show by me looks like an Army surplus store collided with a flea market. In additiona to the many many many booths that were selling Army sirplus, there were 6 booths that were selling crafts that had nothing to do with guns. Four booths that were selling snacks / food. I guess venison jerky is sort of related to guns through hunting :confused: Some of the food / snack booths were just selling carmel corn, honey roasted peanuts, and stuff like that. A guy who had 2 booths selling coins. A bunch of World War II junk - I don't mind the collectables, Lugers and whatever, but I don't need a Nazi flag. One guy selling some magnetic bracelet miracle cure for arthritis. Tons and tons of Glocks, M4s and not much else. I didn't even mind the knives - although I personally don't get the connection, it seems like knives and guns are inextricably linked. That's OK, but there also were booths there that were selling nothing but DVDs - not shooting or hunting DVDs - just regular DVDs - although some booths were selling adult videos. Ugh...

This show was more than enough to tide me over for another nineteen years...
 
I Went To a Few Gun Shows Recently...

... within the last few years in my area and will never bother again. They seem to attract the same sort of folks as local "going-out-of-business auctions". They seem to think that just because it's a "gun show" the prices must be great. Not so...
 
I get that going to gun shows is like a treasure hunt. You have to sift through a lot of sand and gravel before you find a gold nugget.

There were two guns that I thought were nice - but I just wasn't in the market for, a nickel plated S&W Combat Model 19 2" barrel for around $400 and a H&K P9S for $900.

I just wasn't in the market for those and I am saving up for a pocket-nine when Illinois (hopefully) legalizes carry.

I didn't even mind the prices so much... I mean if they want to bring old worn-out, dinged-up BHPs to a show and try to pawn them off for $850 - hey more "power" to them. They want to sell used "NIB" Glocks for factory new prices - OK, I mean I won't buy one but I don't get angry at them for trying.

Maybe I had my hopes up too high. I thought I might be able to pick up some Winchester Ranger T 147gr 9mm ammo. They didn't have any hard to get ammo, Cabela's has a larger selection. The few booths that were selling ammo were selling boxes and boxes of WWB for the same price that Walmart does.

At the few tables that were actually selling guns, I asked around for Smith or Ruger 9mm revolvers. Rows and rows of tables chock full of old bayonets, but hardly any guns.

Maybe the Internet has changed the gun shows? It seems to me that it's easier to find stuff at the large Internet clearing houses than at the shows. Maybe what's left at the shows is the stuff that's diffcult to sell online (like WW I and WWII bayonets....)
 
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^^^ Over the last 10 shows you've attended: How much profit did you make... or how much money did you save... after all expenses including fuel/oil/wear/tear costs... and time spent?

I think you're right that internet buys are often better.
 
I like gun shows, they are a good place to find a lot of stuff. What i mean is that when i go to a gun shop and ask if they carry a certain so and so, and they say no, I have to go somewhere else. Gun shows have a large variety of so and so's. Everything from reloading, ammo, guns, parts, kits....etc.Plus here in Oklahoma private citizens can sell firearms in the show. So when i go i pay as much attention to the people who are walking around as i do to the vendors. I seen a guy sell his g27 4th gen for $300.00:eek:, wish i bought it. I havent been to a gun show in a while.... Im gun poor:D
 
Here in California most of the gun shows suck for buying guns, but you can usually find great deals on ammo and accessories. Plus it's fun to check out all the different guns that my local store doesn't generally carry. My son and I also enjoy all the cool old stuff at the history geeks booths'. I think of the gun shows as more of a carnival type event to spend a few hours with my son, rather than a place to buy guns.
 
Sites like gunbroker have made gun shows unnecessary. However, I still go every now and then just for the heck of it. Theoretically, you could buy everything from the internet and never leave your house! :o But what kind of life would that be? It's nice to see the selection in person, although I make fewer and fewer purchases at gun shows. I do still prefer to handle expensive guns in person before buying, though.
 
I just went to a local gun show yesterday and found a Dillon RL450 for $120.
Missing a few pieces, has a little rust that needs clean up, but still a screaming deal.

Bought a Dillon 550 from the same guy a year ago for $200. Again, missing a few small parts and needed a little clean up...but it's been putting out cartridges for me for the last year.

Yep, I'll keep going to our local gun shows. :)
 
I only go to gun shows when I'm looking for something specific or have nothing to do (a rarity). Usually I'm looking for reloading components when I go. I still look at every table on the off chance I might find something I've been looking for at a good price. I have noticed the influx of unrelated items at the local shows but I don't pay it much mind, there's usually enough guns there to keep me occupied.

Stu
 
At one time i would go to every local gunshow,but since post-obama it's not worth the drive or admittance.It brings back memories of right after 1994,price of high cap mags,ar's,ak's and everything PRE-BAN went through the roof.The dealers stance was get it now while you can. I wouldnt give $70 for a M9 mag that was $7 the month before,$30 for a m16 mag that before was $5,or $50 for an AK mag.I saw Colt H-bar's go up from $589 to $1300.I was willing to let the dealer sit on his little goldmine and let it eat into his pocket.
 
On the west side of Wisconsin me and a co-worker usually go to a couple and they're just boring most of the time. It's all ARs... I like to see a lot of the surplus arms because that is what I'm into. There is generally a couple tables with some old stuff on it, but it's limited to mostly M1s and Mosins. Not bad rifles by any means but... WHERE ARE MY MAUSERS?!?!?!:(
 
Here in Hampton Roads, we've had 3 gunshows within 10 miles in the last 6 weeks.... Hampton, Virginia Beach, and Norfolk. The one in Hampton is a lot bigger and had more "stuff". But the frequency of shows can't be good for business. You know if you don't find exactly what you want... just wait for the next one. By the time you've gone to the last one, you wish you'd have just bought online for less money and less hassle.

Handguns at these shows were on average 25% higher than any major online retailer.
AR's/AK's were very similar to online prices.
Shotguns are very limited in selection, and only a few percent over online retailers.

You know that everything is negotiable, but why bother offering the guy $100 less than he's asking. He knows what stuff costs online and must know that everybody at the show does too. What's the point?

Gunbroker has it's place, but...
I've wanted a Keltec Sub2k in 9mmGlock for months. Nobody has them. Buds has them out of stock, but sold for $280 when in stock. I see people asking $450 at GB. Supply and demand.

I've also wanted a S&W Bodyguard .380 for months. Over the summer, you could get them for $270 LE discount from a dozen online places. Supply has run out. Lowest price of the 3 I saw at the Norfolk gunshow was $345, one guy asking $400. You cannot find them online.

I just purchased 2 new Maverick 88's from Buds for $205ea (credit card price) shipped. They arrived in 3 days. My FFL gets $10. That's $430 total. Cheapest Mav88 at the show (20" barrel) was $229. Online shopping has been made so easy it's almost not worth the effort to leave the house to buy a gun.
 
Im done with gunshows! Gun shows should only allow 1 roasted almond stand, no knives, no airsoft/model tanks, no jams or beef jerky. Basically except for the roasted almond stand nothing but guns.

Warning huge rant:
This past month houston gun show supposedly one the largest in Texas. It was the same stuff copy pasted row after row. Yea there were lots of tables but 99% boring stuff. Apparently interesting = surplus. Man i can get those from aimsurplus or cmp. And the sheer amount of commercial grade run of the mill hunting rifles and lever actions. Even the glass display cases were disappointing. Basically anything that is 1911 or Colt or SW something dash something went behind a glass case. Again copy pasted row after row. Ok optics? NcStars and hack job brands (eg Seals brand), not even the low end leupolds, and eotech clones. And a good chunk of it were taken by dealers that sprawled several tables long. Glock glock glock, sig sig sig sig, hk hk hk hk, its like a catalog i can have the same price from their brick and mortar store. Again you have several of dealers all selling a ton of same stuff. The bread and butter AR and accessories was 50% hack job. All those tables will say something along the lines of "its just as good as the real stuff". Occasionally some macho table tries to spice it up, usually this is along the lines of a barrett 82 50bmg coupled to an airsoft scope and sold for well above even barretts MSRP, or one giant ammo of some canon. It feels like a giant flea market Well the good thing is that folks were nice to talk to :o
 
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When I was a kid, I went to gun shows with my dad. They were all put on by local rifle clubs. No FFL's. Everybody was there to trade or sell their privately owned firearms. Deals could be made.
Now, it's a business. If I bring something to sell or trade, I have learned to ignore the guys behind the tables. I am not there to be their wholesaler.
I only go to buy ammo, since the selection is better than any store.
Sometimes I go to look at some firearm I am interested in before I order it elsewhere. The $300 wholesale piece they have marked as "rare"-$559.
I am a member of a rifle club which has its own club FFL. I can order anything I want, or make a buy on gunbroker, and it costs me nothing to do so...no tax, just shipping. It comes in, and I go and have a beer in the club kitchen while we do the NICS check and 4473.
If I want to sell something, I forget the gun show. I use armslist. People on there are looking for the specific gun I am selling, and I give a fair price at the outset.
I do look at gun shows as kind of a political gathering of the tribe, though....that, and it brings back good memories of my dad.
 
A friend and I were at a gun show a couple months ago and I was asking him about ammo pricing.

He told me he buys ammo on-line only. He said he prefers the UPS man to schlep the big, heavy boxes.

Kind of makes sense, now that I think about it.
 
This gun show had a lot of empty tables so I can see how the organizer wants to sell tables and is motivated to sell those tables, whether they are selling wind chimes, jewelry, coins, pickles, windows treatments - or whatever. Now that I think of it, I'm surprised someone didn't have a booth there for replacement vinyl siding.

I also went to buy ammo, because the only thing I can find around here in 9mm is PDX. But I was totally let down by the lack of ammo selection. Like I said before, the guys were selling boxes and boxes of WWB at Walmart prices.

I don't have to pay $5.00 to get into Walmart.
 
I live here in the home of the NRA. I personally think the shows here could be better. My rants are:

$12.00 admission seems high to me! It would be better if they could do something where your spouse is free or something like that. Hard to justify paying for someone that is not actively looking to by, but is just there to be with their significant other.

Way to many junk dealers at the shows here. Seems like half the tables are people selling everything except gun related items.

Prices to me seem pretty high compared to what I can find online (even with taking into account shipping and FFL fees) Example: I just picked up a new Gen 4 Glock 19 for $495 (plus $15 shipping and $20 FFL fee) Price of the G19 Gen 4's at the show? $550 plus 5% Va. tax

Prices definitely seem to be higher here cause we live close to D.C. If I take a 60 minute drive to the Richmond, Va. show, prices are lower.

Anyway, I will usually attend when I need to restock on supplies and ammo. I am just finding that if I do my homework, I can get a much better deal online for what I'm looking for.
 
If you check out what it costs to rent a table you will understand why there are no deals anymore. The promoters have ruined it IMO.
 
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