Another disappointing gun show

[Culina]

Before the days of the internet sales, gun shows were the only way to find certain things. I haven't been to one since 2013 I believe.

 

[swagmeister]

And don't forget about some, not all, dealers pulling out a 10 year old Blue Book of Gun Values and pricing the gun you want to trade or sell to them at about 30% of a fair market value these days! I understand their wanting to make as much profit on a deal as possibile, but they will just have to make it on an unsuspecting sucker and not me! I've given up on any chance of attending a good gun show in NW Louisiana for the past several years. Same old ridiculously high priced guns and ammo and they have the attitude that they don't care whether you buy it or not. Sad state of affairs.

 

[Allen207]

NM’s 10 day waiting period has all but killed gun shows here. On a whim last year I stopped at a tiny show in AZ and found an almost mint Beretta 86 for surplus 84 price. You never know.

 

[Oil Field Trash]

Been going for 40 years or so, not much anymore. No deals, flea market crap everywhere and some very rude vendors. Was offfered $600 for a nickel 4” 586, no dash no M. TT,TH, with box and documented. I restrained my first instinct (yeah right ) and just walked away.

 

[Lt.Donn]

Well, I said I wouldn't do it again but I ended up going to a local gun show on Sunday morning. I don't really have any Wish List guns on my radar right now, and the local shows rarely have anything that I'm interested in buying anyway. But it was a beautiful day for a motorcycle ride and I decided to stop by and take a look around. I paid my $8 at the door and walked in with a positive attitude and anticipation of a great find. I started my first pass around the venue, and much to my chagrin I was greeted by several tables of jewelry with sales ladies biding their time with their knitting! Then came the black rifle tables and the plastic pistol tables, and table after table of cheap knives (it seems that the karambit is the latest knife craze). Then there was a huge display of modern air rifles complete with suppressors, and tables full of cheap imported optics. I did find a couple of tables with a few minty vintage Colts (mostly $3K+ Pythons) and a couple of pricey vintage S&W revolvers...but I think that they were there more for show than for sale. The show was rounded out by beef jerky, a few beat up military surplus rifles, some worn out shotguns and hunting rifles, bluetooth stereo speakers, and several tables of body armor, t-shirts and hats. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I didn't even make a second pass around. I'm all for supporting the local shows and local businesses, and 2nd Amendment sales, but some of these shows are just a waste of time for me. Very disappointing.

Sadly this is a common refrain...the glory days of gun shows has passed decades ago...now we see folks trying to make a living hawking anything the public will buy...and promoters who once would have banned such kitchy stuff, allows them in order to fill tables. I am fortunate to have lived during the halcyon years when actual "collections" were exhibited and given prizes...and tables were occupied by amateurs trading and selling to one another...and when parking was "free"

 

[offrdmania]

Our local show is coming up this weekend and if its the same as previous years, ill pass. The Jerky was usually the best part.

 

[Dave Fox]

Oh, I dunno. At recent local gun shows I picked up a rare WW I German ear-cut-out steel helmet for $100.00 (the asking price, I didn't quibble. Picture of it as restored) and a circa 1750 British brass barrelled officer's pistol for $500.00. Guys my age are passing away and some good stuff is back in circulation....

 

[verde]

I had to pay 15 bucks to get in the Round Rock show on Saturday. It was ok, but prices are up. I bought 8-50 rd boxes of 44 mag. 240 grain. 40 bucks a box. All semi jacketed, no wad cutters.
A dealer I knew told me that Sunday morning before the show opened, the jerky vendor was in the bathroom rinsing mold off his jerky.

 

[Rudi2]

No, gun shows aren't what they used to be but I enjoy them nonetheless. They way I look at it, in a few years they'll be gone completely - in this democrat run state they've been trying to kill everything gun related for years. There are so many hoops to jump through to be an FFL that a lot of "mom and pop" shops have given up. Of course the "chinese virus" shut down a lot of people, and some of the old boys that used to be a staple at the shows, just aren't around anymore. I don't go looking for a "great deal", I go looking for that surprise waiting on the old guys table that's wanting to thin out his collection -- thinking that'll probably be me in a couple of years.

 

[cougar015]

I've gone to various gun shows in Pennsylvania and have seen good ones and bad ones. I attended one close to home for over 20 years and only ever bought one gun on my wish list. The entry fee was reasonable and it helps support the local fire company. While on winter retreat in Florida I went to Dade City, Lakeland and Tampa gun shows. The first two were great with a lot of S&W guns considered Collectables. Tampa is $15 to get in and $10 to park to look at a bunch of black guns. Great if that's what you like but $25 in the hole before you walk in the door is ridiculous. The big gun show twice a year in Tulsa Ok, while not considered a "local" gun show, is where you can find almost any gun you are looking for and it takes me 2 days to get through. There are many SWCA members set up there and lots of great S&W guns for sale. Sadly, the on line auctions seem to be the way to go and just like the brick and mortar shows, you can find over priced guns or some good deals. The difference is the auctions have a much greater selection.

 

[RJR573]

Well, I said I wouldn't do it again but I ended up going to a local gun show on Sunday morning. I don't really have any Wish List guns on my radar right now, and the local shows rarely have anything that I'm interested in buying anyway. But it was a beautiful day for a motorcycle ride and I decided to stop by and take a look around. I paid my $8 at the door and walked in with a positive attitude and anticipation of a great find. I started my first pass around the venue, and much to my chagrin I was greeted by several tables of jewelry with sales ladies biding their time with their knitting! Then came the black rifle tables and the plastic pistol tables, and table after table of cheap knives (it seems that the karambit is the latest knife craze). Then there was a huge display of modern air rifles complete with suppressors, and tables full of cheap imported optics. I did find a couple of tables with a few minty vintage Colts (mostly $3K+ Pythons) and a couple of pricey vintage S&W revolvers...but I think that they were there more for show than for sale. The show was rounded out by beef jerky, a few beat up military surplus rifles, some worn out shotguns and hunting rifles, bluetooth stereo speakers, and several tables of body armor, t-shirts and hats. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I didn't even make a second pass around. I'm all for supporting the local shows and local businesses, and 2nd Amendment sales, but some of these shows are just a waste of time for me. Very disappointing.

I quit going to gun shows over 10 years ago for this very reason.

 

[MAUSER888]

The are good to look around for all the new stuff. However you rarely find any deals anymore. I go with zero anticipation of buying anything so I'm never disappointed.

 

[dougiefresh67]

It entirely depends on the local political situation. austintexas had a good experience because you can sell guns face to face in Texas. Here in the People's Republic of Kalifornia there are no private sales. All sales must go through an FFL, plus we have a 10 day waiting period. So anything "bought" at a gun show must be physically picked up later at the FFL.

It is truly a pain in the tush. In SoCal we still have shows and if you just want to kill a few hours it's still fun to look. But the gun prices are ridiculous. Last deal I got was AR500 steel target pack with carry case, it's awesome fun.

 

[Jul]

I find better deals in the local ads then at the shows. I stocked up with rimfire ammo and reloading supplies and components years ago and would never pay todays prices.

 

[larryLegendary]

The last gun show I went to was pretty lame. My Son-in-law and I went to Loveland several years ago to a show and saw video screens of girls in bikinis shooting full auto rifles in slow motion. Plus prairie dogs being shot, in slow motion of course! Just pink smoke. Very disturbing. Everything was way over-priced, even the junk. We ended up buying survival blow guns. When we got home, my wife and daughter were shopping. When they got home we thought it would be pretty funny to shoot them in the butt with the plastic blunts. Didn't turn out so funny.

 

[kelljor]

Here in Hickory NC the shows at the convention center aren't too bad most of the time. I don't go to every one, but every now and then I will find something useful for me. Picked up a set of Pachmyers compac for a J frame for 10 bucks not long ago, also found a 38/357/9mm revolver I had been looking for. I don't go for anything specific, it's more like visiting an antique shop....let's see if anything pops out and says "buy me". There is a LGS about 20 minutes from here that has a good supply of used, he does a good business, the used case turns over just about every month.

 

[N4KVE]

I pretty well agree with everything said, but I keep going because I never know what will be out on the tables, & the show is 5 minutes away, & I get in for free. Look what I picked up 6 weeks ago. And since the seller wasn’t a FFL, there was no paperwork. GARY

 

[lightstar_actual]

Once incense, tie-dyed shirts, and jerky showed up back in the 1980s, it was only a matter of time before the death rattle started.

 

[ladder13]

No pay to park at any show around here, and I wouldn’t.

 

[roundels]

Many gun shows have gone the plastic fantastic route...with the vendors who sell only tacticool stuff...along with beef jerky, jewelry and other non-firearm related stuff. The issue seems to be in far too many cases the lack of firearms related vendors and the promoters end up renting tables out to anyone willing to lay out the cash. The promoters have to have a return on their investment or there won't be any shows...so I get that.

Add to that jurisdictions that enact onerous laws and regulations that chase vendors away in an attempt to restrict or even eliminate gun shows altogether. When I lived in Marylandstan one county tried restricting gun shows that were on private property...not county owned property. It cost the promoter a lot of money over several years to fight it. He won...eventually...but so many vendors stopped coming to the show he lost in the end and ultimately went under due to fighting the same in other counties within the state.

But...no matter disappointing a gun show might be otherwise...if you find that one firearm, part or accessory you've been searching for without luck...and at a fair price...it's a good gun show.

We can thank Bill Clinton for this. He did more to run mom and pop operations out of business than anyone else alive. The golden age of gun shows is long gone along with its original vendors.