View Full Version : More Gun Show Shenanigans and Rants
Well today was supposed to be a shoot day, but the weather was pretty crappy and wind gusts were up to at least 40 MPH where I live.
So I found out that the Crossroads of the West show was in town and I headed on over. I met up with another member and we began to peruse the aisles.
WTF? Are you kidding me? DPMS carbines for 800.00+. CMMG uppers for 599.00 plus tax? Oh wait, what about the S&W MP15 for 1799.00! I am not shitting you.
I saw some real pathetic trash being peddled including knocks off all of your favorite optics, rail systems, flash lights, etc...
One guy tried to steer me over to his trash to get a rear BUIS for the carbine I just put together.
Of course SAW was there with their Colt glory putting everyone to shame because everything on Ken's table is 100% legit. We got to talk for a good 30 minutes and I will be stopping by his shop in the near future.
Another good thing was seeing some more of that Hornady 55gr. and 75gr. TAP ammo. Miwall had some good ammo prices.
Magazines were still overpriced as usual. It used to be that going to the shows was a place to get some good deals, meet up with some similar minded people and have a good time. Anymore, not so much.
It's the same junk you see in Arizona gunshops, only marked up even more beyond MSRP.
I'm heading to the Tanner gun show in Denver today. I have come to expect to find no deals on anything. I've been to the Cross Roads when it come here, same deal.
You need to be an informed consumer when going to a gun show.
I haven't even gone to the last few Crossroads shows. First, it's $25 for parking and entry fee, then all the deals are gone before you even get in the door. Nowadays, I just go when I need ammo, and even then you have to look pretty hard to find anything reasonable. Oftentimes it's cheaper to buy it online and have it shipped.
WTF? Are you kidding me? DPMS carbines for 800.00+. CMMG uppers for 599.00 plus tax? Oh wait, what about the S&W MP15 for 1799.00! I am not shitting you.
Same thing around here and why I don't waste my time going to gun shows anymore.
Houston shows have turned into the same comedy show. Im pretty much thru with them also.
The bad part is, I can remember going to GRB on friday nights before the shows offically opened, walking around, catching up with old friends, buying a few things.
Those days are gone also...
Houston shows have turned into the same comedy show. Im pretty much thru with them also.
The bad part is, I can remember going to GRB on friday nights before the shows offically opened, walking around, catching up with old friends, buying a few things.
Those days are gone also...
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My favorites were the AstroHall. I bought a table several times for the AstroHall GS just to get in on Friday and early Saturday. But once they went to Reliant, I've only been there twice. Heck there are like 20+ shows a year in Houston now.
If I go to a show now, which I do about every 6-8 weeks, I'm in when they open the doors. I go looking for the guy that bought an estate or got a trade or cleaned out his closet and is trying to get rid of these "old" USGI mags, folding sights, etc. 30-min after the doors are open and most good deals are gone. I'm looking for that junky table with boxes on top, no table cloth, etc.
But I've started to notice smaller dealers going out of business. I think people for the most part are on to their game but there are enough Jethro's coming in to support the bigger dealers.
But if they go up one nickel more on entry...I want go. It costs $8 to get in at gunshows in Louisiana.
.
Rest assured the same stupidity reigns supreme at the gun shows here on the other side of the nation. Consistency is good, right?
GermanSynergy
02-20-11, 09:46
Sounds like a good way to kill a few hours, esp if you can't shoot outdoors. I went to the gunshow in Chantilly, VA back in October. It wasn't too bad, and I ended up buying some obscure WW2 related books on Soviet mechanised warfare in Manchuria, 1945 and a case of PMC 9mm FMJ.
Skip the gun show and go to the gym or get laid. Order the stuff you need off the internet and be happy.
There aren't enough hot guys at the gym, my winkie is too small and I needed to get out of the house.
Skip the gun show and go to the gym or get laid. Order the stuff you need off the internet and be happy.
There aren't enough hot guys at the gym, my winkie is too small...
You better hope somebody doesn't quote you on this as part of their sigline.
RogerinTPA
02-20-11, 15:15
Go for the jerky like I do and you won't be disappointed.
You better hope somebody doesn't quote you on this as part of their sigline.
Too late.
Muwahahahahah!!!!!
:jester:
ETA: I haven't been to a gun show that wasn't a complete waste of time (and $5) in a very long time. Even the jerky vendors expert more than packaged stuff costs.
I feel the pain though, gun shows used to be great places to find deals. Unless you are amazingly lucky, the deals just aren't there.
have not been to a gun show in over 20 years ? keep thinking it would be fun like it used to be then read things and decide ? nope stay home
or go with some friends purely like going to look at cars :) knowing I am not going to buy but just having fun kinda like watching a movie purely entertainment and to get out of the house
Yes, gun shows have become a joke in the last five years. But I continue to support them for the dealers who really do try their best (they are still out there), and also for the fun factor.
Remember, 75 percent of the guys at a gun show are "Navy SEALs" and know why their Delton CAR15s kick more ass than the Knight's SR15E3 or Colt 6720 on your table.
Their best friend works at a machine shop that "makes parts for Colt" and they know all AR15 parts are the same.
Nearly everyone is "just back from a tour in the sandbox"—usually the 220-lb 5'7" guys in their 40s with the ACU jackets and Magpul Dynamics patches on both arms—and they want an "autoloading sniper rifle that shoots 1 MOA at 100 or 1000 yards," the same setup they ran overseas, of course.
The best part is when the same "operator" asks why PMAGs are stamped "5.56 x 45".
"Will this fit .223?"
I used to love going to gun shows to find good deals on guns, gear and surplus. I've not seen a good deal in a long time. It is more for entertainment that I go now to walk around and see friends. I never go with the intention of buying anything at a gun show these days. I brought my little boy last year and picked up a few things for him, a compass and a pocket knife as well as a FAL bayonet . He quickly figured out fit perfectly on the end of an old mop handle and made an awesome spear!
ICANHITHIMMAN
02-20-11, 18:57
I dont even bother to go to the shows anymore its thae same way here in NY maybe even a little worse as its not just the AR type stuff.
Gunz, Gunz, Gunz.....I know you meant to say girls.;)
The internet has replaced the gunshow, leaving it nothing more than a collection of retail outlets.
The exceptions are the dealers in bona-fide historic, specific, or certain specialized pursuits. Even then, they usually transact all their business before the doors open or after they close.
I still enjoy the "make-offer" boxes. The last ones netted me some Eagle pouches that the owner didn't know from Uncle Mikes.
There is a big one here next weekend. Still debating if I will bother going or not. Anymore its $8 to park and around $10-12 to get in. Rarely is there anything close to a deal anymore.
May just save my $$ for the Machine Gun Shoot in the spring. There are usually some good deals there.
I did have a good conversation with Ken from Specialized Armament again today. I love hearing some of the horror stories from his journeys around the U.S with various LE agencies.
I saw some real pathetic trash being peddled including knocks off all of your favorite optics, rail systems, flash lights, etc...
Of course SAW was there with their Colt glory putting everyone to shame because everything on Ken's table is 100% legit.
Out of curiosity what did you see more customers walking around having purchased? The cheap knockoff products or the quality merchandise?
The answer to the question in my area isn't positive.
Good thing about the Crossroads show up here is that parking is free. I still have not been in years. I had my last table at the show Nov 2005. I made $10 in one day (I don't go on Sundays) after subtracting out my table fee (2 tables worth or space) and the fuel for my truck to pull the trailer I had at the time to carry all my stuff.
And about 2 days worth of getting ready and packed for the show and a day or two getting unpacked after the show. Just was not worth it.
I went once or twice thereafter to look around and buy some of the fancy artisan bread one vendor (a bakery) always had in the tables across from where I always was. But that was it. Not worth the time.
And I always had my same prices or better than I did on my internet store. I was not taking advantage of folks and still it was hard to sell much. All the good buyers had stopped going long before -- long before the cell-phone hawkers, the chiropractors, the sugar-baby sellers, the beanie baby vendors, and the crystal and glass merchants took over half the show. Once that happened, all the serious guys stopped going -- people I had been seeing at the shows since the 90s stopped showing up.
There are some smaller shows, at least 1 smaller show, that happens once a year, that they tell me is worth attending (as a show-goer -- don't know about as a vendor). It is a collectors show put on by a serious collectors organization and they have strict rules about who can show up as a vendor.
Based upon what I saw sales mostly consisted of ammo and magazines. I did see guys buying so-called quality rails and other crap from the junk merchants.
It may be a question of economics or even lack of knowledge. Hard to say. That's why it is important to educate people and not worship the trash guns and gear.
Out of curiosity what did you see more customers walking around having purchased? The cheap knockoff products or the quality merchandise?
The answer to the question in my area isn't positive.
A couple of weeks ago some buddies and I went up to the Nation's Gunshow, in Chantilly, which is a suburb of DC/Northern VA.
I swear to god my blood pressure was actually spiking standing around surrounded by all the god damn Chinese airsoft crap being sold as serious duty ready gear.
I had to go over and spend some time with the Class 3 dealers to stop the stroke that was brewing.
Oh, and news flash, it's not 1999 anymore, you're not going to sell that Springfield Armory SAR-3 G3 for $3K......
:suicide:
variablebinary
02-21-11, 09:33
Go for the jerky like I do and you won't be disappointed.
I always score a few bags whenever I go. Good stuff.
Usually I attend gun shows to finger-bang toys that my local dealers may not have in stock. There are also little things here and there that can be had for cheap.
I never buy guns at the show. Too expensive.
Was the guy with the 5000 dollar M&P-15 there again?
I went to the Crossroads about 9 months ago and was really disappointed. Did get a couple Pmags for a decent price though.
Went there trying to find a safety for my pre war Winchester M70 but no luck.
Who is SAW?
theblackknight
02-21-11, 12:02
My dad works the FNRA booth atleast one of the days back home. He said the jerky guy quit his operation all togather , and people want crazy prices for brass and reloading gear.
I've been to both gun shows around here. I wont be wasting my entry fee's on shows anymore. Ammo aint cheap. If I want to look at old, obscure firearms and shitty tac gear, pawn shops are free to enter.
That's why it is important to educate people and not worship the trash guns and gear.
Dude I gave up trying to convince my own dept's Special Operation's Team to get off the Serpa Holsters, Condor gear, and UTG rails crack. And that's the tip of the tactical iceberg. I don't even want to start on the tactics they're accepting and teaching.
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