Gunshow report, pricing report and a sponsor plug!

[awp101]

Went to the Will Rogers show in Fort Worth today with my Grandfather.

Quite a bit of rimfire stuff on display, with pricing all over the place. USED, plain jane, blued 10/22's priced from $149 to $225 (but that one came with a TASCO 3X9!:rolleyes: ).

Henry levers priced from about $200-$350 (depending on LR or MAG).

H&R/NEF .17HMR "Sportster" rigs from $149 to $189 (same rifles, NIB with no extras).

Marlin 17VS from $299 to $389.

Savage bolt action .17HMR (Model 93? Can't remember) from $289 to $349.

Taurus 6" "Tracker" revolvers in .17HMR $309 to $349 and .22LR $289 to $329.

More Win 190s than I could shake a stick at, Single Sixes from $200-$350, Ruger MKIIs from $150 to $350 and at least 3 Marlin Model39/39A's in attendance including one with no prefix, no SN (no price I could find either...:eek: ). Several S&W Mod41's WAYYY outta my price range, S&W 22A/S in my price range (but not interested) and a few SIG/Hammerli Trailsides just out of reach. A few HS models from a Duramatic to various Citation models as well as some H&R revolvers.

Had an offer to "build" a TC in .22. $350 for a used frame (2 or three frames to choose from) and .22 bbl or $450 for a used frame and new 12" .22LR Match bbl.

A nice Ruger SP101 in .22LR for $289 that I passed on (only the 2 or 2.5" bbl, shoter than what I want).

Whitney Wolverine for $450 (C&R eligible too!). I knew I should have bought the one I saw about 6 mos ago for $325!:doh:

Also passed on a Rem 597 scoped, with two mags (plastic I think? They were silver bodied with black bases) for $150. Might regret that one, maybe not.

My foolish mistake of the day was passing on the Belgian Browning Automatic 22 Grade I (I found out later what it was) for $159 on a private transaction. Beautiful bluing, Belgian Browning markings (no Mikoru on this'un!), gorgeous wood. Had some black plastic around the wrist of the buttstock (almost like shrink wrap). The guy I talked to was not the owner, he was just watching the table for the guy. He told me the wrist had some chipped wood and the owner had puttied it and put the plastic around it as "protection". By the time I talked myself into it later the afternoon, it was gone. C'est la vie....

Wound up buying 3 books, 2 old pictures and 3 old coins. Better than some of the recent shows.

After dropping my Grandfather off I stopped in at Cheaper Than Dirt (shameless sponsor plug, I live not far from them!:D). Put a beautiful S&W Model 63 on layaway. Includes the box, all paperwork but the original receipt and maybe the warranty card. ALSO includes the NEVER OPENED CLEANING KIT! (I saw 2 of these on a S&W Forum for sale, $42 shipped for both). Turns out it belonged to the owner of CTD. Tagged $400, but all used handguns were 10% off this weekend. I have until Dec to pay it off but I don't know that I can wait that long.......

As I was finishing up the paperwork on the Mod 63 I spied a NEF .17HMR Sportster. $159, $10 more than the cheapest I saw at the show but about $20 less than the price of most of them there. At some point I think one of those will get picked up when I make a payment on the Smith.

Wound up keeping most of my cash and will add to it once the first of the month rolls around. Probably won't get to the next show (either Market Hall or Big Town) but will try to hit the one after that.

[SBF]

Sounds like there was a plethera of rimfires at the show. The rimfire selection at the shows around here are usually quite weak. Cool that you went to the show with your grandpa, bet he hit you with a few of the "I rememeber when those were $20.00" :)

Congrats on the S&W

you NEED a .17:D

[awp101]

Originally posted by SBF
Cool that you went to the show with your grandpa, bet he hit you with a few of the "I rememeber when those were $20.00" :)
Yeah, I got "I paid $70 for your .30-30 back in '73!" EVERY TIME we passed a Win94...;)

I heard the same three stories at every table we stopped at, as long as someone would acknowledge his presence. 2 of those stories are about me growing up....:rolleyes:

The man likes to talk for sure, but there ain't nothin wrong with that!:up:

[Jericho]

sounded like a good show... The gun selections at the showes around here suck, But if you want beef jerkey or a knife they are the place to go :rolleyes:

[awp101]

I quit going to this show several times because it is the smallest local show around but Pop wanted to go since he's 80 and can't get around the bigger shows.

This was the first time I REALLY paid attention to the rimfire stuff, so I don't know if this was an abberation or if it's always been this much out there.

I DO think the popularity of the .17Hummer has something to do with it though.

[SBF]

After reading your original post at about 6:30am this morning I started looking for shows in the area. I found one about 40 miles away that I attended. The wife and both kids wanted to come too, so my time in the actual show was brief. Everyone (but me) was bored within 10 minutes and waiting in the lobby. I really just want to go to a show by myself and actually take the time to look around but it never seems to happen :rolleyes:

Anyhow, I ended up getting 2 60-rd battle packs of 7.5 Swiss for $25.00 a pack and 6 boxes on Hornady 17 HMR for $9.99 a piece. I'm still amazed at the crap rifles folks have and want top dollar for :rolleyes: I can't tell you how many $900, nothing great M1 Carbines I saw or $250.00 beat up Glenfields and Marlin .22's. Having a C&R license has spoiled a lot about going to gun shows. I realize now that there are hardly ever bargins, except for ammo because you can save on shipping.

[HawkTech]

I agree with you guys. For the most part, gunshows are a huge waste of time. I typically don't even sell at them unless it's a really big one. Thing is, I don't see how they even stay around sometimes. The sellers (except for me, of course) are always looking to get better than new prices, and the buyers are so cheap they wouldn't even know a good deal if they saw one! It drives me nuts! Rimfire doesn't do well at our shows either, so I get a lot of people that have no clue about anything I'm selling. Not too many that hang around gunshows are willing to spend twice as much for a barrel or trigger assembly than they originally paid for the gun! Oh well, I guess that's why we have the internet!

[Poodleshooter]

I've always had good luck finding rimfires at gunshows. My wife's (and I say that rather loosely) Buckmark Camper was bought at a gunshow for only $225. I'd be hard pressed to find that in a shop around here. It's also the only place I can find Aguila ammo in any quantity.
AWP101: I would have been hard pressed not to pick up that SP101 ! My GP100 has been wanting a little sibling for awhile....