For those who care, there's a gun show at the Williamson County Ag Center this weekend. Once upon a time it was a good show, with vendors filling up the ground level and ringing the upper level with merch. Sadly, it's become a shadow of its former self, and a bit of a joke, with the arena level now only half full of tables. I'm sure that the Peytonsville Road bridge over I-65 will help its already sagging attendance levels, too.  Having to drive south to I-840 and then double back to the exit looks to be the only way to get there, unless cutting through Franklin sounds like a good idea.

Seriously, how does a city as vibrant as Nashville, that has such a large number of potential venues, continue to have such pitiful gun shows? Say what you will about the Fairgrounds and its parking fees, at least it's consistent. The last Murfreesboro show was held in a dungeon, and I'll never bother with driving to one there again. Hendersonville was a great place to have a gun show, and I'm not sure who torpedoed that one, the venue or RK Shows. Maybe both of them, an example of "When Assholes Collide".

Oh, well. I'll see y'all at the TMCA show next weekend at the Marriott, a proper location for this event.

I wish there WASN'T a show every other weekend, I think that would definitely help improve the quality.  I would rather have 3-4 shows per year and them be good shows, than the crap we are seeing now, somewhere around Mid TN, every other weekend.

I didn't go to Mboro last time - where was it?  Did they have a falling out with Swanson and it wasn't at that venue?

Hendersonville show was the best in recent memory - especially since Franklin started sucking and Nashville hasn't been the same since the whole parking debacle.  

The Murfreesboro show was held in the back of the same building. Dimly lit, no A/C to speak of, crowded, and with cut-off anchor bolts sticking up out of the floor everywhere. I'm surprised nobody tripped over or broke their toes on those bolts. They finally get the ventilation working in the front of that old building, and the only people who can enjoy it are the family with the concession stand. The standing puddles of piss and toilet water on he bathroom floor completed the misery.



Other than that, it kinda' sucked.

The "when assholes collide" sums it up.

Its always amazed me that Chattanooga and Knoxville had better shows than Nashville.

The Bill Goodluck show used to take up two entire buildings and you would actually look forward to it........it is sad.

Hi John
I went over there today and set up a couple of tables. If every table is rented, the bottom will be completely full.
See ya there

I heard the Expo center in Hendersonville raised rates, RK didn't respond so politely.  Assholes colliding for sure.

Shame too, always a good show to walk, always walked away with something in my hand(s).

I may venture to the Franklin show, my cousin lives down there, may go together.

there is no need for gun shows when you have the internet.

or have a good source with quality kit for great prices

It sure beats walking out to the truck every few laps, right?

You've never been to Shot Show I'm guessing.

The Hendersonville arena wanted to double their rent to RK per show. RK told them to pound sand.




Chatt better than Nashville? Not hardly, sir.  




LMAO! You same guys who bitch about paying a dealer $10 more than internet prices are now bitching about how the same dealers no longer drive 300-500 miles to come to a show?

If shows had successful dealers, then other dealers would come to them. But the internet has indeed killed the local gun show venues with a few exceptions here & there. Get used to it, fellas.  

Then why do we have those threads bitching about not getting what they paid for or dealers not communicating, etc. etc? Why do dealers have ANY negative feedback?  

So how is the show?

I'm kinda' curious, myself. I'm taking it easy today with an ice pack on my knee, thanks to sliding around on the ice at work last week.

I'm leaving in a few mins... gonna be there about 215

because a good amount of people are uninformed buyers, with that said some folks know more than the guys sitting at the table.... and buy from reputable vendors.

Plus if its an AR - lots of us can easily roll our own.

with that said, If I need to get something local I'll go to the source not the show - been to Mike's and Reese's

If its something odd or rare - sure a show is worth browsing, but its usually a complete waste of time as everything is priced the same as the vendors store - which I don't have to pay for parking.

I have not had the luxury - but have spent money with you

If you wanna go in January hit me up I can get you in the door

When the Chattanooga show was run by the gun collectors association, it drew from Georgia and other places.  Heck, the Alhambra Shrine show used to be better than what Goodman was......heck the Mule Day show was better than most shows now.

The good ole days when the show included locals and there were not a handful of large dealers pushing the smaller ones out........

Also, frankly, I have bought more guns from Reese in the past 18 months than anywhere....so internet has been helpful, and probably led to the demise of a few dealers.  I looked to the gunshows not for new guns, but the used guns, the ones that turned up from estates and such.......the old S&W's and Colt's......like they used to be.  

If I want a new gun, I will probably call Reese and see if he has it.  If not, I will look on the net and then still pay a dealer to handle the transfer and no, I dont bitch about the transfer costs.

I used to drive to a show every weekend that had one within 5-6 hours (rarely Memphis though)......Birmingham show when the AGCA ran it well and the National Gun Day in conjunction with the large mil show, were great.  What made them great, they still had the local guys who only could afford one or two tables and you had the dealers with 30 tables if you wanted a new gun. I went to Knob Creek when it was still in tents and mud.......if you haven't had to tip the guys on 4 wheelers to pull you out of mud there, then you missed the real knob creeks.......

I remain a guy who still likes the older stuff (although I would love a Scar17) and frankly, I haven't enjoyed a gun show since Belgium FN/FAL's were less than a grand.  If you know the name Sid MacDonald and the shows he used to be at, then you know the kinda shows I miss.  I bought a Hk94 when they first came out for $429 and couldn't get passed that long funky barrel, so I traded it to him for a Colt Sp1 collapsible stock model that he had priced at $425 and I thought I got the better deal.....Tommy St. Charles???   when Small Arms Weaponry was in an old house on Donelson Pike......bought my first 1911 at Kay's Hardware in Donelson........enough reminiscing........support your local dealers (who are not arrogant asses) and when you cant, then use the internet.

I texted a friend yesterday and asked him if he went to the Ag Center show yesterday. His response was to the point.


"It sucked"


Guess I didn't miss much.

I bought my used Browning A5 from Kay's Hardware in Donelson.  

I didn't buy from him but when I worked for Specialty Arms I used to ferry guns back & forth from Tommy St.Charles. Super nice guy.

I wouldn't go that far.  It was nothing like the Hendersonville show so in comparison, yes, it sucked.  It was much better than the previous shows I had been to at the same venue.

.22LR was way too high, but available
.223 was about 35c/round at the best I saw
Gen 4 Glocks were about $515 from The Gun Crew (which I thought was a very fair price) everyone else was in the $530 range
Not a large number of private sales to be seen, which surprised me.