Henry Rifle Forums

They have shows in my area rather regularly, however, I have not been anywhere other than local gun stores in years. Wow...I learned a lot, but mainly, what I learned is that I know my own arms very well, but I will say that after today, I would't know a good deal on anything unless I had one of you with me. It was a BIG show. Had a lot of fun though!

I have found that large gun shows can expose you to many guns you only may have read about. There are many types of sellers there too. I'm not sure I've ever seen a good deal advertised at a large or small gun show. I have negotiated a decent price for a gun I wanted. I have a few good local gun shops in my area that get good supplies of used guns and always have a decent selection of new guns. (There's nothing worse than walking into a gun shop who's sales display is smaller than your own collection, for me at least.) I haven't been in the gun buying mode in a long time. I did buy a rifle at a small gun show last year. It was a good deal to me and the seller. I just stopped into that show on a whim.

its been at least 20 years since I've been to a gun show and can't remember ever buying anything at one .... I have looked then gone back later to our local Mom and Pop to order something I like at the show

We mainly went to gun shows to meet our supplier. Wait, that didn't sound right.

Back in the days of competition, we were shooting a lot of ammunition in practice and matches. Somewhere around 10k rounds each including all calibers. Most of us shot at least 38 and 45, I added 40 and 9mm to the list. We would call in a bulk order to GA Arms, our reloading supplier, and they would bring the pallet to the gunshow at no charge if we prepaid. No shipping costs. If you get five to ten guys ordering bullets, powder, primers, and accessories... They loved us.

We would wander the show floor after letting GA Arms know we were there... Checking out all the stuff. Every now and then I would add a speedloader, mag pouch, or other goody. Mostly we looked at all the guns. One of the dealers had Sonny Crockett's original Bren Tens and Miami Classic shoulder holsters from the first year of the TV show on display with all the documentation. They could be yours, back then, for $10k.

Once we were done, we'd drive around back to the GA Arms tractor Trailer, offload our orders into our trucks, and off we went.

The whole world of rifles and reloading would give me a totally different perspective on gun shows. I may have to find one this winter and see it with new eyes...

I liked to look at the things I could only dream of as well. Back then, one entire end of a lane was always taken by a dealer in high end shotguns. I am NOT a true shotgunner. I shot a little skeet as a high school kid, a little in the Corps, but no one ever had to shoot my hat. This dealer had those fully engraved, inlaid, leather and teak cased, multi-barrels jobs that cost more than a good entry level BMW. Beautiful.

ALL of your comments are like re-visiting the show. They are spot on as far as I see it. Funny...one seller had a whole line up of Henrys and not one was but a few dollars less than msrp. No thanks...rather deal with guys I know at my local gun stores. Was still fun to look. Interesting that I saw maybe three Colt Pythons at three different booths and all but one did not display the price. It was the least pretty and still wanted about $3000.00 if I remember correctly. I can see however that a show like that might benefit a reloader which I am not.

We hit most of the gun shows in our area on a regular basis, as much to visit with friends who tables, there, as for anything. Pretty tight knit shooting community, up here, so lots of socializing at our gun shows.

Gun shows are good places to buy ammo or loading components or obsolete gun parts and so on, but with the caveat that you know what you want and can recognize it when you see it. Gun shows are NOT good places for beginners or the poorly informed to buy guns. For one thing, you cannot depend on private sellers to even know the going prices on their guns. Some prices are downright absurd. Nor can you assume the seller even knows much about their guns, since a lot of guns get traded back and forth between sellers. I've been in the situation where I actually educate the seller on what they're selling, enough so that I'm sometimes stopped to answer questions when they see me, again, at another gun show.

In other words, enjoy gun shows for the experience, but do your homework before you even consider buying a gun, there.

Have gotten some great deals at gun shows on a few occasions. Most of them have me wondering why I even bothered going.

North Country Gal wrote:We hit most of the gun shows in our area on a regular basis, as much to visit with friends who tables, there, as for anything. Pretty tight knit shooting community, up here, so lots of socializing at our gun shows.

Gun shows are good places to buy ammo or loading components or obsolete gun parts and so on, but with the caveat that you know what you want and can recognize it when you see it. Gun shows are NOT good places for beginners or the poorly informed to buy guns. For one thing, you cannot depend on private sellers to even know the going prices on their guns. Some prices are downright absurd. Nor can you assume the seller even knows much about their guns, since a lot of guns get traded back and forth between sellers. I've been in the situation where I actually educate the seller on what they're selling, enough so that I'm sometimes stopped to answer questions when they see me, again, at another gun show.

In other words, enjoy gun shows for the experience, but do your homework before you even consider buying a gun, there.

Kinda my take on it at this point. Thanks NCG!

Bugs wrote:Have gotten some great deals at gun shows on a few occasions. Most of them have me wondering why I even bothered going.

Same here, although I have gone to some pretty decent Estate auctions locally that have had literally hundreds of firearms on the block from documented Presentation antiques to fairly recent production. Some good deals can be had if you know how to bid.

Here's a recent local auction that had some very rare antique Colts.

http://jdstevensstables.com/20%20Oct%20 ... /Guns.html

At the show I went to yesterday I saw a nice looking 1873 .44-40 Winchester rifle and according to the tag it was an 1876 issue.
Looked great for it's age and bet it could tell some great stories of it's history however for the 8000.00 asking price it didn't have a chance to talk to me!

North Country Gal wrote:We hit most of the gun shows in our area on a regular basis, as much to visit with friends who tables, there, as for anything. Pretty tight knit shooting community, up here, so lots of socializing at our gun shows.

Gun shows are good places to buy ammo or loading components or obsolete gun parts and so on, but with the caveat that you know what you want and can recognize it when you see it. Gun shows are NOT good places for beginners or the poorly informed to buy guns. For one thing, you cannot depend on private sellers to even know the going prices on their guns. Some prices are downright absurd. Nor can you assume the seller even knows much about their guns, since a lot of guns get traded back and forth between sellers. I've been in the situation where I actually educate the seller on what they're selling, enough so that I'm sometimes stopped to answer questions when they see me, again, at another gun show.

In other words, enjoy gun shows for the experience, but do your homework before you even consider buying a gun, there.

Exactly! Have been on both sides of the tables for over 35 years and just like out in the woods hunting or deer camp, you never know what’s out there and you cannot beat the social aspects.

daytime dave wrote:I have found that large gun shows can expose you to many guns you only may have read about. There are many types of sellers there too. I'm not sure I've ever seen a good deal advertised at a large or small gun show. I have negotiated a decent price for a gun I wanted. I have a few good local gun shops in my area that get good supplies of used guns and always have a decent selection of new guns. (There's nothing worse than walking into a gun shop who's sales display is smaller than your own collection, for me at least.) I haven't been in the gun buying mode in a long time. I did buy a rifle at a small gun show last year. It was a good deal to me and the seller. I just stopped into that show on a whim.

Dave, here in Central NY the good old gun shop is an endangered species, so the gun show is the only game in town.