New Austin Gun Show

[HankB]

Austin has a monthly gun show (The SAXET show) the 3rd weekend of every month, held on North Lamar. BUT . . . recently, a new show has turned up, this month over the 4th of July weekend. It's held behind the McDonald's at I-35 and William Cannon. So . . . having nothing better to do this morning, I decided to visit it.

I arrived early - around 9:30 - and right off the bat I noticed it wasn't drawing nearly the crowd of the SAXET show. So I went in (admission was $7) and saw why - I'd estimate that it was no more than one quarter the size of the SAXET show, if that; held in what I think is an old Target store building, it only took up a small fraction of the space.

So what did I see . . .

* Just inside the entrance, a guy had all sorts of old German memorabilia - subguns, Lugers, a couple of Broomhandles, etc. The only price I saw was $1900 on a Luger. Now, I'd really like to add a Luger to my collection, but not knowing what variations add collector value, I decided to pass. (Actually, I noticed a lot of guys wern't posting prices on guns, ammo, or accessories.)

* Plenty of ammo, but prices were still high . . . 200 packs of Remington .223 FMJ were $100 (same as at Academy) and WW .45 230 SXT was going for about a buck a round.
Also saw ammo that appeared to be reloads in factory boxes . . . one guy was selling ".38 Special +P" in one of the old, OLD green Remington UMC boxes from at least a generation back. Hmmm . . .

* Lots of decent GI ammo cans, if you needed any.

* Several of the Colt/Umarex .22 rimfire AR15s for around $600.

* A "new" Trijicon red dot sight, the "new" one the Army "just" made standard, purchased from a GI (wink, wink.) Yes, it had a red dot, but overall light transmission was horrible - like looking through sunglasses.

* Fake Eotech sights - "better" than the originals since you could switch between red and green illumination.

* Lots of no-name stuff from China - flashlights, riflescopes, etc.

* Ruger's new AR-clone for $1800 . . . it's a piston rifle with a rail . . . seemed very muzzle-heavy to me.

* Quite a few AR/AK rifles - prices were a bit high, but not insane. I think a few guys stocked up, and are trying to unload them for at least a little profit now as availability in normal retail channels is improving.

* A couple of M1 Garands for $1200 which didn't seem as nice as the service-grade CMP rifles I got for less than half that. (One was a Winchester that looked refinished . . . )

* Overheard one seller trying to sell a uniformed Austin cop one of those muzzle-loading mini-revolvers that " . . . you can take anywhere, because it's not restricted, even a felon can carry it because it's a muzzle loader, and it will still do damage . . . " (Fill in your own comment on this one.)

* Lots of other junk for sale - candy, jerky, nuts, ShamWow, motor oil, jewelry, etc. I'd say this unrelated stuff accounted for around 20% of all the tables.

Bottom line: Maybe this show will improve in time, maybe a lot of vendors decided to stay home this weekend, but right now unless you NEED ammo or an ammo can and are willing to pay a premium price - uh uh.

[RiverRat]

Thanks for the review, Hank. I was curious, but not that curious......to drive way down to double-bubbaville and pay to check it out. Cotton

[.45mac.40]

HankB....
Thanks for hammering that out ... Good Read !
Does sound as though Saxet still has the draw and excitement of a Gun Show.
Went there last month, Man; I wish they could spend some of their money on Air Conditioning !!!! (( Heck, charge me an extra buck for A/C service AND I will return. BUT, ' till then, I'm not going back into that building until this Winter !!! ))
Thanks for being here !!
Mac .40 >>>>> :;:

[mactex]

Sounds much like the other gun shows here in San Antonio. They are interesting but not worth the price for me. I've attended 3 or 4 of them and never purchased a thing. At the SAXET shows I usually find something that I need for a reasonable price.

[Jonathanaf]

When is the next GOOD gun show here in Texas?

[pbwalker]

* A couple of M1 Garands for $1200 which didn't seem as nice as the service-grade CMP rifles I got for less than half that. (One was a Winchester that looked refinished . . . )

Not to hijack the thread, but can anyone tell me about this CMP? I assume it means the Civilian Marksmanship Program? They mention that you have to be a member of a CMP Affiliated Organization. Does the NRA count?

Thanks!

[apostate]

Not to hijack the thread, but can anyone tell me about this CMP? I assume it means the Civilian Marksmanship Program? They mention that you have to be a member of a CMP Affiliated Organization. Does the NRA count?

No, but the TSRA does.

I got an M1 Garand from them back in the 90s and an M1 carbine earlier this year. The process has changed in the past decade but it's still a great way to provide a loving home to a slice of American history.