Are there still deals to be had at gun shows?

[WisBorn]

I would say the best deals are when you are looking for something that is hard to find, somebody at the gun show may have it.
Not that it is low priced but something you are looking for.
I bought my father a box of Canadian made 32 long rimfire at a show. Very hard to find at the time. That was 38 years ago.

Some of the best deals can be on holsters, belts, packs , other stuff we all buy for our guns.

 

[Electrod47]

Are there still deals to be had at gun shows? .......NO!......anymore I go for the hot dog and doo-dads...can't seem to stop myself.

 

[wesmonster]

Depends on the show.
Our biggest gun show has several hundred tables but is 99% new stuff or top tier collectables at top tier prices.
And prices are usually msrp, no sales, no deals, no bargains. They seem to appeal to new shooters who'd either like the selection or just don't know any better. Mostly dealers.
Last few times I went was just to buy an ammo can of remanufactured ammo, figured the cost of parking & entrance offset the shipping costs to just order the stuff but got tired of toting a can of .45 acp reloads thru the show when I can have it on my doorstep any time I want.
We also have a few Regional gun shows that are much smaller (maybe 20 tables) with more private individuals with more used stuff. Better chances for a deal.
Since gun shows can't usually beat internet prices a lot have become trade shows, you get to see the latest & greatest up close but no bargains.
for new guns I have several privately owned gun shops nearby, that's where I get my besy deals on new & used

 

[Ignition Override]

NIGHTLORD40K:

Excellent idea at a gunshow.

But I can’t imagine the visitors ar a Jackson TN gunshow having immed. access to $950 for a used (very good condition) rifle I might sell, to be quite frank.

No matter what price is listed, most visitors seem to feel too Entitled to pay a good used, market price.

If this steps on toes- so be it.

 

[CapnMac]

to make all the other less fruitful trips worthwhile.

And, there's that nagging old saw of "If you don't go, you'll never know."

 

[kimberkid]

Unfortunately at the gun shows I have gone to in the recent past is that the vendors set up before the doors open and they circulate to find the 'deals'.

That’s been pretty common in the last 35 years when I first started setting up for shows.

One coment I’ve been hearing since my first gun show, probably 45 years ago is that all the good deals are gone and the only possibility of finding a good deal is from someone walking around.
The truth is, not everyone knows everything about firearms. Dealers included. I’ve bought 223 HK mags for $10 because the dealer didn’t know what it fit, they are more likely to take something in on trade without knowing it’s current value than someone walking around wanting to sell something they know the approximate value.

 

[theotherwaldo]

I'll be going to a gun show this weekend.
We'll see... .

 

[Nicky Santoro]

Were there ever good deals at gun shows? I never found any. Prices went from slightly too much to what is this guy smoking. I bought some things because I was there and the price wasn't too bad.

 

[AlexanderA]

Were there ever good deals at gun shows? I never found any.

I never went to gun shows for the prices. I went to find things that weren't available in the shops. Now, you can search on the Internet for hard-to-find stuff. So what's left as a reason for the gun shows? Keeping in touch with your gun friends? There has to be a less stressful way.

 

[375supermag]

Depends on the show.
Large shows typically have high to outrageously high prices.
Small local shows have deals at times at the smaller tables where some guy is selling his personal firearms.

I bought a very nice Ruger BlackHawk .30Carbine for $300 at a local show in Lebanon, Pa about a year or so ago.

 

[.308 Norma]

Were there ever good deals at gun shows? I never found any. Prices went from slightly too much to what is this guy smoking. I bought some things because I was there and the price wasn't too bad.

We've been going to gun shows for a long, long time, and I think the first really "good deal" (IMO) we ever found at a gun show was the one my wife found just last spring. She bought a little pewter statue called "The Gunfighter" for $25.00 at a gun show in Idaho Falls back in March or April of last year. When we got home, we looked it up on the internet and found pewter statues similar to the one my wife bought were going for $50.00 apiece. So, adding the cost of my wife's new "nik-nak" to the cost of our entry fees ($15.00 each) and the cost of the gas we used getting there, we only spent about $65.00 for a $50.00 pewter statue. At least we didn't buy any jerky - we just snacked on the samples.

 

[silicosys4]

Nope. Not around here. Universal background checks have killed the gunshow scene in Washington State. The last good deal I found on a gun was in 2015, when I bought a NIB S&W 625-3 for $650.

The moment UBC's went into effect there were no more private sales at gunshows. No more people walking around advertising private sales. No more people walking around with guns at all.
Gunshows immediately became traveling LGS displays with predominately new guns, almost no used guns, no trading, no bargaining, no "barn finds", no deals at all. Just new and a few used guns for more money than you could buy them online for.

And they want $10 a head for the privilege of viewing the paltry setup from the 3-4 gunshops that still show up. If you are in NW washington state and you go to gunshows, you know the "red table cable lock" guy. Some LGS in the next county.
Literally the only one set up at some of the "shows" I've been to lately.

I don't even bother any more.

 

[Howland937]

My dad and I used to go once or twice a year and set up at a fairly local gun show. Not dealers, just guys selling off stuff we'd accumulated. We rarely came back with more than half the guns we took and typically got comments like "you guys have the best prices in the place". But we never had high end stuff, either.

Bargains are fewer and farther between these days, but can be found, especially if you like the stuff other folks aren't buying.

I wish you wouldn't tell people that or they might start buying the stuff I like.

In the last 2 years at gun shows I've bought:
Brand new TX22 -$260
Lightly used Savage MKII Sporter-$120
Used MKII Sporter with wood stock- $130
Stevens 416 in solid but not pretty shape- $225
Mossberg 51M-$250
Winchester 52B and Rem 513T - $1100 for the pair
Winchester 69 with damaged stock -$125

Last show I was at, I passed up a Win 69A in really nice shape at $300. Didn't have peep sights and had an aftermarket magazine. I started kicking myself when I pulled out of the parking lot and finally stopped about 3 weeks later.

I may well have found the only deals in the place, but they were there nonetheless.

 

[45/30-06OKIE]

My dad and I used to go once or twice a year and set up at a fairly local gun show. Not dealers, just guys selling off stuff we'd accumulated. We rarely came back with more than half the guns we took and typically got comments like "you guys have the best prices in the place". But we never had high end stuff, either.

I wish you wouldn't tell people that or they might start buying the stuff I like.

In the last 2 years at gun shows I've bought:
Brand new TX22 -$260
Lightly used Savage MKII Sporter-$120
Used MKII Sporter with wood stock- $130
Stevens 416 in solid but not pretty shape- $225
Mossberg 51M-$250
Winchester 52B and Rem 513T - $1100 for the pair
Winchester 69 with damaged stock -$125

Last show I was at, I passed up a Win 69A in really nice shape at $300. Didn't have peep sights and had an aftermarket magazine. I started kicking myself when I pulled out of the parking lot and finally stopped about 3 weeks later.

I may well have found the only deals in the place, but they were there nonetheless.

Yeah the first two shows me and dad did, we didn't have our FFL yet so we were selling like hot cakes then it slowd a bit when we got our FFL but lately it seems like buying has picked up a bit overall compared to a few months ago. Still not like 2 years ago though.

 

[Reloadron]

Thinking further about this can good deals be had? Yes, but with that yes it depends on what you are looking for. During the early 90s my wife and I were working the shows around here. Had my FFL and we were selling mostly military surplus and reloading supplies. Several hundred SKS rifles later and other military surplus we got our brick and mortar shop. Kathy was office manager for a small independent TV station with very good pay and benefits while I was an electrical engineer for a large corporation again with great pay and benefits. While the shop was doing well it was difficult to cover all the bases and selling new long guns there was no money in competing with the local Walmart. Our niche was used guns and the military surplus. I couldn't match our regular jobs so eventually we sold the business. Anyway the shows were good to us and on weekends I worked the shows and Kathy the shop. There were good deals at the shows but depending on what one was looking for. My last show I attended I found a guy with a box of magazines for $10 each. I dug in and found several original Colt 1911 mags in .45 ACP and four in .38 Super which are expensive. I bought all the factory colt mags, total of eight and I left happy, very happy.

Ron

 

[sparkyfender]

The ones I have attended in the last few years, I didn't find any bargains. New guns could be bought cheaper elsewhere.
I did see hard to find items that a person could pick up IF they did not mind paying tip top dollar for.

 

[Jimbo80]

Good deals are everywhere. Knowledge, patience, and good negotiating skills are the key to finding them. A little luck helps too. Part of the knowledge is being in the right place to get lucky. Most of the time at guns shows it's the parking lot and aisles. The very few guns in my collection that weren't bargains when I bought them would be considered bargains now.

 

[Old Dog]

For years, we had a guy who brought big plastic totes of new Kramer holsters to our WAC show (Kramer is located in Tacoma). You could typically buy a nice Kramer horsehide holster for almost any handgun out there at well under MSRP without the wait. We also had a vendor that had a great selection of gun grips, some local shops that brough in terrific selections of new guns at fair prices, a lot of used long guns, there were always deals to be had -- if you knew what you were looking for, and what you were looking at. Alas, the great pandemic took its toll, as well as the recently enacted and egregious new firearms legislation.

I still find deals, but now mostly on parts and accessories. I've seen a decent number of fairly nice used handguns, but the prices are ridiculous, and I've seen the same guns on the same tables for two or three shows in a row.

Mostly I just go to hang out with a few hundred like-minded guys and gals, talk story, and pick up ammo from some of our local and reputable dealers.

 

[TinNePa]

I picked up 1000 rounds of ZSR 9mm for $265 a couple weeks ago. I thought that was a deal.

 

[Pivot Dr]

I've noticed a few gun show threads have been started lately with many members complaining of high prices. I'm curious if it's still worth going to find a deal anymore. I'm thinking about heading to a show tomorrow, but I haven't been in quite a while and if all I'll be looking at is stuff I can get in stores for the same price or less I'm not inclined to go.

Wouldn’t know, haven’t been to one in about 5 years. The last few I was to were truly shows, nothing was priced to sell. In fact lots of guns had had the same tag on them that I had seen maybe 10 years earlier. Last show I went to I bought 2,000 #7-1/2 primers for $28 a thousand. He had 10 bricks of them. I should have bought them all, I already had close to 10,000 of them already and at the time didn’t see the need for another 8,000 of them. Oh well, you live and learn. That’s why I do have around 60,000 primers and I’d hazard a guess 10,000 shotgun shells and at least that many centerfire rifle and handgun loads. I won’t even guess how many rimfire shells are on the shelf, but I’m not worried about running out any time soon.

 

[theotherwaldo]

Just picked up an unfired Chinese Polytech M1a, five M1a mags, a box of Chinese 7,62x51, ten boxes of Chinese 7.62x39 and a duckbill mag for an SKS for $1500.
Oh, and a gun case - and a bucket to carry the ammo and mags.
I like gun shows... .

 

[Jimbo80]

I picked up this SA 1919 Bowie cut bayonet at the show yesterday. It was just over $100 which I guess counts as a deal these days even though it doesn't feel like it.

 

[starnbar]

Try any of the Two Guys Shows if they hold one near you. They cultivate private sellers and collectibles and their venues are medium/large sized. The scene isnt as fruitful as it was 15-20 years ago, but their shows are still much better than Suncoast/ Florida Shows- those are the big, flashy guys who book the really big halls but mostly what you'll see there are dealers selling new guns at normal new gun prices.

USA Gunshows are ok too, but usually pretty small. Worth going to if close, but wouldnt drive far for one.

Two Guys Sarasota is next weekend, and I often score there, or at least see cool stuff.

Suncoast bought up most of the smaller shows there used to be a good two good ones in Tampa one at Homer Hesterly and the one at the fairgrounds before suncoast bought em out

 

[starnbar]

Yep I will give em a try thank you for your time.

 

[WisBorn]

I picked up this SA 1919 Bowie cut bayonet at the show yesterday. It was just over $100 which I guess counts as a deal these days even though it doesn't feel like it.

It is cool though