True True and every once in a while I get Tom's overflows and am able to snag some good ones! Tom is a great guy who attracts a lot of other great guys to our little area of the show. Of course, they don't ALL just come to see Tom's stuff!
Savannah, GA Gun Show
- Thread starter Narragansett
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True True and every once in a while I get Tom's overflows and am able to snag some good ones! Tom is a great guy who attracts a lot of other great guys to our little area of the show. Of course, they don't ALL just come to see Tom's stuff!
True True and every once in a while I get Tom's overflows and am able to snag some good ones! Tom is a great guy who attracts a lot of other great guys to our little area of the show. Of course, they don't ALL just come to see Tom's stuff!
I knew you would see this thread Ken. An Honorable Mention should go to Sigi and friends with their WW II stuff. Some of those guys are like walking encyclopedias when it comes to Lugers, etc. Our "collector" section at the shows are a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stuffy plastic world. And people do know to bring the good stuff to us, even if it's just to ID or evaluate their guns. I'll bet even the big gorilla would agree.
The fairgrounds show in Jacksonville isnt bad . At least some decent smiths....
Robert
Robert
I knew you would see this thread Ken. An Honorable Mention should go to Sigi and friends with their WW II stuff. Some of those guys are like walking encyclopedias when it comes to Lugers, etc. Our "collector" section at the shows are a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stuffy plastic world. And people do know to bring the good stuff to us, even if it's just to ID or evaluate their guns. I'll bet even the big gorilla would agree.
Yeah, even HE shows up every once in a while!
As I think about it, most memorable shows I ever attended all seem to occurred during the last century. How’s that for sounding like an old curmudgeon?
Once upon a time, gun shows were pretty much the “public event” held by bona fide gun collector associations. And, the reputation of these collector associations was largely based on the quality of the shows they put forth.
Member-Exhibitors actually made an effort to arrange their displays in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Just randomly stuffing a couple glass cases with a pile of junk was actively discouraged.
The idea of gun shows as strictly commercial events organized by LLCs really didn’t exist.
The experience of going to a gun show bore almost no similarity to visiting your LGS.
Personally, I think this is tremendously important. Besides a few fellows like some of the guys that have posted throughout this thread, you don’t often see much expertise or obscure areas of specialization amongst the displayers. Largely vanishing are the guys with tons of obsolete parts or unique reloading supplies & gear. Whatever happened to the cartridge collectors? All these have been replaced with hucksters.
So, now we’ve got the flea market type tables, the sea of plastic and ARs, etc. Prices are generally nuts, and the exhorbitant entrance fees are part of the bottom line. And the overt angry political messaging everywhere just makes things unpleasant.
Pay to park? That was unheard of until recent years. I still think it’s pretty insulting!
But, it’s too easy to strictly blame the shows. A few guys have pointed out state law issues. How many of you remember the changes back in the 1990s that impacted the majority of small FFL holders? Obtaining an FFL was relatively easy and offered a lot of advantages to serious collectors who weren’t full time businessmen.
The ripple effect seriously altered the gun show experience.
Then, you’ve got online auction sites, etc.
I went to the Greenville, SC show just before Christmas. First show I attended in a few years. Obstensibly, it is organized by the South Carolina Arms Collectors Association. Aside from a very small number of displays, you’d never guess this show had anything to do with collecting. But, the wife wanted to go Christmas shopping and the show seemed like a better choice for me than the mall. The building was mostly empty! I got a box of shellholders for my old Lee Autoprime. Otherwise, it was pretty much a bust.
Maybe it's all just another symptom of a rapidly vanishing civilized society?
Once upon a time, gun shows were pretty much the “public event” held by bona fide gun collector associations. And, the reputation of these collector associations was largely based on the quality of the shows they put forth.
Member-Exhibitors actually made an effort to arrange their displays in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Just randomly stuffing a couple glass cases with a pile of junk was actively discouraged.
The idea of gun shows as strictly commercial events organized by LLCs really didn’t exist.
The experience of going to a gun show bore almost no similarity to visiting your LGS.
Personally, I think this is tremendously important. Besides a few fellows like some of the guys that have posted throughout this thread, you don’t often see much expertise or obscure areas of specialization amongst the displayers. Largely vanishing are the guys with tons of obsolete parts or unique reloading supplies & gear. Whatever happened to the cartridge collectors? All these have been replaced with hucksters.
So, now we’ve got the flea market type tables, the sea of plastic and ARs, etc. Prices are generally nuts, and the exhorbitant entrance fees are part of the bottom line. And the overt angry political messaging everywhere just makes things unpleasant.
Pay to park? That was unheard of until recent years. I still think it’s pretty insulting!
But, it’s too easy to strictly blame the shows. A few guys have pointed out state law issues. How many of you remember the changes back in the 1990s that impacted the majority of small FFL holders? Obtaining an FFL was relatively easy and offered a lot of advantages to serious collectors who weren’t full time businessmen.
The ripple effect seriously altered the gun show experience.
Then, you’ve got online auction sites, etc.
I went to the Greenville, SC show just before Christmas. First show I attended in a few years. Obstensibly, it is organized by the South Carolina Arms Collectors Association. Aside from a very small number of displays, you’d never guess this show had anything to do with collecting. But, the wife wanted to go Christmas shopping and the show seemed like a better choice for me than the mall. The building was mostly empty! I got a box of shellholders for my old Lee Autoprime. Otherwise, it was pretty much a bust.
Maybe it's all just another symptom of a rapidly vanishing civilized society?
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AJ
US Veteran
Our show in my area are always packed, especially on Saturday.
Thankfully there is a small town gun show culture here in Nebraska and Iowa... I have a buddy that goes with me, or vise versa, I go with him to many shows... we never have to pay for parking, and most still only cost 5 bucks plus or minus... and generally speaking, the smaller the town the better the selection... there is still plenty of colorful guns & plastic fantastic, but I almost always find something to at least discuss possibilities of changing ownership..
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Agree you have to be discerning about gun shows, even if you live in a free state.
There is a decent (RK) show that comes by every 2-3 months. There are some smaller ones but per trusted local contacts they are of ill repute.
All in all Tulsa Arms shows are great, if you can make the trip. Something for everyone, literally.
There is a decent (RK) show that comes by every 2-3 months. There are some smaller ones but per trusted local contacts they are of ill repute.
All in all Tulsa Arms shows are great, if you can make the trip. Something for everyone, literally.
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AJ
US Veteran
Lakeland Gun Show use to be in the civic center in town. The Jan. show had 600 tables. The April and Sept. shows had 400 tables. Now it is out at an airport in one or two hanger, depending on the time of the year.
Since IL has had a 72 Hour waiting period for many years, having a Collectors FFL (C&R) has entitled me to purchase quite a few fine S&W's at shows both in state and out of state.
AJ & Gunbarrel have it right-the Lakeland Fl. gun show is the best around and is still very much a collector show. It’s a 5 hour drive from Savannah and a 5 hour drive from my home south of Miami. Several SWCA members set up there and I know of at least 3 South Georgia dealers who come down to buy. It really still is a great collector’s gun show.
Regards,
Regards,
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Yes, the Lakeland (Rifle & Pistol Club) Gun Show aka The Central Florida Arms Show has been held since 1968. We were downtown Lakeland until about 6-7 years ago; first, at the old Civic Center and later at the "new" Civic Center (now the "RP Center"). Without going into a lot of details, we had to move the show to the Sun n Fun grounds at the City of Lakeland (Linder) Airport. There is no charge for parking (the city's parking fee at the RP Center is now up to $10), and while we are not as large a show as we used to be, we feel that we still have one of the best real gun shows in Florida. The show is held at the one hangar with A/C; we tried two hangars for a couple of shows, but the second hangar doesn't have A/C. So, we had to scale it back to one hangar. We have 3 shows per year, with the one on the Spring being the smallest. We have a list of vendors waiting on a table to become available, even though you can find a "gun show" with tables full of black guns, beef jerky, eyeglass cleaners, etc., anywhere. But if you want to attend a gun show like they used to be, we'll see you all in a couple weeks.
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