Show report

Ok, first: big show. BIG show. Somewhere between 3-4000 tables of just about every kind of goodness you can think of related to firearms, though not a lot of reloading gear; a number of places with powder and primers, a couple with a bunch of dies, and the usual scatter of people with a few die sets put out.

Second: ammo. My favorite ammo guy was there, but he had no individual boxes of any cartridge; cases only. Bunch of other dealers had boxes, and lots of cases. And my God how they moved. Especially the usual suspects: 7.62x39, 7.62x54r, .308, .223*, 9mm and- to a lesser extent- .45acp. As in my ammo guy had several empty pallets when we left Sunday, and so did the other dealers**. And a place called Blue Star that sells mostly brass and bullets(some powder and primers) was doing a brisk business open to close; they always do, but more people seemed to be buying large amounts.

Third: magazines. Damn. Every dealer specializing in them was busy, again open to close. One guy had a crate- as in wood crate about 2x2x4’- of AK mags, and it was almost empty by 5pm Saturday. Every dealer didn’t sell out of them, but they sold a LOT. Also of the other ‘big demand’ item, AR15 mags. A lot of standard-capacity pistol mags of the type the GFWs call ‘high-capacity’ were selling a lot, too. Hell, everything was selling well, just those more so than others.

Fourth: if anything, the tendency of some people to overprice firearms was worse. I mean, a Inland M1 Carbine, all late features, isn’t worth $2000. Period. Kind of amazing what some people were asking for things. Collectable Winchester rifles and such I can understand, but some of the stuff… Couple of times I had the desire to ask how they’d managed to hide the thick gold plating that would be the only reason that thing would be worth what they were asking.

I’d hoped to find some of the Remington Eley .22 ammo to feed the Enfield trainer, but no luck. And no, I did not buy the brick of Lapua Midas to try out(I don’t buy ammo to try out when it’s in a brick that runs more than a hundred dollars). And I just realized I forgot to check Blue Star for 7.62x54r and 7.5x55 brass. Dammit. I hope I’ve still got their card. Last year there was a guy with a powder measure he’d designed to handle stick powders without the problem most measures have; wasn’t there this time, and I’d hoped to get one. Have to check around and see if he’s advertising.

And it's not gunny related, but the concessions at the show? The drinks were horribly overpriced, but the food wasn't; and it was pretty good. They've got a barbeque sandwich and a philly beef that's damn good.

All in all, a damn good show, everything from Class III stuff(make a deposit and go do the paperwork) to plinkers to big-game rifles to antiques(including the brass-barrel blunderbuss my daughter would love), bayonets to pocketknives to swords, targets to (some) loading gear.




*Yes, I know, in military it’s 7.62x51 and 5.56x45; bite me, I call it .308 and .223
**See Lawdog’s post on the local situation in his neck of the woods. And the Seagull's post on the show