The Market Hall Gun Show

I've been meaning to get around to this for some time now. Executive summary of this post: the Market Hall Gun Show sucks.

The Story
Catfish and I went to the Market Hall gun show this last Saturday morning. His goal was to purchase some 7.62x39 ammo, and I was on a quest to trade in my Glock 17 for a more concealable Glock 26 or even 27. I boxed up my freshly-scrubbed 17 in a nice new Glock box, with 6 or 7 mags, some hi-cap, some 10-rounders. My Glock is no crappy gun. It's got Heinie race-cut sights, a very nice skateboard tape job, extended mag release, T.R. Graham's custom lock-up, some springs, and a decent trigger job. Sure, it's had a few rounds run through it (50-60,000?), but it's in perfect condition. I made up a little 8.5x11 sign (with big, easy-to-read letters) advertising what I had, and what I wanted.

We met at the range, then went over to Market Hall. Traffic was heavy, and the parking lot was mostly full. There were more pickup trucks there than you could shake a redneck at.

There was a line to get in, where we got randomly chatted up by an older guy who must've surmised that since we had guns, we must like to talk about football. Nice guy, though. It cost SEVEN dollars to get in, but only after my gun was checked and strapped, of course. We took off to the north side of the hall, because that's where the bathrooms were.

The first thing I noticed was that I wasn't immediately set upon by the dealers who have tables at the entrance. They usually swarm you and want to know what you've got. Then they offer you a stupidly low price for it, and act all hurt when you tell them to get bent. However, on this side of the hall - nothin'.

The second thing I noticed was the proliferation of...what's the word I'm looking for?...ah, yes: crap. Piles of clothing, candles, knife sharpeners, antique militaria, etc. It looked like a frickin' flea market. We almost asked how much the mannequin in the wheelchair was, until we realized it was someone's granny wearing a Russian Army hat, having a little snooze.

The third thing I noticed were the prices. Not a bargain to be had at the whole show. Gunpowder was more expensive than what I can buy at Sportsman's Warehouse. Ammo was scarce, and expensive. Even bulk bullets weren't priced competitively. There were no outstanding bargains on handguns, but AR-15 prices seemed reasonable. Catfish couldn't find 7.62x39 ammo in any appreciable quantities, but found enough to get through the weekend.

Driving a hard bargain
On the south side of the hall, the wheelers and dealers pounced. "Whatcha got?" "How much you want?" All this in spite of the sign, written in English that stated, "TRADE." Exasperated, I offered that I'd take $400 for it. I got no better offer than $375.

Finally, I found a used gun dealer, who had a plethora of over-priced firearms, but amongst all that lay my goal: a used Glock 26. His asking price: $460.00. However, I figured he couldn't pass up a straight up trade for a full-sized Glock 17, in similar condition, PLUS all those mags. He was busy with a customer, and asked us to wait.

After about 15 minutes, he finally got to us. "Hi, wonder if you'd be interested in trading that 26 for a 17?" "How much you got in that Glock?" "Huh? I dunno - let's just trade!" "How much are you asking for your 17?" "About 400 bucks, I guess."

I had to point out which handgun was the 26 to him. Uh-oh. He looked at his price tag ($460.00), looked at my 17, and said, "nah - I'll pass." "You mean to tell me you're going to pass on an even trade for a more valuable firearm?" "Yep."

As Catfish will testify, I made a comment questioning his heritage (or was it his sex life? Whatever.), and stormed off, muttering to myself like a crazy person ("stupid *$&@!#, make me wait for 15 minutes, pass up a trade that was to HIS advantage, mutter, mutter, mutter..."), and resigned myself right then and there that the gun show was no place to buy, sell, or trade guns.

What's this world coming to?

Anybody got a Glock 26 they wanna trade for a Glock 17? Seriously.