Just your monthly local gun show?

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Funny things happen when the NRA convention rolls into town. Namely that my local gun show became the calmest and least political event it's ever been because the NRA convention pulled the drum beaters away.

It gets a bit old when everyone is selling the same things every time, but you only really get to notice it when you aren't crowded out. The only thing it seems that's really worth buying at a show are discounted parts, magazines, and the random oddities the pawn shops won't buy because they can't flip them (also new guns sometimes if you can't get discounts elsewhere). This said, I'm more likely to spend a saturday running the pawn circuit from now on than scouring a show. At least pawn brokers are licensed. Some of the old guys at the gun show just flip guns without checking and give people an excuse to try and close the "gun show loophole." Others overcharge for old arms i could get new elsewhere for less. Sometimes even pawn shops have this problem.
The bigger the show, the more of the same I see.

Am I looking at gun shows wrong? Either my expectations are too high or im getting let down a lot.

Re: Just your monthly local gun show?

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It's the same with any of the flea market/ trade days and gun shows. The same people are at the shows selling the same thing. It is hell when the non-gun stuff for sale out numbers the gun stuff. I mean how much Jewelry and Turkey Jerky can you look at. The change is the Anti-Obama tee shirts have been replaced by the pro Turnip Tee Shirts.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Just your monthly local gun show?

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I've only been to one gun show in my lifetime, in Oaks, PA, so can't say I'm blasé already. It was nice to see so many guns that, up to that point, I had only seen in pictures. Lots of older guns too, but hardly a good deal to be found, as far as I could tell. I can see myself doing this a few times but yeah, it would get old eventually.

Re: Just your monthly local gun show?

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up till the 90s, even California gun shows were fun and worth going to. they actually had guns to buy and most vendors by far were FFLs or something directly related to guns. In m opinion...the san mateo gun show was comparable to even the Reno shotgun news show, which was one of the big ones back then.

I drifted away for a the better part of a decade as far as going to shows, then went back to a couple in the 2000s...gun show? nope, beef jerky and used vhs video shows now that feature the "odd" FFL or two At least that is how it felt. Seemed for every actual dealer or related vendor, there was at least 5 vendors that weren't.

due to changes in culture, laws and such, gun shows are probably on the way out and dying a slow, slow death.

Re: Just your monthly local gun show?

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308Scout wrote: Tue May 08, 2018 12:17 am up till the 90s, even California gun shows were fun and worth going to. they actually had guns to buy and most vendors by far were FFLs or something directly related to guns. In m opinion...the san mateo gun show was comparable to even the Reno shotgun news show, which was one of the big ones back then.

I drifted away for a the better part of a decade as far as going to shows, then went back to a couple in the 2000s...gun show? nope, beef jerky and used vhs video shows now that feature the "odd" FFL or two At least that is how it felt. Seemed for every actual dealer or related vendor, there was at least 5 vendors that weren't.

due to changes in culture, laws and such, gun shows are probably on the way out and dying a slow, slow death.
That may be more a california thing.

Here in texas they still have a lot of FFL dealers, collectors, and traders. The majority of stuff on display is firearms related, but when most of it is dedicated to AR building or new pistol sales, the odds of finding something unique and affordable drop like a rock. I think I'm probably going to stick to only the biggest show (for me that's the one in Ft. Worth, Texas) from now on unless for some dumb reason I really need universal rail parts or new optics.
Last edited by BillMcD on Tue May 08, 2018 8:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Just your monthly local gun show?

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Our "local" show is done through a statewide retail chain. They have a huge set up with their firearms, but no really good deals, just a larger selection than in their stores.

Everybody else is selling tertiary items, scopes, slings, crappy knives, holsters, etc. A few people selling firearms, but their prices aren't that great.

I went once with a friend and it wasn't bad. The big draw is the $10 CWL classes.
"No one can build his security upon the nobleness of another person."
-Willa Cather

Re: Just your monthly local gun show?

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I stopped going to shows because of the cost. The big semi-annual gun show here is at the County Fairgrounds, which is a 60-mile roundtrip for me. That's $10 in gas; then it's $10 to park and $20 to get in the door. I'm down $40 before I even start looking. That'd be okay if the show was full of $700 Arsenals and Garands, but that's not been my experience. Even the ammo booths can't compete with online "no-shipping cost" sales.
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Don't go where the road don't go - Ringo Starr

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