That's not a gun show. This is a gun show!

Have made several trips to Dallas over the years. I seem to recall a shooting range just outside the city limits next to a liquor store. Gotta love Texas.

Welcome to America.

But wait...where are the 90 year old men selling pocket knives and the jerky stands?

looks like the next date are April 11-12...
Be quite the road trip!

Reminds me of the old Great Western Gun Show in Pomona, CA. Massive - about 3 times the Dulles show.

The really nice part was that it had a whole hall that was nothing but antique arms. I spent a good $2K there...only because I didn't have more money.

Great Picture There, MDGolom! Great to see you there too.

I walked the show and there was tons of Old Guns, TONS. Not much in the line to high end AR types. Lots of cheap $350-$450 AR Uppers from Typical ShotGun News Vendors. We were told a lot that our booth was the nicest and had the best stuff with the best prices in the show. Sold a bunch of $3500 Custom Rifles and $1800 Uppers there (308 and 6.5 Creedmoor). Hoped to do better but with our location and only being allowed 4.5 hours to setup, we didn't do as well. They stated setup time was Friday 1-7pm. They didnt mention the 2.5 Hour wait to get into the building. Evidently they have a lot of favorites that are allowed to setup on Thursdays. The old man Wanenmacher (probably in his 70's) that runs the show would not allow us to setup past 7 even after head of security told him we probably bought more value to the show than anyone else there and we should be allowed to setup more, especially since we had to wait so long to get in. But he stated No exceptions and implied he didn't really care about AR parts. Never even asked what high end AR parts meant or even bothered to look at our display. Should have got the clue several weeks back when we applied for tables. They asked what we sell and I stated: "Higher end AR Match rifles and all USA made Accessories." Also stated that we are a true Tier 1 Manufacturer and one of the few that supports gun shows. After Wanenmacher thought I hung up, I hear this on the line, with a sarcastic tone; quote: "That guy is full of himself". Evidently these are old guys with the good ole boys attitude. If they expect this show to continue to attract attendees and vendors, they need to enter the 21st century and appeal to the younger crowd. The average age of vendors was 55-60 (or more) and attendees probably in the 45-50. My sales were mostly to folks 25-35. Had multiple folks buy $500+ and return hours later with another $500+ with one of two comments: "You guys have the best and fair prices", or "You guys are willing to talk to us an help us choose what we want".

Probably only had about 2000 people browse our booth and at least 30% of our sales was to other vendors.

Next Show in April is the same weekend as NRA Convention in Nashville. For the NRA members, the NRA Convention is free admission and a lot more stuff to see and touch. A lot more variety and much better run. We have a booth at the NRA Convention as always. 20x20 island that cost us $10,000 but worth it for the crowd and exposure.

240 towles said:

been there, it can be a little overwhelming . I find it's easier to know what you are looking for and compare prices, then buy at the end when you know you are getting the best deal.

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Only thing is, that one's so damn big you'd have a hard time rememberin' where the good deal was.

Man O Man, what a show.

I WISH!

The next best thing we have around here, the Oaks Gun Show, is advertising 2,000 tables for it's Mar. 2015 show. I always try to make it to the Oaks shows.