Gun Show Update

Today, I went to the Fredericksburg, VA gun show with a friend of mine. We go to a lot of shows together because we're both interested in the same kind of guns. We're not into tactical anything, hunting rifles, sporting shotguns, or Glocks. This 320 table gun show was on the smaller end, but there were still deals to be had.

I've heard several times that people don't see good deals at gun shows. I don't know how this can be. If you know what the exact same items are selling for at local gun shops as well as on gunbroker and online gun selling websites (such as AIM, classicarms, JGsales, and budsgunshop) you can better understand the prices at your gun show and see what tables are actually offering deals.

Today, I saw a table that had all hi point models for cheap. The 380s were 119. Good luck finding that gun anywhere else for that price. For $119 it could have been in my hands. Keep in mind, that's a gun I get to see before buying, can handle, check out, then decide to buy. There is no $25-40 FFL transfer fee and no shipping either when you're buying from someone at a gun show.

The sheer number of vendors at a large gun show means prices will go down. People are trying to price items well so they will sell, but they are conscious of their competition. Good deals get snatched up quick and the last thing that dealer wants to do at the end of the show is pack up all that stuff and take it home. If he's taking the stuff home, his money is tied up in the inventory, not making him a dime. If he moves products, he can go ahead and buy more for the next show, giving him fresh inventory.

Gun shows cost money. This one was $8 to get in, but I didn't mind paying that. I'd pay that to go to a movie, so I consider it an entertainment cost rather than adding it to my spending for the day. I have more fun in two hours at a gun show than I do watching a movie.

Keep in mind they don't only sell guns at your local gun shows, they also sell ammunition. Ammo is insanely priced at local gun shops. They have to charge a lot of money for their inventory because they have to keep the doors open, the lights on, and pay for stuff like rent and employees. A lot of gun show vendors operate out of their homes, making overhead next to nothing. Because they don't have a ton of other costs, they can sell things cheaper and still make enough money to live. I only ever buy ammo at gun shows or online. The beauty of buying at a gun show is often times the prices are just as good as buying online (and sometimes better than anywhere on the internet) and there's no shipping required. Ammo can be heavy, so when you're talking about buying 10 boxes of 9mm, not having to pay $15-20 shipping on that case is quite nice.

If i were to buy the cheapest 223 ammo available at Walmart (known for their good deals), I'd be paying $40 for 100 rounds of Federal FMJ 55 grain brass-cased ammo. For the same $40 at the gun show, I bought eight 20rd boxes of Greenshield frangible ammo. This stuff is brass cased, new production, and lead-free. I'll gladly take 160 rounds of frangible ammo rather than 100 rounds of FMJ.

I purchased two boxes of Tulammo 30 carbine at a whopping $12.50 per box. Using the ammunition search engine gun-deals.com, I found the cheapest Tulammo 30 carbine ammo going for 11.99 per box at cheaperthandirt. This is a good price, but keep in mind the cost of shipping. On two boxes, I'd be paying $14.10 in shipping. All of the sudden, that 11.99 per box ammo turned into 19.04 per box with shipping included. I'll gladly take the $12.50 ammo in my hands with zero shipping or waiting.

45acp is always expensive. At this show, I found it as cheap as 380. Try finding that at your local gun shop or Walmart. I bought two boxes of Tulammo for $14.50 per box. That's cheaper than walmart or anywhere online. Zero shipping to boot!

Now lets talk primers. I bought a box of 1,000 small pistol primers for $17.50. I got that price just buying one box of a thousand, not buying a full case of 5,000. The cheapest place I could find these primers online was 21.78 per box (have to buy a minimum of five) plus a hazmat shipping charge of $26. I did much better buying just one box and not paying any hazmat shipping either.

I also bought some surplus 8mm mauser ammunition. I bought this from my favorite ammo vendors, JandCsales. These folks are at many of the gun shows I go to and I always buy from them. Look them up if you're attending a show in NC, VA, MD, WV, PA, or OH. They routinely have the cheapest prices on ammunition, even at thousand table gun shows, which is why I've become a repeat customer. They sold me 50rds of Yugo surplus 8mm ammo for $10. This works out to 20 cents per round. I can get Yugo surplus 8mm for as low as 19.4 cents per round, but I'd have to buy 1,800 rounds from a website such as SGammo. I think I did well considering I only bought 50 rounds, not 1,800.

I bought a few other little things at the gun show just because I wanted them. I bought two 50BMG rounds for $3 each (they make great gifts), a box of Aguila 9mm (never seen it before), a box of MFS .380 (also never seen it before), as well as a box of Chinasports Norinco 7.62x39. I got the 7.62x39 just to add to my 7.62x39 ammunition collection.

Here's a breakdown of my spending:

$40 Greenshield 5.56mm Frangible
$25 Tulammo .30 Carbine
$29 Tulammo 45 Auto
$17.50 Tulammo Primers
$10 Yugo 8mm Mauser Surplus
$6 50 BMG
$11 Aguila 9mm
$14 MFS .380 Auto
$5 Chinasports Norinco 7.62x39mm

In total, I spent $157.50 for my small pile of ammo. Someone has to keep this economy going.

22 Target Stand

I recently got a 22 caliber target in the mail. I purchased it off of Amazon.com for a whopping $14. It is rated for 22LR only, saying the minimum distance for a pistol is 30 yards and minimum distance for a rifle is 100 yards.

I ran across one of these while shooting at The Cove in Gore, VA. Someone likely left it there by accident. The target was great for 22s, but it would keep falling down. The ground at that shooting range was too hard to get the target to go into the ground. When I used my feet to try and push the target into the ground, I wound up breaking one of the welds. I decided I needed one for myself, and at only $14, it was mine.

I had to make a base for it while all of its legs were still in good shape. I knew if I took it out and tried it at an outdoor shooting range, that the legs would be bent in no time. I used a piece of scrap wood and cut two lengths of 16 inches each. I used some of the remaining wood to make crossbars, keeping the two 16 inch lengths parallel. I fastened it all together with plates and philips head screws. I pre-drilled to keep from splitting the wood.

This should work out just fine. I already had the materials, so this quick project only cost me my time. The base that I made is rather thin, so it won't take up much space in the trunk on my next trip to the range. I'm keeping the box that the target came in for ease of transport.

Getting a Good Deal at a Pawn Shop

everyone is always interested in saving money and getting a good deal. I've seen a few pawn shops that carry guns. When buying something at a pawn shop, always keep in mind that the shop had to get that item from somewhere. It could have been sold outright or it could have been pawned. Either way, it is safe to assume that the shopkeeper paid far less for the item than what the price tag says. Anyone who has ever tried to sell an item to a pawn shop knows that sometimes the shop can make offers that are downright insulting. I don't feel bad for the people walking in to pawn their items because they are free to sell to whomever they wish. No one is making them accept these ridiculously low offers either. basically what I'm getting at is that we don't have to pay what is on the sticker at the pawn shop. There is usually a significant margin on most items, leaving the buyer some wiggle room for haggling.

If the pawn shop says they don't wiggle on prices, leave. There are plenty more pawn shops out there that will work on the price. Keep in mind that your local pawnshop has those items out for sale. It is in their best interest to sell the items they have so they can free up both money as well as space in the store which can be used for other items.

When I go to a pawn shop, I take cash. When you plunk down cash currency, the person behind the counter will be more likely to take your offer. Cash is easy. There is no credit card 3% fee to factor into the equation. When I take cash, I don't put it all in my wallet. If I know I only want to spend like $100 on a gun, I'll bring $100 cash (in small bills) in my wallet. When I take out my wallet, I can show them that's all I've got. Sometimes the pawnbroker will work with you. They're still making money on the deal, but not as much as they would have if they'd gotten their asking price for the item. Other times, the whole "this is all I've got in my wallet" won't work, in which case you can take another bill or two out of a different pocket. You're not liking to them when you say this is all I've got in my wallet, the rest of your cash is just in another pocket.

When haggling, ask for an "out the door" price. That means if you offer the person $100 out the door, that's with all taxes and call-in fees for the firearm paperwork. The guy on the other side of the counter may have to do some math, but its always an easy way to make an offer.

I've found that it really pays to be on good terms with pawn shops. I've got a few pawn shops that I visit frequently and have purchased guns from. I tell them what I like, what into, and what I'm looking for. I've actually had one shopkeeper say to me "Hey look at this, its right up your alley!" I didn't buy the gun, but it was nice that he remembered what I like.

Be reasonable when you make an offer on something. Knowing exactly what the item is worth as well as what you're willing to pay for it makes things easy. If something is priced well already, I might try to get a few bucks knocked off just because I like getting a deal. If its overpriced, don't tell the person that its overpriced, just make a fair offer of what you're willing to pay for it. The person might come back with a counter offer, but you're always free to walk away. If that same item is still on the shelf months down the road, go back to it and inform the shopkeeper that you made an offer on it so many months ago and its still here, why not sell it so you can get a little more space on your shelf? That kind of tactic often times works. The seller does not want to have an item just up on the shelf collecting dust because that's not making him any money. The whole time, the money that he paid for the item is just sitting there not doing him any good. If he had the money in the bank, at least he could be accruing a little interest.

Make offers, most pawn shops will work on the price if you look like a decent person and have cash in hand.

Kahr sues Diamondback

Here's some news that broke today. Kahr is suing Diamondback firearms because of Diamondback using a Kahr-inspired design. This may be a coincidence, but I'm sure the coffers of Saelo corporation (the Mooney company that owns Kahr) has pockets much deeper than those of Diamondback. This could seriously put Diamondback out of business. I wouldn't be surprised. Anyway, here is a link about the story:
http://gunsforsale.com/ghg/2011/04/11/kahr-sues-diamondback/

Broken Kel Tec P32

Some readers of this blog might own a Kel Tec P32. The trigger looks like its double action only, but not really. If the user has the gun empty with the slide forward, the trigger can be pulled. When pulled, the trigger causes the hammer to move from its resting place. The hammer moves rearward, then (should) go forward to the firing pin. After the hammer goes to the firing pin, it stays there until the hammer is reset by moving the slide. When the slide resets the hammer, the trigger can be pulled again to actuate the hammer.

Right now, the hammer does not go far enough forward to touch the firing pin. The trigger can be pulled multiple times and every time it resets itself without having to pull back on the slide. The trigger will occasionally actuate the hammer in the proper fashion, but to get the gun to do this, I have to pull the trigger very slowly while pulling toward the left or right. Something in the linkage is probably broken. It needs to go in for service.

Now I'm not so glad I Duracoated the gun. When it goes back, there's a chance that I might get a brand new 2nd generation P32 in return. I've read online of that happening a lot when 1st gen guns are worn or 1st gen parts are broken that Kel Tec no longer stocks. Apparently Kel Tec will put your serial number on a brand new P32 and send that to you. If they do that, I'm not getting back the slide I just worked on. Oh well.

Jennings J22 Duracoat Refinishing

I got a Jennings J22 for cheap. The finish on the frame wasn't great, but the slide was perfect. After helping a friend assemble his blasting cabinet, I stripped the Jennings' frame and sandblasted it in preparation for Duracoat.

The media we used was black and very fine. That's all I can tell you about it. My friend picked it up at Grainger, an industrial supply company. We used a #4 tip on the Harbor Freight blasting cabinet with 40 to 60 pounds of pressure.

I should've taken the barrel off of the frame to begin with. I definitely hit the outside of the barrel with the sandblaster, which meant I needed to remove it anyway to polish out the roughness. With the barrel removed, I was better able to sandblast all portions of the frame.

I shot the frame with Snow Gray Duracoat. I used my friend's Badger airbrush. The airbrush took forever to spray the paint and got clogged halfway through. The finish went on very thin. I reassembled the gun (aside from the one missing pin that I lost in my friend's shop) and took a photo. I like the look.

I really think I may be the first person in the history of the internet to duracoat a Jennings. This is history folks, history.

Henry Mare's Leg Pistol

In old Western movies, people sometimes had cut down lever action guns. I've never been a fan of that genre of movie, but I do like the guns. Rossi announced a few months ago that they were going to build a lever action with a short stock and short barrel, but build it from the ground up as a pistol. That's right folks, buy it like any other handgun. No NFA registration, no SBR paperwork, no tax stamp, and no engraving.

Building one of these from the ground up as a pistol was something I never thought of doing. Its a classic case of "Why didn't I think of that?".

Rossi isn't the only one jumping into this new handgun market. Henry has announced Mare's Leg style guns in 22LR and 45 Long Colt, also to be sold as handguns. I've got my eye on the rimfire Henry, which is basically a cut down Golden Boy. With an MSRP of $360, I hope to have one in my hands for under $300.