Gun show

Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Well, the Hamilton gun show came and went…

I saw aluminum G3 mags for $2 but they were pretty tired looking. Two bucks is a good deal though..I paid about that for the 250 I have socked away.

Saw a Colt 1991 .45 ACP with bluing issues for $400. That almost tempted me into doing something stupid but I managed to resist. Really, the finish wasnt that bad and when else can you get a big-name 1911 for $400? But…if I had $400 Id get another G17 for the stable. Only other handgun I saw that made me think twice was a stainless 5.5″ Ruger MKII heavy barrel. Just like the blued one I picked up the other day.

Primers were there if you were willing to pay, as I predicted, $40 per brick. AR mags could be had for $10 for GI or $20 for new. Saw almost no AR’s for less than $1200 with one notable exception. A nearby gun store was selling NIB Oly AR’s with A1-style sights and carry handle for $710. Apparently Oly, sensing a chance to get market share, is putting out a ‘no-frills’ AR for the man with a thin wallet. One drawback…its Oly.

Picked up some 60 gr. A-Max to load up for my HBAR so I can sight in my IOR M2 scope. Im looking forward to trying this optic out.

Trochmann wasnt at the show so there was no interesting ’survival gear’. Too bad, because every so often he comes up with some cool stuff. I have a huge bin fulla parachute flares and smoke devices Ive picked up from him over the last couple years…prolly from a cruise line that was rotating out their SOLAS stuff in the lifeboats.

No FALs, no PTRs, no high-end AK’s. Good selection of magazines at decent prices but ammo was still thin and overpriced. Did see one item I hadnt seen before – an AR-180B with a side folder stock. I was under the impression all the 180B’s, unlike the original 180’s, came with a fixed stock only. This thing had an FAL-para-style sidefolder. Interesting. I rather like the 180B…you get gas-piston reliability and AR mag compatability in something a little more robust than the Keltec.

Only purchase I made at the show was a couple boxes of 12 ga. rubber slugs. Nothing else jumped out at me, although, as I said, that 1991 made a strong case for doing something reckless.