“Why does this stuff look like old junk?”
My wife asked me that about half way through our walk at the Rock River Renegades Gun Show in Lincoln, NE this past Saturday. My reply: “Because most of it is.” I’ve been “into” guns for about a year now and this was my fourth gun show. Around here in central Nebraska, the gun shows generally have the same guys with the same stuff. Most of it is gun and/or hunting related but I can’t tell you how many tables have ammo, reloading supplies, guns, or cleaning stuff that is older than me (I’m in my twenties) and is covered in dust and handling marks. “No sir, I am not interested in a box of Remington .22LR from 1979.”
I bought a bunch of AR-15 magazines new from 44mag.com a few weeks back. My wife saw them when they arrived and just shrugged. When she saw the AR mags at the gun show, I got a dirty look and was asked “You spent HOW much on those dumb magazines a few weeks ago?” Uh yeah, she was looking at used (scruffy new?) AR-15 “HI-CAP! PRE-BAN!” magazines for $25 each. Nebraska is not a mag ban state so the pricing blows my mind. I explained that I paid about $12 each. Rhetorically, she asks, “Why would they charge that much? Idiots.”
She grew up around guns since her dad is an avid hunter and silhouette shooter. Her family even ran the lunch stand at her town’s gun show for quite a few years, so she is no stranger to gun shows. However, she never really looked at the tables to see what was being sold.
When we decided to get a gun for the house, a long gun was ruled out because of tendonitis in her shoulders that flares up when shooting such a gun. Considering I’d like her to practice with said gun, a pistol was decided on. “I don’t like my dad’s .45, it kicks too much.” “OK, no problem, we’ll get a 38 Special revolver.” “No, revolvers are ugly.” “OK, we’ll get a 9mm.” We get the 9mm and I think it scared the crap out of her the first time she shot it. She was expecting the recoil of her dad’s Ruger Mk II but got the snap that a polymer-framed autoloader gives.
In the interest of getting her to come to the range with me, we went to the gun show to look at .22 handguns. The only restriction I placed on the purchase was no Sig Mosquitos and it had to be less than $400. Other than that, this was to be her gun and it would be completely up to her. I was hoping she’d pick a Buckmark but all of the ones we saw were all black or had that splatter yellow paint job and she liked neither.
FWIW, this is the third gun I’ve bought from this particular seller. He’s one of the few dealers that “gets it.” He routinely has 10-15 tables and his prices are comparable to what I’d pay for an internet gun plus shipping & FFL. So, he’s no bargain, but he’s very reasonable. I get a decent price, he makes some money, and everyone is happy. He also talks to people like they are human beings and offers personal opinions only when asked. He also takes the time to explain how to operate the firearm and take it down for cleaning.
We came home with a Beretta U22 Neos DLX. Her first impression was that it was ugly but it grew on her. She liked the blue but thought it made the gun look fake, so she got grey. We went to shoot it on Sunday but it rained like crazy. Instead, we did what all twenty-something newlyweds do on a rainy Sunday afternoon: we went to Wal-mart.
I love my wife.
My wife asked me that about half way through our walk at the Rock River Renegades Gun Show in Lincoln, NE this past Saturday. My reply: “Because most of it is.” I’ve been “into” guns for about a year now and this was my fourth gun show. Around here in central Nebraska, the gun shows generally have the same guys with the same stuff. Most of it is gun and/or hunting related but I can’t tell you how many tables have ammo, reloading supplies, guns, or cleaning stuff that is older than me (I’m in my twenties) and is covered in dust and handling marks. “No sir, I am not interested in a box of Remington .22LR from 1979.”
I bought a bunch of AR-15 magazines new from 44mag.com a few weeks back. My wife saw them when they arrived and just shrugged. When she saw the AR mags at the gun show, I got a dirty look and was asked “You spent HOW much on those dumb magazines a few weeks ago?” Uh yeah, she was looking at used (scruffy new?) AR-15 “HI-CAP! PRE-BAN!” magazines for $25 each. Nebraska is not a mag ban state so the pricing blows my mind. I explained that I paid about $12 each. Rhetorically, she asks, “Why would they charge that much? Idiots.”
She grew up around guns since her dad is an avid hunter and silhouette shooter. Her family even ran the lunch stand at her town’s gun show for quite a few years, so she is no stranger to gun shows. However, she never really looked at the tables to see what was being sold.
When we decided to get a gun for the house, a long gun was ruled out because of tendonitis in her shoulders that flares up when shooting such a gun. Considering I’d like her to practice with said gun, a pistol was decided on. “I don’t like my dad’s .45, it kicks too much.” “OK, no problem, we’ll get a 38 Special revolver.” “No, revolvers are ugly.” “OK, we’ll get a 9mm.” We get the 9mm and I think it scared the crap out of her the first time she shot it. She was expecting the recoil of her dad’s Ruger Mk II but got the snap that a polymer-framed autoloader gives.
In the interest of getting her to come to the range with me, we went to the gun show to look at .22 handguns. The only restriction I placed on the purchase was no Sig Mosquitos and it had to be less than $400. Other than that, this was to be her gun and it would be completely up to her. I was hoping she’d pick a Buckmark but all of the ones we saw were all black or had that splatter yellow paint job and she liked neither.
FWIW, this is the third gun I’ve bought from this particular seller. He’s one of the few dealers that “gets it.” He routinely has 10-15 tables and his prices are comparable to what I’d pay for an internet gun plus shipping & FFL. So, he’s no bargain, but he’s very reasonable. I get a decent price, he makes some money, and everyone is happy. He also talks to people like they are human beings and offers personal opinions only when asked. He also takes the time to explain how to operate the firearm and take it down for cleaning.
We came home with a Beretta U22 Neos DLX. Her first impression was that it was ugly but it grew on her. She liked the blue but thought it made the gun look fake, so she got grey. We went to shoot it on Sunday but it rained like crazy. Instead, we did what all twenty-something newlyweds do on a rainy Sunday afternoon: we went to Wal-mart.
I love my wife.
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