Gun Shows a Joke Anymore

[ColColt]

I just got back from a local gun show and am still amazed at the price of virtually everything. It cost $10 just to get in. You can't get any deals on any sort of handgun it seem with the average 1911 going for $995-1495. Back in 1974, I know that was long ago but you remember, I bought my first 1911-a Colt MKIV Government model for...are you ready-$159.95. Precious memories. We'll not pass that way again.

I bought two thousand CCI primers today and with tax it was $72. Time was when those things were a penny each and 1000 cost you right at $10 when I first started reloading and those were CCI. I don't know-I'm glad someone can afford a NIB Colt 1911 for $1200 or more but I ain't paying that.

 

[jack the toad]

Prices seem high but most gunshows are a real joke IMO.
I think some of the shade tree dealer prices are still based on the obummer scare days, at least it seems that way around here.
Some dealers have had the same inventory for months and keep bringing them to the local shows in hope of meeting some sucker passing through.
On the other hand, I find deals quite often at most shows but it may not be what I'm currently looking for but a deal none the less.

 

[gregintenn]

Which show, ColColt? Knoxville? There are old men who come to the Nashville show who still have a lot of the same guns displayed on their table they had when I was a kid!

 

[Rugskipper]

Gunbroker is a double-edged sword. I use it to find Smiths that are scarce in my part of the country, and to find good deals on very rare occasions. Dealers use it as a guide to price their wares, and as we all know 99% of the starting bids and reserve prices are laughably high. The usual back and forth I hear at my local gun show goes something like this....

"You want HOW MUCH for that thing?!?!?!?"

Indignantly, "That's what they go for on Gunbroker".

Reply, "No. That's the price they sit at for years on Gunbroker. So do you want to sell it, or sit on it?"

 

[John Eilertson]

I used to go to almost every show I could, and made some good deals, too. But the prices are very high, with little chances of talking them down, and every dealer is armed as tho' they were expecting a shootout. (I wonder how many would almost prefer that?) Long story short, unless I have something to sell I likely won't see many more.

 

[arjay]

I go if I have nothing better to do.Most of our shows have been over priced flea markets for years.The Colorado Gun Collectors put on a fantastic show once a year in the spring.

 

[Frank237]

Shows can be total wastes of time, travel money, etc. BUT...unless you attend...you will never find any deals.

Last year MT Helo and I drove 240 miles one way in the winter to the Billings show...and were in and out...in 18 minutes. Small...maybe half the tables actually GUN related...and prices in a word...LAUGHABLE.

Then another time...you encounter two or three very reasonably priced items, or even the occasional REAL FIND.

Found my 617 no dash...without underlug, in the box at Missoula a few yrs back for $450. Same show I found Inspector Callahan a beautiful 25-2 in box for an equally reasonable price.

Bozeman show waiting in line to get in...find a very nice, early M-58 for $350. Same show I bought SEVERAL custom bullet moulds, all of them desireable for $20 each!

Another Show noted for high prices and far too many tables with "Crafts" and jerky...I buy SEVERAL El Paso Saddlery, Milt Sparks and a Kramer S&W holsters...a small box full of them...for $60. VERY happy I attended that "loser" show.

I know they can suck...and prices can be silly high. One has to be aware of current REAL prices....and buy accordingly.

But if you don't play...you will never find any deals or hard to find items.

FN in MT

 

[old bear]

The few local shows/swapmeets I've been to lately have been a joke. Mostly over priced Glocks', Taurus's, and a Miserp stuff. Along with cheap, quality, overpriced knives.

I would love to attend one of the big collector shows one of these days and really get an idea of what is for sale and some pricing guidelines.

 

[ar15ed]

i enjoy going to gun shows a lot. i guess i go to 35 or 40 a year. it is aggravating to see the same old overpriced junk at show after show, but there is almost always something fairly priced or interesting, or sometimes both. the stuff folks are carrying around seems to be determined by the location. some shows really consistently bring good stuff out of the woodwork, and some of them will have 5 or 6 guys walking around with 60.00 single shot shotguns. i still keep going, and i usually have a great time.

the 10.00 entry fees are a little painful, especially when you have to pay 5.00 to park, also.

 

[mg357]

I attend between 2 & 3 gunshow's that are in my local area. An usually the gun prices are out of my reach, but i continue to go because i know that at some point i will get a good deal i just have to be patient.

 

[imjin138]

I keep going, even though the prices are high and anything you bring in is a piece of ****. Pretty much out of habit, but every once in awhile i get lucky.

 

[Steve in Vermont]

Beats going to a craft show with my wife, but sometimes not by much.

 

[Bicky Robby]

By in large, most gun shows are no fun any more. I can make the same deals by walking into the gun store I have been using and price haggeling with them.

 

[pharmer]

Gunshows are a joke, that's what makes them fun. I'm looking forward to next weekend for the "big show". I have 2 Smiths and a Ruger with a total investment of $375. I absolutely will not waste my time trying to trade with a dealer since what I have is **** and his stuff is gold. I have never gotten anything worthwhile (except for a 2" 10-5 I got for a FEG R9 5years ago) that way. I'll sell them off and "cash is king", negotiate with the Benjamins for what I want. And I'll know what I want when I see it. Only downside is having to come home from work Friday night and doing the yard work before dark so I can get going early, Lakeland is a 60 miles away. Joe

 

[HAWKEYE10]

I think there are to many gun shows. They have a show almost every weekend within driving distance of my house. These dealers are making a living off gun shows and that is the reason the prices are so high. Don

 

[straightshooter1]

I've come to the conclusion that gun shows, at least in my state, are a waste of time UNLESS there's something I want that I can't find here, or on one of the shotgun forums, or at any of the several dealers in my area.

And, it's been a long time since that has happened.

Yes, many of the dealers sit there with the same guns they had four or more years ago, still trying to hit that home run (or, maybe, just get back most of what they paid).

Our area has several good gun shops and one of my favorites often has collectible Smiths and Colts for relatively reasonable prices.

Now if I need some beef jerky or some jewelry cleaned....

Bob

 

[Alk8944]

I just got back from a local gun show and am still amazed at the price of virtually everything. It cost $10 just to get in. You can't get any deals on any sort of handgun it seem with the average 1911 going for $995-1495. Back in 1974, I know that was long ago but you remember, I bought my first 1911-a Colt MKIV Government model for...are you ready-$159.95. Precious memories. We'll not pass that way again.

I bought two thousand CCI primers today and with tax it was $72. Time was when those things were a penny each and 1000 cost you right at $10 when I first started reloading and those were CCI. I don't know-I'm glad someone can afford a NIB Colt 1911 for $1200 or more but I ain't paying that.

And go back just a few years before, 1960.

Gun show admission was FREE.

Primers were $5.50/thousand, powder $2.95/lb. and jacketed bullets $1.95 to $3.95/100. Not to mention .22 Shorts were less than Long Rifle, Standard Velocity was the norm, and Hi-Velocity .22s were higher priced than Standard. .22 Long Rifles were around 50 cents a box, and having a mis-fire with a .22 was unheard of.

A GI 1911 in excellent condition could be had for $20, and a brand new Gold Cup was $125, a standard commercial was about $90.

There was a time not that long ago when I absolutely refused to even consider paying $100 for a used gun, any used gun. You know how that one worked out!!!!!!

 

[Smith357]

I really don't go to gunshows to find guns anymore, I do occasionally find them but what I'm really looking for is small stuff, I love rummaging through the boxes of old holsters and grips. Though the last small local show I went to long guns were surprisingly affordable. I came pretty darn close to grabbing a nice looking Savage 110 .30-06 with Nikon scope leather sling and bi-pod for $300, but I already have a good .30-06. If it had been in .243 I would have been all over it. Handguns were still way over priced especially snubs.

 

[rburg]

You guys are all living in the distant past. Wake up, and think about it.

Back in '74, you were driving a car that used fuel that cost you $.39 a gallon. Today fuel costs you 10 times as much. And maybe that new car cost you $3500, while today the better ones are at $35,000 or higher. You paid $2-3.00 to get inside, and today you get a bargain at only 3-5 times as much, not 10x.

And now you're complaining the gun you paid $159.95 for is prices at less than 10x, only 7-8 times as much. But its not a bargain because your scale is broken. It should be $1600.

And you could buy a coke for a dime, but now it costs you over a dollar in the vending machine. Except my son bought one outside the gunshow today in Louisville for $3.25! at the vending machine. That one even shocked me, but I realize its to prevent people from saving money and buying the machine bottles instead of the fountain cokes inside.

We can play this game on just about everything. Inflation has been going on for decades, and the prices (and your wages) have just played along. Sometimes the prices get a little ahead, sometimes (but we don't remember when) your wages come out in front.

 

[pre16]

You guys are all living in the distant past. Wake up, and think about it.

Back in '74, you were driving a car that used fuel that cost you $.39 a gallon. Today fuel costs you 10 times as much. And maybe that new car cost you $3500, while today the better ones are at $35,000 or higher. You paid $2-3.00 to get inside, and today you get a bargain at only 3-5 times as much, not 10x.

And now you're complaining the gun you paid $159.95 for is prices at less than 10x, only 7-8 times as much. But its not a bargain because your scale is broken. It should be $1600.

And you could buy a coke for a dime, but now it costs you over a dollar in the vending machine. Except my son bought one outside the gunshow today in Louisville for $3.25! at the vending machine. That one even shocked me, but I realize its to prevent people from saving money and buying the machine bottles instead of the fountain cokes inside.

We can play this game on just about everything. Inflation has been going on for decades, and the prices (and your wages) have just played along. Sometimes the prices get a little ahead, sometimes (but we don't remember when) your wages come out in front.

Registered Magnum $60 now it costs you $7000