went to the gun show today

1
the usual maga hatted neckbeards. not much interesting. i went looking for a good price on 7,62x51 ammo(~0.50/rnd) and m14 sight parts, garand cheekpiece, dies for 7.62 nato. found none of above. cheapest ammo was about .65 cents, i can do better locally. none of the rest. lot's of ARs, pocket pistols, nothing compelling. fair # of overpriced old milsurps, $600 mosins, $400 SKSs, $1200 garands. a table of saturday nite specials:
IMG_0337.jpg
tanfoglio, likely the only one worth having
IMG_0338.jpg
jennings
IMG_0341.jpg
rohm german 22.
each $100 plus or minus $25
Last edited by lurker on Sat Feb 22, 2020 8:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: went to the gun show today

2
on impulse, i bought this, S&W topbreak 4th model, made most likely before 1890 for .32 black powder cartridge, functions, finished entirely in patina. marked 175, vendor offered it for 125. so i snapped it up, regretted it immediately. what the heck am i going to do with this? still, it's mine now. fortunately, the vendor took my purchase permit, so no more impulse pistol buying. until i get a carry permit.
IMG_0344.jpg
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: went to the gun show today

5
yes, i think the topbreak is worth $125. i went questing after the elusive $200 enfield, but no luck. the tanfoglio is, in my opinion, worth the $125 they were asking if .25acp pocket pistols are your thing. some nice walnut grips would clean it up nicely, good steel from the north of italy.

gun shows... lately, i don't know. overpriced, selection limited in many ways. they had used phoeniii, priced at new MSRP. too damn many Modern Sporting Rifles. i miss the old $125 milsurp days. it wasn't all bad, they had some really nice old guns, sharps, trapdoor in 50-70, hi-walls, all very nice but high, and the modern guns seem so generic, many of them literally plastic. ok, boomer.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: went to the gun show today

7
lurker wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2020 9:12 pm yes, i think the topbreak is worth $125. i went questing after the elusive $200 enfield, but no luck. the tanfoglio is, in my opinion, worth the $125 they were asking if .25acp pocket pistols are your thing. some nice walnut grips would clean it up nicely, good steel from the north of italy.

gun shows... lately, i don't know. overpriced, selection limited in many ways. they had used phoeniii, priced at new MSRP. too damn many Modern Sporting Rifles. i miss the old $125 milsurp days. it wasn't all bad, they had some really nice old guns, sharps, trapdoor in 50-70, hi-walls, all very nice but high, and the modern guns seem so generic, many of them literally plastic. ok, boomer.
So you did get to see some cool stuff! Great!

I often wondered if the good stuff at good prices was bought by other dealers before the show opened to the public?
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Re: went to the gun show today

8
K9s wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2020 10:18 pm I often wondered if the good stuff at good prices was bought by other dealers before the show opened to the public?
possible i suppose but unlikely imo.
if i treat gunshows like a museum where i can fondle the exhibits, maybe even take one home, then they're fine. the merit is that there's a lot, A LOT of stuff all in one place, and if you've done your homework, the occasional gem. i'm actually considering going back tomorrow in hopes it's less crowded. crowds annoy me.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: went to the gun show today

9
To shoot the 32, get a bag of O buckshot and some 32 S&W cases. Put a 22LR case of FFFg in a primed 32 case, push a pellet of O buck firmly down on the powder with your thumb and put a finger smear of bp lube on the front of the "bullet" have fun!

If you can't find O buck, cast bullets under 100 grains for any 30 or 32 handgun cartridge will do, with 30 being easier to seat by hand
Image

Re: went to the gun show today

10
Marlene wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2020 11:51 pm To shoot the 32, get a bag of O buckshot and some 32 S&W cases. Put a 22LR case of FFFg in a primed 32 case, push a pellet of O buck firmly down on the powder with your thumb and put a finger smear of bp lube on the front of the "bullet" have fun!

If you can't find O buck, cast bullets under 100 grains for any 30 or 32 handgun cartridge will do, with 30 being easier to seat by hand
thanks for this. was thinking of trying bp substitute. i'll keep an eye out for brass. i can't imagine shooting it much.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: went to the gun show today

11
I went to my first one since I was a kid last week. It was a fairly small one, held at a local NG Armory. Pretty much as you describe, complete with a Trump/MAGA 2020 propaganda desk. I did kinda feel like I was undercover, LOL...but everyone was pretty nice.

All small, local vendors, none of the big retailers, virtually no outdoors stuff. I did buy a nice Kabar for a decent price, though I probably could've done better if I'd looked around on-line a bit more.

There's one of the bigger traveling shows in Knoxville next weekend I think I'll check out. I'd love to find a deal on an old Winchester 9422M...another lost gun from my youth, LOL.
"...You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it." --F Scott Fitzgerald, from "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button."

Re: went to the gun show today

12
senorgrand wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2020 8:56 pm I'd love to start a collection of the boxes from saturday night specials. pretty weird, right?
Not really, those companies mostly started here in CA and who knows how many of those pistols are still circulating especially among the criminal class. The media dubbed them Saturday Night Specials and berated them for being cheap and poorly made, but as is usual with the media it's highly unlikely the writers of those stories knew anything about guns but just repeated stories they heard.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: went to the gun show today

13
BluVett wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2020 9:09 am I went to my first one since I was a kid last week. It was a fairly small one, held at a local NG Armory. Pretty much as you describe, complete with a Trump/MAGA 2020 propaganda desk. I did kinda feel like I was undercover, LOL...but everyone was pretty nice.

All small, local vendors, none of the big retailers, virtually no outdoors stuff. I did buy a nice Kabar for a decent price, though I probably could've done better if I'd looked around on-line a bit more.

There's one of the bigger traveling shows in Knoxville next weekend I think I'll check out. I'd love to find a deal on an old Winchester 9422M...another lost gun from my youth, LOL.
See if you can beat the Winchester 9422M prices on Fun Broker. It is harder for people to sell something like that at a gun show when GB bidders exist.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Re: went to the gun show today

14
Y'all have much better gun shows in NC than we do in CA. I went to one near me two weeks ago. No where near the variety you describe. However, there were a lot more milsurps this time. I asked one of the vendors I know and he said that the younger folks don't care about milsurps, going black rifle instead. So there were lots of variety of old milsurps at highly inflated prices. Ammo had a fence around it per our new regs. Bought a State of Jefferson patch to go on my range bag. I'll keep going, as it's kind of like a museum. I may buy less and less unless there's a juicy LH recurve bow at a sneaky price.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: went to the gun show today

15
CDFingers wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2020 5:18 pm Y'all have much better gun shows in NC than we do in CA. I went to one near me two weeks ago. No where near the variety you describe. However, there were a lot more milsurps this time. I asked one of the vendors I know and he said that the younger folks don't care about milsurps, going black rifle instead. So there were lots of variety of old milsurps at highly inflated prices. Ammo had a fence around it per our new regs. Bought a State of Jefferson patch to go on my range bag. I'll keep going, as it's kind of like a museum. I may buy less and less unless there's a juicy LH recurve bow at a sneaky price.

CDFingers
Milsurps are getting expensive & hard to find and maybe that's because they are relics from our parents and grandparents wars. They are in closets and safes. The people who have them know how rare they are now.

I have seen very few Iraq and Afghan war bringbacks that are legal to own (I have seen only one SKS brought back from Iraq).

Affordable milsurps are probably just going to get harder to find.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Re: went to the gun show today

16
you would think in a world of supply and demand that if milsurp demand is low the prices would drop. this looks to me like one of the many miscarriages of capitalism. price-fixing or some such.
personally i don't get the ar15 thing. i've had one, the same one, for 20 years, built from a stripped lower and a parts set. it's a good little rifle, acccurate and easy to handle, a pleasue to shoot, but i have no idea why anyone would want more than one with so many other great rifles available. :see_stars:

:oops2: ok, that was a boomer post. :wall: get as many ARs as you want. :sorry:
i need to go to the range. wednesday looks doable.
Last edited by lurker on Sun Feb 23, 2020 5:41 pm, edited 2 times in total.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: went to the gun show today

18
K9s wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2020 2:23 pm
BluVett wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2020 9:09 am I went to my first one since I was a kid last week. It was a fairly small one, held at a local NG Armory. Pretty much as you describe, complete with a Trump/MAGA 2020 propaganda desk. I did kinda feel like I was undercover, LOL...but everyone was pretty nice.

All small, local vendors, none of the big retailers, virtually no outdoors stuff. I did buy a nice Kabar for a decent price, though I probably could've done better if I'd looked around on-line a bit more.

There's one of the bigger traveling shows in Knoxville next weekend I think I'll check out. I'd love to find a deal on an old Winchester 9422M...another lost gun from my youth, LOL.
See if you can beat the Winchester 9422M prices on Fun Broker. It is harder for people to sell something like that at a gun show when GB bidders exist.
Will do--thanks!!
"...You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it." --F Scott Fitzgerald, from "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button."

Re: went to the gun show today

19
lurker wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2020 5:36 pm you would think in a world of supply and demand that if milsurp demand is low the prices would drop. this looks to me like one of the many miscarriages of capitalism. price-fixing or some such.
personally i don't get the ar15 thing. i've had one, the same one, for 20 years, built from a stripped lower and a parts set. it's a good little rifle, acccurate and easy to handle, a pleasue to shoot, but i have no idea why anyone would want more than one with so many other great rifles available. :see_stars:

:oops2: ok, that was a boomer post. :wall: get as many ARs as you want. :sorry:
i need to go to the range. wednesday looks doable.
ARs are very low recoil and cheap right now. And, they are all the rage.

I didn't buy any until the prices dropped and milsurps skyrocketed or became unavailable. In another reality, I would have several more Mosins and AK-74s and a Garand.

Oh, well. I assume the prices will rise again if ARs remain legal in the future.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Re: went to the gun show today

21
i'm not 100% certain but this is how it seems to work here.
long gun private sales, cash talks. this is the so-called "gun show loophole" where people will bring a rifle or shotgun to the show and walk around with it. no nics check. i expect the law will change at some point and this option will go away.
long gun dealer sales, nics check is required. takes about a minute and a half, bring your DL.
all handgun sales require either a Pistol Purchase Permit or a Concealed Carry Permit (and a photo ID), both of which require a prior background check by local LE. PPP is good for 1 handgun purchase from a dealer, CCP lets you buy as many as you want, no further background checks required. apparently a private sale of a handgun requires the seller to note the PPP# or CCP# but not collect and file the actual document.

i believe there's a also special class of "antiques" (not C&R) which require no checks or documents, but i am unclear and the dealers too so most prefer to play it safe. the 1880s pistol i bought should have qualified for this.
clear as mud?
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: went to the gun show today

24
I haven't been to a gun show in about 15 years. The last one was in southeast Michigan, and even then it was mostly black plastic. One guy was selling Ruger No. 1s, which is why I was there - to sell one. There was a handful of other random stuff, but not much of interest. I suppose I should try again now that I'm near some of the bigger ones in Virginia.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

Re: went to the gun show today

25
lurker wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2020 11:20 pm i believe there's a also special class of "antiques" (not C&R) which require no checks or documents, but i am unclear and the dealers too so most prefer to play it safe. the 1880s pistol i bought should have qualified for this.
clear as mud?
The antique IIRC would be any firearm made before 1898.
To be vintage it must be older than me!
The next gun I buy will be the next to last gun I ever buy. PROMISE!
jim

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests