Gun Show Report: 3 out of 5 ain't bad...
Well, the gun show today was quite the event. Though Bee-Boy weaseled out of the trip in favor of sleeping in, Jeenyus and I met at Chapultepec for breakfast before heading down to Reliant Center. Should you be in Houston, and happen down Richmond just east of Montrose, stop in for a bite. The freshly made salsa is mind-bogglingly good, and the chilaquiles con pollo y crema are pretty good as well.
Parking at the Reliant Center absolutely sucked. There were 4 other events going on, so our late arrival (11:30 or so) put our parking spot just south of Tulsa, Oklahoma. After hiking for 3 years, we finally got to the front door, only to have to hike another few hundred yards to get to the correct exhibit hall. Once inside, we were faced with hundreds and hundreds of exhibitor and sales tables. Over to one side were the vehicle exhibits, with several varieties of armored scout cars and even an assault landing craft. There were rows and rows of collector's exhibits, including collections of Remington, Browning, HK, and U.S. military arms. There was a great booth with dozens of law enforcement revolvers, and one with every conceivable variety of Johnson rifle, and a similar one for Springfield 03's. There were probably 50 booths selling law enforcement patches and badges. I suppose there's a collector for every item imaginable...
There was, as usual, the scattering of booths selling crappy non-gun items. Even though the show rules expressly prohibit it, there's always 10-12 booths selling Beanie Babies, cheap jewelry & watches, and artsy-fartsy shit. I was told by an exhibitor that it's a boon granted to the larger and regularly attending exhibitors as a way to keep their wives occupied and out of their hair. Sounds logical. I'm sure if most of them saw the deals their husbands made, they'd have a conniption fit.
I must have walked 6 miles today. Each row was over 100 yards long, and I quit counting after 20 rows. If I had to estimate the number of firearms in that one room, it would be at least 6-8 thousand. Ain't that a wonderful thought?
I found plenty of people selling magazines for my new .45, but as always, the best deal isn't found until the 2nd to last row...
I picked up 3 stainless steel 7 round mags for $8 each. The guy had a crate with hundreds of them, it looked like. I almost bought a couple of Wilson Combat mags when I found a guy selling them for only $25, but I'll wait and see how the ones I bought hold up.
I got a great set of smooth grips as well, in a nice dark cherry color. It's a dye job, not the natural wood color, but at $10.95 I'm not gonna quibble. Got a .45 ACP snapcap a few booths down for $3, so now I can dry fire to my heart's content, and get familiar with the trigger break without burning off rounds.
I thought I was finished, but dammit if I didn't peek in a display case and lay my eyes on these...
Ain't they purty? They're pewter, and fit extremely well. I put 'em on the .45 as soon as I got home! I dunno what I'll do with 3 sets of grips. Trade 'em out every 4 months, I guess.
Picked up a Kershaw Rainbow Leek, to fulfill my requirement to buy one sharp pointy thing at every gunshow. This one's a beauty, and has the SpeedSafe assisted-opening feature to boot. I foresee long years of telling people "Hell, no you can't borrow it! Get yer own!"
So, I picked up magazines, snapcap, and a knife. I didn't see a holster I liked, so I'll probably get one from these guys. They do incredible work. Check 'em out! Also, there wasn't a barrel bushing wrench for a 1911 Govt. model to be had for love nor money. Those aren't but $5 on eBay, so that'll get taken care of pretty soon.
So, 3 out of 5 items on the list, and a whole lot of Xmas shopping ideas as well. I tried to talk Jeenyus into a Marlin lever-action in .45-70, but he's looking for something a bit less punishing.
Got a gun show in your neck of the woods? Give it a try! You'll meet a lot of great people, and can learn quite a bit.
If you're not careful, you'll walk out with several new firearms!
Oh, almost forgot... I tried to pin down a price on .45s similar to mine. It was utter chaos. Springfield Armory "Loaded" models varied in price from a low of $390 to a high of $819. So, shop around before you buy!
Adios, muchachos! Gotta go soak my poor flattened feet...
Parking at the Reliant Center absolutely sucked. There were 4 other events going on, so our late arrival (11:30 or so) put our parking spot just south of Tulsa, Oklahoma. After hiking for 3 years, we finally got to the front door, only to have to hike another few hundred yards to get to the correct exhibit hall. Once inside, we were faced with hundreds and hundreds of exhibitor and sales tables. Over to one side were the vehicle exhibits, with several varieties of armored scout cars and even an assault landing craft. There were rows and rows of collector's exhibits, including collections of Remington, Browning, HK, and U.S. military arms. There was a great booth with dozens of law enforcement revolvers, and one with every conceivable variety of Johnson rifle, and a similar one for Springfield 03's. There were probably 50 booths selling law enforcement patches and badges. I suppose there's a collector for every item imaginable...
There was, as usual, the scattering of booths selling crappy non-gun items. Even though the show rules expressly prohibit it, there's always 10-12 booths selling Beanie Babies, cheap jewelry & watches, and artsy-fartsy shit. I was told by an exhibitor that it's a boon granted to the larger and regularly attending exhibitors as a way to keep their wives occupied and out of their hair. Sounds logical. I'm sure if most of them saw the deals their husbands made, they'd have a conniption fit.
I must have walked 6 miles today. Each row was over 100 yards long, and I quit counting after 20 rows. If I had to estimate the number of firearms in that one room, it would be at least 6-8 thousand. Ain't that a wonderful thought?
I found plenty of people selling magazines for my new .45, but as always, the best deal isn't found until the 2nd to last row...
I picked up 3 stainless steel 7 round mags for $8 each. The guy had a crate with hundreds of them, it looked like. I almost bought a couple of Wilson Combat mags when I found a guy selling them for only $25, but I'll wait and see how the ones I bought hold up.
I got a great set of smooth grips as well, in a nice dark cherry color. It's a dye job, not the natural wood color, but at $10.95 I'm not gonna quibble. Got a .45 ACP snapcap a few booths down for $3, so now I can dry fire to my heart's content, and get familiar with the trigger break without burning off rounds.
I thought I was finished, but dammit if I didn't peek in a display case and lay my eyes on these...
Ain't they purty? They're pewter, and fit extremely well. I put 'em on the .45 as soon as I got home! I dunno what I'll do with 3 sets of grips. Trade 'em out every 4 months, I guess.
Picked up a Kershaw Rainbow Leek, to fulfill my requirement to buy one sharp pointy thing at every gunshow. This one's a beauty, and has the SpeedSafe assisted-opening feature to boot. I foresee long years of telling people "Hell, no you can't borrow it! Get yer own!"
So, I picked up magazines, snapcap, and a knife. I didn't see a holster I liked, so I'll probably get one from these guys. They do incredible work. Check 'em out! Also, there wasn't a barrel bushing wrench for a 1911 Govt. model to be had for love nor money. Those aren't but $5 on eBay, so that'll get taken care of pretty soon.
So, 3 out of 5 items on the list, and a whole lot of Xmas shopping ideas as well. I tried to talk Jeenyus into a Marlin lever-action in .45-70, but he's looking for something a bit less punishing.
Got a gun show in your neck of the woods? Give it a try! You'll meet a lot of great people, and can learn quite a bit.
If you're not careful, you'll walk out with several new firearms!
Oh, almost forgot... I tried to pin down a price on .45s similar to mine. It was utter chaos. Springfield Armory "Loaded" models varied in price from a low of $390 to a high of $819. So, shop around before you buy!
Adios, muchachos! Gotta go soak my poor flattened feet...
posted by El Capitan | 8:59 PM
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