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Prepared for the Worst, Providing the Best |
My son and I drove over an hour one way today to hit up a show. To be fair, it was the last day of a show that's been running since Friday, but I expected better. I was looking for a few things, hoping to find a deal on a used 9mm PX4 compact, a P226, or a P239. I saw one P226 in the whole show, and it was a legion with a dot. Nice pistol, but way more than I wanted to spend. There were no P239s, and one PX4, but it was a .40 and the guy wanted $700 for it. What I did see was a bunch of guys selling used Tauruses for more than MSRP of a new one (which were being sold one table over  ), ratted out milsurps for $1000, older Smith revolvers (nice but nothing particularly rare about them) for $2000+, and commercial (not GI) M1 Carbines for over $1k. There was even a guy selling reloading powder in hand-labeled containers...uh, no thanks  ! I'm not sure if these guys are just hoping for some sucker to come along or just enjoy sitting there watching people walk by, but they clearly weren't selling stuff. I guess at those prices if you snag one idiot you paid for your weekend. But I saw a ton of stuff getting packed up and loaded in trailers as we were leaving at the end of the day.We went to a different show two weeks ago and had a similar experience, but at least it was only about 30 minutes away. Very little of interest and nothing remotely close to being worth the asking price. After leaving the show today we ended up driving another 20 minutes to Bass Pro and I bought a lb of HS6 just to have something to show for the trip. It wasn't a horrible way to spend an afternoon with my son, but it was a total bust in the gun department. | ||
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| Member |
After reading on SF how everyone loves their PX4s, I stumbled across one for $400. Appeared unfired. Thanks, everybody! It is a great gun. End of Earth: 2 Miles Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles | |||
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| Prepared for the Worst, Providing the Best |
They are indeed. I paid $400 for the full-size that I had, but recently traded it away because I'd rather have a compact since I'd actually carry it. So now I'm on the hunt and it seems the prices have gone up a bit. | |||
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| Member |
I would love to try a PX4. Gunshows have sucked for awhile. Which sucks. Unless you like Nazi flags and beef jerky. I do like beef jerky. | |||
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| Prepared for the Worst, Providing the Best |
Lol, there was a jerky table at this one. I came closer to buying something from him than any of the other tables! | |||
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| Staring back from the abyss  |
If "for awhile" you mean about 30 years, then I'd agree.  Mid 90s was about the last one I went to. Sounds like things haven't changed too much. ________________________________________________________ "Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton. | |||
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Member |
10 or 15 years ago when I was actually looking for items (guns) at the shows I realized that a private seller usually was asking about $50 more for a used gun than what the same would cost at a dealers ... which was not too bad... I suspect that is now at least $100 or more. My Native American Name: "Runs with Scissors" | |||
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Long term ammoholic |
I'll be the odd man out. I still enjoy them and support them by going. I would hate to see them fade away. The last gun show around here I found a Smith 36 no dash for a great price. | |||
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| Member |
I haven't been to a gun show in quite a while. There used to be some good shows in Palm Beach County,Fl., but when the big vendors left, the shows became a race to see who could put the highest price on a used gun and parts. I find better deals at local shops. | |||
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| Get my pies outta the oven!  |
I haven’t been to a gun show in at least 5-6 years now. It’s the same situation here too, I think the sellers are looking for suckers like you mentioned. Remember, there’s a whole lot of new gun owners in the past three or four years that have no idea about guns and I think these guys are trying to capitalize on that. | |||
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| Member |
I also gave up on gun shows probably 10-12 years ago. I had made what I thought were good purchases on a few things prior to that. Then it seemed like they all went to crap. Lots of overpriced guns. Lots of overpriced food. Lots of stuff that I wouldn’t have taken home if they offered to give it to me. | |||
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אַרְיֵה |
There was one in Orlando a month or so ago. First one I had gone to for quite a few years. I picked up a couple Sticky Holsters at a small discount. I couldn't believe how many ARs and AR parts and accessories there were. Seemed like two-thirds of the vendors were selling this stuff. Best part was lunch with a SIGforum friend after leaving the show. Stumbled across a really good Korean restaurant in the area. הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים | |||
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Go Vols! |
I’d say I reached that point by 2010 here. I think internet sales ruined the pricing. As more and more shifted to online purchases it seems like gun show pricing went from average to absurd. | |||
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Age Quod Agis |
The most recent Orlando show was useless. Very little used, even less quality used. New prices were high, except for Show Specials. $15 to just get in. No deals on Ammo, and none of the commercial reloaders were there any more. Everything was new, but more expensive than Ammoland or Aim Surplus even after paying shipping. The only deal in the two buildings was a M&P Sport 15 for $499. Great deal. I don't need one. Almost every table was a race to the bottom on budget ARs. Korean bbq lunch was great, though. Highly recommend So Gong Dong Tofu & BBQ if you are in west Orlando. Order it Korean hot; they aren't kidding. "I vowed to myself to fight against evil more completely and more wholeheartedly than I ever did before. . . . That’s the only way to pay back part of that vast debt, to live up to and try to fulfill that tremendous obligation." Alfred Hornik, Sunday, December 2, 1945 to his family, on his continuing duty to others for surviving WW II. | |||
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| Prepared for the Worst, Providing the Best |
You'd think they'd understand the reality and at least make an attempt to compete. They have an edge already due to being on-site and not having to deal with shipping and transfer fees. I don't expect them to give stuff away, but I can find better deals at my local shops any day of the week, and I'd rather give them my money than some random guy who's just got a table for the weekend. The hope in going to the show was to broaden the selection a bit, but that didn't really work and even if it had I'm not going to pay double what something's worth. | |||
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| Member |
What I learned years ago when I first started attending gun shows is they are a terrible place to find a good deal on a gun but they are a great place to see lots of guns under one roof. Occasionally I've come across a decent deal at a gun show so it's not impossible but more often than not everything both new and used is overpriced. Go to a gun show to look and then go to your local gun shop to buy. | |||
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| Looking at life thru a windshield  |
This weekend in Atlanta, good gun show, nice variety for a change. Lots of milsurp, even saw a HK VP70, have not seen one of those in a long time. Had the occasional beef jerky/gutter guard salesman but lots of ammo and guns. Problem all of it overpriced, I mean ridiculously, anything I wanted I knew where to get online and cheaper even with transfer, shipping and tax. I did find a nice Leatherman Wingman for $15 but thats it. | |||
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| His diet consists of black coffee, and sarcasm.  |
Riiight. So when is the next one? I don't necessarily go to gun shows looking for bargains, or even to buy anything. I just like it for something to do, and sometimes see stuff I can see nowhere else. Example: a S&W Model 53 revolver, caliber .22 Remington Jet, complete with the aluminum chamber inserts so it can also shoot .22 Long Rifle. No, no bargain at the $2500 he was asking, but I'd never have seen one otherwise. At the most recent one there was a table full of oddball and obsolete cartridges, for example 8mm Lebel, 6.5 Mannlicher, a 7.5x51 that I never even heard of and others. I typically pay $10-$12 for admission. You can't watch a movie for that. Gun shows are far from what ignorant-ass gun grabbers portray them, as an Arab-bazaar-like place where you can buy automatic weapons cheap with no paperwork. As if gun laws are suspended for gun shows. This message has been edited. Last edited by: egregore, | |||
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Not really from Vienna |
My experience has been that if you aren’t arriving at a show in the first 30 minutes of the first day they’re open, you’re probably not going to find any “good deals”. The goodies get sold right away. I wouldn’t waste time or money going on Sunday. | |||
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| Looking at life thru a windshield |
Yea friend of mine that sets up told me the dealers and others go around before doors open. | |||
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