Went to the gun show today

[SM Bob]

I hadn't been to a gun show in my area in over 20 years. I decided to
go to the one that was at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in Del Mar California.
I was looking to get some hard cast lead 357 bullets and to just look
around a bit. I got to the parking lot and there were a lot of cars there
already. Parking was $9! I printed out a $1 discount coupon from a
local radio station's website. It ended up costing $9 to get in. So, I'm
$18 in the hole already as I walked through the gate. It was crowded
and there was the usual snake oil salesmen and B.S. artists attempting
to sell their "miracle" cleaners and other products. The prices I saw for
hand guns were outrageous! Way more than you could get them for
on Gunbroker or other auction sites. The same was true for long guns
as well. There were tons and tons of knives and Samurai swords. If you
were looking for either one of them, you were in luck. I saw some holsters
that were decent for fair prices. Lots of cheap crappy scopes that were
way over priced. I searched the whole place and didn't find 1 dealer
selling hard cast 357 bullets, or any other pistol bullets for that matter.
I left the show without buying a single thing. All in all it was a pretty
disappointing show for me. I won't waste my time going to another one.
I can get what I need online much easier and way more reasonably priced.
Now I remember why I haven't been to a gun show around where I live for
20 years. For me, they suck! Back in the 1980's my friends and I used to
go to Pomona Ca at the L.A. County Fairgrounds. They had many buildings
with tables and tables of guns and tons of cool stuff for absolutely fantastic
prices. They even advertised as having over 6 miles of tables! It took us from
from the time the gates opened to the time they closed to get through that
show. It was incredible! Guys would walk around with handguns and long guns
that were for sale. You would walk up to a guy and say, "How much for the
.45?" "$300." "Here you go!" Then turn around and walk away. No paperwork!
No nothing! I know it could never be like that again. Sadly, those days are
long gone.

                                 Robert


                                 
 

[Graybeard]

Knives and military stuff (mostly old foreign clothing and medals) seem to have taken over the GUNshows around here. Guns have actually become only a side line part of what is really a knife and military clothes show.

In CA since they've outlawed lead bullets in such a huge area and seem headed toward it state wide I gotta idea it's only gonna get harder to find lead and likely it will be illegal to use even when you do. Out lawing lead is the anti's primary weapon today to ending gun use.

[ms]

Knives and military stuff (mostly old foreign clothing and medals) seem to have taken over the GUNshows around here. Guns have actually become only a side line part of what is really a knife and military clothes show.

In CA since they've outlawed lead bullets in such a huge area and seem headed toward it state wide I gotta idea it's only gonna get harder to find lead and likely it will be illegal to use even when you do. Out lawing lead is the anti's primary weapon today to ending gun use.

I agree .

[1marty]

went to a gun show in NY. Haven't been to one in 10 years. The firearms were in such bad shape I wouldn't dare shoot one. The ones which looked fairly decent were way over priced. One guy was selling ammo and he must have found the ammo at a bottom of a lake since the boxes looked water logged. One guy was selling 8MM ammo and the bullets were green!! The rest of the show consisted of rusty knives and odd ball military stuff (junk). What a wate of time and money!!!

[SM Bob]

went to a gun show in NY. Haven't been to one in 10 years. The firearms were in such bad shape I wouldn't dare shoot one. The ones which looked fairly decent were way over priced. One guy was selling ammo and he must have found the ammo at a bottom of a lake since the boxes looked water logged. One guy was selling 8MM ammo and the bullets were green!! The rest of the show consisted of rusty knives and odd ball military stuff (junk). What a wate of time and money!!!

  I'm sure that green 8mm ammo would shoot real well too. I hear you about the
junk! One guy had a bunch of Mosin Nagants that were so rusty and filthy that I would
be afraid to shoot them. He wanted close to $200 each for them! You can get one
that is like new online from several places for half that, including shipping. There were some
guys that had a table with boxes and boxes of rusty old worthless gun parts and rusty knives.
Just who would buy any of that junk is beyond me. I think some of these sellers come to the
show just to hang out. Hey, if that's what they like to do, good for them, but I'm not going to
waste my time or money going there again.

                                              Robert

[Rustyinfla]

I agree. I went to my last one a few weeks ago myself. There was lots of new stuff there but it was 90% black rifles. Assault everything. I was looking for Handi Rifles and there was only one in the whole show plus two .410's. It's a lot easier to order the stuff at home and let the little brown truck bring it right to your door or support a local merchant.

[alsaqr]

Most gun shows are pretty much as Graybeard described them.  In this area there is usually an NFA dealer who has a huge display new full auto guns.  The only people who can buy them are cops an police departments.