Salem Saturday and Sunday. I almost went, but got a late start and went to Eugene to watch Oregon and Oregon State kick butt with the old man instead.
Your joking right ? Well as long as people like you have that attitude then there will be better deals for folks like me that like the smaller shows. Rickreall,Eugene,and Prineville would be considered small shows under your broad statement,yet most of the dealers who frequent those shows WILL NOT go to the expo due to the way it is setup and ran. I cannot ever recall getting a great deal at an expo center show,but can remember several from other shows accross the PNW.
The only shows I seem to go to anymore are Rickreal and Albany. The PDX show has become a joke, if I want Beef Jerky, Bennie Babies, a new purse for the wife or a RC Hellocopter I can get it localy without have to spend 20 bucks for gas, 10 bucks to park, and another 8 bucks to get in the door.
What would you guys say makes a gun show good or bad? How do you guys think the PDX show could improve?
Start with no chinese junk toys,if i want that i will go to the dollar store or WalMart. Next thing would be to make sure that all the tables put out are occupied when the show opens,nothin worse than getting there 1st thing and 25% or more are not setup. Metro needs to back off on the price gouging to show promoters to make it more affordable for the vendors,it seems that they want to price gunshows out of buisiness. This is for starters,will come up with more.
I have to agree that the Expo shows are poor. I no longer attend these. Besides the entry fee and the parking fee and the shuttle busses or the mile long hikes in the rain and so on, the show itself has simply gotten way too big....and in a bad way. Gun shows in general have changed a lot in the past twenty five years....and in a bad way. With Expo being the worst. I don't go to gun shows to see non-gun-related crapola that belongs in flea markets. I work for a living and my free time is valuable and I won't have it squandered by wading thru all that. Downsizing all that out would be a start. Gaining a clear focus of what the show should be about is needed. Moving it away from Expo to a smaller space could then be accomplished. When the Expo show once again gains a reputation for catering to the needs of the gun-buying public rather than pandering exclusively to the promoters or to the dealers or to Expo itself, I might reconsider. But not until then.
Firearms, and Firearm related stuff only. That would be a good start. Last time I went to the PDX show, there was a guy there selling light bulbs, I **** you not. Pretty hard to justify 18$ admission and parking for that kind of stuff. Check out the show put on by the Albany Rifle and Pistol Club. That, is what a gun show should be. Guns, Gun Related Stuff, Ammo, Hot Dogs, and Beer, and yeah ok you can throw in the Political Tables also. It kind of fun to stand around and listen to the rants about the JBT's :laugh: But nothing else.
Is there an Oregon version of Washington Arms Collectors? They have shows up here in Puyallup and Monroe that aren't too bad, last I saw. One thing that was a disappointing trend with them was the larger and larger presence of gun store dealers, and fewer and fewer private sellers. Heck if I wanted to go to their stores I know where they are.
