Redlg155
Member
Madness I say, pure madness!
The show started at 8 AM instead of the usual 9 AM for customers who recieved email notification. Of couse I naturally dismissed 8 AM as being too early and arrived at 9:30. Big mistake! It took us 45 minutes to get into the parking lot and another 45 minutes in line to get into the show. I will say that the wait in line was a show of sorts as I sold one .17 rifle while waiting!
AR15 rifles-
What should have been the star of the show was a pouting prom queen. Dealers hawking $2500 DPMS rifes and $70 P Mags were common with the occasional "fair" priced SW MP at $1500. The roughly two dozen private sellers were milling around with an assortment of mish mashed together rifles were priced anywhere from $1000 to $3000. The common denominator? No one was buying. Buyers just did not have the disposable income. Those who had anywhere money (or credit) to plunk down on overpriced ARs had done so much earlier. The ones left with cash were somewhat educated and only sought to buy at seriously devalued pre panic prices. I even had one private seller complain to me that he was insulted that someone offered him $800 for a no name reciever frankenstein home build and couldn't understand that I was getting offers for my lower tier Rock River factory built lower with 2 stage trigger and he was being insulted for his "Milspec" rifle. Go figure.
Ammo
All popular calibers sold out by mid morning. Of course there was one seller walking arou nd with a luggage cart with ammo as well as folks selling off the back of their trucks in the parking lot.
Magazines-
P Mags-$70. I think it was also a Vietnam memorial in there as well as all the "memorabilia" came out of the closet. Lots of GI 20rd aluminum follower mags as well as half the magazines the US Military used to own at one time. Uncle Sam would be proud at $45 per mag.
Rifles
Standard rifles were fairly priced with anything semi commanding a premium.
AK/SKS
Wow...I would have called you a big fat liar if you told me I would ever see a RomanianWSAR10 at $1100-$1600. Or a chinese sks for $600. Today I would have had to apologize and start eating my hat.Remember the $75 beater Yugo SKS? $600. More if you want one with bluing and no ramline stock.
Handguns- Fairly brisk business for Concealed Carry Weapons, and of course a lot of used guns back on the market later when first time lady buyers find out a Ruger polymer. 38 really isn't fun to shoot with +p loads.
The show stopper....Guys walking around with Hi Point Uber tactical carbines complete wit rail systems, forward grips and laser sighting systems. Got $800? You can have one.
The highlight of my show? Watching my beautiful wife walk around with my Scar 17 in FDE. Best offer she got was 6k. Of course it was the only one at the show.
In summary, this show was pretty much what I expected. Crazy. News crews, long lines, and a second gun show in the parking lot. In fact, a bunch never went into the actual show and just patrolled up and down the line waiting for offers. I give a thumbs up for attendees being polite. The most excitement that I saw were opposing teams selling candy bars.
I'll be at the Panama City show in 2 weeks. This one might be better. And yes, the early bird does get the Ammo.
The show started at 8 AM instead of the usual 9 AM for customers who recieved email notification. Of couse I naturally dismissed 8 AM as being too early and arrived at 9:30. Big mistake! It took us 45 minutes to get into the parking lot and another 45 minutes in line to get into the show. I will say that the wait in line was a show of sorts as I sold one .17 rifle while waiting!
AR15 rifles-
What should have been the star of the show was a pouting prom queen. Dealers hawking $2500 DPMS rifes and $70 P Mags were common with the occasional "fair" priced SW MP at $1500. The roughly two dozen private sellers were milling around with an assortment of mish mashed together rifles were priced anywhere from $1000 to $3000. The common denominator? No one was buying. Buyers just did not have the disposable income. Those who had anywhere money (or credit) to plunk down on overpriced ARs had done so much earlier. The ones left with cash were somewhat educated and only sought to buy at seriously devalued pre panic prices. I even had one private seller complain to me that he was insulted that someone offered him $800 for a no name reciever frankenstein home build and couldn't understand that I was getting offers for my lower tier Rock River factory built lower with 2 stage trigger and he was being insulted for his "Milspec" rifle. Go figure.
Ammo
All popular calibers sold out by mid morning. Of course there was one seller walking arou nd with a luggage cart with ammo as well as folks selling off the back of their trucks in the parking lot.
Magazines-
P Mags-$70. I think it was also a Vietnam memorial in there as well as all the "memorabilia" came out of the closet. Lots of GI 20rd aluminum follower mags as well as half the magazines the US Military used to own at one time. Uncle Sam would be proud at $45 per mag.
Rifles
Standard rifles were fairly priced with anything semi commanding a premium.
AK/SKS
Wow...I would have called you a big fat liar if you told me I would ever see a RomanianWSAR10 at $1100-$1600. Or a chinese sks for $600. Today I would have had to apologize and start eating my hat.Remember the $75 beater Yugo SKS? $600. More if you want one with bluing and no ramline stock.
Handguns- Fairly brisk business for Concealed Carry Weapons, and of course a lot of used guns back on the market later when first time lady buyers find out a Ruger polymer. 38 really isn't fun to shoot with +p loads.
The show stopper....Guys walking around with Hi Point Uber tactical carbines complete wit rail systems, forward grips and laser sighting systems. Got $800? You can have one.
The highlight of my show? Watching my beautiful wife walk around with my Scar 17 in FDE. Best offer she got was 6k. Of course it was the only one at the show.
In summary, this show was pretty much what I expected. Crazy. News crews, long lines, and a second gun show in the parking lot. In fact, a bunch never went into the actual show and just patrolled up and down the line waiting for offers. I give a thumbs up for attendees being polite. The most excitement that I saw were opposing teams selling candy bars.
I'll be at the Panama City show in 2 weeks. This one might be better. And yes, the early bird does get the Ammo.
