This last weekend at the gun show

[skeet]

Holy Cow.. I'm still tarred(southern for TIRED). I talked to the people who put the show on and they had 934 paying customers on Saturday before noon. Doesn't sound like many huh? This gun show was in an old school basketball auditorium.. Now a community center. I am glad i was on the sellin side of the tables. It was wall to wall people. Observations?? ARs are not selling..mainly cause money is scarce and prices are too high on 'em Mag prices are down a fair amount 22 ammo is in very short supply. Although I have about 50 M rounds here i only sell a little at a time. I sold mine for 35 dollars for the 525 packs. Needless to say it was gone in minutes. Other vendors had some at up to 70 bucks which is ridiculous..but even more so..someone bought it at that price..Hunting rifles are not selling well. Shotguns(in Wyoming??) were selling really well. And handguns?? Oh my gosh!! I sell only a few to people I know. Had a cop bring his wife in and she bought one of my 9mms...a M-39 Smith. He also got her a couple of boxes of 115 FMJs and a couple boxes of the Federal 124 HPs so she could practice. This was the same town cop that stopped me a couple years ago after i left a bar/restaurant where I ate din din. He thought i was a drinking driver..(I don't drink). Got to know each other and he is an ok guy. wife is pretty. and likes shootin. Kinda lady to be married to I think. I also sold a nice little Ruger 243 to a gal I know.it was a really nice Mk II 77. And tyhe best sale of the whole show for me..a father brought his 11 year old son in to find a nice little 20 ga. I happened to have a nice 870 youth.like new with the chokes.had 300 bucks on it..as it cost 250 it was kind of a loss leader. Young'un asked if he could see it. Looked at dad and he nodded to me.so gave it to the boy. He did it all right. after i cut the tocking tie off of it. Father asked if i would take 250 for it..and I told him I didn't think so..Kids face fell a little bit. Looked at the young'un and asked how he was gonna pay for a shotgun. He told me he worked cuttin grass cleaning off walks and cleaning yards and saved money from birthday gifts..Said to him..so this is your money?? He told me it was. So I explained to him I just had to make a little profit cause it cost me to do these shows. And I told him if it was his money I would take 255 dollars for it...and to go talk it over with his dad and come back in a little bit after he decided..cause it WAS a lot of money. He looked at me very seriously and thanked me.looked at his dad. And i told 'em to go talk it over. I wouldn't sell it to anyone while they decided. They came back in about 10 minutes and the kid said ..yes he wanted it. and he actually gave me as wild an assortment of cash money I ever got..inluding 50 dollars in 1 dollar bills I really think it was all his money. Course i had to sell it to his dad as he was too young to buy a shotgun..but asked his dad if it was alright for the young'un to carry that gun out.. Think it made both their days.. Made mine. I still remember my first gun my father bought me. Evidently the word had gotten out..the kid got an ovation as he walked out the door. This IS a small town..

[skeet]

Forgot to add I got a nice Lipsey's Ruger flat top 44 special for a bit too much money and from the same fellow a really nice Browning 380 pocket pistol for a very good price. Didn't buy an old Colt 1903 pocket pistol in the rare 380 cal. mainly cause they have a few problems and break too easily. Got another nice Ruger SBH in blue. but my big thing is older reloading gear..or newer..so got a lot of good Dillon stuff including a new in box 550B for 270 bucks..a bunch of Dillon dies including a carbide set of 30 carbine and 3 or 4 650 cal conversions..but the best buy of the show for me was the acquisition of a super rare RCBS A3 press. They only made around a hundred or so in 68 and 69.. This was right after the Rock Chucker came out. It was selling for 37.50. The A3 was 110. In good condition too...but I paid too much. Think the guy saw me comin...LOL!!. I bought as much stuff as I sold again....but I had fun.

[Rapier]

Every once in a while you run into a young man at a show that is being brought up right. Keeps his hands off your stuff, asks to look, works for his money, etc. Helping those kids out is a real pleasure. I remember too well wanting several guns when I was a teen and not having the money so I looked a lot.

Tulsa is week after next, I am leaving the land of sand on the 3rd, heading for the wild west of Tulsa town.
Ed

[skeet]

Going to a little town up in Montana this weekend to do a little gun and western memorabilia show. In a barn of all places Being put on by a local auctioneer in that area. mainly going to see if'n I can buy lotsa littles. Maybe sell a little. Going to take a few bricks of 22 LR ammo. And a few primers Primers are not completely gone as a few comin in in little dribbles but they sure have driven the price outta sight. Guess we'll see how it goes again. Selling some stuff on flea bay..the stuff I really don't need and some things that I have already acquired. Fun anyway..LOL!!

[jplonghunter]

Skeet

Good story,give yourself an attaboy!

[skeet]

JPL wasn't really looking for an attaboy. Just kinda makin a statement that maybe we need to encourage the kids a bit more than we are doing and make 'em more responsible. That dad made his son responsible enough to discuss his purchase with him before rushing into it And guess what? It wasn't a video game..yippee. Yep there are still good kids out thee...but..I think most of them have really good direction from their parents which for the majority seems to be sorely lacking.

Did the little gun and western memorabilia show on Friday and Saturday. Friday was Slooowww. Saturday was pretty good. This was ina an area not too far from red Lodge Mt. But mostly working people. I learned a whold lot about old blue and green canning jars Friday. I think I might be mildly rich. I bought many from an old Catholic nunnery/retreat quite a few years ago and have sold a couple thousand over the years. But still have over 2500. In my barn storage back east. Bought lots of littles at this show. Lots of single dies etc. Lee loaders and a few older presses. Got an old boat anchor Herter's double ram press. Powder measure scale dies etc. The ol feller even gave me a hundred 30-06 Frankfort arsenal primed cases he got from DCM many many years ago. Still in the boxes with the order and receipt. I later sold them to a collector for about what the whole mess cost me. I thought it was a good deal for me cause I mighta wanted to load those darn things.. Got an odd barrel for a Contender in 223. Didn't pay all that much. bought a Ruger P-95 NIB..it had the blocked 10 rd mags but got 2 15 rounders for it new for 15 bucks...for both. Ugly gun.. Got another P-W shotshell press and 2 single stage Mecs with a whole bunch of stuff. Sold a bunch of stuff. Took 10 boxes of 22 LR 525 boxes..sold 5..This is working class area so didn't expect to sell 'em all. People are still lookin for .224 bullets to load the 223 and others. I sold a few but didn't want to sell 'em all cause i can't even get anymore at this time. But I got a bunch at the tables around the show. Quite a few of the Midway re-packaged. So if you go to the shows..always look at the Midway bullet boxes. You might be surprised at what ya find. Sold a really pretty Ruger #1 I have had for a while. Think I'm glad it is gone. Also bought an old Marlin M-39 rifle. In pretty good condition for an older gun. Had a Lyman peep on it cause it wasn't drilled for a scope. Didn't do that in the 40's. Sold it a bit later for a fair profit. I am not a lever gun guy. All in all a pretty good show for a small one and luckily it was just a 2 day affair. No shows to do for a month or so..but I will continue to go to 'em to buy stuff. Still lookin for that elusive S&W M-57 41 Mag in 4 inch.

[skeet]

Finally got nuff time to shoot the Lipsey's 44 Special. That Bisley grip sure does feel funny. But it do shoot..about as well as I'll ever be able to. I find with many handguns..I am the deciding factor..the guns just usually shoot better'n I do I actually hit a balloon at about 400 yds. 3rd shot did it. Boy it just wasn't that balloons day LOL!! I could say it was my shootin..but Somehow..I just think it mighta been LUCK

[skeet]

Went to another show in Great Falls Mt today. What a hike. 3 1/2 hours from home..but it WAS a nice day. This show was one of the larger ones in Mt..with 600 or more tables..but there was a few with jewelry and soap etc. Got a couple of shotguns..and older but really nice Standard weight 20 ga 870..with vent rib..and the 2nd from the same fellow was a new in box 870 NRA gun in 28 ga..new in box. Got them for a vry fair price. Also got 5 or 6 bullet moulds Redding powder measure Lyman case trimmer and a bunch of dies etc. Even got 2000 CCI BR-2 primers..for a very good price..so good one of the guys I went with just needed to have a 1000 for the 22-250s he loads for Prairie Dogs. The other fellows that went with me got a bunch of littles and they both bought rifles..one got a Kimber Montana in 25-06 and the other got a Winchester 70 in 300 Weatherby mag. New observations.... AR's are coming back to reasonable prices Ammo is still pretty high..talked to the component lady and she said primers and powder are still in very short supply...but she let me have a 1000 L pistol and 1000 small rifle Winchesters for under 28 bucks..but we have an understanding of sorts..if she needs some of what I might have I try to help her out..so she returns the favor. I actually took her an 8lb keg of H335 and the same amount of Varget in one pounders. Guess she made somebody a bit happier. Got a couple of Hornady 55 gr V maxs in the 250 boxes for 40 bucks each..but from another friend. There still seems to be a bit of hysteria in the masses of shooters..and Nobama's reputation is not fairing well..but it's the same with most politicians. There is a general feeling of the us versus them thing. Guess we'll see what shapes up in the future.. BTW..most other prices are staying pretty high..and I did not see all that many guns being sold

[GoodOlBoy]

Powder, Primer (except shotgun), and pretty much every round but 308, and 270 are HARD to come by in East Texas right now. The 308 and 270 around running in the $40-$60 for a 20 round box of Remington green and gold, or federal blue box. IE they are outa their minds. 410 is about the only shotgun shells around and I think every box I have seen of them were slugs. One shop the other day had one box of 20 gauge #9 shot, but they wanted $30 for the box so I passed. Not that I needed more snake shot right now, but I might coulda traded them if they hadn't been stupid priced.

Richard

[buckhunter]

Shotgun shell don't seem to be a problem YET. Was at Bass Pro yesterday and the shelves were full. No 9. 40 or 45. Some 380 and not one round ogf 22. The shop I buy most of mine from tell me it is letting up a litte.

I know every time I see a box of something I use I buy it. Same with powder and primers. Need to load up on lead shot.