Current Gun Shows - Your Experience?

[Greyman50]

Shows around here have been going down for years. Simple, x number of people that go to shows with limited $$$$. Greedy promoters having a show just about every weekend. People go to the shows and see all new plastic guns, jerky and other non gun items but pay to get in. So people with little $$ to spend go to shows and buy nothing.
Then there is the economy….

 

[Truckman]

I had tables at the Conroe show this weekend...I always attend that show, but it's a rare day for me to have enough tables to display all my Smiths...I get many compliments on my collection, and I also get the gripes about "How come none of your guns have prices?"...I have a value for each of them which is available for the asking, but everyone thinks everything should be for sale with a price listed...Those who know me, know I don't operate that way, since my primary purpose for being there is to improve my collection, not necessarily beat someone else's "price" whose guns don't compare in quality to mine...But so it goes, and although I say every time I won't be back to endure the insults and the people who only want to know what the gun they left at home might be worth to me...

When the fun is completely gone, I'll just start staying home......Ben

 

[Engineer1911]

If I have $20 to burn, I'll go to the local Expo Center gun show to see all of the above complaints. Last time I went, a used Springfield Armory stainless match 1911 9 MM came home with me on a Sunday afternoon.

My favorite 'Buyer's Line' is, "Needs and wants are priced differently. Most of my Needs are met, and my Wants are cheaper." Bargains are few, far between and hard to pass up.

 

[Durango Slim]

I used to go to buy cheap ammo- gun show reloads.

Since I now make my own, I have no reason to go.

Are there still ammo deals to be had?

 

[pharmer]

.......When the fun is completely gone, I'll just start staying home......Ben

That right there says it all. Joe

 

[pharmer]

.....Are there still ammo deals to be had?

MagTech brass case 9mm was $239/K yesterday at the Oshow. Joe

 

[RobertJ.]

The last gun show I went to was around a year ago at our local fairgrounds. I wasn't looking for anything, except maybe an oddball obsolete cartridge or shotshell to add to my collection, or reloading components with a price I could live with. More than anything else, there were AR's and black plastic pistols. Not even one N-Frame in the whole place!

But a local timber company, Hampton Timber, had a table (why I don't know) and they asked me if I'd like to fill out a raffle ticket. I said sure, why not. I didn't even ask what they were raffling. A couple of days later, I got a call from them and they said I won the raffle, and it was a camo backpack. Their office is about ten miles north of here, so I went up there to collect my prize. I was really expecting something kind of chintzy, and I had plans to give it away, but to my surprise it was a Badlands brand day pack! The model they gave me sells for $150 at Sportsman's Warehouse. So, I didn't give it away, and it replaced my old day pack.

I'm sure glad I went!

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

When I'm at a gun show I tend to zone out all of the stuff that doesn't interest me and focus on my interests. Revolvers,older lever action and single shot rifles are what catch my attention so I usually make a quick first circuit around the block. Then I take my time and make a second or even a third pass, looking at the "smalls': brass, reloading supplies, grips and other stuff.

Best shows are the ones sponsored by the local fish and game clubs and collector associations. Cheaper to rent a table or get into than the big shows and there's a higher ratio of gun stuff to superfluous junk. Most of the tables are rented by regular Joe's looking to sell a thing or two and to socialize with kindred spirits. I made some great trades and purchases at such venues.
Most of the larger shows are dominated by non gun tables and brick and mortar gun stores selling black guns, mostly semi auto hand guns. If I had a dollar for every new 9mm pistol I see at a big show ... I'd probably have enough to buy a nice old S&W revolver or two.

One of the regional promoters in Pennsylvania changed hands last year and the new owners raised prices across the board. There was a severe drop in the number of tables at their shows afterwards and I quit going to the ones held in Lebanon, Bloomsburg and Gettysburg. Previously, all three were good shows to attend. There was a time when you could barely make your way through the aisles, they were so narrow, but lately the aisles are twice as wide and the show space is reduced. Hardly enough vendors present to make it worthwhile to pay for the admission, let alone make the trip.

Of all the large shows locally. The one held at the York fairgrounds has always been the best.

John

 

[chiefdave]

The local American Legion hosts 4 shows a year and limits tables to firearms and related items only. Never a shortage of vendors with about a 50/50 mix of black plastic and wood and steel. Promoters of other shows in the area don't seem to care what is being sold as long as they get to sell a table.

 

[Rock185]

When I lived in the "Valley"/Phoenix area I routinely attended gun shows. Even then, they were becoming what many of you have experienced, expensive parking and/or entry, jerky, Glocks, ARs, Chinese knives, optics and all things black tactical looking, a few blue steel and wood firearms priced obscenely high, etc.

I live in a smaller town now, and attend a small show now and then. Fewer arrogant wheeler dealers, and once in a while a private seller might have something I'm interested in.

I realize nobody goes to the trouble and expense to set up at a gun show in order to give me or you a "good deal", but that's fine with me. It's just an afternoon's entertainment...ymmv

 

[Goony]

I went to the show in Mesa yesterday....

An example of what I was talking about earlier - on the same weekend, a show in Mesa, and another competing one in San Tan Valley, which is, like, 20 miles away. It seems as if there ought to be enough space on the calendar that conflicts like this could be avoided.

 

[AJ]

An example of what I was talking about earlier - on the same weekend, a show in Mesa, and another competing one in San Tan Valley, which is, like, 20 miles away. It seems as if there ought to be enough space on the calendar that conflicts like this could be avoided.

No problem, just go to both! Yes, they would probably do better business if on alternate weekends.

 

[Golddollar]

I've been going to gun shows since I was a little boy. Over 60 years I am sure there have been changes in the wares available. But I still go to the more local shows around my home or when I visit my brother in Ohio. At the local shows I run into a bunch of my fellow club members and vendors who I have known for over 30 years. Sure, I'm not fond of the increase in admission prices, but the upshot for me is a gun show is like 200 gun shops being brought to me.

 

[desi2358]

I've been going to gun shows for years and they have changed but I still enjoy them. I am a regular table holder at the OGCA shows and sometimes at Lima and the C&E shows as well. OGCA is members and guests only, no jerky dealers or flea market stuff. Thanks to the effect of the internet prices are trending high but I still manage to find some good deals at every show. Guns, ammo, various historical items. Despite the bad weather and a relatively small turnout I still had a good time this last weekend, no guns but some great ammo deals and books.

The other shows do have a bit of that other stuff but I just concentrate on things I like and always seem to turn up something good. I would hate to have them go away!

 

[mtgianni]

I have been to two good shows in the past 18 months as a seller. Did I make money? Sure but when your acquisitions costs are near zero you're going to make money. Disposing of a couple of estates, I had powder, bullets, primers, LRM primers shotgun presses and a dozen gun sales, one of which was made in the 2000's. Lots of lookers, lots of visits, a handful of lowball offers, and a lot of people wanting semi auto stuff.
Many of the dealers wanted me to piece off stuff but I insisted on keeping the brass with the rifle for sale for example. I did a good bit of trading, picked up some stuff I might use sometime and had a good time.

If I were trying to make enough to justify a table, motel and meals I would have just put it on auctions. Sometimes you wait months for a sale, sometimes it is gone in a week for double your price. In any case you sure aren't getting rich quickly.
I rarely sale collectable grade stuff, though I have some. Most of what I had was shooter grade priced to sell. Is it worth selling 416 solid bullets in a small MT show? probably not. Do 17 calibers move quickly in the windiest part of Idaho? They do not. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Ingramite]

The most fun I've ever had at a gun show was 5 or 6 years ago.

I had an anti-gun boss at the time. One morning he called me into his office and confided that he was "concerned" for his safety as some questionable neighbors had moved into his apartment complex.

I sat there wondering why I was getting involved because he made no secret of his contempt for Texas norms in general and firearms in particular. With this I pulled out my pocket flashlight and accidentally let it flash directly into his eyes. It had the exact desired effect. He screamed that he was blind. I didn't say a word other than a half hearted mumbled apology.

A few days later he was standing in my doorway asking about the light. I handed it to him warning not to blind himself. The hook was set. I told him about the big gun show next weekend and I was pretty sure that he could get a flashlight so bright that mine would look like a kids toy.

When he walked through the door he had a look on his face like the first time he ever seen a woman. Wide eye stare. He ended up paying 300.00 bucks for a flashlight. His only requirement was that it was brighter than mine....and it was.

He told his gun show story to anyone who would listen. In his mind he had truly seen the other side. He would routinely shut off his office lights to show off his prize. Several times someone asked if he bought a gun....are you kidding me? The light was all he needed. He was happy and I was happy for him.

Anyway, I have been going to gun shows for a long time. Most of the "good deals" happen before the doors open to the public. One vendor selling to another vendor. Once the doors open, all the "good deals" are vendors buying grandma's sock drawer pistol from the walk ins.

 

[BRING_GUNS]

From the perspective of a relatively young person most gun shows I've seen are pretty awful. Half the tables will be current production guns I could find literally anywhere being sold for at or above MSRP or crappy anodized aluminum AR parts. Another quarter are selling mall ninja knives or other garbage like pain relief creams or jerky. The remaining quarter have potentially interesting older guns priced at 200% of the typical online price. I realize sellers have overhead and have to make money and I'm willing to pay a little extra to see it in person and take it home right away but most of these prices are absurd. And don't forget the ammo priced at triple the current CPR that looks like it has been traveling the gun show circuit longer than I've been alive.



A couple years ago at the Tulsa show I found a Franz Stock .32 which I knew typically sold online for $400-500 at the time priced at $750 or so. I asked the guy if he'd entertain $600 and he said no and walked away without even giving a counteroffer.


At least at the huge shows like Tulsa there are enough diamonds buried in the garbage heap to make the trip worth it as a form of entertainment (and they limit non-gun booths) but there's nothing worth admission at smaller shows.

 

[jeeps]

Guns shows are a waste of time and a thing of the past. I do not waste my time or money on foolishness.

 

[ladder13]

I go to shows so we can still have them.

 

[Puller]

I used to love going to shows. I nearly always found 'stuff' with my varied interests.

But then the Empire State Firearms Assn went Kaputt (Rochester Show)
The NYS Arms Collectors Assn disbanded as of the Fall '23 show.
No more Syracuse nor Albany shows from them.
There is supposed to be a rebirth org (NYS Sportsmans Assn (?) something like that..) that will attemp to bring at least the Syracuse venue back. But I haven't heard of anything so far.

Quite a few of the smaller shows are no more.
The ones that do remain seem to be managed under one name now.
Like elsewhere, low attendence, junk knives, cookware and a Leaf-Guard gutter protection display.
Yes once in a while you may find a treasure.
That's what keeps you coming back but it sure ain't the same.

I really liked OGCA,
But a 500mi drive each way was getting to be a bit much for me. I didn't like the way they were closing up/packing up the shows starting around 1pm on Sunday either

And just like that, the anti gun folks made it hard enough that they have won New York.