Tulsa Gun Show Report

I made the four hour drive over to the huge Tulsa Gun Show Saturday. Left home at 4:00 am so I could be there when the doors opened at 8:00. A buddy of mine lives in Tulsa and picked up some advance tickets so I didn't have to wait in the 30 to 45 minute line to get in.

For those who have never been, this is a huge gunshow. I went for one purpose: Ammo and reloading components. Obviously, I was not alone.

I've been to this show at least a dozen times, so I know roughly how it's laid out. I knew where the regular ammo suppliers are and reloading stuff usually is and headed straight to it. Ammo suppliers had the stuff on pallets stacked 6 ft tall. Fortunately, I was able to get in and get the ammo I was looking for, only a dozen or so boxes of assorted handgun ammo. By noon, these pallets stacked 6 ft tall were down to the floor! Prices for the stuff I bought was high, but not out of sight. In fact, I found it to be cheaper than what I'd been pricing at Walmart lately . . . when you can get it. I got .32 ACP and .380 ACP JHP's for $16.00 a box. A few boxes of 158 grain JHP's in .357 were $19.00 a box.

There seemed to be plenty of brass and bullets, but powder was scarce and there were NO primers to be had. None. Since I got in early, I stocked up on the powders I use, but by 9:00 AM it was pretty much all gone.

You would not have know we were in a recession by standing near the door. Folks leaving with not only ammo, but guns were moving. AR's were selling like crazy. I grabbed a corndog and a coke and stood by one AR vendor and watched him sell 13 AR's in 15 minutes, had five clerks filling out yellow forms at one time.

I picked up some other odds and ends; a holster I liked, a couple of slings, and the obligatory package of jerky.

I also picked up a decent M1 carbine project gun.

I went to a gunshow here in Houston this weekend and I realize more and more how regional these things are. We got there at 15 minutes before opening and there was a line about 50 yards long of folks waiting to get in..380 ammunition was very scarce and pricey. Ther was lots of 9mm parabellum and 5.56 mm nato and the prices on that were good. Most other popular ammo was on the expensive side or practically unavailable, especially .30 Carbine. People were buying lots of ammo and I mean by the case. When someone walks in with a dolly that give you a clue that they aren't interested in buying just a little bit.

People were buying handguns, especially high capacity semi auto pistols hand over fist. The prices on those were surprisingly competitive. I went with a friend who wanted a CZ85 and within 20 minutes found one at one of the big dealers tables new in the box for $479.00. I only saw one carbine and it was an M1A1. I didn't even ask about the price.

As you said there is no recession in the firearms and ammo market.

Same as the last two gun shows in Tucson. Line two blocks long to get in and when I did get in, I looked back and the line was STILL two blocks long!

Obama beats the hell out of klinton as a gun salesman.;)

I will admit the Tulsa Gunshow is HUGE! I went last November, and since it was only a couple of days after the election, I was shocked at how quickly the prices of all semiautos (rifles and pistols), and ammo (primers, powder, . . .) had gone up.

I went there with plenty of cash/or access to cash. So much yet so little of what I was looking for, and the saying is, "If you can't find it at the Tulsa Gun Show, it doesn't exist!" I mostly got an eyefull of so many firearms that my head was spinning. I only bought 1 $3.00 (16 ounce), bottle of water and was looking for an 1847 Colt Walker (Colt Replica in the Presentation Case unfired). I am sure there was at least one there, but I didn't find it. Mostly the Uberti replicas, which had been fired (but they were not what I was looking for). I spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday there as a Dealer, with much easier access than the regular patrons.

Since I have to travel there from the Left Coast, it is not a gunhow that I can attend regularly. The closest gun show that we have to compare with Tulsa, doesn't. The Reno Gunshow is somewhere between half and 2/3rds as big as the Tulsa Gunshow (still, it is fantastic).

Gyrene OFC

semper fi


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stonewall66 - I have not really looked at or for parts, so I may have passed over them without seeing/noticing them.

I have found a Colt 1847 Walker (Colt built replica), unfired and supposedly never taken out of the Presentation Case. I am waiting for a price from the owner. Actually I have been waiting for a couple of months now (you do have to be patient sometimes).

Gyrene OFC

semper fi

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