See you there.

Do you happen to be bringing any Ruger American Predators in .308?

Semper Fi

Not the usual crowd today.

The Masters and the Car Show hurt the turn out

Yeah, it was really slow compared to Sat of the last show.

Aside from Quantico being there.
Is it worth going to this time around? Show prices have been crappie lately.

I thought it was a decent show for reloading supplies. There was one guy there that must have had most of the powder in the state. He had the Alliant 2000-MR that I've been looking for forever.

I tried selling my Weatherby Mark V 30-06, but no takers. Probably not the best time of year to be selling it.

Sunday was pretty thin for crowds , there was also a car show this weekend which may have drawn people away. Nothing jumped out for deals. Plenty of new stuff but not much in the way of surplus and fairly priced C&R rifles. I can't recall any bulk ammo dealers besides Georgia.  Walked in planning on spending a bunch came home and am going to order online. The  middle spaced between buildings 2 and 3  was used again ( are we calling it building 4? the yard?), which hopefully stays and grows some more. Although summer will become brutal for the people out there, although all firearms well be self cleaning of cosmoline  come July & August....

I also noticed that the guys with ammo forts were missing from this show and I think the last.  Usually they set up shop in building 3

As I passed by the Ga Arms tables, the guy had no customers...none.  I joked with him that it wasn't long ago that people were three deep at their tables.

He just chuckled.

People aren't buying, I wonder if they are shooting or have they gotten bored with that too?

Prices? A lot will not shoot since they can't afford to replace the ammo or won't buy at current prices. The panic, drought, and then the gougers have turn a bunch away.

Followed by the attitudes to immigrants and P.O.C. The smart and decent people know everyone's money is green and don't act prejudice towards the new influx of customers but it only takes a few to make someone feel unwelcome/unwanted and that drives customers away. Which if they don't bring their friends, who bring their other  friends later, who then bring their friends and loved ones... we break a good cycle.

Dealers starting to pack up at 3:30 pm on a 5pm close doesn't help. They may have been there since 8/8:30am for 9 am opening but forget some people can't get their until 1pm or so after church. The massive  number of cleared tables at 4:30 needs to be addressed by the Show's Staff. That has cost them several hundred dollars.  SC shows are even worse with closing at 4pm by the time you drive down to say Columbia from Charlotte/Rock Hill roughly 90 minutes it is pointless to go because you can not shop or even see the whole show. Let alone make it back across the floor to pick up anything before being thrown out by over zealous show staff by 3:50pm.  Which the dealers equally pack up an hour early, if not worst with even less show staff concern. As far as the Temple shows I have no clue, I learned several decades ago to not bother. Even if in the area and bored.

If they ever start charging for parking at the metrolina expo it may be the death blow.

I've also notice OBX hasn't been around or if they have their table rentals were far less than the massive islands. Several of the local large players fell out of the market when all the b.s. hit(panic, fuel prices, you know the list) and haven't come back yet.

The less people go out shooting, the more they get out of the habit  of going shooting. Which translate into less buying of ammo, magazines and accessories, let alone premium parts and new guns.  I know some people who haven't  fired a shot within the past couple of years because of the greed and stupidity. We have also lost some people who just came into the sport saw the worse behavior and got right back out of it. Good luck on winning them back, they liked shooting but weren't going to take getting screwed. What fun is a gun you can't shoot when it is the only one you own? Their resentment came back to the industry.

Then comes all the people trying to sell people fakes and crap, seriously I may walk around but usually I'm going to a very few sellers to buy certain items. A lot of sellers I don't even bother stopping to look unless to laugh. I  can see that on gunbroker for free. Once people get out of the habit of going to gun shows , its hard to get a habit restarted especially one that is done every several months.

Sellers and attendees are tired of the stalemate and are not attending until the market changes. This is bad for all of us.  The single person renting one table or renting one with a friend seems to be a thing of thing past to sell a few and clear out the of piles of parts.  Minus the ones trying to sell ammo for a buck a round and/or unload malfunctioning and Frankenstein weapons often misleading labeled to prey on the new comers. Which screwing over the newbies is bad for us in the long run.  When have there been posts about great finds at the show? Even basic show reports are seldom. Which people wanting to know if it is worth the bother or if stupidly long  lines(panic and prices to match meaning why bother i can wait) are present is another bad hint about not really caring about going. The panic crowd comes and goes but the regulars not coming out is what is worse in my opinion, be it customers or dealers.

So new blood and new offerings is something that needs to be happen. Easier said then done.  Maybe the added space will bring in some as they cycle through sellers until the right mix is met.. Hopefully with the military winding down surplus will come to the market and lift things back up. Plus if some stupid political import crap rules go away... So I have hope.   Think about Today's kids who will refer to these gunshows as the good ol' days

I think another big part of the problem is dealers have to pay higher fees to rent a table(and the convention center's additional services fees for power,phone,internet,etc  is a racket system for surcharges that makes cell phone and cable companies look generous) creating more overhead,  which they raise prices to cover. People pay to come in(which the increases in admission prices effects their attitude negatively at the door) and expect prices to be equal to online or the more intelligent expect close with the FFL fee and taxes IE No one is getting  $170+  for a run of the mill beat up Mosin rifle  or $250+ for the $80 Nagant pistols. Customers have already taken a hit to the wallet and that reflects in their mood and when its the same stock as local stores what is the point again (paying 35+ bucks for 28 dollar magazine?) .....   If it comes to paying retail, I'll pay that at my local store which backs it up with return polices and has sales. The days of real surplus seem to be at an end. I wonder how long some will sit on stock until they go back to their  own fair rates. The fair price people are the only ones I see even moving stuff and I frequent. Lately they even seem to be suffering.

Personally I would like to learn(read buy the gear) reloading but I doubt I will bother for another year or two(it has  already been about 4 with the panic crap and lack of affordable  components when available),so maybe never  )  with how bad things are according to people who reload. Ironic  because I saved brass to reload for "the one day when i was older" since I was 18 from my first 30-30 , which was roughly begun back in the Mesozoic Era....

Plus we now have the summer slow down curse coming upon us which makes things even worse for all around. Which you would  think sales would go up with the size of mosquitoes. Plus nothing clears briars out like dove and quail loads

I believe Knob Creek was the same weekend

Somehow, I just don't think that a 7 hour drive pulled too many people away from this show.

I could see the larger ammo fort level dealers going to the big machine gun shoot but  other than those 1-3 people there isn't much of an effected crowd. Unless you count don't touch, don't look at and you aren't worthy to ask me questions Class3 table. Who seem to rent tables because they want everyone to know they own something....  The attitude of you can pay me to take picture holding my gun is very petty/greedy. For some that image may be the closet they will every come to holding one of their own. Which the background  does not makes for a good backdrop ether.  Gone are the days  of gun shows being big social events, I see few kids getting history lessons from the older firearms dealers, which was something we were luckily to have had. There is nothing that makes history come alive than having having a veteran teaching you about a weapon and history. Which we have time to hate for that and just collector displays(or prices so high a fool would only buy it) with nothing for sale also bother people.  The more I think about it there are a thousand little cuts that have occurred that we didn't noticed that cause value to go missing.