Attended the "Local" gun show today

[BD]

I haven't been to a gun show in a couple of years, so today I went to the one put on by my Local club, Big Pine Gun Club. It was really pretty good. Maybe 50 vendors, two were knives, one was a local steel action target fabricator and the rest were all guns. Prices seemed pretty normal for the most part. Plenty of AR's for 1,000 or less. I saw a brand new Windham Weaponry Carbon 15 for $699. Complete AR composite lowers with collapsible stocks for $139. Ammo seemed pricey to me, but then I never buy ammo, so I'm always surprised at what it costs. There is a guy selling used reloading equipment and everything I looked at closely was all in excellent shape and priced reasonably. The only really outrageous things were .22rf ($60/550), and .223 ($1/round). A fair number of Savage 99s from $300 to $600, a good sampling of Winchesters in various chamberings including some older ones. I was tempted by a '94 in 32 WCF which looked very good, and a '92 in 38-55 (which was well outside my budget). Nobody had the Combat Commander frame I've been hunting for five years, but they did have an early Maxim on display which always adds a little class to a social event IMO. All told it was well worth the $5 admission, and only 45 minutes away. Since I was in "civilization" anyway, I stopped by the WallMart on my way out of town. No bulk .22rf, but the clerk told me the line forms on Tuesday morning at 6:00AM, sales start at 7:00AM, and all of the .22rf and .223 will be gone by 7:30AM. I wonder how long that situation will last?
BD

[TXGunNut]

Any loading components? Sounds like an interesting show.

[jcwit]

I haven't been to a gun show in a couple of years, so today I went to the one put on by my Local club, Big Pine Gun Club. It was really pretty good. Maybe 50 vendors, two were knives, one was a local steel action target fabricator and the rest were all guns. Prices seemed pretty normal for the most part. Plenty of AR's for 1,000 or less. I saw a brand new Windham Weaponry Carbon 15 for $699. Complete AR composite lowers with collapsible stocks for $139. Ammo seemed pricey to me, but then I never buy ammo, so I'm always surprised at what it costs. There is a guy selling used reloading equipment and everything I looked at closely was all in excellent shape and priced reasonably. The only really outrageous things were .22rf ($60/550), and .223 ($1/round). A fair number of Savage 99s from $300 to $600, a good sampling of Winchesters in various chamberings including some older ones. I was tempted by a '94 in 32 WCF which looked very good, and a '92 in 38-55 (which was well outside my budget). Nobody had the Combat Commander frame I've been hunting for five years, but they did have an early Maxim on display which always adds a little class to a social event IMO. All told it was well worth the $5 admission, and only 45 minutes away. Since I was in "civilization" anyway, I stopped by the WallMart on my way out of town. No bulk .22rf, but the clerk told me the line forms on Tuesday morning at 6:00AM, sales start at 7:00AM, and all of the .22rf and .223 will be gone by 7:30AM. I wonder how long that situation will last?
BD

How long will it last? As long as we allow the scalpers to conduct their make believe business.

[BD]

There's a guy in the club that casts commercially, and he had a table selling boolits. But, now that you mention it, I didn't see any powder or primers. I wasn't looking either as I took care of those needs for the most part last summer, well in advance of the election.
BD

[TXGunNut]

Just curious. I laid in a pretty good supply last summer myself when the prices got pretty reasonable.

[jeepyj]

I also attended the Newport gun show as well as the one at the Elks club in Bangor. I attended with two other buddy's we had to leave the Newport on due to lack of room. It was a nice show other than being overcrowded it seems like the Big Pine Gun Club is worth checking out. The steel targets in the back room were outstanding. I was able to pick up a real nice homemade gun sock for only seven dollars and 200 once fired 38spl brass for sixteen dollars. Honestly prices were somewhat reasonable. One other thing the Boy Scouts had some great breakfast sandwiches and many other goodies. We left there and traveled up Rt2 to Bangor and went to the Elks Lodge on Odlin Road. The atmosphere was far more relaxed we had a chance to see a lot of nice firearms including a outstanding Gatling Gun. At that one I was able to obtain some CCI small pistol primers for $49.00 with tax for 1000. With the wind blowing a gale it was a good way to spend time with friends and enjoy the hobby. One other thing I forget to mention I met up with a old acquaintance who had heard through the grape vine that I was looking for some Unique powder and offered me a 8 pounder for a hundred bucks obvious I wasn't long pulling out some green stamps.
Jeepyj

[BD]

Sounds like a good day jeepyj. You should check out Big Pine Gun Club. The rifle range is only 240 yds, but the trap and skeet ranges are very good and there's about 6 pistol ranges. They hold very friendly Action pistol shoots monthly June through Sept. Kevin always brings a couple of those fancy metal "movers" you saw at the show, (Rube Goldberg is alive and well in northern Maine). Non-competitive Steel Challenge every Tuesday afternoon until dark. Cowboy Action Shoots monthly in the summer, (although from what I've heard those guys are a little more "rules" oriented, and they expect ya to dress up). Trap and Skeet Tuesday evenings and indoor pistol league in the winter. I thought about making the trip up to Bangor, but the old dog had been in the truck 3 hours by then, I'd had enough of crowds, and I was thinking that if the Big Pine show was that busy, Bangor would be even worse. Where in central Maine are you? Big Pine is in Willimantic, probably 40 minutes from Newport.
http://www.bigpinegunclub.org/
BD

[Down South]

I went to the range today and went to the skeet range first. There was a big cardboard box full of old canisters of gun powder, some I've never heard of. It was all for give away. I saw two powders in the box that I use. One appeared to be a full one pound can of IMR 7828 and part of a pound of IMR 4831. I grabbed the 7828 and left the rest for others. The 7828 can has some minor rust on the outside of the can towards the bottom on one side of the can. I could not unscrew the cap by hand. One shooter said, probably rusted closed. I've opened many new one pound cans of powders and I've had to use pliers every time to open it with the first time. I figure it was never opened as it felt like it was full.

[jeepyj]

BD,
Willimantic is a bit of a distance to use as a shooting club but a buddy and I plan going up for a handgun shoot for sure. We live in Old Town. There are a few of us who have started gathering on Sunday morning to shoot at a safe area on the studmill road. With a few guys it gets interesting what someone has come up with for targets.
Jeepyj

[wild thing]

Do you need a license to sell ammo? If someone is selling so much with out one , for that much profit would not IRS be intrested? John

[Wis. Tom]

The IRS is interested in kids selling lemonade, so yes, they would be very interested.

[starmac]

Do you need a license to sell ammo? If someone is selling so much with out one , for that much profit would not IRS be intrested? John

Does a guy really make a profit on cash deals????
At gun shows, I generally hand them cash and get no reciept.

[quilbilly]

The smaller club shows seem to be the better ones now.

[perotter]

Does a guy really make a profit on cash deals????
At gun shows, I generally hand them cash and get no reciept.

No, they don't make a profit on a cash sale. In fact it may create an overall lose or break even when mixed in with the non-cash sales.

I also pay with cash at gun shows. I pick out what I want to buy, put it in pile, take out some cash and ask how would the need for these items. Never have to take home a receipt to throw away either.

[slim1836]

Think of all the trees saved by not getting a receipt, Al Gore would be proud.

Slim

[Bad Water Bill]

At a couple of the Indiana gun shows BATFE busted dealers with powder or primers. Their vehicles were determined unsafe to carry explosive materials.[smilie=b:[smilie=b:

How is a FED EX truck any safer than the BIG 5 ton enclosed truck needed to transport all of the presses,firearms etc?

[jcwit]

At a couple of the Indiana gun shows BATFE busted dealers with powder or primers. Their vehicles were determined unsafe to carry explosive materials.[smilie=b:[smilie=b:

How is a FED EX truck any safer than the BIG 5 ton enclosed truck needed to transport all of the presses,firearms etc?

Its not! But the fact that shipping companies have the licensing to transport said materials makes it so. Just as having a business license and/or permit makes someone and actual business. Try going into any major city and setting yourself up as a taxi.

Saying you are doesn't make it so.

[Bad Water Bill]

One of the DEALERS was/is an FFL licensed brick and mortar store with the company name on the truck. He has been doing business near Michigan City for many years so he probably had licenses.

How is an ATFE agent qualified and trained to determine what type of a vehicle is safe or is that just left to the agent to make any type of call he chooses. He does not have to pay any bills if his call is thrown out of court.

[jeepyj]

I was at both of the shows as It was mentioned before that there wasn't a lot of loading accessories there was at least 3 professional bullet manufactures one that was selling some primers, one that was selling just cast lead, and the other was selling completed ammo. All of the ones that I talked to had stores in various areas in Maine and all had business cards. I really didn't notice if any were offering a receipt however I think most would agree that there isn't anything wrong with a little cash now and again. I also wanted to make note the powder I bought and paid for wasn't at the show it was from a gentleman that was at the show that recognized me at the show and is dropping it off to me tomorrow. Apparently he is a shotgun loader and happened to buy extra prior to the recent hoarding fiasco. In my book I will not forget the favor and I would hope someday I can return the favor
Jeepyj

[jcwit]

One of the DEALERS was/is an FFL licensed brick and mortar store with the company name on the truck. He has been doing business near Michigan City for many years so he probably had licenses.

Probably seems to be the key work here. And just the fact one has a FFL & brick & Mortar store does not necessarily mean they have the permits to transport large amounts of powder or primers on the public thoroughfares.

As mentioned in a reply to a thread under "Canister & Surplus Powder" even UPS or FEDX can only puck-up 100 lbs per day from a shipper, so that may mean that only 100 lbs can be on the truck going down the road. The truck being safe or not has nothing to do with it.