by Jack
My son and I spent quite a few hours at the Gun Show and also at the Antique Show next door, but the bargains were very few and far between. Gun shows are traditionally where you go to find deals, but I sure didn’t see any. Everything was priced at retail, if not more. That part was really disappointing, but seeing the weapons and all the unusual military items was still worth the price of admission.
Now before you go explaining to me how bartering works, please know this is not my first gun show. I know the drill and trust me, it was no place for bargains with or without the bartering. I think TV shows like American Pickers, Pawn Stars and Storage Wars have had an impact on how we price our used stuff, everyone thinks they have a rare treasure thanks to these shows.
Reloaded ammo which is always a pretty good deal at shows was no deal this year. I do better at the flea market on Sat-Sun in the same building, what I buy for $4 then was $8 now. One booth had clear plastic bags of .223 brass priced at $15 for a 100. Heck, I can pick up that once fired brass at most shooting ranges for free, $6-8 would have been about right.
Another booth was selling 30 round magazines (kits), for $25 and $35. You can buy these on the net for $15-20 ea., even with shipping you are still ahead. There were a lot of WWII bolt action Russian Mosin Nagant long guns offered at $250. These things usually sell anywhere from $100 to $150. For example, I picked up 2 Mosin’s on sale last year at Big 5 for less than the cost of one at this show. I talked with a lot of folks that came to do some serious shopping and just about everybody was disappointed at the prices. I found a WWI German helmet (stalhelm) priced at $750, after checking it over in detail the same type is often sold on eBay for about half that price. My son is an expert on WWI collectables and he agreed…way over priced.
The Reno gun shows is where you can really pick up some deals, the smaller shows… not so much.
“The Reno gun shows is where you can really pick up some deals, the smaller shows… not so much.”
How about those gun shows in Arizona and New Mexico and Texas, where the assorted Mexican drug cartels go to arm themselves? And they aren’t even looking for deals … just guns. I’ve heard that some of you conservatives feel that Holder should be criminally charged for continuing the Bush brain child … “Fast and Furious” … was it? Well, I’ll go for that, if you’ll go for the incarceration of all those Texan, Arizonan and New Mexican gun dealers. Do we have a deal?
What’s that got to do with bargains and high prices at a Chico gun show? Why do you have to turn this into a political agenda? and holder and crew told those arizonan, texan, and new Mexican gun dealers to sell those guns to the cartels but forgot to tell another agency that they did that because they wanted it under the radar. They didn’t want this public knowledge but when the other agency tried to prosecute those dealers, whoops! The dealers spoke up as they should have. The government is two faced and lie to the public to fuel their underground agendas so before you go popping off what you think was a witty response to an innocent blog you should do your homework. You have a very close minded way of thinking. And if gun dealers knowingly sold a firearm to an illegal buyer I agree they should be prosecuted but not when your own government teller you that you have to and give you their word its for the better good of the country and you are going to help catch criminals.