Took the family to a gun show this weekend. Honestly, I’ve been “off” of gun shows for several years because, in my opinion, there aren’t deals much, anymore. I mean, you can find some deals on military ammo, sometimes, and I found some gun bags and whatnot at decent prices, but nothing major.
What I found most noteworthy was, well, the friggin’ lack of guns there. I mean, there were a couple of vendors there who had a big selection, but they were almost entirely AR and AR variants. Now, they had a BUNCH of them, but you can only look at so many AR’s. They had some other stuff, but mostly AR’s.
The rest of the show was a mixture of junk and staple items, BUT there wasn’t much selection. Like there were two booths selling ammo. There was ONE booth selling reloading supplies (with any real stock). There were two holster makers. There were two bigger ammo suppliers. That was it. There were lots of “junk” dealers, as Lisa calls them, but that was it.
I saw two M1 Garands the entire time. I saw ONE AK variant (but it WAS nice). I saw a TON of really rough Mosins that they wanted freakishly high prices for ($270 t $400 for CRAP guns). There were a few vintage guns, but nothing special. Okay, they DID have a Smith and Wesson copy of a Browning Hi-Power from 1957 that shot .38 Special. I thought that was pretty cool, but it was $1,600 (and probably worth it).
One guy DID have some of the more unusual Glocks there i.e. the target models, a bunch of C models, and a couple of 10mm’s.
What I’ve about concluded is this. Basically gun shows are for dealers selling popular items and people who want to buy them. I don’t see them any longer a place for collectors or people who shoot unusual items to find supplies. They’ve evolved.
My best guess is that 20 years ago, gun shows were a place for people to go and find odd and unusual items and MAYBE a deal or two. Now, with the internet being available on such a larger level as well as the enhanced acceptance level, people who want unusual items pick them up online. Gun shows, from what I saw, are all about serving the general public who wants to come in and see a bunch of stuff, and buy something “cool”. They may or may NOT know what a good price is. ACTUALLY, AR’s are perfect for gun shows because you can put out a fairly stripped high end AR out for $1,500 next to a decked out cheap AR for $900, and sell the cheap one all day long to people who don’t know the difference.
The last slap in the face was the entry fee. It was $10 a head, which means I spent $30 to have the privilege of shopping at a bunch of random booths. Something is really un-American about that.
Don’t know what the gun shows are like there, but I ain’t really impressed with what I’ve seen in Tennessee. Oh, and this gun show was in Germantown i.e. the high rent part of Mempis.
What I found most noteworthy was, well, the friggin’ lack of guns there. I mean, there were a couple of vendors there who had a big selection, but they were almost entirely AR and AR variants. Now, they had a BUNCH of them, but you can only look at so many AR’s. They had some other stuff, but mostly AR’s.
The rest of the show was a mixture of junk and staple items, BUT there wasn’t much selection. Like there were two booths selling ammo. There was ONE booth selling reloading supplies (with any real stock). There were two holster makers. There were two bigger ammo suppliers. That was it. There were lots of “junk” dealers, as Lisa calls them, but that was it.
I saw two M1 Garands the entire time. I saw ONE AK variant (but it WAS nice). I saw a TON of really rough Mosins that they wanted freakishly high prices for ($270 t $400 for CRAP guns). There were a few vintage guns, but nothing special. Okay, they DID have a Smith and Wesson copy of a Browning Hi-Power from 1957 that shot .38 Special. I thought that was pretty cool, but it was $1,600 (and probably worth it).
One guy DID have some of the more unusual Glocks there i.e. the target models, a bunch of C models, and a couple of 10mm’s.
What I’ve about concluded is this. Basically gun shows are for dealers selling popular items and people who want to buy them. I don’t see them any longer a place for collectors or people who shoot unusual items to find supplies. They’ve evolved.
My best guess is that 20 years ago, gun shows were a place for people to go and find odd and unusual items and MAYBE a deal or two. Now, with the internet being available on such a larger level as well as the enhanced acceptance level, people who want unusual items pick them up online. Gun shows, from what I saw, are all about serving the general public who wants to come in and see a bunch of stuff, and buy something “cool”. They may or may NOT know what a good price is. ACTUALLY, AR’s are perfect for gun shows because you can put out a fairly stripped high end AR out for $1,500 next to a decked out cheap AR for $900, and sell the cheap one all day long to people who don’t know the difference.
The last slap in the face was the entry fee. It was $10 a head, which means I spent $30 to have the privilege of shopping at a bunch of random booths. Something is really un-American about that.
Don’t know what the gun shows are like there, but I ain’t really impressed with what I’ve seen in Tennessee. Oh, and this gun show was in Germantown i.e. the high rent part of Mempis.