Gun Show report 11/23/16

[kens]

Went to local gun show.
I am getting old now and have decided to thin out the heard before my wife gets stuck with all my toys should I get sudden illness.
I decided to take 1 piece to every gunshow to sell at my own bartering rather than her being stuck with it.
Here is what I noticed when attending from a different perspective than years before.
There is not nearly as much polished blue/walnut as years before. Today it is mostly polymer/coated guns.
Remember as you first walk in, there is the many presentation cased guns, drillings, O/U's, high end guns at the first tables??
Not much of that.
Very large tables with Glocks, polymers, AR's, and the like are by a wide margin what is there.
I saw some Rem 870 wingmaster shotguns, that previously held high prices (blue&walnut) tagged at pittance above a new polymer/coated mossberg.
Browning A5 squareback still at it's same ~700 level. Those being old now (blue/walnut) I would think to be a higher price in today's good economy, but it not that way.
US Military arms, didnt see a single carbine nor '03, and but 1 Garand. Does nobody have interest in these anymore?
I did see a few military 1911's, and they were priced about the same as the now DCM prices. ~1100. Go figure.
SAA Colt Peacemaker?? Remember the ones in glass cases? Didn't see a one, once again (blue/walnut)
However, if you want a polymer 9mm pistol, you had thousands to choose from. Every size, shape, configuration you could imagine. (polymer/coated)
Tables only offering red-dot sights, there was more than one.
Tables offering hunting class scopes.......nope. Nowadays scopes are black matte and tactical style. If you want a straight 4x scope for a hunting rifle, don't bother with the gun show.
I bet I didnt see more than 6 revolvers in the whole place.
Ammo? You bettcha. I saw more ammo than ever before, not much spam can mil-surp, but whole cases of commercial stuff. All the calibers.
I saw whole cases of .38/.357 and other rimmed, I don't recall seeing that before. Decent prices
Powder/primers, you bettcha. I saw more than ever before, and prices were back to a resemblance of normal.
Enough rambling for now,
Gun shows just are not as they were years before.......it's a new millenial generation of customers

[Petrol & Powder]

I think we've all seen the changes to that environment over the years. Gun shows are now mostly dealers operating a remote storefront for a couple of days. Because there is a market for polymer framed pistols and AR platform rifles - that is what you see offered for sale the most.

On the plus side, the competition of all of those dealers in one place does help to keep the prices in check.

I still find the occasional cool old gun and buy it but....I mostly go for the chance to pick up powder without a hazmat fee or to find that obscure piece of reloading gear.

The heydays of gunshows were the pre 1994 years and a little bit of the post 1994 years after everyone clamed down.

[kens]

well, what about all those collectable bright blue/walnut guns we adore so much??
Are we stuck with them?
No more market to sell these?

[lead-1]

I have for the biggest part given up on gun shows, just not the same as when I started going. Used to visit 4-5 a year now maybe one every couple years.
Everything you have is junk and whatever they have is gold.
Reloading items are a thing of the past as are tables full of old parts of all kinds.
I was surprised to see at a show several years ago, a guy set up a show of his own. I would bet this guy had every item sold by LEE at his display, guy was from Pa. and I haven't seen him set up again anywhere.

[Plate plinker]

To the OP maybe you should sell your stuff here?

[Froogal]

Gun shows are pretty much ALL about semi-auto pistols and black semi-auto rifles. I am just tired of all that. I find it much easier to contact a local FFL, tell him what I want, he'll order it, and then I go pick it up.

[Winger Ed.]

I quit going to gun shows about 15 years ago.

Everything I saw was way over priced, or just junk.

[fatelk]

I have for the biggest part given up on gun shows, just not the same as when I started going. Used to visit 4-5 a year now maybe one every couple years.
Everything you have is junk and whatever they have is gold.
Reloading items are a thing of the past as are tables full of old parts of all kinds.
I was surprised to see at a show several years ago, a guy set up a show of his own. I would bet this guy had every item sold by LEE at his display, guy was from Pa. and I haven't seen him set up again anywhere.

I used to go to more shows when I was younger, but am more selective now. Around here there are two types of shows: promoter shows and club shows.

The promoter shows are like you describe, the same people with the same stuff, dealers with table after table of plastic guns. There’s a weekly show circuit and they’re pretty much all the same.

The club shows around here are like stepping back in time. There are three good ones within driving distance here, big clubs full of old guys with lots of cool stuff, that each put on a great show once or twice a year. Lots of older gun, tables full of odds and ends, good deals to be had.

Not all gun shows are the same. If you want to go to a good one, go online and find a big gun club nearby that sponsors a show once or twice a year.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I think that you're seeing all the plastic and polymer guns because that's what people seem to want. As more people have become gun owners the type of gun owners has changed. They no longer want to give the blue and walnut guns the care and maintenance that they need to remain looking nice. As for the Garands and Carbines, people do want them, and the market is established and expanding with no more to come, so those who have them hold onto them. I'd venture a guess that all of the commercial ammo you saw is a result of the big ammo shortage of a few years ago. The ammo manufacturers ramped up production and increased capacity to where it's now almost a glut on the market. A visit to most chain stores that have a gun department will find ammo like .22 L.R., 9mm, and .223/5.56mm stacked deep and high at prices which, accounting for inflation, are about the same as before the shortage. On the other hand, although many of the world's militaries have ammo aging in their warehouses, we may have exhausted the current supply of genuine surplus ammo. Even the Russians manufacture new ammo that imitates their military ammo. Some of these countries may be handicapped in exporting any surplus that they have by restrictions and sanctions. For sure, it is a changing scene at the gun shows.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I used to go to more shows when I was younger, but am more selective now. Around here there are two types of shows: promoter shows and club shows.

The promoter shows are like you describe, the same people with the same stuff, dealers with table after table of plastic guns. There’s a weekly show circuit and they’re pretty much all the same.

The club shows around here are like stepping back in time. There are three good ones within driving distance here, big clubs full of old guys with lots of cool stuff, that each put on a great show twice a year. Lots of older gun, tables full of odds and ends, good deals to be had.

Not all gun shows are the same. If you want to go to a good one, go online and find a big gun club nearby that sponsors a show once or twice a year.

This is so true.
I will add one more thing. Look for a Club gunshow that is the same weekend as a Promoter gunshow in the same region. Because Club gunshows will also have the big dealers, unless there is a bigger better Promoter gunshow that same weekend. The smaller Club gunshow that same weekend will be almost all private dealers and probably the LGS...and he is the one FFL you want to deal with anyway, if you are looking at new guns.

There is four or five such Club Gunshows (with Promoter competition) each year, in rural MN within a couple hours of the Big City...Those are the shows I go to.

The last time I was at a Promoter show (I think it was a MN weapons collectors show), I was in and out within 60 minutes.

[brewer12345]

My local indoor range has about 1 revolver shooter for every 10 plastic whatever shooter. I brought in a lever action a week ago and got outright stares.

[Misery-Whip]

I agree with Plate Plinker. Sell here.

Im in my 30s, i have bought 2 plastic handguns and was dissapointed. Never again. Im always lookin at the used market for tools, guns, cars ect. Ive about givin up on buying new of anything. The polished blued guns are almost art. Your items here wont be called junk. Hell we might even fight over it...

[Handloader109]

I went to the |Wanamaker's Tulsa show a couple of weekends ago. There are Plenty of wood guns on display, and a few being bought or sold there. I just go to wander around, picking up a bit of something here or there. They had a lot of plastic guns, but there are still collectors out there. But I'd sell here if I were you. Or just locally. Shows? Not worth the trouble.

[richhodg66]

Depends quite a bit on the show. The Chisholm Trail Gun show in Wichita twice a year is the best gun show I've ever been to, period. Mostly old stuff, and lots of used reloading stuff. I cherish that show every time I attend it.

I really like the small town shows around here too for the same reasons, just not the same volume of stuff.

[FLINTNFIRE]

Heck I remember even around early 2000 or so your stuff was junk and their stuff same as yours was invaluable and worth more the table holders offered next to nothing and wanted to beat you down while in the meantime tell you how the worn shot out mauser they had was so great , Yes there were a few decent table holders , and yes I to am a blue and wood man, though I do have polymer , stainless not so much it shines and I prefer my shine from deep dark blue . Went a year or so ago and it was a let down , saw one older gentleman I had bought from and was saddened to hear his wife who was always at shows with him had passed , saw few faces I remembered and saw prices well over local store , not much of the mil. surplus either and that stuff always perked my interest, the states mandated check system to satisfy the big city fools made it no longer worth while and little to no casting or reloading gear , little powder or primer and no good buys on any of that , sad .

[beechbum444]

interesting side note.....a friend of mine at work took a Winchester 94 out with some millennials to shoot....they all had the new cool stuff and NONE of them had the slightest idea what he had, nor had ever seen one......early twenty year old's....no clue

[Pressman]

I always enjoy the shows. They are a great place to pick-up single shot 22's, my new weakness. Looking for vintage reloading tools that are usually not there any more, everything is on eBay now. Sometimes there is a bargain to be found on smaller items if the seller does not mess with eBay. And I have met some interesting people and made a few new friends. For that reason it's never a waste of time.
I agree that I have no interest in long tables full of black plastic guns, I want to look at real wood and blued steel. Times, they are a changing, faster than I care to try to keep up with.

[elk hunter]

My passion is old guns. I pretty much gave up on gun shows years ago. Everything that was for sale was apparently made of Gold or maybe Platinum, what I had to sell was made of lead or more likely cast iron. I did go to a gun show in March of 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. It was the "Maryland Antique Arms Collectors" show. WOW! 1000 tables of every description of antique firearms. I went looking for a shooter Civil War Springfield or contract musket and bought two, a Springfield and a Remington, at what amounted to the price of the Remington alone when compared to prices on the internet. If my son was still stationed there I would have gone back this year.

[Jedman]

I still go to a couple gun shows each year. The best one is about 1 1/2 hours away but I usually see a few friends when I go and it's worth going. I too am only interested in older blue/ walnut guns so I cruise right by all the tables that are all black.
I am trying to reduce my heard for the same reason as the OP but as soon as I sell a few I seem to find replacements just as quick and have not made much progress.
The past 2 years I have gotten 1 table at a small show and did quite well in 2 days for only 1 table.
The 1 ST show I sold 7 guns, last winter at the same show I sold 9
I believe that I sell at prices I believe are fair while most others with older used guns price them like they are all collectible prizes.

Jedman

[nun2kute]

kens ... +1 on the "Sell Here" theme.

I'd love to get my hands on a good Garand but for prices on GB I might as well go buy a brand new Springfield Tanker. 30 M1 ??? Pffft ..... I don't need a gold plated gun to have fun with it. Just shoot able. Your better off selling here anyway.

[Thin Man]

As for the absence of carbines, 03's and revolvers - it is not a story that they are unwanted. They are wanted and kept off the sale tables because the owners appreciate them. I attended an estate auction recently and found these described firearms were fought for during the sale.

I used to visit every gun show within driving distance from my town. Often times my attendance was to visit with long time friends. As this number of friends got lower my interest declined. The increase in plastic firearms, t-shirts and non-related materials, and the absence of traditional blued steel / walnut long guns has caused my attendance level to one show every other year, if even that often. Online sales have replaced the shows, but that is not a bad thing. Makes it easier (or even possible) to find that one specific item you would not even find at a walk-in show.

[Idaho45guy]

I haven't been to a gun show since the 90's. Why should I pay money to go see tables of overpriced firearms, jerky, and Nazi memorabilia?

As far as lamenting the absence of blued steel and walnut... Yes, a quality blued S&W revolver is a beautiful thing, but it is obviously not as effective of a defensive tool as the average polymer auto. The polymer gun is lighter, holds twice as many or more rounds, is more durable, easier to shoot better, easier to conceal, cheaper, and is just a more effective weapon all around.

Blaming their popularity on "Millennials" is ridiculous. They are a better weapon. Period. If they weren't, they wouldn't be so popular.

I'm old enough to have been issued a 1911 in the military, and then a Beretta M9. My first carry gun was a S&W 686 4" revolver. My Glock 19 Gen 5 and S&W M&P40c are just a smarter choice for concealed carry.

My first car was a 1970 Ford Torino 2dr. I now drive a 2019 Toyota 4Runner which is also a smarter choice for reliable and comfortable daily driving.

Nostalgia is fine, as is having an appreciation for the craftsmanship and beauty of older weapons and vehicles, but trying to say that the new stuff is garbage or blaming millennials for it's popularity and existence is ridiculous to the point of absurdity.

[quilbilly]

I enjoy going to gun shows if they aren't too far away. I don't go for guns but usually for cast boolit supplies, brass, primers and other interesting things for the outdoors. I have gotten some incredible deals on molds (i.e. a Saeco custom three hole .257 cal 103 gr with handles for $10), mold handles, or checks (i.e. 2000 Lyman 30 cal. checks for $5). Small local shows that look more like flea markets are the best.

[Iowa Fox]

I always enjoy the shows. They are a great place to pick-up single shot 22's, my new weakness. Looking for vintage reloading tools that are usually not there any more, everything is on eBay now. Sometimes there is a bargain to be found on smaller items if the seller does not mess with eBay. And I have met some interesting people and made a few new friends. For that reason it's never a waste of time.
I agree that I have no interest in long tables full of black plastic guns, I want to look at real wood and blued steel. Times, they are a changing, faster than I care to try to keep up with.

Looks like we are on the same path as I have been on the old single shot path for the last couple years. Must have been millions made but they seem to rarely turn up for sale around here. Went to the Cedar Rapids show a couple weeks ago but I could only find high priced junk. There was one table selling estate reloading stuff with pretty good prices but I already have 3 or 4 of everything they had on the table. I have my best luck trying to catch guys bringing things in to sell.

[Texas by God]

A small town shooting range about 30 minutes away has a 15 table show every so often. No dealers; just Free America swapping and selling. I love that little show and I've gotten several "keepers" there. The D/FW big shows just kinda suck anymore. I'd like to give the Tulsa show a whirl someday.

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[Daver7]

Depends quite a bit on the show. The Chisholm Trail Gun show in Wichita twice a year is the best gun show I've ever been to, period. Mostly old stuff, and lots of used reloading stuff. I cherish that show every time I attend it.

I really like the small town shows around here too for the same reasons, just not the same volume of stuff.

I went to the Chisholm Trail gun shows in the early 70's into the mid 80's I could pick up a free pass at the Bullet Stop. They were fun back then. Then the "Beanie Babies" and jewelry started showing up and I was done. then I started catching the gun auctions in Douglas and other small town and had a blast at those. Had a table at Tulsa a twice, now thats a gun show. Haven't been to Tulsa for close to 10 years, might have to make a road trip.

[fatelk]

I haven't been to a gun show since the 90's. Why should I pay money to go see tables of overpriced firearms, jerky, and Nazi memorabilia?

To each their own, but you're missing out if you haven't been to a good, old-fashioned club show. I go for entertainment, to talk to people, and occasionally find interesting odds and ends. Last one I went to I bought a Marlin model 60 for $25. It was in pretty rough shape, missing the trigger assembly and a few small part- screws, front sight and such. I bought a trigger assembly a few tables over for $10, and had the small parts in my box of junk at home. A little cold blue, stock finish, and elbow grease, and I'll have a good little rifle. Can't beat that for $35. I can usually find some good odds and ends or cheap project at a gun show, to keep me busy tinkering and out of trouble.

To me, saying I don't go to gun shows because the last couple I went to were lame, is like saying I don't go to the movies because the last couple I saw at the theater were boring. They're not all the same, far from it.

[richhodg66]

I went to the Chisholm Trail gun shows in the early 70's into the mid 80's I could pick up a free pass at the Bullet Stop. They were fun back then. Then the "Beanie Babies" and jewelry started showing up and I was done. then I started catching the gun auctions in Douglas and other small town and had a blast at those. Had a table at Tulsa a twice, now thats a gun show. Haven't been to Tulsa for close to 10 years, might have to make a road trip.

I haven't seen any of that at the Chisholm Trail show in Hartman arena, just tables and tables of good stuff. Still have the occasional table of AR stuff, but not many. About the only thing there besides gun stuff was a lot of tables of custom knives, which I appreciate a good blade, just not into the hand made, artistic stuff.

I did go to the one downtown the other weekend, much smaller show and a lot more non-gun stuff at that one, but was still worth going to. There was an old guy with a big table full of vintage target rifles of various types a few dozen of them, including a Sportco Palma rifle I'd never seen one of before and I really enjoyed talking to him about it. I kind of got the impression he wasn't all that interested in selling stuff as much as the social outlet of being there.

I still like gun shows and try to get to as many as I can. There was one in Manhattan last weekend I didn't and I'm close to that one. The last one I went to there was much, much better than the Manhattan ones typically were, but I still wouldn't have called it a great show.

[snowwolfe]

I quit going to gun shows about 15 years ago.
Everything I saw was way over priced, or just junk.

Same for me. Total waste of time.

Now, if the people sponsoring these gun shows would limit the sellers to guns or related shooting items I would go again. But the last couple of shows I attended there were at least 50% of the tables selling non related crap.

[JoeJames]

I have been to some fairly large shows, and some very small shows lately. I have been lucky a few times at the very small shows - 15 tables or less. Just seems as though you get more non-dealers with tables at the small shows. I agree with the others, that at least at large shows it is mostly plastic pistols. Not that I have anything against the plastic ones. But in my opinion the plastic ones typify the old statement that a firearm is just a "tool". I have a couple of Glocks and to me that is exactly what they are: reliable tools, nothing more, nothing less - do their job reliably, but they ain't perty.

[fatelk]

It’s all about expectations too. If time is money for you, you don’t care for browsing and socializing, and expect a smorgasbord of good deals laid out before you, then gun shows are not for you. You’ll be way better off just going to your local gun shop, buying what you need, and being on your way. Gun shows aren’t bargain-bin garage sales. High prices are common. You have to search a bit to find bargains.

If you enjoy taking the time and walking past the stuff you’re not interested in to look for stuff you are, then it’s a different story. I went to a small promoter show here in town recently. Honestly it was a pathetic show. I spent a total of $7, and that was just getting in the door. I still enjoyed it. I spent the morning hanging out with my son, walking around looking at overpriced stuff we don’t need, stopped and talked to a couple vendors when they weren’t busy. It was a lousy show but still entertaining. I wouldn’t bother driving very far for a show like that, but this one was literally a couple miles from my house.

I’ve always heard the griping about jerky and Beany Babies, but never understood it. It’s just never really bothered me to walk past a couple tables of things I’m not interested in. To each their own. If I didn’t enjoy it or was looking for a bargain on something specific, it would be a real waste of time.

Where’s CondorJohn? His club puts on a great show every year in Eugene, Oregon. I haven’t been in a while since we moved away, but it was always worth attending.

[jonp]

Pretty much mirrors my experience at the Dixie Gun and Knife last weekend in Raleigh, NC. Not a bad selection of wood and steel but tables and tables of plastic handguns and rifles. I did see an old 25-35 lever and was looking it over and the dealer came over. Told me it was very rare, it was a 25-38 and there weren't that many left around. I told him I bet there aren't and kept walking.
One guy did have a very nice 25-20 but wanted $900 for it and it did not have the original buttplate. The replacement was old and well fitted but the price seemed high to me.
One booth had a bunch of older shotguns like always but they are pretty proud of them and I've never seen anyone buy one from them.
No used reloading stuff that I saw.
I was actually there to find a sling for the new to me Yugo M48 but no dice. Also the only handgun I was actually looking for was not there, a Walther P99 AS. Our safety guy was up last week and showed me his and I was very impressed so wanted to look at one and see what price they wanted.
I bought an IWB holster to try and it will probably end up in the shoeboxes with all the other extra holsters, 1lb of powder and some bullets from a guy I always buy something from as he was the only dealer to not raise his prices during the powder shortage. Got a silver dollar for the granddaughter, jerky for the wife and a gallon of Ballistol from an older gentleman that seemed delighted someone under 75 knows what it is. When I was looking at the bottles he started to tell me how great it was and I asked him if he had a gallon in the metal container. He was surprised and said he didn't usually bring one but dug under the table and found one and gave me $10 off. Told him I use it for blackpowder, blackpowder cartridge (he was very interested in my 43 Spanish), drilling lube, penetrating oil, leather conditioner etc. Got a kick when I told him my wife uses it for hand softener.

[Winger Ed.]

. The D/FW big shows just kinda suck anymore.

I learned that myself.
They went away from only allowing 90% shooting/hunting related stuff on the tables.

Now its mostly tables full of bumper stickers and phony Indian jewelry with a trashed out surplus rifle on them.

[RogerDat]

Within say 75 miles of my house the same organizer will have gun shows at different communities. Regular circuit of venues. I find each one is different, I see some of the same folks at the different shows and what they bring may shift with the area, then there are the vendors that come to a show 75 miles north of me that would never be at one of the other shows 50 miles to the east or west.

Poly gun stocks and bottom feeding pistols are marketable for a reason. Price, value, functionality. The S&W revolver is a great gun, as is the Ruger revolver but as a friend recently pointed out no main stream law enforcement agency still issues or mandates revolvers as their primary side arm.

I could buy a nice lever action 30-30 from a seller with several wood stock items for $700 as compared to a nice Ruger in .308 at something less than $500 NIB if I don't mind a stable moisture resistant poly stock. Plenty of variety to pick from, to some extent one needs to go to the shows that offer what they want. One close to the city it seems has a lot more tacticool stuff and a fair amount of sort of rough but bargain priced estate sale type items. Seen some good prices on ML and other used items. Shooter quality or thereabouts. Passed on a newer Mec Jr. press in excellent shape with extras for $100, I suppose I will forgive myself for that if dementia ever allows me to forget it.

North of me in mid state more wood and steel, more surplus equipment, more estate sale type tables. Picked up a Pacific reloading press in dusty but good shape for a pretty decent price last time I went that way. Better than eBay and would be hard to ship it and still sell it profitably here or online for what I paid.

West and south seems to have some vendors with mil-surp rifles and parts. More wood than poly rifles, other way around on pistols. Friend wanted a revolver to learn with. Had it down to a Taurus 85, Ruger LCR or RIA M200 or 206. Went there tried them for feel and heft, and ease of use, as well as some brands and models not on the list, S&W was another revolver, and a few semi-autos were also tried for ease of handling and use. In the end they were able to figure out what would work for them and make a purchase. Would have had a hard time finding all of those at a local gun shop to try. Along with an assortment of used that put more up market models in their price range.

I have no interest in the shirts or bumper stickers but since the vendors show up at some shows it must work for them. Which means some of my fellow firearm enthusiast do make purchases there. Have only bought one belt in 10 years, never an axe but I see rack of belts and two tables of axes at certain shows where a vendor regularly shows up to sell them. If they were not "making table" they wouldn't come back. Most business people won't spend $50 on a table so they can sell $35 of goods, or even bring in $100 for a full days work and paying $50 for the privilege.