Tag Archives: gun show

Missoula gun show

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Oh, it’s bloody hot.

This weekend is the Missoula Gun Show which is, as I understand it, the oldest and largest gun show int he state. And it happens darn near in my backyard. Or, at least, it used to. This year, for the first time since I’ve been attending it (30 years), they have changed the venue. Why? Mmmm. Not sure. I’ve heard two competing rumours and both probably have some merit. The first is that our illustrious alcoholic, obese, philandering, statist mayor’s (“The Biggest Boozer”) pet project – a “no private gun sales w/o background check” law – would make the gun show impossible and the University, who hosts the show, didn’t want to get caught up in that potentially legal morass. The other rumour I heard was something about the University charging exorbitant fees for air conditioning. The reality? Who knows? Maybe both. Eithe way, it’s going to be at the Hilton Garden Inn up on Reserve St.

I keep saying Im going to try not to spend money at these things and every bloody time I wind up ….spending money.

And, of course, the gun show is an opportunity to catch up and visit with people I almost never see except at these sorts of things…so thats pretty cool.

Speaking of cool, when the end of the world gets here I a going to have a heck of a time putting up with summer heat without an air conditioner.

Guns of Wisdom

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Went alllllllll the way out to the Wisdom gun show today. Wisdom is a really small town. In fact, it is so small….

“How small is it!?”

Its so small the “You are now entering..” and the “You are now leaving…” signs are on the same post. :::Rimshot:::

Ah, but seriously folks……..

I was there for the gun show which is pretty much the biggest function the town has during the year. In the evening they have a street dance, there’s BBQ, and you can pretty much camp in your truck by the side of the road. It’s quite nice. I hadn’t been there in a few years because, honestly, its a bit of a haul. Its in the middle of this enormous valley. An island in a sea of green hay. Seriously.

But, because of its isolation and the bucolic demographic, you get a lot of used and old guns. Me likey used and old guns. And, while I was planning on not spending more than a few bucks on some reloading gear I walked away with this:

A pre-Remington Marlin 1894 in .44 Mag. Has the crossbolt safety, unfortunately, but it also has this:

The “JM” stamp showing this gun was made before Remington bought the company and destroyed it’s reputation with crappy quality. Go look on GunBroker…the JM stamped guns bring markedly higher prices over the REM stamped guns. Price? Well Old Dude wanted $500, I wound up getting it for $400. Honestly, if it didnt have the safety I would have been okay with $500.

I have the .357 version of this gun sitting in the safe. Paid $300 for it ten years ago. I see them on GB for about $500 more than that now. :::sigh:::

Anyway, this’ll go in the safe until I pick up a Ruger .44 of some flavor to match it with.

I Sold a Glock 30 last week that had been sitting in the safe since last September, so I’m going to consider this a zero-sum game. Basically just transmuted the G30 into the 1894.

 

 

 

Still not learning

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Well, nuts….another gun show where I had the best of intentions and still managed to return to the house with something that made absolutely no sense to purchase….

The fine print:

A little something from the Slick Willy legacy… a ‘restricted’ marking, denoting that this particular boomstick was only to be possessed by Only Ones. Someone at the Mohave Sherriff’s Office is missing a Mini-14GB.

Back in the old days of survivalism, if you wanted a .223 semi-auto rifle your choice was limited to either an AR or a Mini-14. (Yes, you could get an HK93 or an AR-180…..maybe a Valmet …or some other equally obscure gun, but broadly your choices were just between the AR and the Mini.) The Mini-14 was about as accurate as your average AK, but also about as reliable as your average AK. And it was a bit cheaper than the Colt (which was virtually the only outfit making AR’s back then).

The GB models were targeted (so to speak) at law enforcement and, amsuingly, military markets. (Yes, some tiny jerkwater nations did issue the Mini as their primary long arm.) When Bill Ruger decided to start throwing people out of the lifeboat, he yanked the GB models and the ‘high capacity’ mags from the public marketplace. Fortunately, Bill Ruger has left the biological stage of existence and the company has largely undone the damage he wrought and has come out with many awesome products since.

Anyway, the GB was not on my shopping list and I genuinely have no use for it…but it’s kind of a novelty with the police markings and the ‘Restricted’ stamps. And the price was right. I have no idea what I’m going to do with it. I suppose in for a penny, in for a pound….I may as well hunt down a GB folder to put on there and go full A-Team with it. Or I may just pick up a half dozen mags, stick it in a soft case, and use it as a tertiary level ‘just in case’ carbine to store somewhere. Or I may sell it to the first person I can make a hundred bucks off of. Who knows. But, it will definitely go out to the range for a spin.

Gun show this weekend

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It’s a gun show weekend. Interestingly, I don’t see john Trochman at any of the gun shows anymore. I wonder if he’s given up the show circuit or what. He was definitely out where the buses don’t run, but he was always pleasant to talk to and usually had very useful stuff for sale.

This trip I’ll be curious to see how the market is doing on ARs, AKs, and especially magazines. Election day is but a scant seven months away, and a determined individual can put a lot of goodies away between now and then.

Personally, I’m not really looking for anything. Oh, there’s plenty I want…just cant really come up with the coin. I expect that between now and November the gun shows will be much more crowded, and that crowd will definitely have an agenda.

With the advent of wireless internet in just about every major event center, it’s blissful to be able to hit Gunbroker and compare prices when you see something on the table and you just arent sure if its a good price or not. Yay for technology.

Missoula Gun Show

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Ah, the great Missoula Gun Show is going on this weekend. This is the largest show in the state and, happily, it takes place in my own backyard.

I’ll be around cruising for deals and doing the ol’ meet-n-greet to the familiar faces. Hopefully I’ll pick up a few deals and fill in some gaps in my supplies.

What I really wanna see is one of the CZ Evo’s….I wanna handle one and see just ow much more I like it over the Uzi.

So…if you have time this weekend, c’mon down to the University and hit the gun show.