How to Save Money At The Gun Show

tws3b2

tws3b2

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DON"T GO.
Went to 6 shooters gun show in Asheboro today. It's got to where every time I go I feel like I'm The Poor Kid In town. Prices are crazy.
To top it off 90% are tactical rifles/shotguns and black pistols. I'v had enough tactical and black pistols. I'd like some good old blue and wood. But for the little they have the prices are ridiculous. I'm not one of those that can afford ridiculous.
But, I'v figured out that if I don't go and waste a perfectly good Saturday morning I will also save the 7 bucks.
 
I'm kind of a gun show junkie, but I'm usually selling in the aisles (rotating stock) or looking for something older/unique used. I do like to handle the new stuff. Have even sold and traded with several dealers. However, most prices are a little silly right now on all the new stuff. IMHO. I sure miss Jared. That reminds me, I need to reach out to him about a few new guns....

I look at it as a bit of exercise. Seeing old friends (Cubrock and his boys) and a few other vendors. Occasionally run into folks I know outside of the forum in the aisles. I like to eat, so I'm a sucker for the little old ladies with baked goods, the nut lady in Asheville, Bob's Beef Jerky (made with brisket), and the I still miss the older couple who used to sell fudge in Asheville and a few other shows. I think I still have their card on the fridge. Need to see if they're still in business.

I'm hungry now. Thanks.

LOL.
 
I had been seeing the signs for it, but yesterday morning when I was out and about I just drove on by.
 
RKBJR said:
I went to a Six Shooters show in Burlington one time. My first and last Six Shooters show. It was a waste of $7 and about 20 minutes.
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I think I went to that one too. I think some of us here have more guns and/or accessories than was in that room.
 
Personally i love gun shows. I get to see friends that I only see a couple times a year at the shows and I’m usually one of 2-3 that has a case full of blue steel and wood grip handguns. It’s surprising how many walk by and don’t give classic guns a second glance, but the ones that stop are true gun lovers and can carry on an intelligent conversation. The Myrtle Beach show is coming up next month and is probably my favorite.
 
To me a gun show is like a treasure hunt. Lots of times you don't find what you are looking for , but the key is to enjoy the hunt. And when you do stumble on that grail gun....WHOOPIE. Good place to buy powder and primers when the prices normalize and avoid the hazmat and shipping charges. Where else can you go for 3-4 hrs and be entertained for under $10 ?
 
I don't go to gun shows with the intent to buy. Gun shows as a place to routinely find deals are a thing long in the past.

I go to gun shows primarily for entertainment. For the entry fee, I'll be plenty entertained walking around for a couple hours or so looking at what there is to look at.

I'm far more likely to buy little knick-knacks for the tool box for a few bucks than any guns or ammunition. But if I see a deal on ammo, I'll pick up a few boxes. I once found a few boxes of my preferred Gold Dot hollowpoints for my carry that were priced very low, compared to the market. They went home with me.

I like gun shows as a place to actually handle guns I'm considering buying. Not every gun shop will carry what I'm interested in, and I generally won't buy unless I've handled what I'm considering in order to see how it actually feels in my hands. So yeah...I'll "fondle" me some guns at a gun show.

If I DID happen to stumble across "that one thing I've been dreaming about for years"? Perhaps I'll buy. It depends on my budget and where that "one thing" falls in my bucket list.

As for the food/snacks...I'll grab a bite to eat before going. That takes care of any desire to spend money on that.


Don't go expecting to find an outstanding deal. Go to be entertained for a couple hours or so and that's it.
 
Depends on the show too. I went to one this year in Hickory and it was well stocked with a lot of nice people. The prices do seem to be ridiculous, but a lot of the time that is at tables that are there more to show off than sell.

I met a very nice vendor who had some great advice: price everything at cost + $50 and actually move some inventory. Pistols sell better than anything and cheap shotguns sell better than ARs, especially for impulse purchases. If ammo isn't ridiculous then it might actually move. If I set up at one, I don't want to show off, I would like to leave with none of what I brought in.

I do like to go and poke around. The guy with all the niche books is always neat, the smoked meats and cheeses are good and its at least a few good conversations with like minded people. I can think of worse ways to kill a few hours if you go into it knowing there are few/no deals to be had
 
I ran across a guy who had a big pile of Winchester .22 WMR on his table, years ago (back in the '90s) when I was stationed in Charleston, SC while still in the Navy. I don't remember how many, but it was several dozen boxes. More than 4 dozen, as I recall.

His prices were a smidge above what I could buy out in town. I figured I'd make him an offer per box for the whole pile. I asked him how firm he was on the price, because if he'd come down a dollar a box, I'd buy everything he had. That would have put it about 50 cents below town prices instead of 50 cents above.

Nope, Wouldn't budge. Even when I pointed out how it was actually cheaper out in town, and plentiful as well.

Well, OK...if you think that's a fair price, I'll happily take my hard earned cash to the local stores and buy it cheaper, no skin off my back. I would have figured someone who stood to make a guaranteed sale of literally every box of .22 WMR he had for a price just a smidge below commercial would have jumped at it.

Ah, well...just meant I walked out of the gun show with as much money as I walked in. And when I left at closing time that day, I wandered by and he hadn't sold a single box of that ammo. And I didn't see where any of his other merchandise had flown off his table, either.
 
I go to meet a friend, I live 1 hr south of Charlotte he lives in Kernersville.
We get together and have breakfast and then walk the show talking and maybe see someone we know.
It gets me up and walking and every once in a while one of us will find something to buy.
 
It's been 10 years since I went to a gun show. 5 years before that is when I bought anything at one.

Prices were stupid then. They must be nuts now. I noticed that anything I wanted was available at the same price in certain LGS... Less the crowds, being swept, and the annoying zaps.
 
There was once a time when going to a gun show was a lot like getting the Sears Christmas Wish Book, you couldn't believe all the exciting new toys inside! Unfortunately, like the Wish Book those days have gone by the wayside. I still go to them occasionally but I invariably leave with the thought "Well there's another ten bucks and two hours I'll never get back". Seems like today everything is black, plastic and assault style. Call me old school or just call me old but I look for the beauty in the wood and bluing even case hardening applications. I want to see craftsmanship, something that appears to be a lost art in today's "modern" firearms.
 
Ive not been to one since COVID first hit.
6Shooters is in WS this weekend. I havent been to one in a few years, but Im temped to pop over to it. Used to be 5 bucks entry, not sure if it still is.
Sort of like @RetiredUSNChief said, it's worth it for the entertainment.
We'll see.
 
For anyone considering going to the fun show, send me the price of entry and I will call you and zap a cheap Chinese stun gun down the phone at you while being an utter disappointment.

You can save the drive, looking for a parking spot and people ramming their filthy offspring wagon into you.
 
I know it's primo edgy to shit all over gun shows, but I've stumbled onto some great friends, cool finds, and absolutely entertaining weirdos over the years.

If you're going just to stomp up and down the aisles looking for that special sidearm with yesteryears prices, you'll be disappointed. If you're going to see if somebody has whatever newest iteration of Austrian tupperware perfection for less than Grabagun, you've probably wasted your time. If you're looking for hoarder tier man-Barbie AR barrels for PSA daily deal prices, you should've stayed home.

How many of y'all have seen a Gyrojet? Gyrojet ammo? A guy that owns one of every Great Eastern Cutlery Sunfish pattern? A Colt SAA that costs as much as my house? Men who can tell you everything about some random foreign rifle, down to what part of a country it was made, when, how it got here, etc, based on one little detail you didn't even know was there?

Go with a friend, chill, meet people, talk. There's cool stuff, cool people, you just have to look.
 
yard mongrel said:
I know it's primo edgy to shit all over gun shows, but I've stumbled onto some great friends, cool finds, and absolutely entertaining weirdos over the years.

If you're going just to stomp up and down the aisles looking for that special sidearm with yesteryears prices, you'll be disappointed. If you're going to see if somebody has whatever newest iteration of Austrian tupperware perfection for less than Grabagun, you've probably wasted your time. If you're looking for hoarder tier man-Barbie AR barrels for PSA daily deal prices, you should've stayed home.

How many of y'all have seen a Gyrojet? Gyrojet ammo? A guy that owns one of every Great Eastern Cutlery Sunfish pattern? A Colt SAA that costs as much as my house? Men who can tell you everything about some random foreign rifle, down to what part of a country it was made, when, how it got here, etc, based on one little detail you didn't even know was there?

Go with a friend, chill, meet people, talk. There's cool stuff, cool people, you just have to look.
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This is starting to sound suspiciously like CFF.
 
I like going to gun shows:

To be among friend of like mind.

See more guns than I can see locally.

See current prices.

As we are all hunters we look for that great deal or unknown treasurers. If you do not hunt you will never find anything.

And them there is another reason we share knowledge with our friends and family. Knowledge not shared is knowledge lost.

Them some of us go for the Women! We are males and we are visual stimulating. It is the price we pay as males.

Also get over it Bubba s it is just male bonding and fun.
 
Etruett said:
@BatteryOaksBilly and I first laid eyes on each other at the show in Myrtle Beach. If for no other reason we will go and toast our friendship over a plate of French fries.
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Splurge and go for sweet potato. 🤓
 
yard mongrel said:
How many of y'all have seen a Gyrojet? Gyrojet ammo? A guy that owns one of every Great Eastern Cutlery Sunfish pattern? A Colt SAA that costs as much as my house? Men who can tell you everything about some random foreign rifle, down to what part of a country it was made, when, how it got here, etc, based on one little detail you didn't even know was there?
Click to expand...
The problem is that cool stuff is VERY rare these days. It's mostly people selling tauruses (tauri) at MSRP+$50 to people who don't know any better. As other threads here have mentioned, WE are not what people think of when somebody says "I know a guy who likes guns". WE are not the customers most vendors at gun shows these days are looking for. somebody just posted the "average household has 4.7 guns" meme... I have multiples more guns than that that i picked up on a whim because they were cheap and now live stuffed in the back of the safe.

I did see the gyrojet guy a while back. he had some AMAZING stuff on his table. but he's not always there. most of the times when i walk into crown i know the guy at the first table on the right is gonna have a couple old guns for a few bucks more than i can get online, @cubrock is gonna be to the left with a few really interesting things tossed into the selection, the cool guns are priced fairly but still out of my fun budget. The lady with the weed oils is just past him. Some dude with a few tables is gonna be at the back and MIGHT have something good i can bargain for from his "boss's personal collection". and way off to the right is the guy that has books and once in a while a cool rifle. Everything else is 95% likely to overpriced and junk. Oh, and the guy selling bear creek blem parts is there once in a while too...

on the other hand, i start sweating every time i walk into midsouth. I can't remember if it's 3 or 4 times i've been in, but i bought something each time... one time i went there was only to meet up with @NiceOldDouble to buy a gun from him... but i made the mistake of walking inside.
 
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