Weak attendance at gun show . . .

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Prof Young

New member
Went to Belle-Clair gun show today in Belleville IL. One vendor told me that yesterday the gate was only 300. Normally it's 12-15 hundred. Hmmmm . . .

So I bought . . .

Some American Ammunition for my 38 spl. Looks a touch old but 12 bucks for 50 rounds is not too bad.

Got some Mosin ammo . . . the good stuff with brass cases and FMJ bullets. Figure I am going to run out of the cheap historic stuff sooner or later and need to start learning to reload it. Paid 19 buck for 20 rounds. Pricey compared to the old stuff.

Got a very beat up AK bayonet. See pic below. Am trying to learn origins via the numbers on the finger guard and scabbard but no luck so far.

And I bought a small duffle that looks like my waders and fly fishing gear will fit in nicely.

Most amazing, but I didn't buy it, was a Sig P238. The kind with the sort of oil on water rain bow finish, NIB for only $425. Really. Poor guy behind
the table told me he had serious health issues and was liquidating his stock so his daughter would not have to deal with it when he passed. That is a $700 gun!!! Am thinking as I write this that I should have bought it and then resold it for some $$$. Ah well. And would that make me a fire arms dealer . . . illegally?

Oh and all the knife dealers were loaded with "switchblades" as they are now legal in IL.

One more, I sold my Ram-Line Syn-Tech 22 lr pistol for exactly what I paid for it. And it looked to me like the dealer had passed it on already only an hour later.

Life is good.
Prof Young
 

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poor attendance at gun show?

the bayonet looks like a well used Romanian AKM bayo, worth about $10 - $15

the gun show I attended in CA was also almost empty, very low attendance

no security guard, nobody watching the door

not many vendors, not much of anything, just common retail store stock

and over priced bayonets, and junk, lots of mag sellers, and cheap holster vendors, and some AR parts vendors.

not even one sks rifle or M44 in the show, I saw a Gen 3 Glock 19 for $599.00

a Gen 3 Glock 21 for $569, common gun shop prices

attendance was below 50%
 
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Went to one locally in Saint Charles on Saturday that the attendance seemed to be about what I'm used to seeing, as did the merchandise available.
The local media had reported last week that signs advertising the show were being stolen, and on the potential for some sort of anti-gun demonstration or something.
I'm thinking that was likely just wishful thinking on their part from what I saw.

The same media reported that there were protests scheduled for the Belleville show, but I never heard if there were any.
 
Went to the Guntober show this past weekend here in Oaks, PA. Two news stations were there and it was packed. 3 halls, 1700 tables, great time. Bought a small S3 tactical sling bag and 5000 primers.
 
Oaks was actually not nearly as crowded or busy as expected. Three dealer friends had horrible shows, and one sent most of his guys home early and ran a skeleton crew on Sunday.
 
Went to "The cross roads of the west" a couple weeks ago. Attendance seemed low. This gun show is up to $12 for admittance and they have a lot of non gun items, Bennie babies, eye glass cleaners, and the likes. To me gun shows just aren't what they use to be.
 
Went to the Crossroads show in Reno last Saturday. Not packed, but not that bad. Everyone stopped for a moment to recite the pledge and a moment of silence for the victims in Las Vegas.
 
The gun show in my neck of the woods is gone now.....:mad:
How's it going in Belleville Prof Young? I lived in Fairview Heights/Belleville area before moving to Colorado.
 
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Looks like they still have them in my area but I haven't been to one in years.
high prices on the guns, see all sorts of non gun related stuff, food, jewlery, toys, novelties.

I got sick of paying 8 or 9 dollars and only walking out with ammo can's.

All the guns are zip tied, no they can't be removed to inspect.. so you just look at the gun.. I can do that online.. At least at a real gun shop I can handle the gun fully.

I can get better deals online.. It's not that I wish ill will on the gun shows but I don't miss them.
I went to my first gun show 10 years ago and it was already like this, If they ever had a golden era it's before my time.
 
To me gun shows just aren't what they use to be.
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This sums up my opinion on gun shows in general. I remember going to them all the time growing up (not terribly long ago. I'm only 31), and they were actually good. Guns/ammo/accessories/parts were sold at good prices and you could negotiate prices; not this "take it or leave it" mentality. Trading was common too. Now, I see a lot of vendors looking for that one idiot who didn't do their homework on what the gun is worth. I see more used guns with a price tag higher than the MSRP of a new version at gun shows today. Plus websites where you can buy/sell used guns like gunbroker.com kind of make them obsolete (aside from being able to inspect the gun before purchase in person part).
Yes, it is that person/vendor's property and they can put whatever price tag they want on it. I'm just saying it's aggravating as a potential buyer seeing price tags like that to where it's almost insulting. I still go to gunshows because, yes, you do still find those rare "good deals" usually in the gun accessories department. You pretty much have to go on the last day, hours before closing down. Vendors tend to negotiate their prices more when they haven't sold much and are about to pack up.
 
Replay to Targa . . .

Targa:
Like OP says attendance is way down. Lotta guns there. Good prices on reloading stuff, if you shop around a little. I got good prices on the 38 spl ammo. I've bought guns a few times at the Belle-Clair show in the last couple of years and it was always a gun I knew a lot about an I always got a good price. I've sold guns there too and got okay prices. It only costs 5 bucks to get in and I usually spend a couple hours there. I look at everything, talk to all the vendors and consider it good entertainment as well as a good educational experience. Handle a lot of guns.

Life is good.
Prof Young
 
I have to go along with JoeSixpack, I dont like paying 8 to 10 bucks to shop and then pay retail prices I could find online cheaper..
 
Am thinking as I write this that I should have bought it and then resold it for some $$$. Ah well. And would that make me a fire arms dealer . . . illegally?
Click to expand...

On a regular basis yes. In this case hanging onto the gun and then selling in private sale go for it. Just don't broadcast it all over the internet;)
 
Our gun shows have good turnout usually. We did have a couple days where attendance dropped once after a vendor accidentally discharged a shotgun on his table towards the snack bar and sent a bunch of people to the hospital to get birdshot removed. Luckily no fatalities and the vendor has been blackballed. Also our attendance is low when they schedule the show on the same weekends that the local National Guard units conduct the monthly drill.
 
When the cost to attend got to be $8 for parking, $15 to get in, and another $15-20 for gas round trip, I saw no point. One guy who did go and knew a few sellers related how the cost of their tables had gone up so much they most likely won't be coming back. A lot of folks who complain about sellers' high prices forget how much they spent upfront to attend and rent space, room, food, etc. Most small time guys, unless they specialize in something rare and sellable (like Lugers or similar) or who sell mass quantities of low cost stuff like gun cases, can't make any money.
Add in the shop and click of the Internet, and I don't see gun shows hanging around much longer - tragedies like LV notwithstanding.
 
The same thing is happening in amateur radio. The internet is replacing traditional get togethers where lovers of X can go to buy, sell, and trade equipment. Gun shows, hamfests, things of that nature are becoming less and less of something hobbyists do.
 
Went to a small one at the Elks Club and it was well attended, but sales weren't exactly stellar. I was tempted to buy a GP100 for only $275, but I didn't.
 
Sound like some bad shows out there . . .

Sounds to me like there are some really bad circumstances out there. At Belle-Clair it's free parking and only five buck to get in.

Don P. Yeah - I should have bought that gun but I didn't. Ah well.

Brass - I have heard rumors of this "discharge at a gun show." Some were talking about it at the Belle-Clair show.

Life is good.
Prof Young
 
I have stopped going altogether and I will tell you why. 1. the prices are crazy. 2. people act like its a bother to sell you something. 3. Each question you ask is typically answered with... "i don't know". Its just NOT the gunshow that I grew up with so I simply do not go.
 
Price of tables has gone way up since the good times.

The Old Colorful Characters and Gunsmith/Gunshop owners have faded away.

The trays and boxes of parts,sights,slides,receivers,walnut blanks locks,,etc just are not there.
And anything that might be interesting has an inflated "Collector" price.

There was a time an old sight was a quality,functional device to aim a gun with.And priced accordingly.Now some hoarder wants them to fill a place in his sight collection.What was worth an honest $75 is now $350,or more.

Its IMO,just not practical to buy one for a $300 to $500 shooter firearm.

Table after table of average to high price new guns.Yawn. Mall ninja stuff .Yawn. Unknown commercial reloads. Yawn.
The same component and 22 LR gougers from 2 years ago . You may rot.

Nah. Gun show admission makes as much sense as lotto tickets.
 
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