fitchburg gun show

I am thinking this show is done and wont be around next year. I think the accessory vendors outnumbered the firearms vendors this time. Definitely a drop in vendors from last show and that wasnt even that big of a show. Last Fitchburg an ammo vendor had 7.62 sat $4 a box and this time another vendor had it at 5.60+ average. I actually saw more milsurp stuff than usual but I am not sure if it was because it was thinner crowd wise and I was able to actually look this time.
 
I went to the show at the Big E (2 hours away from me) and the Fitchburg show today (1 hour from me). There was a lot of overlap in vendors between the Big E and the Fitchburg show but I did see some differences that gave me more to look through. As always, everyone was very friendly and happy to answer questions. The show at the Big E was not good enough to be worth the 2 hour drive. The Fitchburg show, although smaller, was the perfect balance of distance and "gun stuff" - plus parking is free vs. the Big E.

I went to Fitchburg looking for a Mossberg 500, Saiga 12, PTR91, Baretta Cx4 storm, Ruger 10/22, Saiga 7.62x39, and a Browning A5. I found all of these at the Fitchburg show but they were priced $175, on average, higher than you'd find at Collector's Guns in Stoneham or Four Seasons in Woburn. The Ruger was only $100 more. There were some classics that seemed to be "at or less" than what I've seen at CG and FSF, but the condition on these was not great. As far as accesories etc, you can get this and more at your local Army Navy store for the same or less. In terms of ammo, the selection was limited and the priced were no better than what we get at CG or FSF. I've only been to 5 shows in the past 3 years, but I worry about the future of Gun and Knife shows if there is nothing "special" about them. Prices are higher and selection is not that much better than CG or FSF...the idea of the "event" is what brings me there and the chance to talk to industry folks...but also to see stuff I can't get any day of the week. There are a few items like this at the shows that are fun to see and pick up, but they've got to add more to keep folks like me coming back.
 
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I am thinking this show is done and wont be around next year. I think the accessory vendors outnumbered the firearms vendors this time. Definitely a drop in vendors from last show and that wasnt even that big of a show. Last Fitchburg an ammo vendor had 7.62 sat $4 a box and this time another vendor had it at 5.60+ average. I actually saw more milsurp stuff than usual but I am not sure if it was because it was thinner crowd wise and I was able to actually look this time.

The jerky girl looked like the only vender actually making $ besides the ear plug guy. Accessories and parts are why I go to a show as guns are normally overpriced. I was looking for a 10/22 receiver for a build and I can go to Dicks and buy a new gun for 50-75 less then the cheapest 10/22 I saw today. Maybe there were deals Sat morning but I should have gone to the range instead of the show today. Last good show I want to if anybody remembers it was Newport but thats long gone.
 
Were they ever good to begin with? Last remotely "good" show I went to was one at Rockingham park many years ago, before they stopped doing gun shows there.

I wonder why they stopped having that show and the Seabrook one too.?

The Rockingham show was always good for T/C Contender barrels and accessories. Don't see much of that stuff at the shows anymore. [sad2]
 
A number of vendors bailed out of Rockingham and bitched to Carole about the total lack of security for their goods after hours. Turns out that anyone can walk down the escalators from the track above and help themselves, then walk back up the escalator to the track area.

I don't know for sure, but am betting on this after hearing the complaints from some vendors and seeing an incident where a "persona non grata" was on the floor of the show and from what I was told he came down one of those escalators from above to snoop around and cause trouble.
 
Fitchburg was my first show and I agree DRB - I found most of the stuff higher priced than what I've found at gun shops or online.

What I liked was the selection. It was a lot easier to find and check out guns I've been looking for and decide if I want to pursue it (at a better price).

All said, I ended up buying a lot anyway. I found a decent shaped S&W Model 67 and bought that. It wasn't a great deal, but it wasn't bad either. I haven't seen many 67's in stock at shops, so I took advantage of the opportunity.

The ammo was pretty reasonable, too. I haven't seen .38spl cheaper than what it was at the show. I'm still on the lookout for the best places to buy ammo

LIke you, I think I would have ended up going to Four Seasons if I didn't see anything I liked at the show.
 
I was totally disappointed at the show. I did pick up a couple hundred rounds of .223 but only because I want to try 62gr bullets. Didn't find any reloading supplies in the calibers that I reload. Its like nobody reloads for .223. Nobody could bother to find a couple bags of 55 gr bullets to sell? Nobody uses powder? There is a huge opportunity there for someone to make a few bucks. I brought a great deal of laughter to the National Guard recruiters when I offered to enlist on the spot. I bought a little jerky for the long drive to Winnepesaukee. I got much better deals at Riley's on the way home today. I wished I had my $9 entry from Fitchburg back to put to good use in a real gunshop.

I may go to Lunenburg next week as it's a cheap show to get in to but chances are pretty good I'm done going to gun shows in New England. The prices the dealers think their stuff is worth is so bad its not worth it. I'm not going to pay $9 for the right to overpay for the stuff they can't sell in their stores.

Why does every dealer at the gun shows want to make rent on one or 2 sales?
 
We hadn't been to a gun show in probably ten years. We pretty much stopped going, after a while you just saw the same stuff over and over again. But the price of admission was usually worth it.

But I have to say, if we weren't going just to get new "ears", we would have been very disappointed. I would have rather handed the entrance fee to my local gun shop.

We were really hard pressed to find anything that was at or below gun shop prices (I'm not talking on line prices, I don't consider that a fair comparison).

I want these gun shows to make it - I'm just not sure what they're doing. I'm a consumer with $$ to spend, and it's hard!

But, yah...the jerky and sausage were really good [grin]
 
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