Posted: 8/28/2005 4:41:51 PM EDT
I finally made it to the Belleville gun show today. I've lived an hour away from it for the past 5 years and today was the first time.  It was a pretty good show with quite a few guns and parts. I didn't really see any "deals" but that's pretty commonplace for a show. I didn't find the good Browning High Power that I was looking for but did get a line on where to eventually pick up a Garand.  One guy had an underfolder AK kit that he was trying to sell for $170. I was looking at other stuff on his tables when I overheard another guy ask him how hard it was to build it. The seller responded that "It's not too hard if you know what you're doing". He suggested building it with screws instead of rivets.  He then went on to explain that it was a complete Norinco kit with all of the parts except for the receiver and was selling it cheap because it was his last kit and he wanted to get rid of it. Hearing that I decided to look at it further. What I found was a kit that looked like a Polish underfolder that was missing the rear trunion, trigger guard, and slant break. The muzzle wasn't threaded either. On top of that, the underfolding stock looked like it was from another kit as it didn't match the finish on the rest of the parts.  I couldn't keep my mouth shut and informed the seller (in front of the interested customer) of the missing parts and that I suspected it wasn't a Russian kit. The only response I received from the seller was a look like he'd wish I'd simply disappear. The buyer ended up walking off without buying the kit. I really don't feel too bad about the whole incident because it sure looked like the seller was trying to pull a fast one.  M&A was there and had plenty of AR stuff. They also had a nice STG-58 kit that they wanted $320 for. I thought about it but left it for someone else. The woman that was behind the tables wasn't too bad to look at either.  There were plenty of AR mags available and some were pretty attractively priced. I didn't buy any though. I didn't see anyone selling ammo cans. I used to get most of my cans from shows but it appears that those days might have passed. Overall it was a good show and one that I'll go to again. I gotta bring more $$ with me next time though. 
|
|
I was there both days. On Saturday there were some ammo cans for sale, but not a large amount of them. I ended up buying a Mauser 98 action ready for scope mounting for a new bolt gun I'll be building. The Collinsville show has a LOT more AR stuff if you're interested. |
|
Here's a list of ECA Gunshows for the rest of the year. 10/8-10/9 Decatur Civic Center 10-15-10/16 Effingham K. of C. Bldg 10/22-10/23 Collinsville Gateway 11/12-11/13 Bloomington Sale Barn 11/26-11/27 Springfield Crowne Plaza 12/3-12/4 Marion Pavillion 12/10-12/11 Collinsville Gateway and the last Belleville show is October 1 - 2 |