New guy here... I've been attending the Big Reno gun show for the last 17 years and have now added the New Frontier gun show to my regular gun show schedule...so I'm now hitting all the gun shops in Reno 6 times a year. I sell parts & pieces at most of the major gun shows nationally. I fly in from Spokane and MFS is my first stop as I hit the local shops prior to setting up. I've been able to deal with Todd (one of the family that owns the place) on many occasions but not always...that's the way it is at most shops. I even call before I leave home to see if they need parts for guns and have been able to help them out on several occasions. At the same time, I've found the store to be a good source for parts & pieces. They give customers access to parts drawers that most shops wouldn't dream of allowing. I've bought dozens of sights, rings & mounts and more magazines than I can count (in the 100's)... prior to the last New Frontier show I picked up a relic Remington 1858 revolver for $100... the front sight was worth that by itself. I'll keep stopping at Mark Fore & Strike... Willy Brothers has also been a good shop for me... parts, guns & gear. Picked up a minty Winchester 61 (1960 mfg) for $600 while there last April. Also found two nice Ruger Old Army's in their boxes for $1100. for both. I was fortunate to be there when the items came in... it's alot like hunting... the more you hunt the more success you have.
Good post Ben. You probably know the little shop in Sun Valley too. I don't want to give away all of my honey holes, but if you've never been there, you need to look it up. If you do the gunshow stuff you probably know my good buddy Floyd From The Dalles too. That guy knows more about model 70's than anyone I know. Speaking of parts, you are correct, MFS has a ton of parts. I liked the selection, just not the prices. As I rifled through their rifle stocks, I saw a post 64 classic sporter stock. They wanted $349 for it. After that and seeing the powder for $79/pound, I got a little disgusted. They had boxes of barrels too and a lot of stuff in every corner. I'm suspecting Cabela's in Reno does not give people much for their rifles, but most guys I know do NOT sell their pride and joy rifles to Cabela's. I've found some dang good deals there though. Scheels, not so much in their used rifle selection. There's also a pawn shop in Carson City that has a bunch of used old rifles for decent deals. What I walked out of MFS with was 2 partial boxes of bullets. 1 box of 40gr. Vmax that had 75 in it and a baggie of 53 Berger 40gr 20 cal bullets. $30.00 total. Then I headed over to Scheels and bought 5 boxes of 32gr 20 cal Vmax bullets for $19.99/box..