Gun Show Today

[pocket pistol]

There's a gun show in town today. I'm going. I wonder if they are price gouging or if there are some deals. I could be in the market for an inexpensive pistol that holds 15 to 18 rounds. 9mm or 40 cal. I lean towards 9mm because the ammo is cheaper and I already have some. But I could go 40 cal. What do you guys think? Should I go 40? Does the ammo stay available? I don't even know the ammo price difference. What should I be looking for?

I bet it will be packed. Everybody buying up guns and ammo. Scared Obama's going to take them away.

[7shot]

First, I hope you get there about an hour before opening. I went to a gun show in San Antonio last weekend, had a line a football field long before it even opened. F-that, I went home.

I'd start looking to Texas Gun Trader or some other gun selling site to find what you want. Unfortunately prices are going to be at market value now (to high)! But you might be able to find a reasonable deal.

[pocket pistol]

There was a crazy crowd. The news was there. People were coming out with arm loads. They were maybe 10% higher than last gun show. I tried to haggle with a guy on a Smith and Wesson 9mm. He wouldn't even sell it tax included. They had the ammo that is becoming scarce around here. Lots of 223. I didn't see anything I couldn't get cheaper elsewhere.

But I mainly went to people watch anyway.

I had fun.

[TheTman]

You might check armslist to see if you can find something from someone local that fits your needs. I have both 9mm and .40. I like the extra power the .40 delivers in most intances, (excluding 9mm +P), at the cost of holding fewer rounds in the mag. Ammo is generally more expensive, and may be a little tight with DHS ordering so much .40 caliber ammo.

[Barth]

My thinking is that 9 and 40 will both be available even in bad times.
9 may well be cheaper.
But if online ammo is history? And I believe it will be.
Getting the very best high tech ammo may become an issue.

Today I can get high end 9mm Winchester/Speer/Federal 124/127 +P/+P+.
Tomorrow? Maybe not...

IMHO an advantage larger caliber guns have,
is they are reasonably effective with average ammo.

If I can only get whatever JHPs?
I'd rather have a 40 S&W over a 9mm.
And I'm pretty happy with just about any 230 gr JHP 45 ACP.

[OldLincoln]

I have the makings for all the brass I have but will about zero out at that. What I'm thinking now and should have done all along is to buy a can of powder one month, then 250 bullets the next, then 1K primers ea month for the next 6, then start all over again. I just can't go out and spend $300 all at once without damaging the budget, but I can squeeze $40/month if need be. I buy it all from a LGS who does a large reloading business. If I were paranoid I could even pay cash, but I expect early on they will require recording ID's for reloading supplies.

Just occurred to me that folks may have to reconsider buying reloaded ammo from someone they know as factory ammo gets short. Perhaps not anytime soon, but?

[Yogi 117]

I'm one of the more is better believers, so I would choose 9mm over .40S&W. Not a rap on .40S&W, just that today's well designed JHP's in 9mm will do the trick. I choose 15 of the 124 gr +P Gold Dots or Federal HST's for my Glock.

I must admit though, like Barth, I would take a 230 gr .45acp JHP any day over either. My G30 holds 13 of 'em, powerful stuff. :D

[Bill K]

I've never cottoned to .40 S&W even though I know that ballistically it is a fine SD/HD round. I mostly carry with 9mm (PM9) but also have a .380 and a .45 ACP carry pistol. Got enough 9 and .380 to hold me over but am uncomfortably low on .45 ACP.

[Bawanna]

I too would opt for 9 over 40 8 days a week, if/when I ever get low or run out of real 45 bullets. They all will ruin your day and in a foraging situation 9 will likely turn up more often than 40.

I got my ole Beretta 92 and a bunch of mags if it comes to it, don't have much of any 9 ammo, should have got a bunch a year ago when I should have got my AR (never should have sold mine) and my AK and the rest of the stuff on the list I use for shopping.

[wyntrout]

I just got my 4 mags from Ivanhoe and will make a thread somewhere about how fast the service is. I ordered them at 3:45 PM EST on Wednesday the 9th and got them this morning via USPS Priority. They shipped the mags the 10th and I got them this AM on the 12th. $5 priority shipping. They have the number in stock, but you have to choose each type to see if there are any in stock. The ones I needed were... "High Capacity" Kahr 7-round extended for .45 and .40. :D

I should get my +P .380 ammo from Underwood Tuesday. They are fast, too, and the defense ammo is half the cost of others... closer to 50¢ or so a round instead of $1+ or $2++!!

Wynn:)

[MW surveyor]

There is a gun show going on in Conroe, TX this weekend.
Been working on the darned bathrooms all day today.

I'm pretty well set on guns but I could always use some more primers. Reloading supplies at the gun shows around here are not that good as far as prices on the supplies. However, there is a guy that has a reloading business that usually shows up and has some primers for sale at fair prices.
Almost worth the 35 mile drive one way and the $8.00 to get in. But only if the guy is there with primers. Can't find his damned business card to see if he will be there.

OL - The feds take a pretty dim view of people selling reloads without the proper federal licenses.

[wyntrout]

I got up this morning... not too early, though. No hot water! Went out and checked the 4-year-old water heater... no light. Took the top off the control box on top... big burned area. Called Lowe's and they had a part, so went and got that, I also ordered the part free from Whirlpool, as the Lowe's guy advised... be here Monday... free under warranty. The guy at Lowe's said they had a problem with that control board and just swapped them out as they blew, rather than offering fixes! Anyhow, I installed the free part from Lowe's and will have a spare Monday! I like spares... especially FREE ones! It appears that I may need a spare!

I took pictures and printed out the overhead view and everything went okay. I did turn the power off at the mains.:D

Wynn:)

[wyntrout]

We have a gun show here next weekend. I hope there's something left... that I want... OR NEED! I'll bet that the line is longer than the last show.

Wynn:)