New to KC and saw there's a gun show this weekend at the KCI Expo Center hosted by the Missouri Valley Arms Collectors.

http://www.mvaca.org/


This gun show worth checking out?

It's more of a military collector show.   But there should be a fairly broad range of stuff.   To me it's much better that the RK shows.

Absolutely. One of the best shows you'll ever attend. Actively policed by members of the club to keep non-firearms or militaria out. Great exhibits and very diverse vendors. I was a member of the association before I moved to Oklahoma. By all means go.

Well, I went for a few hours this afternoon.

Worth the ten bucks, at the very least.


Some interesting collections that folks have put together - it made for some good conversations with some very knowledgeable folks and somewhat abrasive conversations with some of the dealers who clearly didn't want to talk.


Was halfway on the lookout for a Swiss Model 1911 or K-31, but the only ones I saw were overpriced. This is always a theme at collectors' shows, I've found. Nobody really wants to sell.


I did see a handful of C-96s, the Swedish 6.5x55 semi-auto (forget the very Swedish name), and even a Johnson semi-auto rifle (being the competitor to the M1 Garand). Those were very cool.


A handful of interesting books - including one on the guns of the US Civil War that I failed to remember to circle back to.


After a while, all the militaria of patches and the endless rows of old Marlins and Winchesters and Mausers starts to blend together, though.


Regardless, it was good for an afternoon.

Glad I made the time to get up there today. A few vendors were starting to pack up, but there was still plenty to look at. Some very impressive collections, without a doubt.

Some prices were a bit high, there were a few that were fair, and some of them were clearly, "Honey, it's for sale but no one's interested!"

I ended up bringing home a nice old Ithaca Model 49 for a price I was happy with and the seller grumbled about a bit.

The table of Savage .32s definitely had my attention; the guy had some real beauties in his display that I've only seen in museums otherwise.

There was a pretty Colt Buntline .22 with stags that had my attention but my wallet wasn't going to support. A bubba-sporterized Mk4 .303 for a song, that was tempting me too - but that'd mean getting .303 dies and reloading stuff and so forth...

Definitely worth the ten bucks to get in.