Columbus, GA Gun Show, 2-19/20

[redlevel]

Gunshows of the South show. They do a pretty good show, and the Ironworks in columbus is a pretty good venue for it. I didn't make it to the last couple of shows in Columbus, so I will probably be there. I backed out of the last show I was planning to go to because the weather was so nice after a week of cold rain. I have been outside all this week, though, so I guess I can spend a few hours inside. I will be looking specifically for some 1911 magazines and will probably pick up a few ammo cans. Maybe some lead bullets. All according to what I see. I will carry a nice Model 14-4 I have been trying to move, just to see what happens. I hope to take my 12 year-old great-nephew with me. He goes to coin shows with his grand-pop, and has been bugging me to take him to a gun show. I hope he can go.

Anyone else going to this show?

 

[Combat]

I'll be there

I was going to have a table but at the last minute my partner couldn't make it and I've had back problems and dental surgery at the same time.It should be a real good one with it being a holiday/military just got paid weekend. I've seen some nice smith's at the last show and they had some good prices. You should be able to find all the ammo cans you want, there are usually 2-3 vendors selling them. I'm going to go Sat. afternoon and maybe walk around with a gun and see if I get any bites. But, I know lots of vendors there and probably just end up visiting them and running my mouth. Maybe we will run together and I can get to meet you. It's always a pleasure to get to know a fellow forum member.

 

[redlevel]

Right now I plan to be there at about 11:00. I will try to hang around the NRA table around 12:00 if he is set up inside. If he is set up right before the entrance as I have seen them at this show, I'll be inside. The NRA recruiter is a good friend of mine. I'll be the big old boy with the Wilford Brimley mustache. My red-headed wife might be with me, I don't know for sure yet. Yeah, I would like to meet another GA member. I'll probably be toting a 14-4 and a 10-7 around, looking for some kind of deal. I feel a real need for a Model 37, or some other j-frame airweight.

 

[redlevel]

I got to the show about 11:30 Saturday. There was a substantial line when we (wife and me) got there. Forty or fifty more people almost immediately lined up behind us, so i guess we got there just right.

I carried two "extra" K-frames to see about selling/trading, a Model 10-7 and a 14-4. Even though there was a huge crowd, the venue at the Columbus Trade Center is such that there was room aplenty. It is a very well-run show. This wasn't an Eastman Show, but Gunshows of the South. I have had extremely good luck at these shows. In October of 2009, I had a Remington 11-40 Special Field 20 gauge shotgun to sell, and I sold it almost immediately. Got my price, too. Then, I bought the six-inch 19-3 I had been looking for so long at literally the next table. The only down-side was that the guy I bought the 19 from had just watched the other guy peeling off hundred-dollar-bills and knew what I was holding. This all happened within 20 minutes of walking in the door.

Saturday I walked in and spoke to my good friend who is the NRA recruiter. There at a table close to him was a pretty nice looking 1917 S&W. I admired that gun, and while I was admiring it, checking timing, etc., the guy came down twice on his price. I told my wife if I sold my two guns, I would come back and buy the 1917. We walked around for ten minutes or so, and my wife sat down with her Kindle and started reading. I spied a small set-up with a Model 29 and a Model 57. I admired them, but I'm not really into the N-frames. He complained about having too many guns and needing to sell some. He asked me what I had in the holsters. I showed him, and he asked how much I wanted for them. I told him, and he looked at them. He offered $100 less than I was asking for the two guns, and I said I wouldn't take it. He said OK, he didn't blame me. I turned and started off, turned back and said I would take $50 less than my first price. He thought all of five seconds, said Ok, and started peeling off $100 dollar bills. This all happened less than 30 minutes, probably less than 20 minutes after we got in the door.

It looked as if people were spending money. All the folks at the new gun counters were busy filling out the forms. I think they were moving a lot of new j-frames. My friend the NRA recruiter said he was having a very good day. He is also my barber, and when I get my hair cut this week, I'll find out just how many he signed up. Is my town the only one where you can buy guns at the NAPA and join the NRA at the barber shop?

I went to the show looking to move the two k-frames, find some cheap 1911 magazines, and maybe a Model-37. I sold the guns, but struck out on the other objectives. I didn't go back to the table with the 1917. I did find a heck of a deal on some ammo cans, what the guy called "repaints," for $3.00 each. I got three each of the two most popular sizes. I also got a tee shirt with a big ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE RESPONSE TEAM logo front and back, and a nice plastic sign with a profile of a woman with a rolling pin and the caption, "NEVER MIND THE DOG, BEWARE OF THE WIFE." My bride was thrilled.

 

[Combat]

I got there about 2pm. Saw the NRA man and spoke briefly to him. Looked around for someone who might have been you but didn't see any likely candidates. The show was a little smaller than the last one, a lot of the vendors were at the big gunshow in Atlanta.Had a good time and saw some old friends,spent money on a gun I'll never shoot.About the same as always I guess.I keep going to every show I can,you never know when you'll find that gun you just can't live without. One day I'm going to make it to that NAPA store up there, maybe I'll see you then.