Just a friendly heads up. There is a large (for this area) gun show being held at Eastern States Exposition (aka "Big E") in W. Springfield MA this weekend (Oct. 9 & 10). Expect  ~600 tables filled (advertised as 1000 tables). Just be aware that the Expo charges $3 for parking as of last year.

A bunch of AR15.com folks are going to try to meet up there.

Best directions can be found on Big E website:
www.thebige.com/detpages/info10044.html

Actual address is 1305 Memorial Ave., W. Springfield, MA. Parking is $3, a
new wrinkle by the Big E a year or so ago.

I expect to be there by Noon on Saturday. Wearing a camo hat with Eagle and
US Flag on it.

Location is convenient to CT, NY and MA (well at least Central and Western MA).

A little more info on this show:

W. Springfield postcard advertises 1000 tables w/members of the Winchester Arms Collectors Assn (WACA) and members of the Remington Society of America (RSA). This translates to a number of tables (perhaps 100-150) of pure collectibles that usually start with prices in the $4K+ category. Nice to look at, prohibitive to purchase.

Lots of "national" vendors come to the Big E shows and would never travel to the smaller shows.

Reality is that Big E will probably have 600ish tables of items for sale (their advertised number of tables is always "optimistic", more likely reflecting the number of tables that fit in the room, not the number of tables sold). A number of book dealers, accessories and supplies, lots of rifles and a smattering of handguns for sale. Most guns are priced high vs. a good local dealer. But the variety of supplies makes it worth a trip.

There is usually one big NY ammo dealer that comes to this show. He takes up a large area outside the hall (the Big E is paranoid about allowing ammo in the building) with a very large selection. He (Steve) does cash only and is more than a bit ornery.

Lots of parts dealers at this show, so if someone is looking for something to fix/enhance/etc. it's a good place to look around.