MikeJackmin
Member
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2005
- Messages
- 1,604
Went to the twice-annual, thousand-table Syracuse gun show today and stayed from mid-morning until about 1pm. I have never seen it so crowded; it was literally impassible at times.
This is one of the very few shows where I didn't purchase anything. Prices were quite high (probably because of the crowd) and the gun selection was only average. Handguns were particularly scarce.
At least three dealers had open crates full of Russian M44s, with both plain and laminated stocks, with all the goodies for $110 to $120. They looked rearsenaled to me, mostly 44 and 45 dates, each with a huge dot-matrix import mark on the left side of the receiver. I saw one beat-looking K-31 in the mid-twos, a few Yugo SKSs in the high twos, and a handful of very battered looking Enfields for $160 or so. A Marlin model 60 would typically be marked at $160, too. For that price, I can save forty bucks and a half-hour drive by just going to Walmart...
You could find a few Yugo mausers in the low one-hundered range, and I was tempted by one, nice except for a mismatched stock, at $90. I'd have probably bought it if it were not dripping in cosmoline. I honestly didn't think I could get it out the door without ruining somebody's clothing.
There was lots of ammunition available, some East-bloc-looking rocket flares with 1970s dates, and, in what I thought was a nice touch, a happy selection of homemade cookies at one table. Incredibly, I could not even find a single, one-piece cleaning rod for sale anywhere, but that's only because I was looking for one. Lots of holsters, cheap knives, and gun parts. I also saw a few leather slings that looked military at first glance, right down to the "MRT 1962" markings, but closer inspection showed they were only cheap reproductions.
I saw lots of people buying the M44s and a few SKSs, but other than that, most of the guns seemed to stay on the table. I did not see even one handgun being sold. There did seem to be more women present than usual, and more young people, too, which is good. Other than that, it was a fairly disappointing show.
Maybe Sunday will be better.
This is one of the very few shows where I didn't purchase anything. Prices were quite high (probably because of the crowd) and the gun selection was only average. Handguns were particularly scarce.
At least three dealers had open crates full of Russian M44s, with both plain and laminated stocks, with all the goodies for $110 to $120. They looked rearsenaled to me, mostly 44 and 45 dates, each with a huge dot-matrix import mark on the left side of the receiver. I saw one beat-looking K-31 in the mid-twos, a few Yugo SKSs in the high twos, and a handful of very battered looking Enfields for $160 or so. A Marlin model 60 would typically be marked at $160, too. For that price, I can save forty bucks and a half-hour drive by just going to Walmart...
You could find a few Yugo mausers in the low one-hundered range, and I was tempted by one, nice except for a mismatched stock, at $90. I'd have probably bought it if it were not dripping in cosmoline. I honestly didn't think I could get it out the door without ruining somebody's clothing.
There was lots of ammunition available, some East-bloc-looking rocket flares with 1970s dates, and, in what I thought was a nice touch, a happy selection of homemade cookies at one table. Incredibly, I could not even find a single, one-piece cleaning rod for sale anywhere, but that's only because I was looking for one. Lots of holsters, cheap knives, and gun parts. I also saw a few leather slings that looked military at first glance, right down to the "MRT 1962" markings, but closer inspection showed they were only cheap reproductions.
I saw lots of people buying the M44s and a few SKSs, but other than that, most of the guns seemed to stay on the table. I did not see even one handgun being sold. There did seem to be more women present than usual, and more young people, too, which is good. Other than that, it was a fairly disappointing show.
Maybe Sunday will be better.
