doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Gun Show Rants & Experiences

The problem on eBay was the guys who tried to circumvent the NO GUNS rule by listing the barrels and fore-end on one auction, and the stocked action on the next, thus, in effect, selling the complete gun. Most of the eBay action today involves payment by PayPal, with eBay becoming a stakeholder in the transaction. I can understand why they are concerned, and with gun parts constituting .00000000001% of their gross, the result makes sense.

But talk about STUPID--how about shotgun-collector organizations, which are seemingly dedicated to the acquisition and de-acquisition of specified guns, that prohibit the mention of the "BUY" and "SELL" words on their very own websites. When called to task and asked the question, WHY can't a participant post a query if anyone has a nice lifter 10-bore that could be bought, or mention that he has a 12-bore F&F DHE shooter needing a new home?

The BODs fall back on their "Golden Rule": We got the gold, you obey the rule.

What gets me is that the very same people who can be most vocal in re: eBay tend to bite their lips and turn the other cheek when it is the collector associations that have dumb rules. I wonder why? EDM

Some good reading and I can relate to many of the posts. The one I find sad is Sharpsrifle’s comment on etiquette. I rarely went to shows until the early 80’s when a friend introduced me to OGCA. The shows were at the IX center by that time and it was my first experience with a “major” show. Before my first trip as a guest he gave me the “rules”. ALWAYS ask before picking up a gun. ALWAYS ask before opening an action or otherwise disassembling a gun. It is just plain RUDE to shoulder a long gun and point it down the isle at everyone down stream from you while shooting an “air duck”. If the gun is crap and way overpriced move on. There is noting to be gained from telling the seller that he and the gun are crap. Chances are he knows and will take umbrage at being reminded. When you are done looking at a gun say Thank You. I actually got in the habbit of carrying a small oil cloth in my bag and would give the gun a quick wipe where I had touched it after laying it down. Since OGCA “went south” I rarely get to shows anymore. I try and get to maybe one public show each year although I don’t really need beef jerky or Chinese tools. I get a kick out of the looks I get when I ask, “may I look at this gun?” Most often I can tell what the dealer is thinking – “what sort of weirdo is this old geezer”? I do miss the old days sometimes. Jack

I'm not sure why I like this thread so much, but every contributor said something I could identify with my own feelings on gun shows. I have met the same people, refuse the beef jerky samples, and never could understand the Chinese tools at gun shows. I quess the thought that maybe there will be that gold nugget that each of us is searching for, maybe on the next table.

I went to a show about 10 years ago and i was looking for a Fox 3" HE which as you know is extremely rare. First table inside the man had a 32" Sterlingworth Wildfowl marked 3" chambers in near mint condition! I stated pulling out the cash and had to give him a check to cover total cost but i got it! Bobby

I have told this story on here many times, but if you bear to hear it again. I was at the Louisville Gun Show several years ago. I was always looking for Model 21s and I always wanted a Duck Gun so badly to add to my collection. I had looked for one for several years. I stopped at Steve Barnett's table and he had six or seven 21s. But I decided to walk around some more. I noticed a guy carrying a 21 over his shoulder and I asked to see it. It was a Duck Gun and he had brought it back from Las Vegas and decided he didn't want it. I asked him how much he wanted and he said he had paid $3200 for it and that's what he would take. I bought it. I continued to walk down that isle and about half way up the next isle I stopped to look at an Ithaca Model 37. A guy asked me how much I wanted for my 21. I figured I would say something outlandish to make him go away, so I said, $4250.00 and looked away from him. He then asked me if he could look at it. After he did, he asked if I would take $4000.00 for it. I got greedy and took the money. I couldn't resist. Then I got really upset with myself for selling it and I wasn't leaving without a 21. I went back to Steve Barnett's table and bought a nice TRAP Grade Model 21 for $3200.00 and took it home. I was still feeling pretty upset about selling my Duck Gun. When I sent to the Cody Museum for the paper work I found out that the final inspection on the gun was 9/11/47 and the gun had been shipped on 9/12/47 the day, I was born. I was pretty happy about it then. But, I know I'll never have another Duck Gun.

Over the years I have gone to many shows at O'Hara Arena north of Dayton, Ohio. A few years ago I was walking through the show and all of a sudden, BANG!! a gun goes off and everyone hits the floor. Seems as though a guy was showing a lady how easy it was to load a Browning .32 auto, so he puts in a bullet, slams the slide and pulls the trigger. The bullet hit the floor and ricocheted down the aisle and hit the wall. Luckily, no one was hit. But here come the cops and all heck breaks loose. Later, I walked over to the area and was talking to a guy selling books who just so happened to be about three feet from the spot on the wall where the bullet hit. He said that was the last show he would ever attend. He said only a week earlier he was at another show, sitting on a stool, leaning back against the wall when a gun at THAT show discharged and the bullet goes into the wall about two feet from his head. Funny, but then again not so much.

Dummy rounds (not bloody homemades but bright-colored molded plastic which can't be confused with anything but what they are) have their uses in the "arena" of mercantile enthusiasm!

jack

Rule number one of gun show chewing-the-price-down is use cash as a club. But now there's a catch: It used to be that a trip to the bank for $10,000-plus in cash triggered paperwork of the money laundering kind. But now at the $3,000 mark you get reported to Homeland Security as a suspected money source for terrorism.

Could it be any worse after January 20th? We'll see.

But the story is this: My wife Nancy and I headed north to Alaska last June in the Road Trek (10,700 miles overall). I thought it would be a good idea to start with $4,000 cash as most of our driving would be in Canada, diesel was $5.25 per gallon and up to $6.70 north of Fairbanks, &c. I went to my friendly teller at the bank where I have been doing business since 1973, and where everyone knows my voice over the phone (Davis IL, population 550). The teller apologized and said she had to have my driver's license to photocopy for Homeland Security paperwork; I had asked for $4,000, but she said everything $3,000 and up had to be reported.

With this creeping up upon us during the current administration, can the next be any worse?

I spoke to my friend the president of the bank and got his take on the situation: The federal banking authorities passed a new regulation that put the burden on the banks to "report suspicious cash transactions," but didn't outline what was suspicious, leaving it to the banks to separate ("profile") the Islamists with Bin Laden T-shirts from the grandmothers in wheelchairs. Anyone who has not been asleep for the last umpteen years knows that this would surely lead to lawsuits. So the banks stuck it to the feds: They agreed among themselves that anything $3,000 and upwards was prima facia "suspicious," and they started bombarding Homeland Security with an avalanche of specious paperwork. Our government at work!

As an addendum, the recently resigned Governor of New York (Spizer) got caught up in this $3,000 threshold reporting. He had patronized a high $$$ prostitute and wire transferred $4,000 to her pimp. After the feds evaluated the bank's report and determined that the Gov's transaction had no impact on national security, they exceeded their mandate in an effort to have a little fun at Spizer's expense (he was a former prosecutor and not very well liked by many powerful people). So they leaked the report, the media had a feeding frenzy, and Spizer resigned in disgrace. And there's some lessons here:

(1) Don't get more than $____ in cash all at once;

(2) Pay for your _______ in cash.

(3) And for $4,000 Spizer could have had a nice double gun and would still be Governor of New York...in a position to appoint the successor to HRC's senate seat. C'est la vie! EDM

I spent considerable time over the last two days at the combined Crossroads of the West and Small Arms Review(Class III) show in Phoenix and it was an experience. I was in early on an exhibitors tag and I would estimate there were 500 people in line by the time the show opened at 11:00. This was by far the largest crowd I ever saw lined up there and remember this was on a Friday and most people have to work.
I wanted some pistol ammo and bought it before the show opened and I was glad I did as people were lined up 4 deep at the ammo sellers tables all day long.
I saw many assault rifles being purchased and defensive type shotguns seemed to be selling briskly. This is certainly a sign of the times and the consesus was that bleak days are coming due to the changes in Washington. On Saturday it was almost impossible to navigate the aisles and reminded me of the conditions most of us dislike about the Louisville shows. I gave up on trying to even get into a couple of buildings.
William Larkin Moore was the sole dealer there with a decent assortment of double guns but there were a spattering of these available throughout the show. David Moore told me that sales were slow.
Jim

This weekend was the Tri-State Gun Collector show in Lima, Ohio. It was CROWDED! I couldn't hardly see anything for all the people. Though, one gun did find me.