Gun show terminology

[Thumbcocker]

Recently there have been thread about the number of novice shooters showing up at ranges and elsewhere who are a bit inexperienced. Yesterday I was at a gun show and got to thinking about how some of the terms used might confuse a novice. Since there is a wealth of experience on this site I think it would be a good idea if we were to define some of the terms used at gun shows to help newer shooters. Here are the ones I have so far. Please add what you can to the list.

Collectors item: Any gun that has been out of production for more that 30 days.

Patina: Rust

Dark bore with strong rifling: Patina inside the barrel

Character: scratches, dings, chips, cracks and patina.

I am barely breaking even on this gun: I need to remember to call the dealership and upgrade to the heated leather seats.

Polymer: plastic

Tactical: a polymer gun that you can hang accessories on.

Tactical accessories: various items that fit on a tactical gun that totally eliminate the need for basic marksmanship or practice.

Used by elite units: sat in a warehouse in Minsk for 70 years.

I just got that in on a trade: Thank goodness I am finally moving this thing.

Militaria: Stuff from old peoples attics that has some connection to a war. Often characterized by patina and mildew.

[jsizemore]

My favorite is....

RARE and Hard to Find: You may have to walk 5-10 tables to find another.

[clintsfolly]

It uses a big pill! (Bullet)
They cost $2.00 a pew pew. (Round)
Anybody got any tips,heads,freedom eggs? (Bullets)

[Bookworm]

So, my 1930 Mosin Nagant is

Militaria used by elite units, and it possesses patina, character, and a dark bore with strong rifling !

I have a real collectors item !

I could sell it, and retire ....

[tommag]

Vintage mould: A Lee with the old style "alignment" pins.

[salpal48]

The thing with Gun shows, Everyone knows the value of stuff. with the internet , Value books and alike. Seller , private or otherwise think there stuff is gold. Here in the east, there is tons of stuff , loads of antiques, That is all I am interested. There must be 50 Of everything @ any Major show , Allentown, Baltimore, New York. books are meaningless. Sure you will catch a Noobi. Using Trapdoors Or 1903's as a guide there musts be Over 100 each @ the show. The question comes to mind Why should i buy yours when I have many to pick from . If your not Bargaining you go home with it

[Outer Rondacker]

"That is just a fraction of what it cost new." = I hope this fool has no clue what it cost new.

"Buy now before it is banned". = Please take this off my hands before it is against the law for me to sell it but I will keep ordering more until it is.

For those selling. "Its just not a hot item." = If he shows the smallest of signs he agrees I am going to steel this gun. ( just saw this one the other day Gun had a SW 357 blued gun shop owner told him no one wants wheel guns and he would have to sit on it for almost a year. He offered 150 when the guy accepted he headed to the register to then tell him he can only do 140 as it was all he had on hand.

Custom hand loads = no clue what is going to happen when you shoot these.

Not all is bad.
I just can not think of any at the moment. LOL

Ah MIL-SPEC = A performance specification defines the functional requirements for the item to military standards. - On a side note that does not mean a good thing most of the time. (sloppy)

[Bent Ramrod]

“Honest Wear.” Fell out of the bed of my pickup truck, at speed, at least twice.

“Mint.” At least 60% finish.

“Excellent.” At least 10% finish.

“Good.” Ranges from NRA Disgusting to NRA Nauseating.

“Vintage.” Before 2000.

“Antique.” Before 1980.

“Collectible.” Must be some moneyed idiot somewhere.

Notice on Wall Of Show: “Any Misrepresentation of Items For Sale Will Result in Ejection From Show, with Loss Of Table Fees.” Har-de-Har-Har.

[Murphy]

Call me devious, but there have been times I enjoy packing in a pistol or two and playing the dummy. No intention of parting with them what so ever.

A mint in the box S&W Model 27-2, 5" barrel with box & papers, or my S&W Model 66-4 3" in as new condition for instance. Some of them ole' boys are pretty good at keeping a straight face. I just pretend a relative left them to me and I'm actually more interested in getting one of them 9mm's everyone keeps talking about. But man! There shore is a ton of em' out here! Don't see anything here 'just yet' but may be back.

I've seen em' shaking and close to breaking into a sweat. I watch for the ones that deserve the treatment. Those who just took a kid's grandpa's 94 Winchester off his hands for a Keltec. Yep, ole thuty-thuty there son. You know how many MILLION of those they made?

Murphy

[OS OK]

TactiCool ... can only be sold to one who is in possession of a valid 'ManCard' & who will display the item in their 'ManCaves'...

[bob208]

well taken care of= stocks sanded down below the metal, metal has a nice cold blue finish.

one they tried to pull on me. that did ot cost that new in 1960. my answer was yes but that was silver so yes I will take $100 in silver coin today.

[Outer Rondacker]

TactiCool ... can only be sold to one who is in possession of a valid 'ManCard' & who will display the item in their 'ManCaves'...

I love it. Good one. I almost didnt buy a rifle because it is named the Tacticool. I am so glad I did. Best shooting 22lr ever.

Keep um coming this is fun.

[rl69]

I always loved on pawn stars a guy would bring in a old colt beautifully restored and the would tell them " if it was original it would be worth a fortune" next guy comes in with a good condition colt and they tell him " it going to cost a fortune to have it restored"

[shaune509]

Badly repainted Ruger medallion or vintage WW2 M1 Iver Johnson carbine, and they do sell to some sucker. Sometimes it is worse than a used car dealer.
Shaune509

[GOPHER SLAYER]

Love it. I have heard all of them and more. Here is one of my favorites. How long have you been dragging that thing around?

[EMC45]

I was at a gun show years back in Biloxi and I saw a 3in Model 36 Smith and asked the guy if the price was negotiable. He said it sure was (after he told me the gun was "rare"). I had my Fjestadts blue book in my large cargo pocket and pulled it out and started flipping to the Smith section. He got instantly furious. Red face and all. I walked off.

At a gunshow in Perry Ga there was a guy there with a table of beat up leather holsters and a bunch of gun "junk" in fair to poor condition. I looked at a few things and he blurted out "Everything must go! I'm getting out of the gunshow business and I'm tired of lugging all this stuff around. This is my last show EVER!" Saw him at the next gunshow I went to with the exact same junk on his table. I walked up and he started into the whole "my last gunshow ever".............


Gun dealers/show folk can be really scummy at times.

[Boogieman]

I was ask one time what patina means, after a moment I gave the best answer I could think of. If I'm selling it to you it's Patina, if you are trying to trade it to me it's rusty

[Hick]

I saw one of those rifles at a local gun show. The seller bragged about how this Winchester Model 94 was an antique. Stock was black. Had a flat barrel band on the front (yes, that's the old style). Then I looked at the bottom of the receiver and there was no set screw or set screw hole and the pin was a screwed in roll pin (post -64). I pointed out to him that the parts didn't match and he had nothing to say.

[6bg6ga]

My favorite is "That gun is hard to get." I guess it really is because I've only seen a dozen of them at the show so far.

[Thin Man]

"Rare" also means the make/model of this firearm was not well received by the buying public when they were first introduced for sale. The manufacturer realized this and ended their run of that model quickly. Were't popular then, and still aren't today, so there are only a few of them.

[georgerkahn]

One of my favourites is, "They're going for much, much higher on GunBroker!" My general reply has been, "Yes, one CAN list a $100.00 gun on GunBroker -- or anywhere else -- for, say, $300.00; might you tell me the price the last three of these actually sold for? Two? One?" We've even often seen (e.g., Lyman) die-sets on tables at gun shows at HIGHER pries than the shipped selling brand-new price from Grafs, Midway, MidSouth, and/or others. "Buyer beware" too often gets new meaning at shows :)!
geo

[Reddirt62]

This is rich!! Love it! I remember back when I was a newby....now you can't get me into a gun show.

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[KCSO]

Murphy I love it!!! You are one devious fellow!

[Handloader109]

They are called gun SHOWS for a reason..... I don't attend many, I DO like to walk down the aisles at the Tulsa shows just to see guns and the paraphernalia that is our history. My local show? Not so much.

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[higgins]

"It's worth $800, but I'll take $500 for it."

[Blanket]

"It's worth $800, but I'll take $500 for it." Translated means "it's almost $500 new, but this beat up *** is only worth $200". Gunshow translated is, a place people rent tables to try to take advantage of dummies, and to spew their wealth of BS

[Outer Rondacker]

Translated means "it's almost $500 new, but this beat up *** is only worth $200". Gunshow translated is, a place people rent tables to try to take advantage of dummies, and to spew their wealth of BS

And dont forget how they are barely getting by in the business. Yet the steak house is full of them every night in the town where the show is being held.

[6bg6ga]

I'm just wondering if anyones arm had been twisted and they were forced to go to the gun show. There are a lot of decent dealers and there are some rip off artists. We as informed gun people should be able to tell the difference. I would suggest that if you cannot then you should avoid the gun shows.

[Outer Rondacker]

We are just making fun. I have had tables at all the shows within four hours of my house for many many years. I still attend when I can. I can not speak for others but I will say in my area very few of the old dealers still have tables. It is a younger crowd pushing box store guns or junk.

I used to dig in the junk boxes and bins for all sorts of stuff. Now it is mostly AR this and that tactical stuff and so on. We used to do vendor trading Friday nights and now once guys have set up the tables they just cover it with a sheet and leave.

Shows are great or where and do provide good times. But like anything else you always have that one or more dealers looking to cash in on the newbie.

Oh and yes my arm gets twisted every time a show is around by all my shooting buddies to go. :bigsmyl2:

[Shawlerbrook]

One of my favorites is....I have one like that only it’s different.

[Blanket]

I'm just wondering if anyones arm had been twisted and they were forced to go to the gun show. There are a lot of decent dealers and there are some rip off artists. We as informed gun people should be able to tell the difference. I would suggest that if you cannot then you should avoid the gun shows. gun show dealer, huh?

[Harter66]

Knock on wood I haven't lost my butt at a show mostly.because I'm a cheap skate .

If I see something blatantly flakey on a table I walk . Last show it was a box of $10 ea Carcano stripper clips "WWII" plainly stamped 70s vintage brass clips ........ Got 3 from another guy that probably didn't know what they were for $5 .

I saw an 03A3 for sale with a tag on it for $201 more than I sold it for just over a yr ago .......

I saw a Frontier Six Shooter in rough shape with a 2nd gen SAA price tag and the guy was actually pushing it as a 1910 cowboy gun .........

I passed 2 #1s in 45-70 at $400 .
I passed a Citori cased set , 6 barrel sets , 1 screw in with 8 chokes $1800 .
I did buy an H&G 130 8C for $30 .
Got a RBH 45 ACP cylinder $25 .
My buddy Jorge got an original 1875 action 1886 TD for $500 ..... couldn't look at a rough dark bore this go around for under 700.

I've seen JMs for Rem prices and Remlins for premium JM prices .
I don't know what the Mauser guys are smoking but unless there are 7 witness signatures and a DNA testable blood sample proving it was Hitler's last personal rifle there's no way in ---- I'm paying $300 for a Check .
Maybe an engraved Rigby in 275 Rigby with double set triggers .

Best line ?
This 460 Weatherby Mark V Safari is bargain priced at $6000 and it comes with 14 rounds left in the original box that came with the rifle . Just 3 owners .
I'm like yeah cause they shot it the 2nd time because they couldn't believe anything could hit that hard the first time .
Oh wait that was the light barrel #1 375 H&H last weekend .

[Shawlerbrook]

I still enjoy going, especially some of the smaller shows. Like anything( flea markets, antique shows, etc) there is the over priced, over hyped, but you can still find the occasional deal. You can always, look, ask and dicker. And you can always walk away.

[6bg6ga]

gun show dealer, huh?

No, not a gun dealer.

[10-x]

All " militaria" is NOT old moldy stuff. Seller at the recent Show of Shows had a SS uniform for sale, $ 18,000. May have been a decent price, was not there to ask nazi collector friends about it. Anyway seller went to bathroom or get something to eat. Guy comes to table and asks his helper how much, helper calls seller, seller say its 18. Helper sold it for $1,800!!!!!!!

[lightman]

Cool thread and kind of funny! Rare or collector means over priced to me. After I retired, I cleaned out my gun room, safe, closet, ect and sold off several items that I had no use for. Me and a couple of buddies rented a table at the local show. I researched the value of my stuff and priced it to sell. I was even willing to go down a little to move an item. I still laugh at some of the characters that stopped by the table. Everything from Mister Low Ball to Mister Know-it-all to Mister Broke and Fixed Income guy! And a few knowledgeable guys that I enjoyed visiting with.

I had a bunch of belt buckles for sale. A young couple stopped to look and She ask to handle one of them. I want to say I was asking around $5 for it. She ask If I would take less. I told her I thought it should be worth $5. They left but returned a couple of times and just looked. Later in the day She returned yet again and ask to see that buckle again and again ask if I would take less. Well, I just gave it to Her! I told her if she really wanted it that bad I would like for her to have it. Seeing her eyes light up was the highlight of the show for me!

[Kraschenbirn]

I don't waste my time with gun shows in this area. Almost ALL shows around here are run by the same promoter: a regular 'circuit' with (mostly) the same dealers, same 'tacticool' hardware, same flea market junk. At the last show I attended, the only local guys with tables were 'collectors' with a few fairly nice pieces who seemed to have been infected with the same 'Blue Book Price' malady as the guys peddling plastic. One of those had a waffletop Marlin in .35 Rem with a genuine 'collectable' price on it...same gun he'd offered me, a month or so earlier, for $200 less. Only shows I'll hit these days are the ones put on by local organizations (shooting clubs, VFW, etc.) which, apparently, don't have sufficient attendance to attract dealers from the 'circuit'.

Bill

[historicfirearms]

I still like going to the shows. It's not like the old days when guys would bring tons of gun parts to look over. Mostly just ARs and over priced new guns. But,,, once in a while I find some diamond in the rough for a good price. Mainly I like the hunt for a good deal. They are few and far apart, but they are still out there. I love getting a deal over on those wheeler dealer gun show guys. Mostly it's on some obscure reloading gear. It's really a knowledge game knowing when something is a deal.

Oh, and I've done the Murphy trick a few times too. Good fun letting them think they are going to buy a collector condition m1 for $300, even for just a minute.

[salpal48]

I go to the shows mostly in pa.. This is the only so called business . You get a bunch of Guns. , rent a table, Get some sort of price guide. BS a lot and your in Business

[TaylorS]

This stuff is some hot mil surp ammo, meaning it WILL blow up in your face at least every 10th round


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[JSnover]

The ones I really hate are the guys who try to sell you something else. "Here, you'll like this one a whole lot better!" Not likely, since it's totally different from what I'm looking for. What he really meant was "I don't care what you want, just buy this one."
You always have to watch out but if the show isn't too crowded you can usually take a few minutes to talk to them, get to know what they're up to. Along with all the other characters I've met some pretty good folks at some of those tables.

[higgins]

"It's worth 800, but I'll take 500" No, it's not or you wouldn't take 500 for it, and it can probably be had for somewhere between 400 and 500.

[Tom W.]

I had a friend and his wife who went to gun shows all of the time as dealers. The best thing I ever saw that he had was a Savage Model 99 that was overpriced. Once he was selling a man a water buffalo mount and had the guy convinced that it was a Cape buffalo. I had to bite my lip and walk away..... I did get free entrance to the show through him because I'd sometimes watch his table if he or his wife wanted to wander around a bit.

The last gun show I went to I bought some True Blue powder and a box of .38 Special loaded wadcutters. I have yet to shoot one.

[condorjohn]

I've been the show director for a local collectors club (non profit) for 15 years. I believe I've seen or heard every claim, cliche, scam or hustle described in this thread. It is very entertaining to say the least.

Something to keep in mind about gun shows is the very big "commercial" shows have all the same stuff. It's the club shows in smaller venues that are usually the better shows. Look for the shows that have been around for a while.

Gun show vendors (not dealers) are mostly a very good group with the usual suspects on the fringe.

There are still some good deals and hard to find stuff you just have to look around. wvaca.org

[StratsMan]

It's getting harder and harder to find tables with folks who are "thinning the herd"... I look for tables that look like a reloading bench clean-out... they're getting to be as rare as some of the guns we used to swap back and forth 20 years ago... but occasionally there is a treasure worth taking home... the "Treasure Hunt" is the reason I keep paying the admission fee, and I do find items somebody is selling because a buddy died recently (huge Texan 12ga progressive for $50), or somebody bought an entire shop that was going out of business (bulk bullets and powder)...

But the guys who want to sell a mixed inch/metric FAL with a no-name receiver, and ask $way too much$ because "you never see these any more" will only see my back as I walk away...

[GOPHER SLAYER]

I thought of another, " yep, it's a real tack driver". He has never fired any gun he has.

[waksupi]

I'm one of those that would set up at gun shows, to try and get rid of guns. I kind of quit doing it, as I found that although I sell some guns, I usually come home with at least three more than I started with.

[nvbirdman]

98 Mauser wartime treasure - Thrown together by slave labor in Germany near the end of the war.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I like the `prowling floor sharks` that will offer to buy that old lever Winchester you have for $75 since nobody else will want to buy it.Robert

[snowwolfe]

Is it accurate? Sorry, I don't know as I never shoot it.

This means it will not shoot worth a hill of beans.

[trapper9260]

The last gun show I went to , the things I looking to get was too high price. I went to the sporting goods store that is not that far from there had it a price alot lower. and to top it off met up with some guys outside the store when I walk out with what I wanted said you where at the gun show where you ,I said yes the things was too high price .They said we seen that that is why we came here also.

[Tripplebeards]

I stopped going to them years ago in my area. The local gun shows in my area reminds me of when I use to go to the junk yard when I was a kid. 99.% of the stuff that's for sale in my area is the same old stuff that gets hauled there every year since I was a kid and nobody buys it. It's more of a social event with little sales. The only difference is a few of the local thieves"pawn shops"bring in their modern inventory and mark it up hoping to find a sucker. They were fun to go to when I was a kid like the boat show but When the inventory doesn't change from year to year it gets boring.

[Texas by God]

It's almost dealers only now- so sad. The glory days of gun shows are gone. I'll go to maybe one a year. Someday I'll go to Tulsa!

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[rockrat]

There are some deals at gunshows, you just have to be lucky. Been on both sides of the tables. Never could figure out why someone would buy a gun on another table when mine, also new, was priced about 15-25% less. Maybe they thought it was too cheap, so something might have been wrong with it?
Last gunshow here, ended up buying an RCBS powered case trimmer, almost new, with pilots and shellholders, for $100 and some 25-35 brass for $20 a bag, same with the 357max brass!!

[jonp]

Old thread but something that burns me for some strange reason is people that add a "y" on the end of stuff to demonstrate their coolness and being in the know.
Like "shotty" (shotgun), "Winny (winchester). Not sure why that makes me grind my teeth so much

[jonp]

There are some deals at gunshows, you just have to be lucky. Been on both sides of the tables. Never could figure out why someone would buy a gun on another table when mine, also new, was priced about 15-25% less. Maybe they thought it was too cheap, so something might have been wrong with it?
Last gunshow here, ended up buying an RCBS powered case trimmer, almost new, with pilots and shellholders, for $100 and some 25-35 brass for $20 a bag, same with the 357max brass!!

Few deals anymore around here as most are just brand new stuff or used from gunshop dealers. Occasionally you run into something. I got some surplus 5/10 pants for $10 a pair off one guy and a box of lead for about .10 lb off another that didn't want to cart it home.

[Alan in Vermont]

a place people rent tables to try to take advantage of dummies, and to spew their wealth of BS

Sounds like the genius who had a few loose rounds in 38 Sp. on his table. Sure looked like they had a cast, powder coated, SWC of somewhere in the 150 gr. range.

I picked one up and he lit into a spiel about them being "armor piercing, depleted Uranium" projectiles.

OK, maybe, but I kinda had to doubt just how much armor they could pierce at 38 Sp. velocities. I don't much like being treated as if I'm dumb enough to actually believe their BS and I won't do business with someone who might be dumb enough to actually believe it themselves.

[texasnative46]

To All,

Around The Alamo City, I find LITTLE of interest at the shows as 80-90% is composed of "black guns", which I have no interest in, BUT what keeps me going back are the occasional REAL collectibles like the 1909 Colt's Police Positive Special that I recently found in near mint condition for 250.oo or the .22 Banker's Special for 350.oo in near new shape & the Model 760 Remington in .244REM for 100.oo (from a YM, who was "walking around the aisles" & didn't know that the 6mm/.244 Remington cartridges are EXACTLY the same cartridge up to 95 grains. = I bought my FIRST Model 760 in "as new condition" in .244REM from a pawn shop for 60.oo in 1966. - In the last half century, it's taken a LOT of deer/hogs using my 80/90 grain JSP handloads.).

I have a theory that a considerable percentage of D-frame Colts & J-frame S&W revolvers are bought by non-shooters who "- - - just think I should have a gun", loaded it & put the handgun into a bedside or desk drawer but never (or at least very seldom) fired the revolver, as I find a considerable number of such "little" .22, .32 & .38 revolvers that show little/no use & often include the factory box.

just my opinion, tex

[merlin101]

I go to the big show around here but rarely bring anything home, it's fun to look and listen and sometimes (rare)I find a deal on a box of old ammo or something like that. Mostly its the same tactacool stuff and old overpriced junk. How a bout a Lee double banger mold with scratched and burned handles and misaligned blocks that's a "rare collectors item"!
I do go to some small local shows where guy's are moving their own stuff and are willing to trade or sell.

[marek313]

Old thread but something that burns me for some strange reason is people that add a "y" on the end of stuff to demonstrate their coolness and being in the know.
Like "shotty" (shotgun), "Winny (winchester). Not sure why that makes me grind my teeth so much

Oh so you know that guy too. Hes the same annoying guy with a Remy and a Smitty [smilie=l:

[Petrol & Powder]

Gun show creed:

Caveat Emptor

[birch]

Saddest Gun show Scam:

I had a nice old Savage in 7mm. I took it to the show with intent of getting 250 bucks for it. It had a scope that I put on, but I had originally only paid 250 for it.....break even just to get rid of it. Well, it was near deer season, and this teenager came up to me asking how much I wanted for it. He told me he came to the show to buy his first deer rifle. I told him 250...he shook his head a little and told me he only had 150 bucks to find something shootable. Sooooooo......I sold the kid the rifle for 150 bucks with the intention of helping make a lifelong hunter. I was feeling pretty good about myself.

Then....I saw the kid come back in and run behind a table at the other end of the show. He was working the show for some relative. I didn't say anything to them. I just shook my head and made sure I made eye contact with both of them. There was no shame in their faces. They were so proud.

[JoeJames]

Been on both sides of the table over the last 50 years. Being behind the table really does give one a definite advantage. One of the funniest incidents I remember was a buddy of mine who had a table at the Searcy, Arkansas show about 20 years ago. He had an 03-A3 that after looking it over I thought it had been cut down about 2 or 3 inches for some unknown reason. Weird but the stock fit fine and so on. I asked old Craig what had happened to it? He said that is a genuine Tanker 03-43 - government built 'em special for Polish troops who weren't used to semi-autos like Garands. And then this younger feller wandered up and bought the thing while we were laughing about it. Just shows to go you. It was funny - a fraud on a fraud.