A topic in the reloading forum has led me to a new topic of gun show trends (reloading components, guns, attendance, etc). I try to get to as many gun shows as I can in hopes of finding the deal of a lifetime. I've noticed things in the last 5 years or so:

1) Attendance is down
2) Deals are rare (non-existent)
3) Dealers seem to "show off" their guns with no intent of selling
4) Entry fees have risen
5) Increase in non-gun items (antiques, general crap)
6) Increase in "cheap" items (off brand optics especially)
7) Reduction of dickering tolerated

Any of you notice this?

The only gun show I go to is the Tulsa show. There are so many people that attend you can barely get through. I do agree with your other six pionts. The vendors seem reluctant to even talk to anyone and just set there and stare off in to space.

I've come to the determination that gun shows are a good place to see alot of guns in one place and that's about all.

Used to be, on Sunday afternoon, you could get some pretty good deals but not any more.

"alot of guns in one place" = endless (400+)junk handguns, 50 AR clones, 150 military Russian/CCCP trash, 2 Savage 311 doubles, 6 luger/PO8 (5 are mismatched and/or re-blued; one 1920 commercial model has matching numbers and price is 1800.00), 4 rusted broomhandles, 16 Norinco 45 "Colt" clones @ 450.+ each, 25 Marlin model 60s in all tedious variations, 1 ancient drilling with cracked wrist, pitted bores, mismatched hammers and a 2000. price tag, 35 Genghis Kahn-moustachiod dealers accompanied by blond wife/girl-friend with exposed breast tattoed with "they'll get my gun when they ............(balance hidden under black leather vest), morbidly obese, ponytailed, grey-haired Harley-type peddling junk knives, AK-47 parts and (beef??) jerky. All this complemented by the opportunity to buy chicken-meat hotdogs for 2.50 each.
OHHHH>>>>>GAWD!!......I remember the gun shows of yesteryear ..... gonna cry.

Have to agree. The challenge of gun shows is to sift through the massive amounts of crap to get to the few decent guns that are there. Reloading components are nill. Why is jewelry even allowed in the same room? And are most of us really into paramilitary junk?

I used to enjoy the gun shows, looking for old 4 cavity molds, odd parts, good buys on powder and bullets.
Only got one firearm at a gun show in my life, but I have a narrow want list.
I have not been to one in the past several years.

Jim

Oh yeah...if it's at the Astrodome/Reliant Park, you burn up a $20.00 just to pay to park, get in and get a coke

Here in San Diego they are laughable and I seldom waste time anymore attending them. Four years ago they were okay, still had the garage sellers trying to peddle various toys, Chinese camo, dud jewelry and of course, Harley knives and cheap stuff. There were always several good booths though with pretty good deals and a erray of fine firearms booths.
The last one I went to a few monthes back was an eye opener. There were a ton of "tactical" booths, with various Frankenstein reiteration of anything possible. There were cheap boothes, higher quality boothes, a few vendors with scopes heavier than the .22's they were mounted on, and this one I distinctly remember with the most hackjob, disturbing ak-47 I've ever seen. It had rails sprouting everywhere, a collapsable M4 buttstock, gizmos everywhere and looked like it had been drug behind a truck. It weighed, in my estimation close to 18lbs. I asked the vendor, a gentleman who had no humor in an attempt to look tough, why it had looked so. He gave me a glamerous story of it's operations with black ops in Afghanistan and Iraq, and other places he couldn't tell me. I was puzzled as it had a fixed 10rd magazine, when asked about it the dealer's face turned red and he helped someone else.
Another gentleman who worked as a AR15 Cali legal smithy of sorts couldn't recall the source of his barrels, what material he forged the receivers of despite claiming to have done so himself, and was generally useless.
I've noticed more of a black rifle tough guy persona here in California. The fine rifles booths have become fewer and it's more difficult weeding through the junk in search of the few gentleman offering a few fine firearms.

Well, there's some truth in all of the above, but I'm pretty picky about the quality and kind of guns I buy and I can't remember going to a show that didn't have a few guns I wanted and I can think back on half a dozen that I hesitated on and missed that were major screw ups on my part, just in the last few years. I may or may not have been able to buy them, but I almost always find something I developed an instant desire for (and I'm not talking two legged blonde types, that's a constant even if, like the pit bull chasing the car, I'm not sure what I'd do if I caught one these days). The saddest thing about gun shows is that they're mostly attended and tabled by old farts like me, and likely you. We're losing the younger generation and that will be the end of it. "Gun show loophole" doncha know? Bleech.

When they began to let Dealers in, the deals all went away. They get to come in on Friday to set up, have a happy hour, and cherry pick anything of value at a reasonable price, so they can mark it up for Saturday morning when the chumps like me come in. This is a better place to shop for good stuff at market value.

Rich

quote:

This is a better place to shop for good stuff at market value.

Rich

I totally agree. I've seen some smoking deals here but the only problem is that I always miss them by a few minutes. I guess it keeps me from going broke.

I used to love gun shows. Sharpshooter is right. To get a deal now you have to have a table. All the good deals get snapped up by the vendors/dealers the evening of setup before the show even opens.

One of the last gunshows I displayed at I picked up a very clean argentine mauser for $80 and an f.i.e. .410 shotgun for my daughter for $50. Of course I got those the evening before the show opened.

I had a friend years ago that not just collected guns, but knew guns. He always seemed to fall into good deals.

He hit a garage sale the night before it was supposed to open and bought about ten guns. As I recall he paid $1,000. He told the lady they were worth a lot more, but she said she didn't care. She wanted them gone. She said she had thrown her husband out, was selling what she could, and burning the rest. He said "Thank you" and left.

He was a marvel at gun shows. He didn't keep much except 45 autos, but he seemed to know a good deal on everything. We would walk around the show for an hour or so and he would buy and sell, maybe three of four guns. $25 profit there. $50 profit here, and we would walk out the door with no guns, but he would be a couple hundred dollars richer.

He made some rigs one day then stopped by my office. You catch a rig hand needing money and he sells you what he's got. My friend had a nearly new 9mm auto, S&W, nickel plated, that he said he made a hell of a deal on. He asked me if I would pay $25 more. It looked good. I did, and he pocketed the money. I figure by now, if he kept that up, he's richer than Bill Gates.