Tucson Gunshow Report

I almost groaned as I pulled into the Pima County Fairgrounds. There were only half the vehicles parked in the lot as last month's. I wondered whether everybody knew ahead of time this show would suck. Signs pointed away from the hall where they usually host the shows; are they in a smaller venue now? Negatory...it seems that everybody was parked in the inner lot! I got in with $7 and a $1 coupon and was fairly impressed with the spread in the larger hall.

I was packing my Para-Ordnance P13-45 with an eye towards selling it. I had it on my hip and carried the original box filled with two 13-rounders and one 10-rounder. I had a few gawkers look at it, but they weren't eager to pay the $550 I was asking, nor did anyone even try to shave the price down.

Early in my shopping, I ran into the Florence cowboy dealer from whom I bought the Vaquero/Bisley .44 (my Christmas present). He had a Uberti .357 cowboy six-gun and a Uberti .38 Spec. Schofield clone that looked interesting. If I'd sold the Para, I probably would have brought home at least one of them.

Had my eye on a sythetic-furniture AK underfolder for a decent price. Maybe next time. Not really a knife guy, I checked some out and, just for shits and giggles, tracked down a supersized Cold Steel Gunsite folder...it retailed for $100!! I really had no clue what it was worth. Didn't see any Tantos like mine, but since I no longer have the original box, I know I couldn't get a decent price if I was inclined toward selling it. I still have the original packaging for my as-yet- unused Gunsite knife.

One vender sold reproduction uniforms that looked pretty interesting, but I'll probably hold off on something like that. My buddy Alan tipped me off to some repro uniform shops in the Gettysburg area that I want to check out next time I'm home.

I priced some Colt 9-mm AR mags: over $60 for steel ones (one guy was asking $75), and 20-something for plastic...I've got two plastic ones coming from Natchez Shooter Supply coming next week. I'll see whether they fix my problem before investing in more of them.

I left carrying only what I carried in, but didn't have the hollow feeling I get when I leave a sucky gun show or had my hankering to buy something frustrated by a poor selection of wares. The Para goes back in my safe and I probably do some local shopping for maybe another Vaquero/Bisley (maybe in .357 this time).