Wow.. just wow - went to a gun show yesterday

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I'd actually like to go to a gun show, but haven't been since attending a small local pre-apocalypse gun show about a year and a half ago. Haven't even been in the LGS for a year or so now. Can't hardly believe it myself.

Even before the craziness, I didn't expect to find deals on guns or ammo, unless the Wholesale Ammo/Miwall folks were in attendance. I just go to see all the stuff, and I like jerky;)
 
I used to go several times a year but the promoters starting raising the entry fee every show and I rarely saw anything worth buying so I haven’t been in a couple of years.
 
Used to be one of the best non firearms
discharging activities a shooter could do.
I haven't been to any shows in several years,
and likely won't if they haven't improved
any. Used to plenty of parts and parts guns,
and shooter grade/truck guns to be had at
the appropriate pricing. Plenty of every
price and grade and configuration of knives.
Gradually, they became the scented candle
/potpourri/Glock/AR show, and you couldn't
find any of the "junk" like I used to buy.
I can't tell you at the guns I've bought from
people standing in line outside waiting to
get in.
Oh well, I'm old now, and have most everything I want as far as my guns, but
it's a shame to me that younger people
can't experience the good gun shows the
way they were back pre Klinton and Osama
 
Ranger99 said:
Used to be one of the best non firearms
discharging activities a shooter could do.
I haven't been to any shows in several years,
and likely won't if they haven't improved
any. Used to plenty of parts and parts guns,
and shooter grade/truck guns to be had at
the appropriate pricing. Plenty of every
price and grade and configuration of knives.
Gradually, they became the scented candle
/potpourri/Glock/AR show, and you couldn't
find any of the "junk" like I used to buy.
I can't tell you at the guns I've bought from
people standing in line outside waiting to
get in.
Oh well, I'm old now, and have most everything I want as far as my guns, but
it's a shame to me that younger people
can't experience the good gun shows the
way they were back pre Klinton and Osama
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We’re both old. I remember when gun shows were where you took your rare, unusual, custom built and generally interesting guns... to show! But that was also back when schools taught kids how to think, not what to think. Ancient history.
 
CapnMac said:
The last FW gun show, it looked like the market had achieve "peak" AR. They were widely available, but at a price no one wanted to spend. Lots of pistols moving, and a lot of ammo moving at that show--despite the prices.
Tons of people trying to flog off all kinds of shooters--the barrels and signs on dowels were dang dangerous to be around.

We're having another show in a week, after Texas "opens" again on Wednesday--will have to see what that looks like.
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Is that the Waxahachie show? I've not been to a show, always believing they are just a bunch of hyped up prices, unless you are looking for that item that no one else is, but only these people have.
 
...and on the other side of the coin... Not all shows are created equal, that’s for sure. There was a local show when I lived down south about 4x per year, and I always went. Yes I saw the same vendors and sometimes the same guns, but there were always some neat ones I hadn’t seen. Good mix of milsurps/parts bins/old collectible pistols/hunting rifles/AR tactical stuff/new EDC guns. All in all a great way to spend 3 hours on Saturday morning.

Give your local shows a try once or twice before you completely write them off.
 
Nuclear said:
The only gun show I go to anymore is the annual Small Arms Review sponsored one every December
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Good memories on the early Arizona shows that started up after the SOF convention/show in Las Vegas died out.
I was always impressed with the truces between the rival LA gang members that accompanied their 'group buyers' to the show.
Never saw or heard of any problems.
Haven't made the trip down there since prices on everything NFA went the roof.

JT
 
We are lucky to have a really good show run by a local club twice a year. Free for members, no parking fee, etc.

But we are shut down in Oregon so we might not see a show until fall.

I pretty much always see at least *something* interesting there. Don't always buy anything, but I've found some pretty cool stuff there.
 
Gun shows have become nothing more than a weekend gathering of ripoff artists and those that take advantage of situations and people. I stopped going to gun shows years ago, right after the 2004 AWB that restricted magazines to 10 rounds. I'd gone to the yearly show at the local stock yards thinking I could find a magazine for my .38 Super EAA Witness. There was a guy with a table stacked four feet deep with magazines. I asked if he had what I was looking for and he replied "Sure do, only $98.00 each." I blinked and said that those same magazines were $24.95 just last week. He just smiled and said "That was last week." Sorry, I don't do business with guys that should have a parrot on their shoulder and a peg leg, so I just walked away.

Did that guy have the right to jack his prices up by 200%? He does and did. Do people have the right to call him a pirate and let him stew on his investment? They surely do. I've got to need something pretty bad before I'll support legal thievery. No, gun shows have changed too much. I'll not be going again.
 
Was reminded, just this weekend, that the promoter of a show matters.
That things like running ads adn buying billboards ('exploitation" in the marketing term-of-art) matters for attracting vendors better than the jockey lot & flea market types.
 
herrwalther said:
It will be some time before I attend another gun show. Between ticket price and parking, I am out about $50 just to get in the door.
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I used to go to the Ft Worth show at Will Rogers CapnMac mentioned above you but now with the door fee and new parking fee that they started just a few years ago I have stopped going. I rarely ever bought anything anyway. The deals we used to get on ammo and an occasional deal on a gun seem to be long gone. Its still kinda fun to just walk around and look. You can get a giggle out of some of the prices people are asking for their stuff. Plus afterwards you can go down the road to Railhead BarBQ and have a really good sandwich and a beer or two.
 
ThomasT said:
Plus afterwards you can go down the road to Railhead BarBQ and have a really good sandwich and a beer or two.
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Or Cooper's over in the stockyards; or a great bacon cheeseburger at Magnolia, or, one of my personal fave post-show events is Mercado Juarez.
The cost for parking is something I just expect to pay in FW, especially there in the museum or West Seventh district.
The shows promoted by Premiere are good ones, with a number of repeat LGS vendors.
 
CapnMac said:
Or Cooper's over in the stockyards; or a great bacon cheeseburger at Magnolia, or, one of my personal fave post-show events is Mercado Juarez.
The cost for parking is something I just expect to pay in FW, especially there in the museum or West Seventh district.
The shows promoted by Premiere are good ones, with a number of repeat LGS vendors.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Never heard of Coopers but I will check them out. And a double yes on Mercado Juarez. Love their hot sauce. And not too long ago parking used to be free so it chaps my backside that now they want to charge for it. So I just park across the street from the museum and walk. I like the walk anyway.
 
ThomasT said:
I used to go to the Ft Worth show at Will Rogers CapnMac mentioned above you but now with the door fee and new parking fee that they started just a few years ago I have stopped going. I rarely ever bought anything anyway. The deals we used to get on ammo and an occasional deal on a gun seem to be long gone. Its still kinda fun to just walk around and look. You can get a giggle out of some of the prices people are asking for their stuff. Plus afterwards you can go down the road to Railhead BarBQ and have a really good sandwich and a beer or two.
Click to expand...

I may be eating my words soon. There is a gun show this weekend that specializes in milsurp and collectible rifles. And the admission is only $10. I may drop by after all.
 
Ehhhh.... who needs a gun "show" these days? The best of the surplus has passed, and besides we have the internet! Since both internet and gun "show" firearm sales have to go thru a federal firearms licensee, nothing really gained by the in-person show. IMO, YMMV!
 
I was in Pasadena Tx on Sunday at the first gunshow I had attended in 16 months. Just went to look around. I could not believe how much money was being thrown around. Just about to walk out and made the mistake of looking down and there was a brick of Large Magnum Pistol Primers and a brick of Small Pistol Primers. Both more than I wanted to pay but much cheaper that I have seen for a long time. I bought them both and went home. I had taken my Colt Delta Elite Gold Cup as a trade just in case I saw something I just could not do without. It came back home with me.
 
It seems that gun shows have become just for show. The prices are insane and nobody wants to trade or bargain. I have better luck trolling pawn shops. I believe they are becoming a dying relic of the past. They will soon be regulated out of existence when the "loophole" is closed.
 
FlippinHippie said:
It seems that gun shows have become just for show. The prices are insane and nobody wants to trade or bargain. I have better luck trolling pawn shops. I believe they are becoming a dying relic of the past. They will soon be regulated out of existence when the "loophole" is closed.
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Which means the regulators will go after the “Pawn Shop Loophole” next.
 
GeoDudeFlorida said:
Which means the regulators will go after the “Pawn Shop Loophole” next.
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Explain the loopholes to me. In my neck of the woods there aren’t any loopholes, that I know about. You go to a gun show or pawn shop, you run the same check and paperwork as any other gun dealer runs on you. If you’re like me and have a state CCP you don’t have to do the call in/ check but you danged sure have to do the paperwork.
I guess if buying a gun off someone standing outside the gun show is the loophole, then, yup we got’m. Otherwise, not. Don’t understand the supposed Internet loophole either. Guns can only be shipped to FFLs and they have to do the paperwork same as if you just bought it right there in person. If guns are changing hands without background checks and paperwork in any of these 3 situations, they are already breaking federal firearms laws. What loopholes?
 
I really dont get the supposed internet loophole.

It doesn't exist. If you buy any gun online it can only go to a FFL. A background check then happens.

This goes to show we are failing in the information war.
 
I've found that in general, used gun prices are not that far off from new gun prices for firearms which are still in production.

I have quite literally stood in gun shops staring at some nice used guns that were only $20 below the new gun price for the same make/model.

As for gun shows...it's been a number of decades in my experience since they've been a decent place to find lots of good bargains. In general, prices are on par with most LGS prices, with the occasional deal here and there.

I remember back in the early 90s I came upon a guy at a gun show who was selling .22 WMR and he had a pile. But the prices were no better than what I could get at the stores. Previous years of experience in gun shows were like flea markets...make a reasonable offer and you'd likely come to a deal. I offered to buy his entire stock of .22 WMR if he'd drop the price by 50 cents...some amount below what I could get at the stores. Nope. OK, whatever. His merchandise, his terms...but I was really hoping to walk out with three dozen or so boxes of ammunition. But I'm not about to spend admission money to a gun show and then still pay normal prices for anything I can get elsewhere.

The past few decades I've approached gun shows differently. I figure for about $10 I've bought an afternoon of entertainment, just walking around seeing what there is to see and browsing through knick-knacks that would flesh out my tools and such. They're an awesome place to see a lot of guns and see how they feel/handle, including some hard to find ones. And, of course, older and rarer models.

And if I find a deal...even greater.
 
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