Anyone going to the NRA meeting in St. Louis?

[Ed Barrett]

I was thinking of driving over to St. Louis from St. Joseph MO on Thursday and coming back Saturday night. Any one wanting to share the drive and the price of a room let me know. I have never been to an annual meeting and now that I'm retired I thought I give it a try.

[Nueces]

Ed, I strongly recommend you go alone, if you must, not to miss one of these that's close to you. I missed the Houston meeting due to a family situation, and still regret having lost the opportunity. Everyone there, exhibitors, authors, NRA staff, whomever, will be glad to see you there, not like the SHOT show. You will be among 'us'. It is way cool. If you see Mike Venturino or Brian Pearce, walk up and introduce yourself, that's why they're there. Wish I could go, too.

Have fun, Mark

[MtGun44]

I'm in the KC area and will probably go over on Saturday,early and
come back late. I really enjoyed the exhibition hall when it was in
KC about 8-10 yrs ago.

I do recommend that any 'gun nut' attend the exhibition hall. A LOT
of fun and you can meet and talk with a lot of neat folks in the
industry. I was trying to find a stainless Marlin Guide Gun at the
time and spent some time with a guy in the Marlin booth discussing
the difficulty of tooling up for new models, the cost of a new frame
milling NC machine vs the need to be CERTAIN to have enough work
to justify the huge expense, the labor issue getting quality finish work,
etc, etc. At the end, it was clear he was very knowledgeable about
the Marlin production process and an expert in getting them out the
door properly made. As I shook his hand to thank him and leave, I
asked what he did at Marlin - "Oh, I'm the President" he replied.
WOW!

I had several other great visits - go, you'll LOVE it. :-D

Bill

PS Don't expect much actual business in the NRA meetings. I
have friends that have been on the board and the event is totally
scripted to prevent the membership from having any chance
of interfering with what the top dogs want to do. It is really
more of a pep rally with a great exhibit hall. So just enjoy
the show and recognize that the NRA membership has near
zero say in what the NRA does. :neutral:

[rmb721]

I went to one when it was in Philadelphia about ten years ago. I am really glad I went. Everyone should go at least once when it is close to them.

[Daniel964]

I wish Columbus Ohio hadn't messed up and caused the NRA to not come here. Since I live about 8 miles from where it was going to be held it was probably my only chance to ever go to one.

[1Shirt]

Have been to three of them. D.C., Denver, and K.C. and all were great. Even got to see Elmer, shake hands with Bill Ruger, talk with the Lyman folks, and meet some olympic medal winners. But the biggest thrill I had was buying his book, shaking his hand and talking with him for possibly two minutes--Charlton Heston!
If driving distance is within reason, don't pass up the chance to go!.
1Shirt!:coffee: :coffee:

[Mohillbilly]

Howdy Boys I had forgotten about that.Heck I drive 26 mi daily each way to work for the last 30 yrs, and don't think a thing of it. maybe I'll drive the 20 to it.....I did make the last one last time it was here...(seems like 90 r 91)

[45 2.1]

When is this and where in St Louis?

[MtGun44]

45 2.1 -

The exhibit hall is open Friday, Sat and Sun, April 13, 14, 15
10am to 6pm on Fri and Sat, closes at 5 pm on Sunday.

I plan on being there pretty much the whole day on Sat. If
you plan on being there, would enjoy lunch or just a handshake
and chat, depending on schedules. :-D

Bill

[45 2.1]

45 2.1 -

The exhibit hall is open Friday, Sat and Sun, April 13, 14, 15
10am to 6pm on Fri and Sat, closes at 5 pm on Sunday.

I plan on being there pretty much the whole day on Sat. If
you plan on being there, would enjoy lunch or just a handshake
and chat, depending on schedules. :-D

Bill

I imagine I will be there with some other forum members. I will contact you by e-mail on this later.

[Ed Barrett]

45 2.1 -

The exhibit hall is open Friday, Sat and Sun, April 13, 14, 15
10am to 6pm on Fri and Sat, closes at 5 pm on Sunday.

I plan on being there pretty much the whole day on Sat. If
you plan on being there, would enjoy lunch or just a handshake
and chat, depending on schedules. :-D

Bill

I plan on being there Friday and Saturday. PM me about how we can get together.

[piwo]

Where EXACTLY is this meeting? What is the venue? I live 40 miles west of STL and I've not heard one word about it.

[Ed Barrett]

Where EXACTLY is this meeting? What is the venue? I live 40 miles west of STL and I've not heard one word about it.
It's April 12th -15th
Go to this site and get all the info;

http://www.nraam.org/default.asp

[piwo]

Thanks Ed... I'll be there for certain!

[45 2.1]

OK, its this coming weekend. We need to meet up and introduce ourselves. I and another member will be there Saturday
(April 14) when it opens at 10:00 am. Who wants to meet up?

[AZ-Stew]

I've been to two of them in Phoenix. The first while I still lived in another state in 83. Drove over with the family and had a great time. By 95 we had been AZ residents for 11 years and I spent a lot more time at the show. All the manufactures bring their latest wares for us to salivate over.

In 83 I met Bill Jordan and had him autograph my copy of "No Second Place Winner". At both meetings I met Jeff Cooper. At the second meeting I also met Neal Knox. At the time, one of his sons worked at the same company where I work.

I could tell many stories about both shows. I'm glad it will be returning to Phoenix in 2008! It's very worthwhile to come to the Member's Meeting and kinda fun to go to the Saturday evening banquet. You never know who you'll meet.

piwo:

If you're an NRA member, there have been endless "advertisements" (maybe "promotional articles" is a better description) for the upcoming Member's Meeting in "American Rifleman", "America's First Freedom" and, I'm sure, all the other NRA publications, giving the dates and location. All you have to do is read the magazine. If you're not a member, please be sure to join when you attend the meeting and show. Considering the current Congress, we need all the members we can get. There is strength in numbers.

Regards,

Stew