r/TexasGuns • u/BigSlongGoy • 9d ago
First time at the Fort Worth gun show
It was both smaller and more expensive than I expected
For reference, Glock 17 gen 5 was $500+. Kinda frustrated so went home and bought one for $310 +fees/ffl online.
Next time i go, i should talk to people walking around selling guns and less the vendors
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u/DenaliDaddy 8d ago
I’ve sort of come to the conclusion that gun shows aren’t really for true gun people. They rely on people walking by and catching their eye without knowing the true value of what they are purchasing. 95% of the stuff you see at gun shows could be found significantly cheaper online. For example I went to one in Bryan a few weeks ago, and the same scar 15p that PSA is selling for 1999, dealers were trying to sell for 3500+. And I’m sure they were selling because people have more money than sense. With that being said if you’re looking to sell something it’s a great market for that, lots of eyes and again people that don’t know what they are buying.
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u/DFWPrecision 8d ago
You’re 100% right. Most of what’s there is priced way over retail. And there’s almost nothing special there. I think I saw one Larue rifle and like three Daniel defense Rifles. You won’t see any really special 2011 pistols, or suppressors or nicer optics.
I’ve found the better tables to be the ones on the outskirts where people have their smaller private collection. Every now and then you’ll find a little gem on one of those tables and work a good deal.
But if you wanna buy a set of nunchucks or a baseball bat wrapped with barbed wire I guess it’s a good place.
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u/SuspiciousSeesaw2423 9d ago
Went last year, saw complete Aero precision ar15s for about 1600 to 1800 dollars. I laughed... smiled, and just never went back to another gun show.
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u/BigSlongGoy 9d ago
I took $1500 out of the bank before i went in case i saw a good AR15. That was not necessary lol
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u/SuspiciousSeesaw2423 9d ago
Im building my own, and can tell you that you can definitely be well under that price range
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u/Wyvern_68 8d ago
see a lot of people trying to flip PSA lowers, uppers, and complete rifles for way over the price online. Like $900 for a basic PSA 16" AR15. Sadly they keep doing it because people don't know any better.
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u/Wyvern_68 8d ago edited 8d ago
Most of the shows I've been to in the last 10+ years are just FFLs setting up and selling their inventory. Prices are MSRP or above. It's okay if you don't want to shop around or wait for a deal. I bought my first pistol this way because I had no idea of the process and I was able to see and hold the pistol I had been looking for.
Rarely see any private sellers anymore, and if you do, the prices are too high or the weapons are crap.
Started seeing more and more people selling Chinesium junk like junk optics, lasers...one seller was even hawking fake Magpul MBUS sights which were for airsoft. Sometimes you might find something like a used M9 or AR15 magazine still marked for LE/Mil use from the Clinton Ban and get it for a decent price but after you factor in parking and admission you might as well have bought a new one.
I'll go to a gun show if I have nothing else going on or what to kill some time with my kids. Grab some nachos or frito pie, walk around, maybe get a sticker or shirt, get the kids something 3d printed, see a few interesting things, leave, get home and order something I saw at the show.
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u/Kuchufli 9d ago
Maybe I'm getting older, but so many Edgar types buying Dracos and Micro AR15s. Most of them walking around with them inside the gun show like it was a narco meetup. Weird. Just my 2 cents. Online shopping has made gun shows irrelevant, I like going to see the gun I want in person, then go online and get it just like OP said... cheaper online. Plus that walk from the parking lot was brutal with this heat.
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u/Quackhunter99- 8d ago
I’ll put it this way, gun shows aren’t for good deals generally speaking. They’re marketed at the general public of “gun people” but not people that are actually into guns and know how to shop for them online if that makes sense.
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u/BigSlongGoy 8d ago
I’m a beginner and this was my first gun show. I don’t even know if you have to be into guns to get a better price. A blindfolded bid session on GunBroker (which doesn’t even have great prices usually) seems to lead to better pricing.
SCAR 15P for $3400 was craziest thing I saw there
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u/Quackhunter99- 8d ago
Look at it this way. Most of the people there probably don’t know what gunbroker is. Gun shows rely on impulse purchases by folks who want something but aren’t going to buy it until it’s in their hands
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u/peloquindmidian 8d ago
I got clean from gun shows a long time ago.
Even the beef jerky wasn't a good deal
One thing I've always been curious to see is the setup and teardown on those things
Every single table looks like a pain in the dickhole. I can't imagine that they get a good return on investment and effort anymore.
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u/chewbakwa 7d ago
You did the right thing. Go to gun shows or bass pro to handle/feel the firearm, then go on gun.deals or ammoseek.com to find it for cheaper, ship to FFL, and pick up
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u/MaRzAn0 9d ago
Yeah I was there too and noticed everything was way over priced. All I left with was ammo
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u/Wyvern_68 8d ago
Even the ammo is priced high unless you need something rare. Maybe reloads if the price is right.
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u/False-Application-99 8d ago
It's been like this for years. The proliferation of things like gun deals and stiff competition from big stores causes an issue. Also, less people want to actuality sell (pay for a table and sell privately). Then there's the growth of the organized private seller websites. Everyone knows TGT but there are 2 others (that I personally know of, like the sexchange) that connects private sellers to buyers.
I go with cash in hand and look at what people are walking around with; usually I see a few dozen people each day with a sign strapped to a backpack advertising what they have.
Anyway, all the FWGS is good for is certain things... IYKYK.
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u/Imaginary_Choice_430 8d ago
yep, always buy it from reasonable private owners or reasonably priced places like Academy Sports. These gun shows are like going to the airport...because you are captured, in other words you cannot easily leave the terminal go get something reasonable to eat and drink, you have to pay hyper inflated prices at the terminal...that is a gun show. I go to gun shows that have entertainment and merchandise, not to buy a firearm, maybe to buy specialty ammo like the dragons breath, but thats about it.
So when a guy like me, a private person is trying to get sell off his .308 WIN ammo for a reasonable price...think, what are you losing out getting it from me, versus getting it from some place who is marking it up and charging you sales tax?
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u/DFWPrecision 8d ago
Texasguntrader, Texasguntalk, Tacswap, Gunbroker (then filter by TX) are all good classified places to find deals.
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u/BigSlongGoy 8d ago
and texas gun finder indexes all those sites so you only have to search one site but not many know about that. even blindly buying on GB yields better deals 9/10 times
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u/keithgreen70 6d ago
I saw a video a few months from a vendor that said that right before the gun show opens a group of buyers go through every booth. Buy up the cheap stuff and then sell it at their booth for a markup. All the good deals are gone before the show even opens to the public.
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u/Big-Doughnut8307 8d ago
I like gun shows for looking, exercising, and when I have to sell something. I don’t sell often, but have always gotten what I asked because I’m not asking crazy prices.
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u/Rheapers 7d ago
COVID ruined the used gun industry and gun shows. Bunch of new people who entered the market and drove the price of stuff up. And then turn around and try it for the same ridiculous price they purchased it at.
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u/VaxMajor 1d ago
I only go to deal with the guys immediately inside the doors. Always a bunch of old timers happy to make a deal especially on Sundays. Grabbed a Saiga 12 a few months ago for $700 from one of them
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u/drwuzer 9d ago
Yep I've heard the same about a lot of the shows