For years here on this forum, and others I frequent, folks continually denounce, deride and demonize gun shows and to a lesser extent pawnshops and gun shops!
I have NOT been deterred one bit by this denunciation - I stop in and attend as frequently as I can.
I get to gun shows early (and late on the last day!) looking for "deals" - this has been my long term plan - unless I have tables at the shows and then I am there from beginning to end.
My latest treasure from last week is a MINT condition Smith & Wesson Model 19-3 (1975 manufacture) 4" barrel in nickel finish with target trigger, target hammer and target grips - on top of those features the action is absolutely tight!
I mean the detonation timing has NO, I mean NO, play in it at all - I mean it is absolutely tight.
The nickel finish is virtually flawless and the revolver came with an old timey soft and fluffy inside pistol rug which thankfully and obviously it has been stored in.
Sadly no factory box was available otherwise this pistol could be passed off as N.I.B.!
Anyway I stole this pistol at a "negotiated" price of just one hair above $400.00!
This pistol will go in my "collection" otherwise I could/would sell it north of $600.00!
Yeah I have wasted a lot of gas traveling to gun shows, small gun shops and pawn shops but often enough I show up early (and often) at these places and find treasures like this. But the fun, camaraderie and the occasional treasures I find I at these places keeps me coming back for more.
Come to think of it I have been doing gun shows for over half a century now (53 years to be exact!) and I still look forward to them.
Got three gunshows I am attending coming up next month in fact.
Long live the Second Amendment (and thank you President Donald J. Trump)!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

No argument here. Going to a gunshow this weekend. Find tons of cool trinkets and treasures. One of my latest is a beautiful little O/U .410.

You got a great deal, but it never happened without a picture.

Also, you want to say the same about hunting seasons

I'm a pawn shop junkie and have found some good deals in them.

I'll go to gun shows, but don't find as many deals on guns there. Usually peripherals like ammo and parts are where the deals are at gun shows around here.

Went to 2 diffrent guns show this past weekend! alot of junk, but some nice stuff too! I came home with an old skool Marlin 32 special! Im digging it!

Fireball2: Great looking O/U there - good for you!
Which manufacturer made it?
Indeed one has to be patient when seeking out "nifty" items to enhance our sport and lifestyle.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Local_dirt: Last year I stopped at a rundown pawn shop in Butte, Montana and found a superb pair of Bausch & Lomb made in Rochester, N.Y. Zephyr binoculars.
I bought them for $35.00 and sold them less than a month later for $150.00 at the Puyallup, Washington gunshow.
I am guessing that nowadays I need to look over and look at 2,000+ guns at gunshows before I find one that I want or one that "I" can re-sell for a profit.
Again - patience!
During the hussein obama years I actually preferred buying guns at gunshows over buying them through paper trail dealers.
I have also probably purchased in excess of 150 "books" at gunshows that I have then re-sold for profit.
There IS money in books although the peak of the book values seems to me to have recently passed (5 years ago).
Yeah long live gunshows.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

The_Real_Hawkeye: Oh it happened all right - I have the gun in question and if you make an appointment i will display it to you or if you provide me with your E-mail address I will gladly forward you all the photos you want.
I am thinking of heading to Bozeman, Montana tomorrow if it rains (can't Hunt ground squirrels in the rain!) and visiting a shop there that has an abundance of Smith & Wesson factory boxes to see if they have one that would compliment my pistol.
Wish me luck.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Looks like you actually FOUND the needle in the haystack! Congrats..


Them haystacks have nothin' but hay in 'em around here...

Personally, I avoid pawn shops. The mood that strikes me when I walk into one reeks of despair and greed. People hocking heirlooms and treasures in order to make rent, pay medical bills, and fix dope cravings met by buzzards behind the counter with zero compassion. Not for me. Bad ju-ju all around, and I don't care that I may be missing out on the gun deal of the century because of that. So be it.

I honestly don't remember and it's buried. It's an oddball made in the 1960's.

I quit attending gun shows about a decade ago, when it finally occurred to me that I already had plenty of ninja swords, scented candles, plastic blowguns, and overpriced ammo.

Too many ninja swords?

Blasphemy!

Tff

If you pay attention at gun shows, you might see something as bad. Young kids selling grand paws favorite guns for penny's on the dollar. You might do what I've done and make a log on what I have and its value to help my wife when I kick the bucket . Hasbeen

Fireball2: No problem - enjoy it!
My local pawn/gun shop got in about 12 over and under shotguns in various gauges.
Several were in 28 gauge and 410 the were priced in the $495.00 and up a tad range.
They all sold.
And I forgot their brand name.
I had the hots for one of the 410's but they sold quickly and have not been replaced - they were European made but were very handsome and seemed to lock up tight.
I wish i had gotten one as I have a "Magpie" problem around my home.
Again enjoy your handsome O/U.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Got it- The .410 O/U is an Enrique Salvinelli Model Atlas 65 ST. Only thing I've fired was some Remington 6 shot and it made a perfect pattern at 25 yards, albeit I need to hold a tad low. Seems a fine little piece.

I stopped by a local pawn shop a few months ago and noticed a Marlin 39A with a junk scope (BSA) covered in a year's worth of dust. They had $650 on it. I asked what their best price was knowing these guys will deal. He shocked me when he said $350. It's a newer but pre-Remington Marlin. Cleaned up and with a good scope, it's a tack driver. Always wanted a 39A and finding one at that price, I couldn't pass it up.

I've seen the same or worse predatory behavior as described above from gun shop owners, gun show dealers and even from guys I once thought were friends (SM comes to mind). I've even seen some of the above descend upon the widows at funerals.

Those people hocking stuff at pawn shops do so of their own choosing. They have to know they're getting pennies when they could be getting dollars if they were willing to be patient and offer it up on a for sale site.

Heck look at various classified adds. The "buying guns adds" some times, they mention paying fair prices. I figure those are bald faced liars, along with being theives.

I did similar not long after I moved to the place here in Texas seven years ago. New place for me with a pawn shop at the edge of town. They had a 629 for $700 (a pretty good proce as it was an early P&R'd one). I asked the same question, they countered with $500. Me, "out the door"? "OK".

Just the gun, no box, etc., with original grips now wearing my typical CDNN Herrett's.

There was no hope about it. I knew they'd deal from past experience. I didn't expect that good a deal though.

Varmint Guy, when i worked in Montana on the road I would hit every pawn shop in Missoula, Butte, Helena, Down in your neck of the woods(spent a ton of time at the talc plant, and the water bottling plant that use to be south of the talc plant),Bozeman, and Billings. Plus any other gun shop I went buy. There are some good buys out there if you know what you are looking at and what it is worth.

I enjoy different shops and what treasures are around
Shows some are diamonds some are turds

but its fun to find that item you just cant walk away from
Hank

It's a disease I tell ya. An addiction.
19's are bank vault tight - like a 17-3 HB TT TS TH 4" I sold.
That's a nice find.

About the only good deals you can find at gun shows here,might be tee shirts. The few guns there are usually priced higher than what you could find even at Cabelas.

While stuff can be high at shows, I have made some excellent buys there.. Enough to keep me going back..