Guys, red pill me on gunshows. Are they actually a decent way

>>34022615
Gun shows suck.

Only go there for the novelty or if you are looking for a specific hard to find gun or thingie and you don't mind getting totally hosed on the price.

Otherwise even pawn shops are better

>>34022615
They're very hit and miss.
My local CASC show in Alabama is the tits if you like surplus.
The one in Kentucky I went to wasn't even worth the entry fee.

If you like surplus, then there's a good chance that gun shows are the thing for you.
They kinda suck unless you want used shit though.

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>>34022615
let's see if I can get the whole thread in one go

>Jerky
>Taser booth
>KZZZZZZHHHHHHH
>That one guys displaying Nazi stuff who may or may not be selling any of it
>Markup
>Fake milsurp
>KZZZZZZHHHHHHH
>Real milsurp
>The guy who won't let you dry fire anything because it's bad for the firing pin
>KZZZZZZHHHHHHH
>The guy who won't let you use the decocker because it's bad for the firing pin
>Shot out durr rifles being sold right after the season's end
>$400 nagants because they're war memorablia
>$900 nagants because there's a shitty scope mounted on it
>$1500 nagants that you can't actually recognize because they've been sporterized so bad
>KZZZZZZHHHHHHH
>Sketchy looking guys buying cap and ball
>Sketchier looking guys trying to get the cap and ball buyers to go out to the parking lot with them
>KZZZZZZHHHHHHH
>Somebody's home-built kydex
>More jerky

How'd I do?

>>34022707
You described all the shitty gun shows.
Now allow me to describe the good ones
>nazi shit that's actually for sale, mostly just odd history shit
>that one booth with a fuckton of mausers and a Männlicher that they have no fucking clue how to use so they sell it for $90
>that one booth with literal assloads of hard to find ammo and fairly reasonable prices
>the badass kid selling ammo out of an old Spam can Box he rigged into a cigar girl style sales case (usually has excellent surplus and oftentimes throws in a clip to store the ammo on for free)
>Finnish mosins
>old snubnoses, again, marked down because nobody knows what they are
>a $500 Hakim
>nope, make that TWO $500 Hakims.
>bins of gun parts marked with prices
>funny T-Shirt salesmen
>hibachi AR build booth (fucking genius btw)
>that one booth that has fucking everything for Garands and M14s (recievers, bolts, barrels, stocks, all the small parts)
>the local veterans museum that lets you fingerfuck MG-42s and Johnson M1941s
>that one fucker who tries to hand out pamphlets on why Obama is the antichrist but gets laughed at so he shuts up.
>BBQ sauce
And it just gets better from there.

The last gun show I went to had reasonable priced stuff. It was after Trump got elected of course.

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>>34022764
Damn. Where do you live, that I may one day pilgrimage to this land of milk and honey?

they're good for handling weapons you are considering to get

might find that that AK is fuckheavy and that revolver just does not feel right in the hand

>>34022707
You forgot thriftshit

Gun shows are just flea markets for /k/-related stuff. The normal rules of flea markets apply. You'll see a lot of junk, a lot of overpriced stuff, and a lot of overpriced junk. You'll see weirdos and trailer trash and a lot of cringeworthy* miscellaneous merch with American flags and/or Jesus on it (special clearance on "Dump Obummer" bumper stickers). You may go to a half-dozen of them in a row and never find a thing worth buying. But if you're patient and careful, you can also find some amazing deals if you know what you're looking for. Go in with low expectations, be willing to walk away, and have cash on hand for when you strike gold. If you do that, you'll be in good shape.

*Note: I'm a Christian and I didn't like Obama one bit. But cringeworthy is cringeworthy, even if I agree with it on principle.

>go to gunshow today in Birmingham, AL
>show is shit, only 200 tables and most are tacticool overpriced AR attachments, bubba'd SKSs, and overpriced milsurp which sadly is expected from the casual gun enthusiasts of this state
>thriftshit was everywhere, organizers probably didn't give a fuck and just wanted cash or to fill empty tables
>despite all of this, manage to get a deal on a crate with four surplus .50 ammo cans in it for only $35
>actually saw some autist in a fedora talking to a guy who was selling Katanas
He wasn't wearing a trenchcoat, just a plaid shirt with rolled up sleeves and cargo shorts with the fedora. I was tempted to take a pic but I was afraid somebody would catch me.

>>34022764
Could you at least name some good/bad groups that host events?
At the vest lest, could you name some host to avoid at all cost?

The reason to go to gun shows is not because of new guns (these will always be cheaper online), but because of used guns. Buying used guns online is inherently more risky just because you are unable to personally inspect the gun before you commit to buying it. This is why gun shows are good, even if you are paying slightly more than the lowest prices you will find online.

Some general gun show tips:

1.) Exhaustively research the going price of whatever interests you both nationally and on a local/state level.

2.) Don't buy anything new if your goal is to get the lowest price possible. It will never be cheaper than just buying online. There is a reason to do it if you place value in the ability to thoroughly inspect a product before buying it.

3.) Show or feign moderate interest before trying to negotiate. Any vendor who has in the business for more than a day knows the difference between a window shopper who's looking for guns to flip and a serious buyer.

4.) Pay in cash. This is a massive plus in the eyes of sellers, and they will be more likely to play nice with you on price if they know that your offers are in cash.

5.) Don't ever pay more than sticker price. By this I mean don't allow yourself to have taxes/fees saddled onto the sale price for the item. It's a common tactic for sellers to allow themselves to seemingly be negotiated down only to recoup the lost amount via ostensible sales/taxes.

6.) Don't bother with tables that are being run by obvious fudds/unprofessional-looking people that fit the image of "stereotypical gun owner as portrayed by the libs." You will never get a good deal from those sorts.

7.) ALWAYS be willing to walk away for any reason, no matter how much you like a particular item.

I follow these rules and only look at used guns at gun shows, and I've met with marked success in terms of finding things I like at prices that are good.

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>>34022887
Yeah, that's a typical experience. Don't go in wanting anything in particular; just go in with a general idea of what things you might have any remote interest in might cost, and be able to recognize when you see it cheap. Yes, you might just find someone selling an un-sporterized Krag with Teddy Roosevelt's initials carved into it for $150. But just as likely, if you find anything at all, it might be a couple of ammo cans, or a nice leather sling, or some MREs, or that t-shirt you always wanted with an airbrushed portrait of Jesus wrapped in an American flag while holding Barack Obama in a headlock.

Pic tangentially related: When I finally got the chance to meet alt-right figure Pax Dickinson in person, I went over to his house and found that he had an 8x8 foot print of this painting hanging on his living room wall. No, I'm not kidding.

>>34022615
>Are they actually a decent way to get guns
Fuck no. Expect to get ripped off. Order online.

Shows are good for finger fucking new guns before buying online and rare surplus.

>>34022958
I will admit, I am a newfag in this regard.
I am hesitant to buy shit online because of two reasons

1) I am worried I might be buying some obvious scam tier shit unwittingly

2) I just naturally tend to be paranoid about buying stuff online because I know how easy it is to fake positive reviews

Since guns aren't cheap, I never felt like trying to learn it manually.

TL;DR, since this is a red pill thread, red pill me on buying guns online

Let me emphasize a point here: You can still have a successful trip to a gun show even if you never buy a single actual gun there. There will be tables full of ammo, reloading supplies, ammo cans, magazines, slings, scopes, knives, multitools, backpacks, pouches, MREs, canned and freeze-dried food, milsurp jackets and other clothes, memorabilia, flags, patches, postcards, books, manuals, jerky, additional jerky, and even more jerky there. Finding a good deal on any of these can still make your trip worthwhile. Don't go with an attitude that all you're going to look at are guns; be looking for deals on anything they may be selling at the show.

>>34022764
>That one guy....
Get lost faggot, EVERY show has literal BOOTHS of that shit. And you forgot mags, reloading supplies, cheap med kits/survival kits.