"First day of the show today" report.
They didn't put anybody up on the mezzanine, I don't know the reason for doing that this spring but suspect it was to do the social distancing thing while still getting a full 400 tables inside. Last year they had increased the aisle width quite a bit in the show in the horse barn (aka Sport Center) but that one never takes up more than 2/3 of the floor space in normal times. Tables and aisles were at their usual separation today.
Parking was the usual behind the Idaho Center, no hassles there. I had sent in my check to reserve a table on July 26, when I went to get my table assignment Friday they had my name on the list but asked me which table I wanted out of several still unassigned. I mentioned a teeny bit peevishly the reservation from over a month ago and the lady said they had to put The Usual Dealers in their normal spots, then everything else was up for grabs. No big deal, I got a spot n the very middle.
Slow start to the day and not a great crowd overall but not bad, a lot of the guys think fewer people are attending because ammo is starting to come back. When I went to the last show at the horse barn the cheapest price for 223 ammo was $1.25 per round, most dealers wanted $1.50. Today the same big bulk ammo dealers were all asking 60 cents per round, some still wanted 50 cents/round for 9mm but a very few were asking 35 cts/round. Still nowhere near pre-SHTF prices but they are trending down.
Almost no primers were available and what was available was old - like the white and red CCI boxes from the 1990's old - and still priced at $125/1000. I had brought 4 bricks of recent production Federal primers, 2 large rifle and two small pistol but was in a bit of a quandary as to how to sell them. Couldn't bring myself to charge gouger prices but knew if I put them out for much lower the dealers would swoop in to buy them and then jack up the prices.
Instead I kept the bricks hidden behind my table. Since I had several boxes of bullets I offered to sell folks enough primers to load those bullets at pre-insanity prices of $3.50/100. Buy a box of 100 bullets, I'll sell you a box of 100 primers. No other primer sales offered. My bullet prices were low to mid level of what the online dealers are charging and they are all out of stock anyway but only sold one box of bullets + primers. Guess folks just didn't need the bullets I had.
Also brought my last 300 rounds of factory 223 ammo but didn't put any price tags on them. If a dealer asked the price it was the same as everybody else was asking, $12/box or 60 cents/round. If a non-dealer asked the price it was $10/box. No takers at that price so I guess folks have what they need.
Did sell a couple of revolvers and a Glock 44, a Swedish Mauser and a few bags of brass so managed to cover lunch.
Anyway, long day from 9 to 6 but a good day overall.
