Longbranch #4mk1* with receiver dates of 1951, 52, 53 and 54?

[browningautorifle]

Well done that. When it's all sold you've done all right. Looks like I missed a good one. I usually worked a bit over from you towards the roll up door we drive in.

[mr.e moose]

Damn Rob ,Looks like you did all right again this year.Still not as great as the No.4 parts last year but right up there.Remind me to try to make the Calgary show next year so you have at least a little competition.

[stencollector]

No, no, please stay home. As my daughter used to say when she was 3: "I don't get nuthin!!". I don't need the competition.

Some people priced their rifles to sell, and some priced them to simply show and bring home. I did bring a tray of LB parts, and had more than a few people buying those. Had to cut some of the hoarders short though. I was happy to sell people what they needed, but was not selling so they could top up their hoards. It was nice to be able to help a lot of people get the right parts onto their rifles but alas not enough to go around By Saturday afternoon the case was getting pretty bare.

[browningautorifle]

I sent my Krag carbine to sell on a dealer's table there and it went on Saturday morning. That says something about the way things went there, normally that sort of thing doesn't move quickly in Canada...too, it was priced reasonably.

[stencollector]

I am pretty sure there were close to 10,000 people thru the doors between the two days. When you add the vendors, many of whom are addicts themselves, the numbers get even higher. So if a rifle is priced in it's proper price range, then surely someone in that 10,000+ who pass before your table must be interested. The only downside to a show this size is that it is getting so huge that it is starting to get impossible time wise to see everything. With 1000 tables, if you even spent 1 minute at each (including walking time) you need just under 17 hours to see it all.

Personally, I find that much of my product ends up with other dealers. At the same time, I did not get a chance to get around much until the Saturday afternoon, and even then it was very cursory. I may well just set up a display table next year so I can really get around and find some rarities. There were a few buys I missed this year due to being busy.

[browningautorifle]

I bought my Krag carbine from a member of this and Gunnutz forum, I found a thread about it on this site and wouldn't doubt it shows up again for appraisal... I've found many of the dealers there will cover up as soon as they've set up and not uncover or even set up in some cases before the public comes in. That's frustrating. One year I saw a man walking a #1Mk3 around the show that was a short version...the experimental length. I'd built that rifle for a man in Calgary years ago. I chased it down and it was the one I'd made, he'd bought from an estate clearance. I'd have bought it if it was there when I walked around but it didn't come in until just before opening time. That was also when I found out the owner was dead...two years earlier... All his guns had sold by then. You miss lots of stuff...

[stencollector]

Actually I respect the dealers who do close their tables before opening. Kind of nice when there are a few deals left for the paying attendees through the door. I heard from one fellow who got one symbolic table that he did so because he found that when he came in at 9:30 on Friday morning, it seemed like the show had already been cherry picked. I am in the same boat of in the past, having travelled 1100 kms to be there, having my nose pressed to the glass an hour before the show starts and watching all the dealer trading going on. That was the whole reason I started getting tables.

Used to be the Thursday (dealer's day) was the best day for me. This year it was the Friday, closely followed by the Saturday. Don't get me wrong, dealer's day was no slouch for me either. It alone would have made the whole trip worthwhile.

[browningautorifle]

it seemed like the show had already been cherry picked

That's why one gets a table though, most shows are like that. Vey little left. The guys I described had no deals anywayzzz...high prices and no movement. Doubt I'll be doing many until I'm ready to liquidate this mess though.