Luckily for us, while we were waiting on the line, someone came by and said that if you get to the front of the line and do not already have a ticket, they make you buy the ticket and return to the end of the line. Never heard of anything like that before, heck I always get there early. So, we went up front and got out tickets but before doing so made sure the guys on the line just behind us would allow us back in the same place relative to them. The line moved pretty quickly, I figure we had a ten minute wait at most. Inside, it was pretty crowded but not packed. They were only allowing folks in once others had left. Several people walked out and then the guy at the doors said, something to the effect, 'okay, another 6 can go in'. It was a good thing because the last time I was there you could barely walk down the aisles once it got crowded. Today they kept it fairly comfortable even though somewhat crowded, as it was not like being in a Japanese subway car at rush hour in Tokyo - the last time I was there, it was pretty much just that.
We walked around and before we got through the first or second row, I spied my buddies Charlie K and his brother-in-law Rob. Then their friend Dennis also came into sight. Next thing knew, Charley came around to greet us and we had a nice chat. Pete, Charlie and I used to work together. Then Pete and I continued on when Charlie went off to reunite with Rob and Dennis. We went down each row, looking at guns or this or that (and as usual I think there was a bit too much this or that but there seemed more guns overall that we had seen at the White Plains gun show recently). Sadly for me, those guns did not include a Remington Model 8 although I did see one gent carrying around a Model 81 in .35 Remington. It was not in all that great a shape, which could be seen at first glance, so I did not bother to even inquire about it. I just kept looking for the elusive Model 8 in .35 Remington or even the one in .30 Remington that I had seen at White Plains but I did not see the dealer who had that at WP at the show today.
I looked at several other guns, with an earnest eye toward buying but alas there were none that pleased me enough to pay the inflated prices being asked for them. There were Yugoslavian SKS rifles for $400 and they were in none to great a shape. I can find them offered online at Classic Firearms in excellent condition for $299.99, and even with shipping they would be about $70 less than the $400 they wanted at the show. Remember that the $400 does not include the sales tax they would charge at the show. I also saw a Mosin Nagant 91/30 I was thinking of buying but it was $159.00. You can also buy these for a lot less from an online dealer and with shipping would still pay less than at the show and I can have them shipped directly to me, with no need to pay an FFL transfer fee, because I hold a C&R FFL (same goes for the SKS rifles). I looked at a bunch of .22 rifles also, all in .22LR. It really made me think, maybe, just maybe, I should have passed up the Buck knife I bought at Dick's Sporting Goods yesterday with a gift card I had gotten from my son and I should have used that card and another he and my wife gave me toward a .22 rifle. oh well, the gift card I still have is worth a hundred bucks and it may yet go toward a rifle.
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| Note that the big can has two smaller .50 caliber cans in it, one sitting atop the other. The 3rd .50 cal. can is on the floor. That third can almost fit in the big can too, narrow end down, but there was just not quite enough room. |
The only other things I picked up were some long, wooden stick, cotton swabs for gun cleaning, a small examination mirror on a telescoping handle, a magnet also on a telescoping handle (both great for when you drop something like a gun screw and it bounces behind a piece of furniture or the furnace) and a box of 10 count Cyalume 8 hour chemical lights (great to have in the house, in the car or to take on a hike for emergency illumination).
Pete did not buy any guns, he was not looking for any. He did buy the examination mirror I bought and another without a telescoping handle and maybe one or two other things I cannot remember right now. After the show we stopped at gander Mountain in Middletown. I picked up some night crawlers and trout worms for my turtle and two Redfoot Tortoises and got another portable, battery operated, aerator to add to my collection (my others are probably close to their lives' ends). Other than that we just looked around the store a bit. I was disappointed to see they rearranged their firearms displays, not placing the handgun counter up as a barrier between customers and the long guns. used to be you could walk right over to the long guns and examine whatever you wanted to look at. No more. I guess the corporate lawyers figured it was not a good idea to allow folks access to the rifles and shotguns like that even though each was secured by a cable to the display and each had a trigger lock. My guess is that some arsehat of a customer, who was unsafe with the firearms, ruined it for the rest of us but that is just my guess.
After that it was off toward home with a quick stop at a Dunkin Donuts for coffee and a donut (I had a crumb cake muffin). Then it was on the road and homeward bound. All in all we had a swell day, got to spend some nice time together and met up with some other friends at the show. Not a bad day at all, not by a long shot!
All the best,
Glenn B
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