Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Disgusted with the Gunshow today...

At the local one here lately, there was one table worth visiting, I bought a pile of stuff from him, and would have bought a lot more if I were made of money. Rockchucker for $60 (on the second day!), once-fired W-W 44mag brass bag of 300 for $20, sight pusher for $10, more that I can't remember, would have bought the mint 4 5/8" blackhawk 45 colt for $525, and missed out on several boxes of gas checks for $20. There was plenty more good stuff. Surrounding vendor tables were full of massive overprices.

San Antonio had some good ones in the Convention Center in the 90’s. I knew the old Promoter back then. He owned a string of pawn shops there in San Antonio. And he was married to ole Billy Sol Estes oldest daughter.
She was my neighbor when I was growing up in Abilene.
She used to take me to mow his yard when I was in Junior High. It was right after he got out of Prison for the first time. He’d pay me with a fresh $100 bill ! Damn big money for Jr High. Most of the yards I mowed back then payed $5 dollars.

Some TX Folks claim ole Billie Saul Estes was the Fall Guy for LBJ’s crooked ass dealings, for those of y’all that never heard of him. He was a local Real Estate Con guy who had big connections in old time TX Politics.
He went to Prison for swindling a bunch of Farmers in non existent Grain Storage & Silos. 🤪

Rene, you need to attend the big Tulsa Show atleast once.
It’ll ruin ya.
Well worth the trip, though.

I had an invite to Tulsa once cost me me was room and board . . .

DANG I regret not going!

Quit attending local ones when they got run out of Nashville by "THAT" mayor!

I went to a gun show a few weeks ago. It wasn't much. Not a lot of variety. Not a tremendous amount of guns at all. Fortunately not a lot of flea market crap, at least. Little to choose from and high prices. Now... I did buy something for more than it was worth because I wanted it, and I wasn't gonna hunt around for it any more, but otherwise, there was nothing that I just had to have. There wasn't even hardly anything else that I found the least bit interesting. There was very little ammo for sale. None of it useful for me, and I didn't even bother looking at the prices. Guns were NOT moving. I'm probably the only sucker that bought anything there!

I had always gone to gun shows looking for old S&W's, and old .22 rifles. Neither were seen in any abundance at all. S&W's are priced twice what they were five years ago. And old .22's seem to have just simply disappeared.

Little hint.

You WERE at a Fleamarket, you stupid fughk.

^^^This guy^^^

that see's Bigfoot on the regular, can't tell the difference between a fuggin flea market and a gunshow!

LOL

Guns shows have always been a [bleep] show. If you were looking for something unique, like an old part you needed, ok. But otherwise it was just a bunch of cranky [bleep] trying to fleece the ignorant.

Speaking of 'Flea markets'

That's where I found this, but then maybe we do things differently down here in Flahduh.....

i get great buys at every gunshow i go to. got to learn who you can deal with and who you cant.

Been a decade or so since I've been to one. Don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.

Thats nice man!!!

Libtards in Nashvegas did the same thing.
The Bill Goodman show was the bomb around here.

Gun shows are a joke. Haven't been to one in around 15 years for exactly the reasons the OP states.

I'm 45 years old.

Last good show I was at, I was 10 and it was held in a 100 year old town hall.

Went to a show a month ago.

5 dollar cover to get in, goes to the VFW.

4 tables, mostly off brand AR15 stuff and air gun scopes from the 80's.

Just no taste for it anymore. I'd even still be willing to go for good conversation but the vendors don't know chit about anything.

I was at the IF show from 9:30 to 11:00...probably walked past each other. i didn't see much being sold.

Long post to follow and a meandering track.


The Biden bucks checks stopped and the sour grapes feelings about that from buyers and sellers have grown.
Toss in Honk for Joey inflation and people having money issues.
Gunshows are reflective of it.

Even pawnshopping is getting ridiculous with them trying to command premium pricing around here.
Gunbroker is being used as their reference alot of times.
They like to swing the computer screen around to show you.


One LGS in town still uses a 2016 blue book of gun values for buying used guns.
Rubes fall for it too...
🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️
Standard line for em is we only pay 80% of condition value.


They also have volunteer tackleberry,s working the counter.
With attitude problems and the owner is cool with it cause he is making benjamins from that..

Owner was a line dog sqd ldr and I was a wpn Sqd ldr in the same platoon for 2 yrs.

When it all came out in a big blow up one day in the shop between me and one of these volunteer workers.
All unknown to me for about 11 or 12 yrs.

Called owner at home.
Next day had a 35 45 basically 1 way discussion with him with me leading the talk at his shop in private.
Said what I had to say and how his tolerance of allowing this to all happen was revealing about his real character.
Told him he was a B type participative leader anyways in the platoon and we all knew it and the joes knew it also as I was leaving.
He didnt like that at all from the look on his face.

Aint been back since.
Gave up a 10% mil discount on all items.
Gave up a good selection of ammo and reloading supply availability
Aint gave the place one bit of word of mouth advertising.
Took down my 4 or 5 very favorable detailed reveiws of the place which you can do with a registerd account.

Gotta stand on principle even if it only applies to yourself.
I would feel like a whore and totally compromise my values if I ever stepped foot in that place and spent money in it, let alone look at the owner or his volunteer tackleberry " employees"...

Ran into the owner at midsouth several months ago.
He couldnt make eye contact with me.
Got his order and got out fast.
Steve at the counter knew the incident from me talking with him long ago.
Retired mil himseld
He was like man.
So and so was sppoked seeing you walk in, got his schit and unazzed fast
Normally he shoots the schit here after his business is done.

I just laughed and said
I wasnt bullschitting you man when I told you what and how it all went down.


Schit happens.


People cheat lie and steal to make the deal.

Benjamin's rule over morals for the vast majority of people.
Always have
Always will.
And bad economic times magnifies it.

Money and what is to be gained will bring out the worst in many people.
Just take for instance the actions of relatives whom you would never think would act certain ways when inheritances and wills are involved when other relatives die.

Bad enough as it is..
Throw in bad economic schit with that.
Nothing is out of bounds for some people then.

We used to have 2 vendors that I would go to the gun shows for. A guy who sold parts and another who had the best prices on powder, primers and bullets. He lost his wife and a daughter to covid and he has pretty much eliminated gun shows. The old boy who had the parts got sick and he has not been to a show in over a year. He was an older gentleman who really knew his gun parts. They made the show worth going to and other venders benefitted from their presence. Going to a show now just isn't the same.

kwg

I've found a few good money making deals at shows in the past, but very seldom these days!