OK so I went to a gun show.

G

Glenn Dee

New member
OK so I went to a gun show today. A little local show in Ft Lauderdale with about 50, or 60 vendors. Mostly private collectors, and a few small mom n pop stores. This is one of those old time show's where most people know each other, and trade back n forth. I promised myself I would limit my spending to under a hundred bucks.

OK at the first table, in the first row, the first gun I see is one I been looking for. One I really had to have. I mean I really really had to have it. OK so then I'm down $465.00 I know I should leave ... But just a quick look around ya know? Of course I find the exact same grips I'm looking for. The guy wants $50.00... I know it's a steal. So now I'm down $515.00. I see a really nice sword cain... But I'm strong, and resist. Just to prove to myself... I do have willpower.

The grips are a pair of plastic period (coltwood) for one of my pair of Colt Troopers in .38 One chromed has aged ivory grips, and now the blued one has the factory plastic, and they match perfectly...Kinda. I knick named them "THE DARKNESS AND THE LIGHT". Both are ugly as sin...no safe queen's these... but I like em.

Now this gun I just had to have?... heh heh heh heh... 9MMX in a Browning FN Herstal made in belgium HP-DAc. What can I say... I just HAD to have it. I know you guys understand...lol

All this after spending 6 months gun allowance on a S&W 3" heavy bbl R/B 640.
 
Mr. Dee is that the old model "ring hammer" Browning? If so congrats, I sold mine years ago for $125.00. What was I thinking?
 
Mr.Old Bear. This is a compact double action. And nope it's a solid hammer. $125.00???:eek: yeah man.. what was you thinking. LOL
 
I've been a vendor at a few gun shows.
After you're there for the set up and watch them change tags from the previous show you kinda lose interest.
I've seen as nuch as $250.00 difference, when I asked about it the answer I got was, "These hicks don't know any difference".
Sometimes you can get a good deal, but BE CAREFUL.
 
I haven't gone to a gun show or even a gun shop in over a year, because I know what would happen if I did and I don't need to blow money these days.

I made substantial purchases prior to November 2008, because I knew what was going to happen in this country, and it did.
 
I know the feeling about smaller gun shows; Good ones that is.... If you find stuff you like, it is tough to not buy if the price is fair and you want it. At the really big shows, you just blend in and I suspect you blend into a blurr to most of the dealers and table holders. I can spend about 30 minutes and go through a small show carefully looking at almost everything... big shows take all day just to move from one crowded area to another. It is much like a people conveyer going on with some people cutting line and jumping ahead from time to time just like rush hour traffic.
 
Gun Shows ... too much Beef Jerky, Knives and Jewelry
Click to expand...

You left out the incessant crackle of electric stun guns being tested.

But I don't mind the knife vendors. Sometimes I go to a show specifically to buy a new knife.

What I don't like and no longer go to are the militaria shows. Haven't been to one since probably 1995. Oh, the old WWII and Korea vets are fine and all. But those tables owned by the frowning, bearded, overweight shut-in with nothing but on Nazi stuff on them? I just had too much of that at a militaria show in Kansas City, Missouri back in 1995 and decided the scene was no longer for me.
 
Accessorie selection is the reason I still go,,,

And just to be surrounded by the sight and smell of guns.

It's been so long since I've seen an actual bargain price on a firearm at a gun show that I don't think they exist anymore.

Accessories however is a different story.

Not so much for a bargain price but just for the availability.

I wanted to buy a set of grips for Stella,,,
I had looked at all the catalogs and websites,,,
But to actually get them in my hands a gun show was perfect.

I was able to touch Pachmayer, Hogue, and several lesser known brands,,,
All in one place and then pick the one I liked best.

None of the gun shops (even in Tulsa) have a wide variety of accessories,,,
So the gun shows are perfect for that kind of browsing,,,
And just to spend an afternoon browsing guns.

And, there is always the chance I'll find that elusive bargain,,,
On some fieryarm or gun related thing I just have to own.

BTW, Stella is my S&W Model 15,,,
 
I really miss the old Saxet gun show in Austin .. I got some good deals there, including my occasional carry Kimber UCII, tons of reasonably priced reloads (back in the day) and the chance to hang out with hundreds of folks who enjoy firearms as much as I do. They did have a ton of non-gun stuff (tho the jerky was excellent) and a few too many conspiracy theorists. I saw a lot of overpriced junk (that's why the phrase "let the buyer beware" was coined), but it general it was a great way to kill a few hours on a Saturday morning and avoid my chores; hey, I LIKE weeds! RIP ...
 
Do you ever tell Stella that you could've been somebody? Could've been a contender?

Just kidding.

I envy you for living in the Tulsa area. I went to the big Tulsa gun show a few years ago. It took me 7 hours to take in the whole show. Seemed to me like you could've parked a couple of B-52s in that building and had room leftover.

7 hours and THAT was with me skipping a lot of tables that were loaded with Old West guns that didn't interest me at the time. I was footsore and physically exhausted after that.
 
As a rule, I detest gunshows for all the above mentioned reasons. I, like many others here still go though. The reason is that every once in awhile I make a good trade or get a good deal.

The last one I went to was a good example. I took my G20 (which had factory N.S.) and less than 100 rounds through it to see if I could get a new G20SF. I had recently held one and it felt much better in my hand.

I was able to get $425 trade in for it on a G20SF and only gave the guy one of the mags mine came with. I think I paid the guy an extra $100 or so for his end but he threw in two PMAGS for my M4's. Then I went across the way and had N.S. installed for $85 from a vendor who gave me a LE discount and saved me $15.

So at this point, I was down less than $200. I also took a bunch of extra doodads and whirligigs from my junk box such as ACOG mounts, surefire pressure pads and whatnot and sold them for cash to a vendor. I also met up with him later and sold him excess uniforms, 5.11's and other clutter that was really starting to pile up. I made $425 of that stuff.

So, at the end of the day, I got a brand new gun and cleared out some of tac gear and excess items and made a little over $200 to waste at the next gun show.
 
We had a gunshow vendor here in Northern Virginia who, for years, was the only game in town until one of the REALLY big boys came in.

Old Dominion put on some of the WORST gun shows I've ever been to. At one show the crap vendors -- jewelry, food, tools, and an aging new age hippie couple selling "power crystals" (holy crap, snort some more coke, you're actually believing your line) outnumbered the gun dealers quite handily.

It was absolutely pathetic.
 
C'mon guys, don't be so cynical. It's the middle of the winter, football's over, the baby's crying, there's nothing to do on the weekend and your buddy calls and wants to know if you want to go to a gun show. Of course you do! Now I've attended literally hundreds of gun shows over the past five decades and I'll be the first to admit, they aren't what they used to be; not by a long shot. But, hey, there are guns laying on the tables, along with gun-related trinkets and you're rubbing shoulders with like-minded people.

Yeah, I still like to go to a gun show. However, there's one inescapable axiom that rides along with me at darn near every show I attend: If I've got some jingle in my jeans, I never see anything I'm really interested in. But if all I have in my wallet is enough to buy breakfast and pay the entrance fee-well, I think most of you know what kind of deal I'm going to find at that show. :(
 
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