Went to the Tucson gun show today, and man what a sad state of affairs for the AR15.

Price gouging was RAMPANT!

Some of the "bargains" I saw....

Colt A2 M4 marked LE only...$1399.
Bushmaster A3 M4 LEO, $1399,$1299. $1199, and  $1099 from four different people.
Bushmaster 16inch lightweight barrel, no bayo lug, no suppressor, w/ collapsible stock - $1099.
Colt Match Target 6400c (post ban, no lug or suppressor) with collapsible stock, $1199.

Saw a bunch of DPMS at a couple of bills too much.
Did see one AR15.com special edition RRA M4. Marked $899 i think.

oh and we can't forget the dipshit who had a case full of unmarked hi-cap glock mags, with a big sign that said $75 each. Mags in general seemed kinda high, about the lowest I found glock mags for was $25 from glockmeister.

The only dealer who had any reasonably priced AR15s was American Spirit Arms, and I realize they have a negative reputation here. They were getting $799 for flattop M4 with all pre-ban features and stainless steel barrel.  The woman manning the booth was a very good salesperson, and I ended up leaving with one. I've seen these people at area gunshows for the last 8 years or so and they have always been decent to talk to although this is the first time i've actually bought anything. I think the disgusting prices on the rest of the stuff drove me to it.

Fit and finish seem very good, have not had a chance to shoot it yet.. I'll reserve judgement on whether I screwed myself until then. Even so, I know the guys who bought the colts and bushmasters got screwed worse than I ever would with this ASA.

Oh, and EVERYONE gave me a funny look when I asked them if they had any bayonets I could mount on my new rifle.

The absolute most hilarious line came from a guy who had hi-point pistols of all things. Everytime I see one, I always joke to my brother in law about how I found the perfect gift for him. This guy thought I was serious, and told us how the hi-points were getting rare and prices were going to go up. He said they are such a great value that the company should sell them for $300 bucks, and that I wouldn't see many of them at the show because Hipoint couldn't make them fast enough for demand.

Quoted: There were less than 300 of those AR15.com RRA's....that is pretty weird to see one of those on a table. Wish I still had mine.

Maybe it was yours...

And this is why I don't go to gun shows any more.  With the notable exception of Tulsa

i too went to the Tucson GS, what a flop !! i expected to find a lot of good stuff, like mags, & decent priced guns, but somehow the show was more like a pre-ban show, junk, jerky & jewlery !!

did you see the NIB Colt 6721 for $2,000.00 ??

i did buy a stripped DPMS lower from "Mad Dog", he sold most all of them yesterday, but will have a new shipment for next months GS at the fairgrounds.

Quoted: i too went to the Tucson GS, what a flop !! i expected to find a lot of good stuff, like mags, & decent priced guns, but somehow the show was more like a pre-ban show, junk, jerky & jewlery !! did you see the NIB Colt 6721 for $2,000.00 ?? i did buy a stripped DPMS lower from "Mad Dog", he sold most all of them yesterday, but will have a new shipment for next months GS at the fairgrounds.

Saw a very well used SP1 here at a GS yesterday, the guy want $1600 firm. Chuckled and said lots of luck to him.

Quoted: did you see the NIB Colt 6721 for $2,000.00 ??

LoL. I didn't see it, but I'm not surprised. The saddest part was that the $1100 dollar bushmasters were selling. I'm pretty sure the idiots with the $1200+ colts will be taking them home with them

I usually like the fairgrounds shows better anyway. I've never been all that impressed with the roadrunner shows.

The next BIG thing is gonna be in Phoenix in Dec. The Small Arms Review is hosting a three day show.

in the oklahoman this morning.............

preban colt ar15 govt. carbine w/ bayonet lug and collapsable stock   never fired   $2200.00

yeh right

I think the price gouging will be the norm for the next couple of months until demand slows and more people realize that the ban has sunset. The problem is that this law has been going on now for 10 years and dealers figure that people are used to seeing and paying these high prices for 'preban' parts. Plus I think some dealers are still hoping to recoup some of their investments in 'preban' rifles and parts and are just hoping for some sucker to come by and pay the inflated prices.

So overall, are our ar-15's value going to go up since the ARB expired?  I bought my 20" a2 for around 725 NEW... and have only shot a clip through it.  Im hoping it is an investment :)

thanks

buddy of mine went back to the show today. Apparently the one guy who had his A2 bushies for 1099 raised em to 1199. I'd probably actually pay that for a colt, just so I didn't have to wait to get one, but bushies are available now!

Hopefully the SAR show will be better.

Maybe someone should let the dealers know that the AWB has sunset. I could ALMOST understand the price gouging if there was a chance for a new AWB being pushed on capitol hill right now. But we are pretty much home free until Nov. If Bush is re-elected I don't see a new one in the next 4 yrs though.

With all the great companies that are members of this site, I have pretty much given up on gun shows. With the exception of about 4 or 5 tables all the rest is either junk, over priced, or someone elses cup of tea.  And of the 4 or 5 decent tables a few of them are industry partners here so I can order direct off their site and have a good opportunity to shop arround for the best price. Shipping is usually cheaper(or free) than parking and admission, and I don't have to wait every three months to see it.

Yeah! Who needs gun shows anymore?

Waste of gas and time IMO.

Get all I need of the EE here.

first post, so hi everyone!

I went to the Tucson gun show today and bought a lower from Mad Dawg and a used 16" upper from a guy walking around. My friend bought an "M4" from American Spirit for almost 900 after tax. I had fun telling him that I bought a CETME and built and AR-15 for less than the cost of his "M4". I shut up when both my guns had bad FTF problems (in the AR-15, rounds are sticking on the little ramps that are supposed to guide the rounds into the chamber). I find this weird because the first mag I fired went pretty much flawlessly, only one hangup. Everything after that, it would jam every round or every other round. We had 2 no name mags and one crappy mag that American Spirit gave my friend that they said was a GI mag. All I can say is that our GIs must be getting screwed because that mag wouldn't feed in his gun and fell out of both guns half the time.

We swapped uppers and the rifle with my lower shot fine, so I know the problem is with my upper.

My CETME is currently stuck with a ***live round*** half-in the chamber and the bolt won't come back, anyone know what to do? besides run away?

thanks.

edit:

The guy who wanted 1399 for the LEO M4 ("because it's a collectors item now") wanted $900 for two CETMEs.

87gn, I sent you an IM on your CETME trouble "My CETME is currently stuck with a ***live round*** half-in the chamber and the bolt won't come back, anyone know what to do? besides run away?"
Feel free to IM or Email me any questions you may have. Welcome to the CETME Club. They can sometimes be a pain but once running right, they are a blast.

I dont even go to gun shows anymore, everybody is trying to rip everybody off there. The only good deals you may come across is ammo in bulk.

I went to the Austin gun show and it was the same story. To few ar's at to high of cost. I talked to a gunsmith i know and he said that the dealers with the ar's at the show were not selling due to the high prices they wanted Prices were running 1000 up to 2100 for bushies and colts. Olympics were 650 to 900 range which is still high for my budget. The gunsmith said to wait till october., the dealers are just tring to recupe their losses on their current inventory. He's right and since I'm currently on my first build he said to finish it, shoot it, enjoy the experience and save your money. BTW I have a CETME I use at work testing eng. projects. It jammed for the first 50 rounds and then functioned fine for the next 1000+.

Denver gun show is this weekend, I'll go see if the rampant rip-offs are still in effect.  I guess it will take a while before everyone gets wise to the fact that the ban is off.

Until prices get sane, there's still CDNN for fairly reasonable magazine prices.

Bushjumper, it's funny you mentioned the negative rep for American Spirit Arms.  I bought my 20" post-ban upper from them for my first AR.  The front sight was cocked off to one side, to the point that I had to crank the rear sight almost to the end of its travel to straighten out the aim.  I called them up to get it fixed, and I would have had to pay to ship it to them.  I ended up figuring out how to fix it myself.  That's the last time they're getting my money.  

I too was at the austin gun show, not much that was exciting. I work at wild bills guns there, and even with dealer hookup I had a hard time!!

Went to the Salt Lake show with much the same result. I DID walk out with a new Bushy 20" A3. Italked him down to $799 from $860 or so and I wonder if I got a good deal. Bushmaster lists the rifle at $1095.

I found Center Ind. mags (30 rd) for 14 bucks.

C