Gun Show Report

It has been awhile since my last "Gun Show Report", so here we go.

Last weekend was the Big Town show. V and I went early on Saturday as we had two of the grandchildren Saturday evening. It is not often that I get to a gun show that early on a Saturday, and there were less people there than I expected. I picked up a drop leg magazine pouch and a dump pouch for the carbine matches. V picked up a range bag (that she has already decided is too small).

Gun shows are an interesting study in marketing, and seeing as how I am contemplating opening my own shop, I try to pay attention to what goes on at the various shows. There is a gun show almost every weekend in N. Texas. Big Town is the second largest and draws literally thousands of potential customers into the hall. Even the smaller shows in Fort Worth have excellent draws. As I walk the tables looking for that one item that I did not know I needed, I am listening to the dealers. It never fails that I overhear one dealer or another griping about slow sales. At the Big Town show I overheard a dealer complaining about how he only sold three things at the previous Fort Worth show. I was at that Fort Worth show, and it had a very good turn out, many dealers had folks lined up to fill out paperwork.

Even as early as it was at this show, the usual dealers had folks in the chairs filling out paperwork, and others were twiddling their thumbs.

I have a hint for dealers who can not sell at a N. Texas gun show. If you only make three sales to the thousands of people who walk past your table, no one wants the crap you are selling for the price you are selling it at. Stop bitching about it, and figure out what you are doing wrong. It is not the promoters fault, and it is not the folks who pay to come to the gun shows fault, it is your fault that you can not sell to a crowd this size. If you are going to sit behind your table, complaining about your lack of sales where I can hear you, don't expect me to improve your fortune.

Today was Market Hall, arguably the best gun show in N. Texas. I had a little something to get done at work this morning and V came to help so we could go to the show after we got done. I enjoy the Market Hall show. I know several of the vendors and usually run into someone on the customer side of the tables that I know. There were four different Barrett rifles on the tables this time. One of these days I am going to have the extra cash to own my own Model 82. There was a nice selection of mil-surp rifles (as usual), and it seemed that there were more Black Rifles and black rifle accessories available than before. I wanted to pick up a couple Wilson Combat Elite Tactical Magazines (1911) to compare with my Tripp Research Cobra Mags. Robbie of Lone Star Wholesale ran out of the Wilson Combat ETM's before I got there (he had a whole box full of 'em last weekend), so you will have to wait until next time for that review. We did walk out of there with a sack full of stuff, me with cleaning supplies and V with new hearing protection. Only $135.00 down, and $40.00 of that was in tickets for an NRA drawing, not bad for a gun show.

Note to gun show ammo dealers. Yes we know the price of ammo is going up, we also know when you are running way ahead of that curve. Ammo prices at the last few shows have been, for the most part, ridiculous.

The Texas State Rifle Association did decently during the show, they signed up over 50 new members. I have said it before, and I will say it again; If you are a Texas Firearm owner, you need to be a member of the TSRA. To join the Texas State Rifle Association, click here. If you tell them I sent you, James Dark (the Executive Director) would owe me a beer at the next Lone Star Friends of NRA Banquet.