Cowled_Wolfe
New member
Haha... I've been stoked for weeks... I'm leaving for my first ever gunshow in a coupla minutes! 
First gunshow... (No real point.)
- Thread starter Cowled_Wolfe
- Start date
TheBluesMan
Moderator Emeritus
For me, going to a gunshow is like going to Las Vegas.
Don't take more money than you are willing to part with.
Don't take more money than you are willing to part with.
Cowled_Wolfe
New member
Bcbr...
The show went great. Lotsa overpriced BS... But I did get a good deal on something.
Basically, my "hour and a half tops" of "looking around a little" turned into 3 hours in heaven. There were a couple items I wish I'd gotten in hindsight, but all in all I came, I saw, I got what I wanted.
There was one scary moment... I was looking at an old .22, the guy commented that he bought the guns at an estate sale. The .22 was marked as $75, and I asked if it works. He said it should, but if it isn't I could have my dad bring it back to him... He musta guessed (correctly) that I'm under 18 or something, right? Maybe it's the mom next to me (bless her heart)...
So a minute or two more talking and looking, and he askes "You're a [last name here], right?"... That really freaked me out... Even after he said he works at the same place as my dad, lol.
Anyways... I think my first gunshow's an unqualified success. Didn't get ripped off, only spent a little more than I planned, had a good time...
The show went great. Lotsa overpriced BS... But I did get a good deal on something.
Basically, my "hour and a half tops" of "looking around a little" turned into 3 hours in heaven. There were a couple items I wish I'd gotten in hindsight, but all in all I came, I saw, I got what I wanted.
There was one scary moment... I was looking at an old .22, the guy commented that he bought the guns at an estate sale. The .22 was marked as $75, and I asked if it works. He said it should, but if it isn't I could have my dad bring it back to him... He musta guessed (correctly) that I'm under 18 or something, right? Maybe it's the mom next to me (bless her heart)...
So a minute or two more talking and looking, and he askes "You're a [last name here], right?"...
That really freaked me out... Even after he said he works at the same place as my dad, lol.Anyways... I think my first gunshow's an unqualified success. Didn't get ripped off, only spent a little more than I planned, had a good time...
i remember standing in line and making deals. it used to be that 4 out of 5 folks had guns for sale in line. now days the line is empty and the dealers have the buyers bent over. its hard to even take something to the show w/o getting acosted by dealers wanting to buy cheap.
i have an open bolt M12 that i like to walk around w/ and tell dealers i'm "thinking" about selling. then listen to the "well how much do you want? their worth about $400 now that THE BAN has lifted."
LOL! at least i'm havin' fun.
i have an open bolt M12 that i like to walk around w/ and tell dealers i'm "thinking" about selling. then listen to the "well how much do you want? their worth about $400 now that THE BAN has lifted."
LOL! at least i'm havin' fun.
What kind of permit do you need in MA? Michigan normally requires a "permit to purchase" for handguns that are signed by local LEO's. I have a CCW, so all I have to do is walk in, lay my $$ and permit down, wait for the instant background check, and walk out with a new pistol. Takes 20 minutes.
I'll be working in Boston, and maybe Gloucester this next week.
Well, if you can get one, you'd want a Class A ALP license. (I think).
But, MA is a may-issue state. You have to go out on a range with a State Trooper and take a shooting test of some sort. You also have to have a trooper literally decide if you're worthy ("fit") of carrying. And Boston is, from what I'm hearing, essentially a "no-issue" city.
All of this is, of course, having its desired effect of scaring me away. Not to the point of giving up (yet), just really really slowed way way down.
WyldOne, the whole situation in Massachusetts is royally screwed up.
One of our WCCA volunteers moved to Wisconsin from MA. The first time he went to a gun show, there was a guy selling a S&W revolver privately. The volunteer wanted to buy it, but told the seller he didn't have a permit. When he found out that he could just give the guy money, take the gun, and go home, he was in shock. (A good kind of shock, though).
Around here, the deals at gun shows are few and far between, which is one reason I don't go to them unless I'm working our concealed carry table.
But I have missed some deals, sometimes by just minutes. A pre-ban Springfield M1a, as new, for $900, for example.
Sunday afternoons are good times for getting deals on ammo or reloading stuff. Got eight pounds of W231 for, IIRC, $83 at one of the last shows.
One of our WCCA volunteers moved to Wisconsin from MA. The first time he went to a gun show, there was a guy selling a S&W revolver privately. The volunteer wanted to buy it, but told the seller he didn't have a permit. When he found out that he could just give the guy money, take the gun, and go home, he was in shock. (A good kind of shock, though).
Around here, the deals at gun shows are few and far between, which is one reason I don't go to them unless I'm working our concealed carry table.
But I have missed some deals, sometimes by just minutes. A pre-ban Springfield M1a, as new, for $900, for example.
Sunday afternoons are good times for getting deals on ammo or reloading stuff. Got eight pounds of W231 for, IIRC, $83 at one of the last shows.
Mass. corrections:
Hmmm... The Mrs. is from Eastie - Prescott off Day Square. Nice 'hood back
in the seventies. No idea what it is like now, but it prolly sucks since the Buddies
Club closed.
WyldOne, please get it right. Yes, .ma stinks for gun laws, but please get right
exactly why it stinks.
1) You don't have to "go out on a range with a State Trooper" etc. You need
to take a course. I had an NRA-certified instructor (not a state agent)
give me the course. No big deal and the Mrs. and I got to play with a LOT
of firearms we would not, otherwise, have had access to. Looking back, I would
have done it even if I didn't have to.
2) Local authority decides whether to issue or not. That is why "may issue"
is a bad thing - no standards, just a local cop's whim.
3) (Clarification) You need a class A or a class B - class A is CC and
large capacity, class B lacks those "privileges" (may Harshbarger and his devil-
spawn Reilly rot in hell).
HTH, HAND
Peet
Hmmm... The Mrs. is from Eastie - Prescott off Day Square. Nice 'hood back
in the seventies. No idea what it is like now, but it prolly sucks since the Buddies
Club closed.
WyldOne, please get it right. Yes, .ma stinks for gun laws, but please get right
exactly why it stinks.
1) You don't have to "go out on a range with a State Trooper" etc. You need
to take a course. I had an NRA-certified instructor (not a state agent)
give me the course. No big deal and the Mrs. and I got to play with a LOT
of firearms we would not, otherwise, have had access to. Looking back, I would
have done it even if I didn't have to.
2) Local authority decides whether to issue or not. That is why "may issue"
is a bad thing - no standards, just a local cop's whim.
3) (Clarification) You need a class A or a class B - class A is CC and
large capacity, class B lacks those "privileges" (may Harshbarger and his devil-
spawn Reilly rot in hell).
HTH, HAND
Peet