Notes from the gun show

I went to the local gun show last weekend with a couple of friends of mine. One was a prolific shooter, the other was getting his first gun. More on him later.

There were two guys selling personal Tec-9’s. It’s a long-term goal of mine to own everything on the ’94 ban list, so I have to look. Don’t judge me.

The first guy had an absolutely pristine one with a stainless upper receiver, barrel shroud, and 32rd magazine. He wanted $400, and I probably would’ve negotiated a bit with him if I’d had more cash on me.

The second guy had a standard one, but it also had a barrel extension on it. The extension matched the original barrel shroud, so it looked like it had a 12″ barrel on it. Kinda silly looking–even moreso than the original design. That guy wanted $500 for his, saying “you’ll never find another Tec-9 in this area”–right as the guy with the stainless one rounded the corner.

It’s odd what you notice when you start paying attention. I’ve been going to this particular gun show since 1998, and I don’t think I’d ever seen a single IFAK, aka blowout kit until this weekend. And I swear every third table had one, ranging from about $45 for a simple kit with some bandages and quikclot to $200 for a minor-surgery-in-a-molle-bag kit.

I asked every vendor I saw with one where I might be able to take a class to learn how to actually use one of these kits and not a one of them reacted like they’d ever been asked that. They also didn’t have an answer.

I went looking for a new factory threaded Ruger 22/45 and a S&W M&P15-22 just to check street prices. They were everywhere last month but this month I only saw one of the Rugers and the only M&P15-22 I saw was a pistol version that someone else had just purchased.

So in summary, I found everything I wasn’t looking for, and nothing I was looking for.