Meh… THAT was a waste of time…

Went to the ‘Nations Gun Show’ yesterday, took forever to find parking (ended up two blocks away), got there at noon and there was STILL a line!

Finally got in, looked around for anybody else at the meet up location, didn’t see anybody.  Chatted with an old Marine (Korea/Vietnam vet), walked around for a bit checking prices…

There is one guy, he’s just DETERMINED to get stupid $$ for questionable (to my mind) rifles; 03-A3 ‘claimed’ to be WWI Sniper rig, no star barrel, and wood looks a bit too good.  Started at $3k a couple of years ago, now up to $12k…  Second one is ‘claimed’ to be a complete as it was used M-1D, but doesn’t have papers, that one started at $5k, now up to $15k…

Pass and pass…

Stopped and saw a couple of folks I knew, they were grumbling about LOTS of lookers, no buyers. Which echos what I’ve heard from folks that were at Tulsa. And they agreed the prices are just stupid high…  Ammo was selling (saw one guy with a hand truck leaving as we were in line).  Interestingly, lots of women either by themselves or in pairs/threesomes being VERY careful and detailed with some of the dealers.  And one just flat put one ‘good ol’ boy’ in his place 🙂 

Anyhoo, back to the Marine…

We discussed the current situation (It sucks) and I asked him where he served, he said Korea then called back to AD from the reserves for Vietnam.  He said he was an Amtrac driver at Inchon with 1st BN, and made the initial landings on Green Beach carrying troops from the 3rd of the 5th.  He said it was a ‘bit’ exciting…

He did relate a funny story, apparently one of the Amtracs got stranded on a sand bar, and in the middle of the battle, the Col came over and told he and some Army types to go ‘get’ the Amtrac. He said they went around and collected timbers, then went back out and dumped the timbers under the front of the Amtrac until it was able to climb up on them and get off the sandbar. He said he and his brother (who was USAF) kept missing each other by a day for almost 2 years… They were both in theater, but NEVER got to see each other until 1953.  He said he found out later that his brother was leaving ‘care’ packages for him (booze), but he never got a single one, and his brother wanted $80 to be paid back for all the booze he never got…  He casually mentioned three purple hearts, and was apparently in the fighting all the way to the 38th parallel.  He also said MacArthur ‘disliked’ the Marines to the point that he refused to present ANY Marines for medals during the entire time until he was relieved by Pres. Truman. 

We chatted about the Veteran’s Oral History project, and he’d never heard of it, so I wrote the website down for him, and he said he’s going to do it, and has a couple of buddies that he’ll talk to also…

For those that know veterans, here’s the link  http://www.loc.gov/vets/   

Comments

Meh… THAT was a waste of time… — 9 Comments

  1. Don’t play in the same league as you but have walked away from the last two gun shows empty handed. Wanted to buy a simple .22 rifle. Don’t like tube feeds so looked at clip fed or even a single shot. Just something to keep around for vermin.

    Prices way too high for the condition. When I made an offer the seller acted insulted. Oh well, my cheap Chinese tool sale special air rifle makes the squirrels jump and is half way accurate at 25′.

  2. I haven’t made a gun show purchase in almost two years, well, other than a book or two and a few small items. The fella with the two rifles you mentioned is nuts. Without very good provenance, and even then, his prices are nothing more than grand-thief.

  3. Stephen- True, but he keeps trying (and the prices keep going up)…

    Rev- It was, that made my whole day! 🙂

  4. I sold two old safe queens for $100.
    That got me a new quality 40 inch cleaning rod, 1,000+ rds. of .22lr, and a British Army surplus leather jerkin. Out of pocket expense $25.

    Even allowing for shipping and handling I can get magazines and most accessories cheaper online. Gun shows have become a place to meet, greet, and learn from your elders.

  5. Here’s another good site for Korea Vets…
    http://www.koreanwar-educator.org/home.htm
    Haven’t bothered with gun shows for nigh on a year…but walked out of one a year or so ago with a $375 4″ XD in .45. Bout as good as it’s likely to be until … later, if ever…

  6. I really loved TWO parts of this story… 1) The ladies, full of knowledge, asking questions and especially the one who took the gun dealer to task!

    2) Most of all – the story about the Marine, when I am lucky enough to end up in one of these conversations, I always want the world to freeze and let me hear all their stories. I will never get over how humble they are, or how casually they discuss epic historical events. I agree with Rev. Paul – that would have made my day!