Ok, so which are the best gun shows?

[JimSupica]

Thanks for the responses to my thread asking for gun show tips!

I'm still looking for top national (or regional) gun shows to recommend in an article in the 2024 Edition of Standard Catalog of Firearms.

I lean towards shows sponsored by collector clubs, with display competitions, but also would like to include some of the top commercial shows.

Here are the ones I'm currently considering including:

Best shows:
* Wanenmacher Tulsa Arms Show
* MVACA Kansas City National Gun Show
* OGCA shows (Ohio Gun Collectors)

Used to be good, are they still?
* Las Vegas January show - used to be good when Beinfeld ran them. Current status?
* Maryland Arms Collectors Baltimore Show - Good collectors show, a little stuffy. Still good?
* National Gun Day, Louisville - More of a commercial show than a collector show, but large. Still good?
* The Nation's Gun Show, Fairfax VA
* Texas Gun Collectors Assoc.
* Dallas Arms Collectors Assoc.

What others?

Specialty clubs collectors shows Most of these are great if you're into the collecting specialty. Some are "members only" and sometimes include seminars, banquets, etc. Are there others that I should include?
* S&W Collectors Assoc. symposium
* Colt Collectors Assoc.
* Winchester Collectors - Two clubs - do they both still have shows? I'm familiar with the one in Cody WY.

Gun events that aren't exactly gun shows, but worth attending:
* NRA Annual Meeting
* NRA Great American Outdoor Show
* SHOT Show
* Dallas Safari Club Show

Your suggestions and observations will be most appreciated! - Jim

 

[turnerriver]

When I was 16 I talked my dad into letting Ordnanceguy & me drive his 1968 Camaro to the 1st Lakeland Fl. Rifle and Pistol Club collectors show. We’ve been going off and on ever since, we had tables at the last show in May-it is still one of my favorite shows anywhere and easily the best show in the state. It is a collector show with limited black gun presence. Not exactly a regional show but a great one to attend if you can, I’ve seen a lot of SWCA members there over the years.
If you are a member of the SWCA and haven’t been to a Symposium you should attend one- there is no better opportunity for a Smith & Wesson collector to garner knowledge, make friends, show off your collection while looking at other outstanding displays and acquire things you don’t often see elsewhere.
Regards,
Witty

 

[sceva]

I like your list(s) Jim. The OGCA show is still pretty darn good.

Back in the 70's into the 1990's the Bill Goodman shows in Ohio were good and growing; the one at Hara Arena in Dayton Ohio just kept getting better and bigger. They went downhill considerably between 1995 when I moved to Illinois and about 2005 when I next went to one again. It was back in the smaller area at Hara Arena and I was in and out in less than 30 minutes. It was that bad; A real shame

 

[H Richard]

I'm not sure if it still is, but the Colorado Gun Collectors Show used to be great. No black guns at all. Great displays.

 

[Truckman]

The most worthwhile here are the Houston Gun Collectors Association shows...They are held at a lodge hall in Houston, with a larger show in Humble...I like to attend the smaller, less frequent shows in the outlying towns......Ben

 

[rockquarry]

The Dallas Arms Collectors held huge shows (advertised 1800 tables) at Market Hall in Dallas for probably forty or more years. Close, free parking. Almost always a sellout on table space. Starting a few years back, however, there were many vacant tables.

They moved to a much smaller facility just north of Dallas with around 400 tables, I think. I've never been to these newer, smaller shows. Perhaps they're making an attempt to get back on their feet again. Why the original Market Hall shows eventually failed or came close to failing, I don't know.

 

[Slufstuff]

I think it is a state by state thing. In South Carolina, the only worthwhile gun shows are put on by the SC Arms Collectors Association. As to whether they compare well with other states collectors shows, I do not know. But they are definitely the best in SC.

All the others in this state are pretty miserable affairs staged by professional gun show promoters. Those are always overpriced, in small venues, with a disproportionate amount of non-gun flea market material.

 

[rockquarry]

I've only done five or six of these shows in the last fifteen or so years, but the original Ft. Worth Gun Show remains generally quite good with decent crowds both days. Parking is not free unless you park a couple of blocks away, but that's a small price to pay if the gun show is a good one. I think it's around a thousand tables.

 

[Retired W4]

OGCA (private)
Dallas GCA
Gun Day

Never made it to Wanamaker's

 

[.455_Hunter]

The Colorado Collector's Show has been outstanding for decades, but the impending mandatory 3 day waiting period may kill it.

 

[oldman10mm]

I'll join in, commercial shows.
Since I'm in Ohio by Cleveland, first the 'out of Ohio' shows
Michigan- the Novi show at Suburban Collection Showplace. Been to it a few times, good open building, good access from an interstate, good parking. Haven't been to any other Mich shows.
Pennsylvania- Pittsburgh gun show at Monroeville Convention Center, good show, good building, horrendous parking in that not enough parking spots close to entrance. Haven't been to any other PA shows.
North Carolina- Raleigh at N.C. state fairgrounds.
Ohio- Lima show, been to it a few times, seems to be mainly a 'collector' show. Ohio Gun,Knife & Military show at Berea, The big one for the Cleveland area, the cold weather show happens in 3 smaller heated building, the warmer weather shows happen in 3 large buildings.

I'm known to the 'Northeast Ohio Bunch group' as travelling far and wide to shows. Many of the shows I've been to aren't worth bringing into the conversation.

 

[Golddollar]

I like the two shows that are close to me in Gettysburg and York, PA They are not huge but are respectable in size.

 

[glenwolde]

The most worthwhile here are the Houston Gun Collectors Association shows...They are held at a lodge hall in Houston, with a larger show in Humble...I like to attend the smaller, less frequent shows in the outlying towns......Ben

I haven't been to a HGCA show in quite a while but it sounds like it is a shadow of its former self. Used to be in the Astrohall/Reliant Center and had more than 1,000 tables. Sad.

 

[Rpg]

Here in Colorado, the annual Collectors show is the best.

For years it was located at the same site in north Denver. For the last three years it’s been moving to other locations primarily because of Denver’s firearms laws. It’s been held in Colorado Springs or Greeley most recently.

 

[pharmer]

..... Lakeland Fl. Rifle and Pistol Club-it is still one of my favorite shows anywhere and easily the best show in the state. It is a collector show with limited black gun presence......Regards, Witty

I can't add much to that John. Probably one of the few "traditional" shows left. Have Saturday the 16th circled on my non-existent day planner.

We do have a small promoter trying to get the "USA Gun Shows" back up and running. The 1st outing in April was a bust, July better. Next one is around Thanksgiving. I'd spring for a table if'n they get t out of the "horse barn." Joe

 

[Bekeart]

My vote for * Wanenmacher Tulsa Arms Show

* Wanenmacher Tulsa Arms Show

It is the only large show I have attended.
Long long ago I would have two tables on Island B17.
Memories...

One of the other dealers pn the island kept a bathroom scale sitting in plain sight,
If asked about it ...
We use it to find out who is the biggest crook.

Bekeart

 

[Truckman]

I haven't been to a HGCA show in quite a while but it sounds like it is a shadow of its former self. Used to be in the Astrohall/Reliant Center and had more than 1,000 tables. Sad.

Your memory is correct...The Astrodome shows were advertised as 2000 tables, but they were 6 foot tables...Still it was the best local show to Houston...The present HGCA show in the Heights has the flavor of the old shows, but not the size...The Humble HGCA show is still better than the commercially promoted shows there, but the commercial element still creeps in......Ben

 

[31FordA]

The biggest commercial show in the Philadelphia / Southeast PA area is the Oaks show. Usually advertised as 1,500-2,000 tables. They have six of them a year, and they open at 1pm on Fridays. The York show is probably the best commercial gun show in Central PA.

Probably the best collector show in eastern PA is the Forks of the Delaware show in Allentown.

 

[wundudnee]

I think the best shows around mid America have been discussed. My favorites are Tulsa, MVAC, and Colorado Collectors show. I think about all of the state collector shows have the chance of being good. locallly we have several commercial shows by RK and others. I go to them to see my friends and neighbors. I also have done well at some small town
shows that are put on by American Legion or Kiwanis as fund raisers. They seem to draw in a lot of local guns.

I think Colorado has found a good arena at Greeley. I hope they don't mess up a good thing. I've left a lot of money in Colorado.

 

[CH4]

“Used to be good, are they still?
* Las Vegas January show - used to be good when Beinfeld ran them. Current status?”

This show was good until the 2023 show. A LOT of empty tables on Saturday and Sunday. Not sure what happened. It was good in 2022, first show post Covid. This is year was very disappointing.

Although better this past weekend, the Big Reno Show has been in a steady decline since it left the MGM 5-6 years ago.