Decisions, decisions

[dewman]

My sorrow often came from acquiring a new gun, by peeling one I already had. Truly the best bargaining currency in a gun deal is another gun. So many deals, so many second thoughts. Madness.

[fitch270]

For me, gun shows are a love/hate relationship.
I love to go because you never know just WHAT you may find.
I hate it when I make a discovery and you realize the few Benjamins in your pocket are, at best, half of what it's marked.

Anymore I make it a point to carry as much as I’m comfortable spending in one outing. If that’s not enough then I don’t need it. Possible I could run across several items on my wish list at once someday but if the past 10-15 years are any indication it’s not very likely.

It’s probably a good thing I didn’t have the same percentage of discretionary income back in the day, my will power wasn’t nearly as strong then as it is now.

[FirstBubba]

For me, gun shows are a love/hate relationship.
I love to go because you never know just WHAT you may find.
I hate it when I make a discovery and you realize the few Benjamins in your pocket are, at best, half of what it's marked.

[dewman]

Fitch: I'll keep you in mind but I'm sure when I need some the Lord will provide. Generous of you though, thank you very much. Stay safe, stay warm

[fitch270]

After the windage screw came loose on my std base this past deer season I went ahead and put a set of Talley's on. About all the new I plan to do this year. Now my only remaining quest is 2 identical boxes of 7mm-08 shells. Of course, my pal did become enamored with Chiappa's double badger and his 22/20ga is interesting. He has a 243 over, I think, a 410(?) also but the practicality of that one escapes me. Stay safeIMG_2727.jpg

You may recall we did the same with the Kid’s rifle in Montana. The gun has held zero since. I had three sets of the standard Leupold rings and mounts, one set new in the packages but I sold all of them. For standard mounting I think I’ll stick with buying Talleys and Leupold Dual Dovetails from now on, other than if a rail mount is needed.

Keep me in mind with the ammo situation, be happy to help if things don’t straighten out. Only hold up would be me needing to head out of town to get to the UPS hub to ship from. Right now I’m not sure I could get there during business hours but once winter breaks it wouldn’t be an issue.

[fitch270]

We have a show coming up next weekend. I might go because I haven't in several years. It's put on by a collector's club and every year it was the same old guys with the same old SAAs and Winchester lever guns. The rest of the tables were mostly dealers with new guns at new prices and a few guys with used late model stuff.

The gun and ammo shortage over the last couple years should make this one interesting.

I think gun shows are like auctions, flea markets and garage/yard sales, if you’re willing to put up with a lot of the same ol’ same ol’ eventually you’ll find something to make it worthwhile. I don’t mind putting the time in usually, especially not in the winter when there’s nothing much else going on. For some reason I get satisfaction walking away with nothing most of the time. I suppose it’s from having self control in not buying stuff I don’t need even though I could.

[dewman]

After the windage screw came loose on my std base this past deer season I went ahead and put a set of Talley's on. About all the new I plan to do this year. Now my only remaining quest is 2 identical boxes of 7mm-08 shells. Of course, my pal did become enamored with Chiappa's double badger and his 22/20ga is interesting. He has a 243 over, I think, a 410(?) also but the practicality of that one escapes me. Stay safeIMG_2727.jpg

[franchi20]

We have a show coming up next weekend. I might go because I haven't in several years. It's put on by a collector's club and every year it was the same old guys with the same old SAAs and Winchester lever guns. The rest of the tables were mostly dealers with new guns at new prices and a few guys with used late model stuff.

The gun and ammo shortage over the last couple years should make this one interesting.

[fitch270]

Hit up the small show this morning, did two laps and still managed to make it to church. Wasn’t much there but it was still worth the hour or so round trip and the $2 entry. It’s a fundraiser for one of the community organizations in that town so it’s for a good cause.


I caught myself falling into a familiar trap, I start looking at stuff I already have when I don’t see what I’m looking for or anything interesting to dig through. I have a friend who used to make me crazy at shows, he was almost completely drawn to stuff he owned. The worst was when he’d handle something he had no intention of buying and get into a discussion with the seller about how he had one just like it. It was so bad it made me self conscious about it.

Funny thing was at the big show two weeks ago I was looking through a box of old beater knives when something familiar looking caught my eye. It was a handle tip sticking out of a pouch sheath. Sure enough when I pulled the knife out it was an older copy of the Canadian Belt knife I just got for Christmas. It was marked “Belt and Boot” knife and was made by the Soligen company in Germany. It hadn’t been abused but wasn’t very well cared for and the sheath was about toast. Profile was about identical but the blade and scales were a bit bulkier than mine which affected the feel. The box of knives wasn't marked with any prices so I almost offered the guy $10 mostly just to see what he’d say. Then thought better of it, set the knife back in the box and just walked away. It’s one of those decisions that you know is just water under the bridge but at the same time can’t help but wonder just a bit.

[fitch270]

I went to a local gun show last weekend that normally is pretty good. Biggest waste of $8 in a long time. Not much other than overpriced junk and a few nice rifles WAY over value. Few handguns outside of the polymer pistols and darn little ammo on tables. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular and it’s a good thing. I did learn that I have a small fortune in Savage 99’s if the asking prices are indicative of real value. LOL!

The show I was at had lots of overpriced ammo. One vendor had a large supply of hand loading components with a few decent deals mixed in but nothing I needed. Guns weren’t all over priced but the usual tired specimens. The only one that really caught my attention was a fairly clean looking older Rem 1100 that was priced at $575. I was tempted to offer $500 cash but I was afraid he might take me up on it, lol. I think the price reflected it being chambered for 2 3/4” shells. If it had been a 20ga instead of a 12 I’d probably had made the offer.

[FirstBubba]

I think the Savage 99 is highly "under rated" lever gun.
Yeah, yeah, yeah! The pre-'64 Win M94 is supposed to be THE "cat's meow".
Personally, I'll take the Marlin 336 or the Savage 99 any day.

I like the exposed hammer (easy to see) of the 336, but it's a bit blocky. Not wild about the 99's internal hammer (a safety ain't always "safe"), but it has a sleeker look.

[dewman]

I went to a local gun show last weekend that normally is pretty good. Biggest waste of $8 in a long time. Not much other than overpriced junk and a few nice rifles WAY over value. Few handguns outside of the polymer pistols and darn little ammo on tables. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular and it’s a good thing. I did learn that I have a small fortune in Savage 99’s if the asking prices are indicative of real value. LOL!

Savage 99's are pure gold around here. If my grandad were alive today and saw what his 99 was worth he'd crap. Traded his for a couple beagles in '74 after taking his wide view 4x Weaver scope off it and giving it to me.

[WA Mtnhunter]

I went to a local gun show last weekend that normally is pretty good. Biggest waste of $8 in a long time. Not much other than overpriced junk and a few nice rifles WAY over value. Few handguns outside of the polymer pistols and darn little ammo on tables. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular and it’s a good thing. I did learn that I have a small fortune in Savage 99’s if the asking prices are indicative of real value. LOL!

[dewman]

In a low, steady rhythm voice. A whispering chant per se. Buy it. Buy it. Buy it. Saw 270 ammo from 3 different makers today at Walmart. Notable was Federal blue box at $24.97/box. Still no 7mm-08 to be found.😞. Consensus is supply will be back to normal by late summer as gun / ammo sales are showing signs of saturation. 🤞🏻

[fitch270]

Ended up going and it was so-so. Actually it kinda sucked but I enjoyed getting out of the house and killing some time. No firearms that interested me but there was some other stuff that had me pondering. Ended up only buying two new Plano 20ga ammo boxes for $2 each.

There are a couple smaller shows coming up locally that I’ll try to attend. If I run across the stainless Rem 700 .270 again I’ll probably make an offer this time. Maybe 😎