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Post by krwada on Oct 4, 2014 15:48:48 GMT -5
I just got back from the San Jose Gun Show. A Gun show in San Jose? Really? Actually, this should not be so absurd. After all; San Jose is the 10th largest city in the USA! The San Jose gun show used to be this really small backwater po-dunk affair. I really only went to it once. It was originally run by the TS Enterprises. TS Enterprises is a family run outfit that really ran the thing more like a casual flea market than a gun show. I get the word a few weeks ago that the show is now taken over by Code of the West Productions Given this ... caused me to give this thing a try. After all; the Code of the West Vallejo gun show is not too bad ... and if the newer San Jose venue works out ... then maybe I shall just go to the San Jose and San Francisco shows. There were numerous vendors there. The crowds are all now down to much more normal pre-panic levels. Prices were down too. The best part was there were NO LINES at all at the ammo booths ... woo hoo! Of course there is the usual ZAP! sound of someone demonstrating a Taser or zap gun. There are the tables of cheap jewelry and preserved meat products. The lines were much lower this time than during the panic. I was finding the following to be my general experience. 1. Primers were in pretty good supply. I saw large rifle, large pistol going for $22/1000 or $110/5000! These prices were much better than the pre-panic $25/1000 prices. 2. The small rifle and small pistol primers were going for around $20/1000 or $100/5000. These were Winchester and CCI primers. These are pretty darned good prices. I talked to the vendors and they tell me that primers are back in a big way. 3. There was only one vendor really selling powder there. He was selling mostly rifle powder for around $26/lb. The larger vendor, (The Miwall corp), said they did not bring any powder at this show due to local San Jose municipal fire codes prohibiting them from shipping very large volumes of powder there. 4. There were NO lines for ammo. All you had to do is just walk up to the booth and tell them what you wanted and just pay for the stuff right there on the spot! 5. There were lots of .223, 9mm, .38spl, .357 and .40 S&W ammo available. I saw crates of this stuff everywhere. I saw FMJ .223 ammo going for $260/1000. This is an excellent price. This price is even lower than the pre-panic prices of around $320/1000 I saw in 2012 or thereabouts. There were also large crates of 9mm going for around $120/1000. This is an exceptionally good price for this stuff. I saw crates of 230 grain .45 ACP ball ammo going for around $250/1000. All of these prices looked very good. And yes ... the prices appear to still be coming down. 6. I saw this booth hawking this stuff called Cherry Palms ... or something ... it looked like red lipstick gun-goo grease. The fellow manning the booth looked like a snake-oil salesman. To tell you the truth I love seeing booths like this. It reminds me of those fellows selling all kinds of emetics, liniments, purgatives, hair restoration and other such stuff at the county fair! 7. Now ... .22LR ammo, while pretty abundant was still a bit too pricey for me. I saw a very decent supply of the CCI minimags. That is a very good sign that things are starting to come back to normal. The prices for the CCI minimags were about $60/brick. This is still too pricey for me. The lowest price I saw for .22LR was around $50 / brick for Remington golden bullets ant T-bolts ... I am not a big fan of either of this stuff, and well ... $50 / brick for bulk cheap ammo is just not for me. 8. I did not see many .22LR only vendors at the gun show. The vendors selling .22LR ammo were some vendors who may have had a couple of boxes gleaned from an estate sale to the really large ammunition vendors. I did not see the big piles of .22LR ammo selling for $75 to $100 / brick in one booth like I have seen at previous gun shows ... It appears as if the scalpers for some reason are not making a showing to this show. 9. I did see one vendor who had some reloading components that he picked up at an estate sale. This is the primary reason why I go to these things ... I managed to negotiate 200 rds of 150 grain 7mm Sierra Matchkings for $32 for the whole lot ... I mean $0.16 per projectile of Sierra Matchkings??? I would have purchased more if had any more! |
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poohzilla
Member
Give me a place to stand and a long-enough lever, and I will invariably break the lever.
Posts: 1,050 
Location: New Hamster
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Post by poohzilla on Oct 4, 2014 16:40:28 GMT -5
Well, we know the answer to Dionne Warwick's question, at least as regard to Ken ! Good report, and interesting perspective. I didn't get to a gun show today, but was in the local Walmart on another errand. They had a promotion running, featuring a load of CCI .22 rimfire. While I thought it was a touch pricey, they seemed to have a pile of it, and when I went back later, I again checked back and there was a lot around. (They had it both in the regular display case and under the register in the sporting goods section.) I had a chat with the young lady holding the fort, and she said a few had come in, but there was no particular rush. *Maybe* we're hitting that equilibrium we've been looking for. Good signs today. (And I'm still hoping the scalpers choke on the stuff. If I encounter any, I will not buy from them other than at a fire sale price.)
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Post by krwada on Jan 13, 2015 17:19:03 GMT -5
OK ... I just went to the latest San Francisco, (actually nearby Daly City) gunshow, and here are some of my observations. 1. First of all, there was the normal traffic into the entry of the gunshow. This time, it really felt like the pre-panic version of the gunshow before 2012. I could just walk up to the ticket booth, pay my entry fee and walk right in. This is very nice. I bee-line it to the Miwall booth. the Miwall corporation usually drives in two(2) really big semi tractor trailer rigs full of stuff just for this gunshow. I believe that Miwall is really the anchor at this show. 2. What do I see at the reloading booth? I see lots of pistol powder!?!? .... Yaaay! I see lots of W231, HP38, WSF, Bullseye, Tightgroup and Unique. The pistol powder is a bit pricey, (approximately $24/lb), but it is available and in very good quantity too. 3. I also see Reloder-15 in 5lb jugs there. This stuff was going at around $25/lb. This is very close to the pre-panic prices. Unfortunately, the fellow JUST right before me picks up the last two(2) 5lb jugs ahead of me. Well... I do still have a few pounds of Reloder-15 so I am not going to sweat it. 4. I see lots of Varget. The Varget was going for around $24/lb. This is very close to pre-panic levels. I also see big 8lb jugs of IMR4350, H414, IMR3031, XBR800, Reloder-22, IMR4064. There was a lot of fast, medium and magnum rifle powder there. These powders were going for roughly $25/lb. Yes, these are pretty decent prices, and there was lots of this stuff there. 5. I did walk away with 1000 230 grain .451 copper plated Berry's bullets. I paid $108 for the lot. This is a very good price considering that this included the California sales tax. 6. Primers were in very good supply there. The prices I saw was in the $24/1000 range. This comes out to about $120/5000 which is very good. There was a whole pallet load of primers there. All the available primers for all the various configurations, (small pistol, large pistol, small rifle, large rifle and even benchrest primers too). 7. I saw bricks of .22LR in very good quantity there. Most of this stuff was being sold by the really big vendors, (Miwall). The price for a brick of the generic .22LR was still high. It looked to be around $60/brick. I mean, this is what they sell the good stuff, (SKJAGD, and FIOCCHI match), over at MidwaUSA and the like. Why by the cheap stuff for the same price as the good stuff? 8. I saw lots of ammo there. Re manufactured .223 was going for $280/1000. Re-manufactured 7.62x51 FMJ ammo was going for $460/1000. Of course, the 7.62x39, (for your AK's), were going for around $480/2000. I also saw re-manufactured 230 grain .45 ACP going for $380/1000 and re-manufactured 9mm going for around $180/1000. All the new factory ammo was going for about double these prices. 9. Well... I finally did it. I decided to go and purchase some of those cured meat products at the gunshow. I can say this much for certain; I was very pleasantly surprised. This stuff is not cheap, but it is very good. The vendor that sold the jerky and meat sticks I bought was made by the Sierra Gold Jerky Company. There stuff was very good. it is pricey however. All in all, I had a wonderful time at this show. I had to run out to the car to drop off the 1000 rounds of lead. I did not want to keep lugging around all that weight while at the show. Last time, I waited to buy the lead on my way out, and they were all sold out. I learned my lesson. Always get the stuff you really want early. You gotta beat the other guy to it. Ken |
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Post by hacker54 on Jan 13, 2015 18:06:11 GMT -5
Ken,
I see powders out your way seem to be leveling out now with prices being more reasonable. The primer prices you are stating are very very good indeed. Is this for the major manufactures like CCI and the others?? Again 22lr is a joke if you ask me! I would think that those would start to come down by now but I guessed wrong. If there is a lot of an item and I'm in the market to get I do wait til the end of the day to see If I can jaw over the price sometimes I make out and time I don't. That's one of the fun aspects of going to the shows.
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Post by krwada on Jan 13, 2015 19:03:35 GMT -5
Ken, I see powders out your way seem to be leveling out now with prices being more reasonable. The primer prices you are stating are very very good indeed. Is this for the major manufactures like CCI and the others?? Again 22lr is a joke if you ask me! I would think that those would start to come down by now but I guessed wrong. If there is a lot of an item and I'm in the market to get I do wait til the end of the day to see If I can jaw over the price sometimes I make out and time I don't. That's one of the fun aspects of going to the shows. Hello Gary; Yes, the prices do seem to be leveling off to near the pre-panic values. The primer brands I saw were mostly Winchester with some CCI thrown in. There was some Federal there too. And yes ... $60/brick of the generic .22LR is a complete joke in my opinion. Ken' |
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Post by hacker54 on Jan 13, 2015 19:18:33 GMT -5
The primer prices there should find their way here sometime in the future and that would make me happy.
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jbnut
Member
Posts: 169
Location: Warren, Pennsylvania
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Post by jbnut on Jan 13, 2015 22:07:25 GMT -5
We had an Outdoor show this weekend at the local Mall. Over all I was disappointed in the show. too many boats, 4 wheelers, jewelry and stuff. I did see 1 vendor selling .22 ammo, 40 gr lead Federal, $40 for a brick of 500. That was a better price than we have been seeing but I really didn't need them that bad. Went to the local gun shop and they actually had the same Federal bricks on the shelf, $45.99 a brick. Didn't need those either.lol
Ken your powder prices are a lot better than ours, about $27.99 on average. I think our primers are still $3.49 a hundred. Yes this is the same shop that puts 10's of thousands of .22 rounds on Gun Broker instead of on their shelves. It's too bad it's the only shop in shop in the area. |
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Post by krwada on Jan 14, 2015 11:38:11 GMT -5
We had an Outdoor show this weekend at the local Mall. Over all I was disappointed in the show. too many boats, 4 wheelers, jewelry and stuff. I did see 1 vendor selling .22 ammo, 40 gr lead Federal, $40 for a brick of 500. That was a better price than we have been seeing but I really didn't need them that bad. Went to the local gun shop and they actually had the same Federal bricks on the shelf, $45.99 a brick. Didn't need those either.lol
Ken your powder prices are a lot better than ours, about $27.99 on average. I think our primers are still $3.49 a hundred. Yes this is the same shop that puts 10's of thousands of .22 rounds on Gun Broker instead of on their shelves. It's too bad it's the only shop in shop in the area. Primers for $35/1000  Ow! That is $175 / case of 5000. That is way to pricey for me. Even though California has the most anti-gun and strictest regulations; California still accounts for over 15% of total sales nationally in the United States. Maybe that is what makes the prices here a tad bit lower. As to the anti-gun regulations ... well, I can say we are working our way through that in the Court System here. |
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Post by hacker54 on Feb 22, 2015 19:33:21 GMT -5
The local show from this weekend Feb. 21-22. This show had a couple of vendors that were selling 80% lower receivers for AR's and 80% 1911 framers. This is the first seeing the 80% 1911 frames. Also saw stripped AR lowers going for $65 to $115. Powder was going from $25 to $36 for the one pounders. Here is a list of some of the 8lb. jugs.
H International-$170
H Universal-$170
H Longshot-$209.75
H Lil Gun-$197
H 414-$195.50
H 335-$206.75
HS6-$206.75
There was some IMR in 8lb. jugs that was in this price range. The International and Universal 8lb. jugs I thought was not all that bad. For the most part I can do better at my local shop. Primers were at this show going for $31 to $35/1000 I can do better from other sources. And the ongoing joke is still 22lr. The cheapest 500 round brick was $45 We found one vendor with Fed. 325 count for $25 buy two and that is better price than what a 500ct brick goes for. Well in two weeks the weekend of Mar. 7&8 another small show at a Vol. Fire Dept. This show is one I always try to get to even though small it is a very nice show. I will give the low down on that one to compare prices from the one today.
At today's show I picked up two mags for my present of an 1911 a Kimber and a Wilson-Combat to test out in it. Also 100 rounds of 45ACP to run through them once weather become more bearable.
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Post by hacker54 on Mar 10, 2015 11:33:52 GMT -5
Went to my favorite local gun show Feb. 8th. Held at a volunteer fire dept. As with most shows prices were OK to Holy Crap. I found a local and new remanufacturer of ammo that also sold components. They had an eight pound jug of Bullseye for $136. I thought that was a very good price. Most vendors had primers over the $32 range but we found one sell for $29/1000 for Win. primers. So the son-in-law got a 1000 large rifle and he got me 1000 large pistol. Got to load for the 45ACP. One vendor had a used Dillon Square Deal press along with the heads for 9mm and 45ACP for $275. I'm sure there might have been some missing parts(?) but one could get them from Dillon. Did see a used MEC in 20ga. and some used RCBS single stage press. I do believe they were the Rock Chuckers(?) Quite a few used bullet molds but not what I was looking for. Now for 22lr looks like they are not coming down in price for a brick anytime soon. Still $50 for a brick!!
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SnapShot
Member
Jeep & Mocha "Remembering Patches, always"
Posts: 699
Location: Finally free from the Republic of Kalifornia!
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Post by SnapShot on Mar 12, 2015 18:11:14 GMT -5
Bullseye . . . Bullseye . . . let me see . . . Oh, ya, I remember that. It’s a powder they used in the old days. Haven’t seen any in years.  |
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Post by lexusmgr on Apr 19, 2015 19:29:08 GMT -5
Well gentlemen. I am now a regular vendor in the Miami Gun and Knife Show. No, I don't sell guns or ammo, but knives. I attended this past weekend and since I get in the door early, was able to find several powders readily available. One table had a good availability of most everything, including CFE Rifle. I bought 4 lbs of IMR 4227 for my M1 carbine and 7.62x39. I also use it in 357 magnum. There were plenty of primers and ammo. I noticed an increase in remanufactured ammunition, since several vendors were offering it. Of course, plenty of factory 223, 308, and all pistol calibers. Didn't see any lead bulk bullets being sold. I had about a dozen Powder Coated bullets on my table as a display and several people stopped and chatted for a bit, since they had heard of the process but never had seen them in person. A few were interested in learning the process. I'm going to put together a class in the future and teach them how to do it. The show was well attended and I had a nice time talking with all the people who stopped by. I'm already signed up for the May 31st -June 1st. I'll report from that one then. Thank you all.
Lex
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Post by lexusmgr on Apr 19, 2015 19:30:16 GMT -5
Well gentlemen. I am now a regular vendor in the Miami Gun and Knife Show. No, I don't sell guns or ammo, but knives. I attended this past weekend and since I get in the door early, was able to find several powders readily available. One table had a good availability of most everything, including CFE Rifle. I bought 4 lbs of IMR 4227 for my M1 carbine and 7.62x39. I also use it in 357 magnum. There were plenty of primers and ammo. I noticed an increase in remanufactured ammunition, since several vendors were offering it. Of course, plenty of factory 223, 308, and all pistol calibers. Didn't see any lead bulk bullets being sold. I had about a dozen Powder Coated bullets on my table as a display and several people stopped and chatted for a bit, since they had heard of the process but never had seen them in person. A few were interested in learning the process. I'm going to put together a class in the future and teach them how to do it. The show was well attended and I had a nice time talking with all the people who stopped by. I'm already signed up for the May 31st -June 1st. I'll report from that one then. Thank you all.
Lex
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Post by krwada on Aug 10, 2015 13:28:34 GMT -5
OK ... since it has been a while ... I am going to do another post. Went to the SF Crossroads Gun Show yesterday, (Sunday 09-August-2015). A gun show here in Liberal anti-gun San Francisco California??? Well ... yes ... Actually, the show is in neighboring Daly City. San Franciso, as all larger metropolitan cities usually has their name attached to anything greater Bay Area. Anyhow ... on to my observations. First, I bee-line it to the Miwall reloading booth, and this is what I find: 230 grain FMJ plated Berry's bullets for $50/500 ... even including the 8% sales tax ... this is $54 out the door. However, since I have plenty of this stuff, I decided not to buy any. I see lots of rifle powders, (IMR4064, Varget, IMR4350, H4895, IMR3030, RL-22 Retumbo) ... etc. All of these powders are going for around $169/8# KEG. With the sales tax ... this comes out to about $183 out the door. This is not bad. This is very close to the pre-panic prices. I also see lots of primers for sale. These things are going for roughly $25/1000pc or around $125/5000pc or case prices. With sales tax, this is around $135/case out the door. This too is a very good, roughly pre-panic level prices here. I am finally seeing some pistol powders in stock. I am seeing Unique, Bullseye, Power Pistol and this newer Alliant stuff called CFE Pistol. The prices are still a bit higher than pre-panic prices. The prices I am seeing here is around $25/lb. the pre-panic prices for this stuff was around $20/lb. Then, I stumble on another booth ... And what do I see? WHY ... I see the unicorn of pistol powders! I see HP38 finally on sale! HP38 is one of my favorite pistol powders. The fellow who was selling it said his 8lb KEGS went very quickly. And yes ... HP38 is still difficult to find. I head on over to the Miwall ammo booth, and What do I see? I see NO LINES! Yep, you can just walk up to the booth and get your ammo. I also see Remington Value Packes, (525 rds .22LR) on sale for around $49 per brick. Well, this is roughly twice the pre-panic levels. At least now ... you buy the stuff for around $0.10/rd and not the gouge-yer-eyes out $120/brick as it was a year ago. I am definitely seeing more .22LR availability. However; I still have plenty of .22LR in my personal stock ... so I did not go and purchase any. I spot some really decent deals on cast lead 125 grain .357 pills for around $18/200. This is not too bad. I probably would have snapped up everything if I could have negotiated a better deal. If they would have dropped their price to around $15/200. I would probably have purchased the whole lot, (approximately 1500 rds) I offered the vendor $100 for the entire lot, (7 bags at 200 rds each) ... and he just did not want to deal with me ... Oh well! So, anyways ... I stock up on beef sticks, beef jerky and several varieties of bbq rubs and hot sauce. You know what? Even though I came away with hot sauce and bbq meat products ... I still had a very good time at the show. And this is money well spent in my book! |
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gws
Member
Posts: 969
Location: NW New Mexico
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Post by gws on Aug 10, 2015 16:57:19 GMT -5
I seem to be the spreader a bad news this week. Read this....more than silly rumor. Maybe you need to go back and buy some more. www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=785777The more posts you read of this thread the more you feel it's not a hoax....inspite of one dude's "inside scoop from a Hodgden." |
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Post by hacker54 on Aug 10, 2015 22:59:31 GMT -5
Ken,
Well looks like you did come across some good prices there. The primer prices are very good. The CFE Piston is Hodgdon. The newer powder from Alliant is BE-86.
Greg,
I read over your link and the response fro Hodgdon by Mike Daly would be factual as he is the one who has responded to my inquires on powder issues. I have a 4lb jug of W231 on hand and will look to see if I can add more of it to my powder cabinet or HP-38 same powder. I do like this powder for cast loads. I guess I'll be looking for other powders for my cast loads.
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Post by krwada on Aug 11, 2015 9:56:13 GMT -5
Ken, Well looks like you did come across some good prices there. The primer prices are very good. The CFE Piston is Hodgdon. The newer powder from Alliant is BE-86. Greg, I read over your link and the response fro Hodgdon by Mike Daly would be factual as he is the one who has responded to my inquires on powder issues. I have a 4lb jug of W231 on hand and will look to see if I can add more of it to my powder cabinet or HP-38 same powder. I do like this powder for cast loads. I guess I'll be looking for other powders for my cast loads. Hello Gary; I guess now, I can see why HP38-W231 is in such short supply. As for me, I currently have lots of powder available for pistol. I will probably check out Titegroup when my supply starts running low. This will be a while since I have over 30# of pistol powder of various types available for reloading. |
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Post by hacker54 on Dec 13, 2015 21:20:14 GMT -5
Well today Dec. 13, 2015 the son-in-law and I went to a gun show in Harrisburg to pick up a few things and check out prices. I came across one table that was selling powder, Their 1lb bottles were from $28 to $30. Now this same table had 8lb jugs of the following powders HP-38, Unique, W748, CFE223, and CFE Pistol. All were priced at $180!!! I just shook my head and walked away. The HP-38 and the Unique I can get on line cheaper and that's even with the shipping and Haz-Mat fee. There was another vender that had powder but didn't get the chance to see his price but I can see his list on line and if need be go to his shop for pickup. Saw primers running $32 to $35/1,000. Average for the show on 1 pounders of powder $27 to $35. The one thing I saw and had to chuckle a bit on how much Trump 2016 stuff was on hand at this show. There must have been about 6 or 8 tables of Trump 2016 shirts decal bumper stickers and other items.
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Post by krwada on Dec 13, 2015 22:48:54 GMT -5
Well today Dec. 13, 2015 the son-in-law and I went to a gun show in Harrisburg to pick up a few things and check out prices. I came across one table that was selling powder, Their 1lb bottles were from $28 to $30. Now this same table had 8lb jugs of the following powders HP-38, Unique, W748, CFE223, and CFE Pistol. All were priced at $180!!! I just shook my head and walked away. The HP-38 and the Unique I can get on line cheaper and that's even with the shipping and Haz-Mat fee. There was another vender that had powder but didn't get the chance to see his price but I can see his list on line and if need be go to his shop for pickup. Saw primers running $32 to $35/1,000. Average for the show on 1 pounders of powder $27 to $35. The one thing I saw and had to chuckle a bit on how much Trump 2016 stuff was on hand at this show. There must have been about 6 or 8 tables of Trump 2016 shirts decal bumper stickers and other items. Hey Gary; The fact that HP38 is even available is good news. Unfortunately, I have been hearing news that HP38 is now a discontuned powder. |
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Post by hacker54 on Dec 13, 2015 22:54:16 GMT -5
Ken,
Yes I'm afraid that and the Win. 231 will be no more as I read on another forum. Mr. M. Daly (not sure of spelling) stated so. He was the one who answered my e-mails on powder issues. I like this powder in cast bullet loads especially in 38 spl.
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SnapShot
Member
Jeep & Mocha "Remembering Patches, always"
Posts: 699
Location: Finally free from the Republic of Kalifornia!
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Post by SnapShot on Dec 14, 2015 11:21:01 GMT -5
My son and I attended the Del Mar (San Diego) Crossroads of the West Gun Show yesterday (13-DEC-2015). It was a typical show, two buildings and some parking lot area. Very little reloading supplies at these shows any more and what is available are at retail price or higher. The only thing I saw that was positive was primers are available again but at the retail prices ($28 to $33 /1000 locally). Very little powder and little to no bullets. Tons of brass in most calibers but no good pricing at any of the booths. The odd thing was to see brass with prices all over the map. There was a difference of $50 /1000 in the same room. Can't see how some guys think their stuff is worth so much. 22LR is showing up again but still too high priced. The best CCI MiniMags we saw $10.50 /100 (there are some boxes on my shelf with $5.25 price tags still on them). Ammo prices are down from the crises days but still 15% to 25% above pre crises days. Availability seems to be much better though. Seems that the larger gun shops bring most of their inventory to these shows but they also bring their retail prices too. I remember when the gun shows were great places to get good deals. It seems that gun shows have gone the way of outlet malls; they used to be good discount places but are now just factory owned retail stores. One thing we noticed was the large number of booths selling 80% lowers for AR15 and AR10 rifles and 1911 pistols. Lots of people selling the tools to finish your own with hand tools, drills or routers. Only thing we bought was a magazine carrier pouch to strap to my range bag and some really good smoked sausage hotdogs.
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My daughter came from Missouri, my son and grand son, my wife and I had a nice dinner of grilled "porter house" pork chops, corn on the cobb, my son, G'son and I share 10/5. G'son is 4 minutes early though @ 10/4.
Pooh I hope you find to right house . 
