Virginia Gun Collectors Gun Show March 26-27

[ssgross]

It's held at the Prince William County Fairgrounds.
http://www.vgca.net/gunshow.html
Is anyone going? I've never been, but in my house there is now a strong desire to get out and do things, whereas pre-pandemic we tended to hang out at home together doing projects and the like.
I'm reading they are rather particular about what items are showed for sale, so there should be a higher proportion of the things we like.
Full Disclosure: I am NOT a member of this organization, and I'm not trying to advertise for them. I'm just a bored yokel who likes old guns.

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[Aragorn243]

It sounds interesting. Let me know what it's like if you go. My wife and I just got home from the Baltimore Antique Arms Show in Timonium MD which is happening this weekend, the 19th and 20th. They do not allow any handguns post 1898 but long guns are allowed up to and including WWII. This is the only gun show my wife enjoys. It's kind of like walking through a museum you can pick up and touch the exhibits. For the most part, prices were crazy high but there were a few dealers there that had good prices. The biggest problem I found was the dealers got all the good deals Friday as they set up and we spectators got what was left which wasn't much. We still enjoyed going and looking.

[ssgross]

It's kind of like walking through a museum

That's what I'm hoping for. We've gone to the big "Nations Gun Show" at Dulles Expo, but well over half the tables are either hawking knock of made in #^%$ tacti-cool gear, or hats & shirts etc.
I have my list of what I look for, but around here you have to be patient. At these shows everything is "a collector's item" with hyped up prices. When you call them out, they are likely to flip you the bird. No point making an honest sale with you when there is a warehouse full of suckers coming up behind you. Sadly, gun shows aren't the place they used to be. Hopefully this one is nice.
We just like seeing stuff mainly.

[ssgross]

Took the kiddo's to the show. The highlight of their trip was our local diner we love had a food truck just outside serving their favorites.
Lots of ammo being sold...prices on that were very reasonable, and mostly "normal". I bought a box of 50 Hornady "Critical Duty" 45acp for my carry weapons...cost me $50. When in stock before the pandemic, I think they were $20 for a box of 25. Guy selling powder at normal prices, if he had it in stock too. Primers were $150/brick at all the tables, slightly above the $600 per 5brick case at targetsportsusa, and well above the $80 per brick I saw at cabelas...but I've only seen primers there twice in the last 2.5 years.

For firearms, the VGCA had an appraisal table, with plenty of gun value books for folks to peruse, and members on hand to give people honest appraisals. In all, everything I was looking at had fair and reasonable prices, with some outliers higher as well as lower than I expected. M1 garlands and M1 carbines are priced through the roof now, and they are being valued as such. Surplus No. 4's, savage and long branches were on average $600-800. Krags $900-$1500, 03's $900-$1500. 1917's 800-1500, including maybe a dozen CMP rifles with certificates for $850-1000. Govt. 1911's are through the roof.

I picked up a very nice 1888 trapdoor for $700....my luck this week continues! I really need to buy a lottery ticket. Cartouche barely visible under a thick layer of varnish put overtop of the original finish. about 30% of original bluing left. A perfect bore too. An old Korea Marine sold it to me at cost - said he bought it years ago hoping to shoot it but never found the time. He was liquidating his extensive collection of the more odd stuff he bought just to buy over the years. He had some rather pristine 03's and garands priced appropriately - so this was good chance deal. We'll have it shooting as it should, and looking perfectly original, with cartouche and original color and patina saved, in due time. I need to find a rear sling swivel for it...that was the only part missing.

I didn't see a single smith corona a3.