Well, it was my one every couple of year trip to the gun show... was bored and had time to kill and even though I know it's a waste of $6, I went yesterday..

and again, the gun show experience has taught me why I should not bother...The same overpriced crap, sold by the same know it all blow hard's that pretend they know what the internet is, but thru there prices and comments, clearly don't...

And to the dealer who I asked the price on a pair of GI issue gloves how much... who proceeded to answer with a long diatribe about how much the gloves are for the Gov... and how he looked on the internet and he is selling below that at his $40...

You can buy them on line with a 3 min google search for $20 with $7 shipping....

Only guy there that had what I would consider good pricing.... the guy selling OTF knives for $30.

A Garand safety... for $60 seriously.....

a fucking GI chamber brush for $5

Beat up boxes of Wolf .233 for $5.99 for a 20 rd box...

Reman 9mm Pistol ammo for $12.95...

The show was not busy at all... I think the death song is playing for these shows... and I know why... once that generation has died off, you can kiss the shows good bye....

I have not been to a show since I moved here, not much happening in the SW corner.

Yep same guys trying to sell the same crap with the same BS story.

It has been my experience that the shows are just a dumping ground for junk that doesn't shoot or work correctly.

I went, I usually don't but I figured what the hell. It met my expectations of being absolute shit like usual

good to know I didn't miss anything..

None of the posting in this thread surprises me. I do know this though. All gun shows are not created equal. Some of the smaller 1 day 30 to 40 table shows seem to do better at having guns. Nothing against B&R but he has to fill the venue any way he can so it's not all about guns or in some cases evenly remotely related to the shooting sport. Fond du lac is a good example of more guns and contrary to popular gun show hate there are usually a few deals to be had. The same old guys following one show around the state do tend to get overpriced and it seems the private collection sellers are just trying to move their dusty guns and replace them with what their current interest is. It's all my 02 and I may be wrong about it but I do attend and even promote a few smaller shows and unless some political shitstorm closes the bullshit "loophole" I don't see much changing.

Did they have the same unlicensed dealer retirees that swarm every walker like vultures looking for anything they can possibly mark up $50 or $100?

Haven't these guys figured out estate sales or something by now?

Not to bash on old dudes, as I'm getting to be one, but I pride myself on adapting and staying up on things and not being a "Grumpy old Man" who is always crabbing "And that's the way it was... and we liked it"

I saw the same thing in 06-07 after the assault rifle ban ended... dudes were still trying to get $30 for beat up GI 30 rd AR mags and other stuff that they were stuck with.... and confronting them with there lack of logic or awareness of things like this new fangled internet did not phase them in the least.
It's like they really were not concerned if they sold anything or not...

and fast forward to 2018... not much has changed... I can't speak for other areas of the country, but around our neck of the woods, it seems like it's just a good ole boys club that gives them a chance to get together... tell the same old boring stories to anyone who will listen and  pretend like they know what the fuck there talking about.

And I scored the GI GoreTex gloves for $25 shipped off Ebay…..

For the past 25 years, I've been to about 3 B&R shows every year (I'm an old fart too). Never miss the 2 Eagle River shows, and I usually go to one of the 2 Antigo shows. Seems like there's a whole new generation of vendors taking over now, over the past few years. Most of the guys I've done business with all those years (and I got some real good deals) have moved on, either retired or dead. Even Tom Thumb doesn't come to the shows anymore.

Back in the early-mid 90s, there was a guy that did every show that had about a dozen (maybe more) tables of reloading stuff. He had one whole section of tables, both sides. You name it, he had it. I started reloading 12ga shotgun on a Mec 650 back in the 70s, so I had a good foundation in reloading, but it was this guy that got me into reloading metallic cartridges around 1993. He had a lot of knowledge too, and it was spot-on AFAIK today, years later. He hauled his stuff around in a huge 30'+ motor home, pulled a car behind it. Then one year he wasn't there. I had a whole list of stuff to buy, but he was a no-show. I was told that someone broke into his motor home the night before a show, somewhere down south, and took most of his stuff. He had nowhere near enough insurance coverage on the contents of the motor home, and that put him out of business. I was bummed for a few YEARS. There was only one place at the time that had reloading supplies locally (a True Value hardware) and they didn't have much, and I wasn't hooked up to any internet until 1997 or so. I had to drive down to Ciminos in Merrill (70 miles) or Gander in Wausau (90 miles) just to get gun powder or primers. Now I can get whatever I need in Rhinelander, but back then in those pre-internet days, the B&R shows were the life blood of my reloading.

Stuff that didn't work correctly is EXACTLY what I looked for... because I could get it cheap and make it work, or there were parts on it I needed for another project. I "built" myself an awesome turkey gun, from a banged up Remington 1100 I picked up there for $200. Stock was all scratched to shit, and pitting from rust was on barrel & receiver. But... the seller allowed me to partially disassemble it to check over mecahanical wear & tear (not much at all, carried and abused but a lack of bolt carriage wear showed it had hardly been fired ) and it was a 3" magnum receiver (hard to find). The cosmetics didn't mean shit to me... I had other plans.

I sent the 30" vent rib full choke barrel to Rose Action Sports in KY, had it cut to 22" and threaded for tubes. Replaced a few receiver parts with upgrades, replaced stock set with synthetic, reversed safety to LH, ordered a 26" - 3" chambered - replacement barrel from Cabelas so it doubles as a duck gun, and picked up an 8 shot mag extension so it also doubles as a home defense gun and "bear tracking" gun. I put TruGlo peep turkey sights on the 22" barrel, "dayglo" bead on the duck barrel... and I had duracoated the whole thing in "pine straw" camo, which I learned how to do here on arfcom. It's now one of my favorite guns.