I only had about an hour, but was quite curious to see if the panic buying had eased off a bit on the local gun show crowd. Our little group pulled up to the Valdosta convention center located at the highway 84 / I-75 intersection around noon.
The parking lot was fairly full, and a Valdosta Police Dept. cruiser slowly circled the convention center apron. A steady crowd strode puposefully....empty handed going in, carrying ammo and arms going out. I saw people exiting with lever action rifles, bolt guns, blue S&W revolver boxes, and heavy plastic bags full of ammunition.
The good news? Long guns, and hand guns, were all in abundant supply. AKs, ARs, 1911s, Glocks, milsurp bolt guns, ammo cans, magazines, red dots, scopes,...it was all there, for a price. I would estimate that on average hand gun prices have dropped almost 10-20% since the last local show, just a few months ago.
Ammo remains the primary problem. A local South Georgia / North Florida ammunition company was doing a very brisk business with his plastic bagged, 50 round ball packets of common calibers. The crowd packed around his table was 2 rows of people deep. Watching his well stocked product quickly evaporate was amazing to behold.
On another vendor's table I saw a well worn, 2nd tier box of factory loaded .45acp ammo (50 rounds) priced at 30 dollars. Nobody was biting.
A few quick new gun asking prices:
Glocks - 499
Smith & Wesson J frame revolvers - 430
Kimber 1911 (model unknown) .45 acp -1100
AKs - 450 - 650
ARs, unknown brand - 850 (down 200 bucks)
Colt AR - 1800
Mossberg 12 gauge pump - 350
Used AR mags - 10.00
Used AK mags -12.00
Caveat Emptor - Typeay
5 comments:
Thanks for the update and prices Typeay.
Did you notice availability of reloading supplies?
"Colt AR - 1800"
Typical BS gunshow pricing, with the "Colt Tax" added on top.
One can get Colt 6920's for around $1200 if they're willing to do a bit of hunting on the internet.
SciFiJim, I whisked through the show fairly quickly, and did not have time to view every table. I did not see any reloading supplies.
Anonymous, I agree that the Colt AR price was kooky. Guns shows seem to prey on uninformed buyers.
And let's all keep this buying frenzy in perspective. We are in a recession. We are opting for Kroger brand peanut butter these days instead of yummy Jiffy, yet the guns and ammo continue to fly off the shelves. It speaks volumes.
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