The crap I see at the gun shows.

[Petrov]

Just wanted to share some of the "custom" guns that I saw at the gun show, feel free to add your stories.
This was at the Rochester NY gun show and it was packed and the lines were moving slowly so I had time to get a good look.
There was a kid in his mid twenties with a Rem 700 VTR? rifle in 223 (green stock triangular barrel). Now he stuck a cleaning rod in the barrel and put a sign on the rod "Custom tactical sniper rifle 1500$"

It was a one off custom alright! He basically took bedding compound poured the entire contents into the stock and shoved the barreled action back in. The compound squeezed out and was sticking out between the stock and the action, you could actually see where he dremeled it off around the ejection port, that crap was sticking out in huge lumps. It gets better! He managed to "bed" the first 2/3rds of the barrel too!!! That too a lot of bedding compound! That crap was slathered all over you could barley see the top of the barrel contour! I am pretty sure he just dumped that stuff in there and left it, the action and the stock had to be glued together with all that crap!
Ok now that the rifle has been "bedded" it is time to move to the scope mounting options!
This fella was a resourceful one! This flaming idiot took a ruger Mk3 scope base hack sawed it into two pieces (you could see the teeth marks on the exposed sides, it was lopsidec uts too) that will fit onto the rem 700 action and slapped them on top! But wait there would be gaps since RugerMk3 is round small receiver ! Not a problem he mixed up some JB weld to fill in the gaps! I do not know what screws he used but they were buggered beyond repair or extraction!

 

[ORD]

As you have so aptly demonstrated with that story...Stupidity Knows No Limits!

I guess I'll stop complaining now about all the cheap chinese pot metal knifes, fake Indian jewelry and dream catchers, and beef jerky vendors that are always present at my local shows!

 

[Maggot]

The key word in the OP is the first noun.

 

[Facemelter]

As you have so aptly demonstrated with that story...Stupidity Knows No Limits!

I guess I'll stop complaining now about all the cheap chinese pot metal knifes, fake Indian jewelry and dream catchers, and beef jerky vendors that are always present at my local shows!

This right here,hits the nail on the head.
I actually just got my knife back after having some toolshed at a local gunshow "sharpen" it for me. Took the edge right off and it no longer had a point,more of a round knub.
I see all that crap at local gun shows. All the shitty jewelry and crappy "sniper" scopes and people wanting top dollar for worn out junk.

 

[hdfinder47]

Hey - back off the beef jerky vendors. I like that stuff, lol.
Seriously, I have been to shows that required vendors to have at least 90% gun related items on their tables.

 

[jhart2424]

Stopped going to shows because of all the crap for sale. The only thing I miss is the hot cinnamon sugar pecans!!!

 

[pmclaine]

Hey if you didnt want to buy it fine but you dont have to call me out in front of everyone. Now where did I put my gallon jug of Marinetex....

 

[Facemelter]

Hey - back off the beef jerky vendors. I like that stuff, lol.
Seriously, I have been to shows that required vendors to have at least 90% gun related items on their tables.

Oh dont get me wrong,I love jerky. but I need to try it first. If I buy a slab of jerky and it taste like poop and dirt,Im not really happy.

 

[seanh]

What's fun to do is to walk up to these tables with "custom" guns, look the gun over- critique it then offer to fix it for the price they have on the gun...be sure to do this while other people are looking at their stuff.

I like to look them over and say...."selling off your practice guns?"

What I laugh at are all the "hand polished" guns that someone took to a polishing/buffing wheel. Sure it's shinny but all the corners are rounded, lettering is rolled in, waves from uneven pressure or a wheel not square....basically, zero hand work.

 

[Queequeg]

This right here,hits the nail on the head.
I actually just got my knife back after having some toolshed at a local gunshow "sharpen" it for me. Took the edge right off and it no longer had a point,more of a round knub.
I see all that crap at local gun shows. All the shitty jewelry and crappy "sniper" scopes and people wanting top dollar for worn out junk.

You let someone else sharpen your knife...Tsk, Tsk, Tsk...

 

[Facemelter]

The guy caught me off gaurd. He had seen my knife clip on my pocket and asked to sharpen it for free and if I liked the sharpening he would offer me the sharpeners for a lower price. I obliged like an idiot and handed him my knife.

A few minutes later I got my knife back with an uneven blade,absolutly no tip whatsoever since it had been rounded off and it wasnt even sharp any more. He was an older gentlemen and I hated telling him he was terrible at this and should sell newspapers.

Always love the russian lady at my local show selling holsters but doesnt speak any english.

 

[Queequeg]

One can be too polite I am told...

 

[rjacobs]

Ive paid my $10 to get into too many shows filled with garbage that I basically refuse to go anymore unless my old man wants to go and pay(he already knows this is the arrangement). I usually end up bull shitting with the NFA guy that is at most of the local shows while my old man wanders around, then I go buy jerky(the local guy that shows up to our shows always has good jerky), hit the reloading table(if my old man hasnt cleaned em out already) and off we go. Good waste of an hour or so. I think ive bought exactly one gun at a gun show and I got a good deal because the guy threw in a "cheap ass thigh holster" which was a Safariland light bearing thigh rig that I off loaded for $100, but even without that the deal was still fairly good.

 

[fmrabnmp]

I have found the level of stupid in most gun shows actually causes my IQ to drop several points upon entry. :|

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Ok I will play. I am wearing a sign at my local GS, just yesterday in fact. "What you want for your Glock 34?" I told him. "What caliber is it?", "The only caliber they come in buddy."
"they come in lots of calibers, what is this one?"
"It is a model 34 buddy."
"I know that but what caliber is it?"

I would like to tell you my next response was,"44 Magnum" but the little voice in the back of my head said,"Easy there scooter, I know you want to pistol whip him while you scream "9mm fucktard" but there is a high probability this retard has money." So... I calmly said....9mm. "Oh great I was hoping it was 9mm!" At that point I was resisting the urge of an open blatant facepalm. He inspected the finish and insisted it had been refinished cause it wasn't like all his other Glocks. I insisted that it had simply been taken care of and been oiled. Something his vast collection of Glocks probably never see. Yeah he bought it.

 

[pawprint2]

My club has a "swap meet" every quarter, so I rarely go to gun shows. My main reason(s) for no looking forward to the shows, as I have in the past, are for all the reasons stated above. I think shows may be worth going to next winter. The buying frenzy that has consumed the public may well be over, all those "spec" guns will suddenly see their value (as in cost to purchase) start to drop, I hoping to see piles of "bargains" in the near future, one can only hope.

 

[30calDeath]

Ok I will play. I am wearing a sign at my local GS, just yesterday in fact. "What you want for your Glock 34?" I told him. "What caliber is it?", "The only caliber they come in buddy."
"they come in lots of calibers, what is this one?"
"It is a model 34 buddy."
"I know that but what caliber is it?"

I would like to tell you my next response was,"44 Magnum" but the little voice in the back of my head said,"Easy there scooter, I know you want to pistol whip him while you scream "9mm fucktard" but there is a high probability this retard has money." So... I calmly said....9mm. "Oh great I was hoping it was 9mm!" At that point I was resisting the urge of an open blatant facepalm. He inspected the finish and insisted it had been refinished cause it wasn't like all his other Glocks. I insisted that it had simply been taken care of and been oiled. Something his vast collection of Glocks probably never see. Yeah he bought it.

That was great, I had to read it out loud to my GF.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

I almost wouldn't believe it if it hadn't actually happened to me. Yes these people exist fellas, and they buy guns. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

At the previous gunshow I walked around with an AR I built in 300BLK. Guy came up to me and said,"How much for the AR?". I told him a cool grand(pretty good deal all recent events considered) and he kinda wrinkled his nose. I told him it was a Blackout and he said he knew that immediately. Considering he never put his hands on it, there were no visable markings denoting the caliber, and he couldn't really see the muzzle well as I had it slung muzzle down, the fact that he instantly recognized it's caliber was amazing. He kinda slunk away like someone who has been busted. Should have just kept my mouth shut and sold it to him quick. Oh the surprise on his face when he got it home.

 

[Name Enough]

I learned my lesson about buying at a gun show. $10 to get in $6 to park. Purchased a scope and it did not work. The seller is over the hill and gone and there is no recourse. No you can deal with the factory who said the dealer was not an authorized dealer and the scope was not new.
Ok lesson learned.

 

[KillShot]

I rarely frequent the shows anymore to buy something but rather to look at the bullshit people are selling.

I was at Wanenmacher's Tulsa Arms Show in March 2012 and as I was walking down one of the aisles I spotted a "custom sniper rifle" that was none other than your average Remington 700 with a camo paint job. Mounted atop this "custom sniper rifle" was a NightForce NXS 5.5-22x50 without zero stop or high speed turrets. It looked as if someone had used it as a framing hammer, being scraped up and beat up beyond comprehension.

I politely inquired what the asking price was for the NXS and I was told "$1850" to which I replied, "why so high when it retails for less than that?" I was quickly informed this was "the FFP model and it retails for over $2000." I shot the guy a "surprised" look and replied "But, NightForce doesn't make a 22x FFP model and the model you have here has neither zero stop or high speed turrets." The seller then responded with "I don't think that's right" to which I replied "I know for a fact that it is because I just bought an NXS like this with HS/ZS for $1800 and this one you have for sale is worth $1000 at best because it's beat all to hell."

Needless to say, he was at a loss for words so I bode him best of luck with the sale and walked away.

 

[Unknown]

My wife went with me to one of the Portland, OR shows a few years ago. We were both griping about all the non-gun, flea market crap (beanie babies, cheap jewelry, wierd food items, used non-hunting clothing, and general crap) when she noticed a 375 pound fat guy drinking a beer while he searchrd througn stacks of used VHS porno tapes. All I could say was, "guns, beer, and porn...ain't merica great!"

 

[Sportin Wood]

Purchased a scope and it did not work. No you can deal with the factory who said the dealer was not an authorized dealer and the scope was not new.

The manufacturer wouldn't honor a warranty because the dealer wasn't authorized?? What scope manufacturer would that be??

 

[VJJPunisher]

I go for the wicker baskets and build-a-bracelets. My friend and I have a tradition of eating fast food on the way so we can crop dust the shit out of the packed aisles

 

[sr15match]

I all but quit going. My last visit to a show was the one in Rochester but over the holidays (Christmas / New Years timeframe). What a waste and it reinforced & reminded me once again why I quite going. A couple nice examples surrounded by mountains of over priced garbage.

 

[BIPMaster]

Last one I went to was the Tulsa show last September. The local show is always a large disappointment unless you are in the mood for the latest and greatest Chinese sniper scope.

 

[Badger300wm]

I go to the ones here so I have an excuse to wear every piece of camo I own and I always do a tactical roll between tables. Lots different here in Kolorado than it was back home in Montana where you actually had good merchandise and good conversation to peruse through.

 

[long range newbie]

Yeah I went to buy some 22lr and we asked was it normal price? he said yeah $75... Then there was a few accuracy internationals ax in 338 lapua with S&B on them and its my first time seeing both of those so I was basically drooling but 12k for the bundle no thank you. I also saw a lot of fair priced stuff but a lot of over priced. Like $20 for a front bead sight but I needed it for my 1950's 22lr I got. I also saw a ton of cheap scopes acting like they are some long range scopes but these were probably made in china. People these days really are stupid.. I also saw some 50 beuwolf the things are huge!

 

[Triad]

There was a kid in his mid twenties with a Rem 700 VTR? rifle in 223 (green stock triangular barrel). Now he stuck a cleaning rod in the barrel and put a sign on the rod "Custom tactical sniper rifle 1500$"

So to address the elephant in the room: HOW MUCH DID YOU END UP BUYING IT FOR????

 

[Petrov]

So to address the elephant in the room: HOW MUCH DID YOU END UP BUYING IT FOR????

I traded it for my space shuttle door gunner patch that I got when I was a Green Ranger Air Force Seal in team #69

 

[dbowhunter]

I traded it for my space shuttle door gunner patch that I got when I was a Green Ranger Air Force Seal in team #69

I new this thread was building for a true audible laugh while sitting alone. Thank you for that!

 

[silviacrazed]

I'm with everyone else. I've all but stopped going to them. Generally spend $16 bucks to get in with my girlfriend, wander around a while and find nothing. I did get a good deal on Sig P226 Stainless Elite last October, but that's been about it. Went a couple of months ago and everything was obnoxiously over priced. Someone wanted $35 for a 50 round box of PMC bronze. I literally laughed in their face. Of course they had all the typical garbage NC star scopes and trying to sell Bushmasters for Noveske prices. Half the time I can't find anyone that knows the weapon I'm looking at as well as I do. It's become increasingly frustrating.

 

[nashlaw]

Used to be that the local small town shows were where you went to meet up w/ old friends and get something you had been wanting for a while. Sadly, the guys that I shot w/ when I was younger don't get around much or have passed away. Occasionally see a donor action I buy, but the used stuff usually has new prices.

 

[fdkay]

When I was stationed in Virginia, I really liked going to the gun shows.
They were enormous affairs and it would take a couple of hours to walk through.
Got to meet Carlos Hathcock and spoke to him a couple of times.

Got stationed in South Texas, the guns shows here are very small, chinese scopes, beef jerky and new prices for old stuff.
I haven't been to the one in San Antonio, I hear it's pretty good.

I have one memorable score at a show here, about 8 or 9 years ago.
I was looking for a concealed carry piece, maybe a small frame revolver or auto. I spied on one of the tables a Smith, 686+ 2.5 bbl, performance center revolver. Quad magna-porting, gorgeous grips every thing. I asked, "how much?", 465 bones. It was over what I wanted to spend, but a deal like that can't be passed up, besides, I'm a wheelgun guy.

Dealer told me that another fellow with more money than sense, wanted something with the most effective handgun round made. So he orders this performance center job (about 1000 bucks at the time), picks it up from the gun shop, goes out and fires a couple of cylinders full through it. He then brought it back and traded it for a glock .40.
Guess he never fired full house .357 mag from a snubbie before. So, I got a Performance Center Special, 686+ .357 mag for the price of a glock.
I absolutely LOVE that gun.

 

[TheGerman]

A few bucks in gas
7$ parking
12$ entrance fee
a few hours time

all to stand behind sweaty ass people milling around to see shit priced 20% more than I can get it for online, with shipping included.....no thanks.

 

[krw]

It amazes me when people go to gun shows just to bitch and whine about it. I don't go around queers cause I don't like em, I don't go around Muslims cause I don't like em. It shows a lot of ignorant mentality to go do something on purpose,(and pay to do it) and then bitch and whine about it.

 

[Maggot]

When I was stationed in Virginia, I really liked going to the gun shows.
They were enormous affairs and it would take a couple of hours to walk through.
Got to meet Carlos Hathcock and spoke to him a couple of times.

Got stationed in South Texas, the guns shows here are very small, chinese scopes, beef jerky and new prices for old stuff.
I haven't been to the one in San Antonio, I hear it's pretty good.

I have one memorable score at a show here, about 8 or 9 years ago.
I was looking for a concealed carry piece, maybe a small frame revolver or auto. I spied on one of the tables a Smith, 686+ 2.5 bbl, performance center revolver. Quad magna-porting, gorgeous grips every thing. I asked, "how much?", 465 bones. It was over what I wanted to spend, but a deal like that can't be passed up, besides, I'm a wheelgun guy.

Dealer told me that another fellow with more money than sense, wanted something with the most effective handgun round made. So he orders this performance center job (about 1000 bucks at the time), picks it up from the gun shop, goes out and fires a couple of cylinders full through it. He then brought it back and traded it for a glock .40.
Guess he never fired full house .357 mag from a snubbie before. So, I got a Performance Center Special, 686+ .357 mag for the price of a glock.
I absolutely LOVE that gun.

We still have pretty good ones here...especially the Nations Gun Show at Dulles.

 

[Decoy]

Went to a show in Portland a year or so ago and there was a used 1911 with one of my Tribrid (internal compensated barrels) in it for sale. Quite surprised to see one on the table I picked it up to check it out. The guy immediately stated that it had a special magna ported barrel in it.

I smiled and started to explain to him the difference (not trying to be a smart ass) but before I could get it out he explained that if I didn't know what it I probably couldn't handle it. I then told him that I did indeed know what it was even if he didn't and I would happy to explain the technology of the compensator and the gain twist variable width rifling to him.

He laughed and said that was a good one and that I needed to get up pretty easily in the morning to pull one over on him. Kinda stunned at this point I told him that I owned the barrel manufacturing company that patented it and produced it. He started to get a little loud at this point stating he knew everything about a 45 that there was to know.

I told him good luck and moved along shaking my head. The gun looked nice but the barrel felt like it had be fitted with rasp file in the dark.

Never question a true master of the 1911 at his table of domain!

 

[RichardTractorGuy]

A few years ago I got a slightly used REPR at the san antonio Saxet show for 2K. There is usually 3 tables of nice quality. The rest not so much. Have not been to Saxet in 2 years.

 

[2manygunz]

I just go for the $.40/round 22LR ammo.

 

[coast2coast]

I just go for the $.40/round 22LR ammo.

That's a steal. Can you pick some up for me?

 

[2manygunz]

No joke I guess at this point! I just saw $1/rd 22LR ammo on a site that claims to be "Cheaper..." What's the world coming to?

 

[nickforney]

I'm with everyone else. I've all but stopped going to them. Generally spend $16 bucks to get in with my girlfriend, wander around a while and find nothing. I did get a good deal on Sig P226 Stainless Elite last October, but that's been about it. Went a couple of months ago and everything was obnoxiously over priced. Someone wanted $35 for a 50 round box of PMC bronze. I literally laughed in their face. Of course they had all the typical garbage NC star scopes and trying to sell Bushmasters for Noveske prices. Half the time I can't find anyone that knows the weapon I'm looking at as well as I do. It's become increasingly frustrating.

Last one I went to was in january in colorado springs. Went with my buddy just to see how crazy things had gotten and see what random C&R rifles they might have had. The reason I quoted you is because things were very bad. I walked by a table that had a noveske n4 sitting out base model nothing special. Had a little price tag on it so I reached in and flipped it over to see 6000 on the tag. I looked at my buddy and said we need to run back to the house and grab my recon...Im gonna be rich.

None of the bolt guns I saw were over priced I guess folks figured they weren't gonna ban them and just did the run on the semi auto 'hicaps!' Maybe I will load the safe up with base model 700s and cheap chicom scopes for when they try to ban those sniper rifles designed for killing large animals at extreme range. Now Im out in the boon docks again and we don't get much for gun shows I even looked around for one semi close (think 2 hours) but there wasn't anything coming for over a month. I wanted to find reloading components.

 

[vaeevictiss]

We still have pretty good ones here...especially the Nations Gun Show at Dulles.

I havent been to the dulles one in a while but all the other ones have gone down the shitter. The only reason i went to the Richmond one a couple months back was because i got in free to help at the VCDL. I was hoping to find the SRH in 454 but no luck (ended up buying locally at Green top for a nice price with a discount).

The shows are like all others, full of Chinese optics, overpriced ammo, paintings, clothing, nazi memorabilia and so on.

Last luck i had there was about 2 years ago. a guy selling eotechs (real ones too), so i picked one up for my 9mm ar sbr.

I know a lot of the local firearm community no longer frequents them after petitioning the show runners to stop turning it into a flea market. Obviously they would rather have money so they take what they can get.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[Facemelter]

Any one going to the Indy show this weekend? I seem to be a glutton for punishment.

 

[steelman303]

Fed up with the one's here in GA.
Never have what I need, after I've paid to get in the door.
What they do have is over priced as hell.
.... but I do love to go people watching ... it's funny as hell to see the suckers get conned into buying a BSA scope & knock off rings or the occasional Chinese made Tacticool knife & gear.
The idiot's eyes glare over at the cheep ass laser attached to something like a shotgun or the sort.
On second thought,
I LOVE going to gun shows... It makes me feel so much better about myself. (Although i'm sure there's a few in the room who would consider me a prude asshole.)

 

[silviacrazed]

Fed up with the one's here in GA.
Never have what I need, after I've paid to get in the door.
What they do have is over priced as hell.
.... but I do love to go people watching ... it's funny as hell to see the suckers get conned into buying a BSA scope & knock off rings or the occasional Chinese made Tacticool knife & gear.
The idiot's eyes glare over at the cheep ass laser attached to something like a shotgun or the sort.
On second thought,
I LOVE going to gun shows... It makes me feel so much better about myself. (Although i'm sure there's a few in the room who would consider me a prude asshole.)

The only one I'll bother to go to in GA are the Eastman shows. The gun runner shows are the biggest collection of inbred morons I've ever seen. It's scary as shit, but provides a good laugh.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Anvil_X]

Wasilla High School gun show in January.... Stock SCAR sold for $4500 bucks, M1A Scout with realtree stock-$3000 (Bought mine for $1300 in 2011),

and.... the real winner, was a stripped down Low number M1903 Rock Island action for $350. The guy had a whole table full of SA stuff, so, me being me, I checked it out. when I got up there, and saw the serial number, I set it down and looked up at the dude, and said "Dude, this is a Low Number Action. they may explode if you shoot them."
The other folks around me sorta backed away, and the guy gave me a scowl, so I walked off.

Coulda bought a nice sporterized Mauser not twenty feet away for the same price.

 

[Petrov]

Wasilla High School gun show in January.... Stock SCAR sold for $4500 bucks, M1A Scout with realtree stock-$3000 (Bought mine for $1300 in 2011),

and.... the real winner, was a stripped down Low number M1903 Rock Island action for $350. The guy had a whole table full of SA stuff, so, me being me, I checked it out. when I got up there, and saw the serial number, I set it down and looked up at the dude, and said "Dude, this is a Low Number Action. they may explode if you shoot them."
The other folks around me sorta backed away, and the guy gave me a scowl, so I walked off.

Coulda bought a nice sporterized Mauser not twenty feet away for the same price.

So what is the deal with the exploding 1903 actions?

 

[18Echo]

So what is the deal with the exploding 1903 actions?

As I recall, and I may be wrong, they were not heat treated correctly.

 

[Anvil_X]

So what is the deal with the exploding 1903 actions?

The CMP has a list of serial numbers in which the actions were not properly heat treated on their website. yeah, it's rare that one will actually explode, but the risk is there, and I like my face.