Frulk
Member
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2018
- Messages
- 1,600
I still like going to them. Mainly because it’s a little bit like gambling. You never know if you’re going to hit the jackpot in search of a grail gun or a smoking deal on something you really weren’t looking for but needed to have.
After paying my $12 I walked in yesterday after 1:30. I never go when they open because it’s just too crowded. With the weather being wet and cold it seemed to keep the crowd down and walking up and down the isles was manageable.
Now the random comments:
As you expect the place was chock full of black guns. You could take your pick of about 30 different finishes. May just be me but that trend seems to be expanding. There were some truly ridiculous color schemes. I saw new American Tactical and Del-Ton AR’s going for $465.
Spotted a NIB Marlin Dark 45-70 with a price tag on it which said $2798…approx $1300+ over MSRP listed on Marlins website as of a couple of days ago when I posted a thread on THR about that model. I guess that’s the early adopters penalty tax rolled into the price. I didn’t even bother picking it up to take a closer look. It was the only one in the place.
Lots of ammo vendors with no shortage of any currently popular caliber you could think of.
500 packs of Thunderbolt .22LR ammo was going for $40 at one vendor at one end of the isle and $45 5 tables down at the other end.
The cheapest I saw for 1000 rounds of 9mm was $250 for FMJ 120 something grain. There was an additional discount of multiples of 1000 rounds but I don’t remember what that was.
I saw a truck load of various .410 ammo at one vendor that was semi reasonably priced. Didn’t buy any as I have sufficient ammo/slugs for the 9410 I own. It being my only .410.
Much as the last gun show I attended I was hoping to run across a CVA or a Spanish Yukar full stocked Kentucky or Pennsylvania rifle preferably in .45 caliber. I bet I saw less than 5 traditional muzzleloader rifles. None were Thompsons. That’s in a venue of thousands of guns.
Another thing I was looking for was a desert sand or OD cordura shotgun scabbard. Used to be several dealers of backpacks, gun cases, scabbards, drag bags, mag/ tactical vest dealers at these shows. They all seem to have dried up. Not a single scabbard to be found in the entire complex. Hard to believe because of how the Mossberg Shockwaves and Remingtons Tac -14 are flying out the doors. Bet I saw 10 NIB of each in that place.
All the current Snake Colts were available for sale. All at MSRP or slightly above. I have to say, in the flesh I thought they just didn’t look as good as some of the pictures the regulars here post.
One of the ammo vendors was selling CCI primers in white boxes clearly marked ‘Not for Resale’ with another OEM statement printed on them I can’t remember at $90 a box. I think they were small pistol and rifle (non-magnum).
I might have seen 5 tubs of powder in the whole place…maybe less.
I happen to pass a table when a Ruger P90 or 94 caught my eye. I was looking for a price tag when the vendor piped up on my right and stated it’s not for sale and went into his product schtick about how the gun is used to demonstrate the friction reduction capability of some oil he was selling. That’s when I noticed all the bottles on the table. He went into his routine of blah blah blah “and it reduced trigger pull from 8 pounds to 4 and” blah blah. I remarked ‘that’s pretty good’ and moved on.
Didn’t spot any reloading equipment (presses, powder measures, scales etc.)
I consider the $12 entry fee money well spent considering what a movie costs these days. Had a good time slowly moving through the crowd. Didn’t purchase anything and enjoyed the stroll in a light mist across a huge parking lot back to the car.
PS: I’m always on the look out for a .32 H&R or .327 FM revolver. I did not see one in the entire building and I looked over every revolver I thought could be one.
After paying my $12 I walked in yesterday after 1:30. I never go when they open because it’s just too crowded. With the weather being wet and cold it seemed to keep the crowd down and walking up and down the isles was manageable.
Now the random comments:
As you expect the place was chock full of black guns. You could take your pick of about 30 different finishes. May just be me but that trend seems to be expanding. There were some truly ridiculous color schemes. I saw new American Tactical and Del-Ton AR’s going for $465.
Spotted a NIB Marlin Dark 45-70 with a price tag on it which said $2798…approx $1300+ over MSRP listed on Marlins website as of a couple of days ago when I posted a thread on THR about that model. I guess that’s the early adopters penalty tax rolled into the price. I didn’t even bother picking it up to take a closer look. It was the only one in the place.
Lots of ammo vendors with no shortage of any currently popular caliber you could think of.
500 packs of Thunderbolt .22LR ammo was going for $40 at one vendor at one end of the isle and $45 5 tables down at the other end.
The cheapest I saw for 1000 rounds of 9mm was $250 for FMJ 120 something grain. There was an additional discount of multiples of 1000 rounds but I don’t remember what that was.
I saw a truck load of various .410 ammo at one vendor that was semi reasonably priced. Didn’t buy any as I have sufficient ammo/slugs for the 9410 I own. It being my only .410.
Much as the last gun show I attended I was hoping to run across a CVA or a Spanish Yukar full stocked Kentucky or Pennsylvania rifle preferably in .45 caliber. I bet I saw less than 5 traditional muzzleloader rifles. None were Thompsons. That’s in a venue of thousands of guns.
Another thing I was looking for was a desert sand or OD cordura shotgun scabbard. Used to be several dealers of backpacks, gun cases, scabbards, drag bags, mag/ tactical vest dealers at these shows. They all seem to have dried up. Not a single scabbard to be found in the entire complex. Hard to believe because of how the Mossberg Shockwaves and Remingtons Tac -14 are flying out the doors. Bet I saw 10 NIB of each in that place.
All the current Snake Colts were available for sale. All at MSRP or slightly above. I have to say, in the flesh I thought they just didn’t look as good as some of the pictures the regulars here post.
One of the ammo vendors was selling CCI primers in white boxes clearly marked ‘Not for Resale’ with another OEM statement printed on them I can’t remember at $90 a box. I think they were small pistol and rifle (non-magnum).
I might have seen 5 tubs of powder in the whole place…maybe less.
I happen to pass a table when a Ruger P90 or 94 caught my eye. I was looking for a price tag when the vendor piped up on my right and stated it’s not for sale and went into his product schtick about how the gun is used to demonstrate the friction reduction capability of some oil he was selling. That’s when I noticed all the bottles on the table. He went into his routine of blah blah blah “and it reduced trigger pull from 8 pounds to 4 and” blah blah. I remarked ‘that’s pretty good’ and moved on.
Didn’t spot any reloading equipment (presses, powder measures, scales etc.)
I consider the $12 entry fee money well spent considering what a movie costs these days. Had a good time slowly moving through the crowd. Didn’t purchase anything and enjoyed the stroll in a light mist across a huge parking lot back to the car.
PS: I’m always on the look out for a .32 H&R or .327 FM revolver. I did not see one in the entire building and I looked over every revolver I thought could be one.
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