So…I went to a gun show
Sunday my buddy Hort Guy and I went to the Greensboro Gun Show. I went for three reasons:
- I wanted some .300 Blackout subsonic ammo and my favorite local vendor was going to be there with their new ammo loaded on Hornady brass.
- I decided to try selling a pistol I no longer wanted to keep.
- I wanted to see what the prices were like, especially for the guns I want to part with.
Number 2 turned out to be easy enough–I sold it before I got into the show. I may have had it priced a little low, but I based it on what the same gun wasn’t drawing bids for on GunBroker. At any rate, we were both happy, so I’m calling it a good deal.
Number 1 wasn’t much harder, except carrying it around after the purchase. However, they were down to the last few boxes and I didn’t want to miss out.
Number 3. There is a tale. I wasn’t looking for ARs, but I can’t help but look at them, and the prices were actually up just a bit from the last time I looked. Still, you can buy a nice AR, or even a really nice AR, for a song compared to when the Gun Salesman of the Decade was in office. I didn’t see any “cheap” ARs, but there were plenty of receivers and parts to build up one if you would like.
The guns I want to sell, on the other hand, were a more difficult. For example, I could find only one post-64 Winchester Model 70 in any caliber. While it turned out to be the same caliber as mine, it was a beautiful Super Grade, which doesn’t help me out much when trying to price my more pedestrian firearm. I suppose I’m going to have to do it the same way as I did the pistol I sold. I might miss out on a few bucks, but at least there will be room created in the safe.
The big surprise was what I found at the show that I wasn’t expecting:
Judging from the number videos I can find, I may be the last person to find out about this, but that doesn’t detract from the cool factor. The guy that was selling them had the perfect marketing pitch, at least for me–try out archery on the cheap. I took him up on it and bought a 54″ recurve bow with a 22# pull. It’s nothing fancy. Still the white PVC pipe color and a string made from paracord. The gentleman making them was kind enough to tell me that you simply spray paint them for the color you want, how to wrap the paracord for a grip and how to get a good starting length for arrows, which he suggested I buy at Walmart. He’s serious about testing out archery on the cheap. He also had some nicer examples, but the $25 one will do me fine for now.
I’ve been interested in the subject of traditional archery for a good while. When I was a kid, I had a bow that my Dad made from a hickory branch and fishing line. I’ve even went as far as buying the 4 volumes of “The Traditional Bowyer’s Bible“, but a lack of good available wood plus some trepidation at trying my had at bow making kept me on the sidelines.
I’m sure a lot of purists would sniff and tell me “This isn’t traditional archery.” I’m OK with that. This is something where I can get the materials cheap and I have all the tools at hand. If you’re brave enough and have the upper body strength, you can build an 80# longbow.