AR-15 MagPul Pmags? Check.
Marlin Papoose mags? Check.
9mm 1911 mags? Bzzzt! No good ones for sale. While shaped in a vaguely magazine-like fashion, ProMag, Triple K, and USA brand magazines are disqualified on technical terms. You see, the definition of a magazine is "an ammunition feeding device", and they don't.
.45ACP ammo? Check.
.38 Spl ammo? Check.
9mm ammo? Check. (Found a smokin' deal on Win Q4217 147gr JHP's. I should have bought 100 rounds more than I did.)
.44-40? Bzzzt! Ran out of green stamps by the time I found anybody who had any at a reasonable price. (Winchester silver box is no longer what I'd call "reasonably priced" in that caliber.)
I also picked up some small 1911 bits, an AR-15 LRPK, and a new leather gun belt. (My Milt Sparks has been in darn near daily usage for over two years, and looks it.)
A Note: I have been going to gun shows for twenty-odd years now. Shootin' Buddy has been going to this specific show for some twenty years now. Both of us have been to gun shows on the eve of the '94 AWB, gun shows in December of 1999 during the Y2K Panic, shows immediately after 9/11 and the celebratory ones at the sunset of the AWB and neither of us had ever, ever, EVER seen a crowd like this.
By 9AM there was a 45 minute wait to get in... and there still was when we left after 1PM. This is the first time I have ever in my life said, at a gun show, "Look, I've spent my money, and I'm just not having any fun here. Let's go." Normally I'm the one who has to be dragged to the exit, kicking and screaming. The economy was certainly getting stimulated at the State Fairgrounds, let me tell you.
...and now me and roomie are going to have an AR-15 lower assembly party. :)
What a great weekend!
ReplyDeletePicked up an M14 from the gunsmith on Friday, Gun Show, Death Camp Guns & Gear, bison burger at the BRBP, and then Robert X bought me a gingerbread cookie at Renee's. Obviously I've lived a good life and am now being rewarded (must have been a previous life).
I have been attending that gun show since 1984 and that was the busiest I have seen at a show in Indianapolis. I got mine and am close to being ready for the Barry Ban and I hope everyone else covered their square.
Buy them cheap, stack them deep.
Shootin' Buddy
How many rounds in those Marlin Papoose mags? I've never been able to find anything but 10-rounders.
ReplyDeleteNice score - and better luck on the PMAGS than I had here :(
ReplyDeleteI don't have a need for another one, but dang you two keep tempting me to build another EBR.
The most crowded gun show I've been to (with the most horrendous wait to enter) was the Goodman show the weekend after the election. It was ... interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe guy selling bulk ammo would have pulled his hair out if he had any left. He could barely keep up. Cases of 7.62x39 and 5.56 and anything that could chuck them downrange were flying out the door.
Yours sounds worse.
Need 1911 mainspring ASAP!
ReplyDeleteNone to be had at the Timmonium Gun Show.
Send elves and a Saint Bernard with full keg!
I always love to visit the "Clips-r-us" lady and buy MAGAZINES.
ReplyDeleteOnly one example of my particluar weakness, double rifles, and it was correspondingly unaffordable.
The Nagants made Last Ditch Arisakas look carefully made.
I touched more people than I have touched- in person- in several years. I hated that a good deal. I may burn my carharrt jacket.
Dumbasses. I liked that they put the ammo at the very far end of the show. Kinda made it difficult to convince me to buy a thousand 30-06 and then have to drag it back to the frigging truck.
The gun show where I live over in North Kakalaki had a wait time around about an hour to get in. I missed it,and once I heard about the wait I am glad I did. That and all the douche-bag panic buying of ammo as of late is enough to make me take up archery!
ReplyDeleteI happened to be in Commiefornia last month and decided to hit up a gun show. Holy smokes, what a nightmare.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the PMAGs. I've had a Del-Ton order from election night that hasn't shipped yet (did they just delete it?) and Midway has been stripped clean in under two hours both times I've gotten restock emails from them.
ReplyDeleteYou think I could at least find 20 rounders, but not so much.
Stupid elections.
If nothing else is available, ProMag + Wolff springs + 800 grit sandpaper and elbow grease can (sometimes) produce a working magazine. YMMV.
ReplyDeleteWord Verification: prickno
(Sadly, not always accurate)
Are those Winchester 147gr 9mm JHP's the whitebox ones they sell at Wallyworld? I was going to make my first trip to shoot bowling pins yesterday, and I bought a box of the W-W variety anticipating using them with my hi-power. My involvement in the pin-shoot was put off until next month, in the meantime I'm curious to hear of their use in the sport. The BHP and Gunblog 9mm seem like fairly similar launch pads.
ReplyDeletePlease note that I am only asking about their pin-knocking ability. Defensive use of 147 grain 9mm seems to raise some spirited controversy, and I steer clear by toting a S&W model 37.
IDK if the WWB 147gr is the same bullet & powder charge, but I bought them with pin-whacking in mind myself. A 147gr JHP seems to be the hot ticket for bowling pin massacree in the 9mm caliber. Momentum and a grabby shape are the keys.
ReplyDeleteTurk,
ReplyDelete"How many rounds in those Marlin Papoose mags? I've never been able to find anything but 10-rounders."
I bought a couple of factory 7-rounders.
Tams you roole.
ReplyDeleteI have sent emails to my two daughters telling them to read your daily blog.
Cheers,
Bainx
Well, you have the lowers and the parts kits.
ReplyDeleteNow good luck finding complete uppers (or just barrels) for the things. I have an order in for two complete uppers, made before Thanksgiving, and I'll be lucky if I see them before Valentine's Day.
Will you both be wearing pajamas while you assemble your ARs?
ReplyDeletePost gifs pleeeze ...
The on in MD was pretty crowded too. I didn't find any mags for the Savage model 4, but I did find some excellent jerkey and a Beretta 75.
ReplyDeletewv: manks
Complete upper may have less of a wait at DPMS if you are not looking for too exotic of a barrel. I shipped some 16" yesterday off a fairly new order.
ReplyDeleteWe also have some 1911 stuff but I will not vouch for the quality, I haven't needed to buy any.
Uppers we've got.
ReplyDeleteI'm sitting on an MGI QCB with a 16" tube and a standard 20" A4 flattop. (Need a BCG & charging handle, and another LRPK, but that's minor stuff.)
My Gosh. that's awful!
ReplyDeleteI have a gun show coming up in a coupla weeks. I wonder how it will go......
Looking to liquidate a Browning 22 Auto and a SW1911
The Boise show this weekend was the same way, with the longest lines I've ever seen yesterday morning. I heard one of the ammo guys up-priced all his stuff fifteen minutes into the show because of the initial push at opening. By 1pm he was out of some calibers.
ReplyDeleteI didn't find anything on my list, gunwise, except a nice Garand. Also picked up some bulk .45, a little AK chow, some misc 8mm and 30-06, and a couple SA .308 battle packs.
Next show isn't for 2 months...
The show at the Pasadena, TX Convention Center was the more crowded than I've ever seen it.
ReplyDeleteParking had exceeded the available parking lot (several acres), and overflowed onto the grass by about a hundred cars or so.
By 1pm Saturday, there was only scraps of ammo, but still plenty of highly overpriced ARs and AKs to be found. Oddly, SKS variants were scarce and ripoff-priced.
I did pass on a Colt 1903 frame and slide. The $125 price wasn't the issue. The wear, and the fact that I'd have another grand invested in parts and 'smithing put me off.
But I also didn't have the scratch for the mint3-1/2" bbl S&W 27-2, either. Four figures was a bit....dear.
Though there are more guns I'd like to buy, I think stockpiling ammo and mags are gonna be the ticket, in my case. Oh, and d'ya know where I can find a rear-sight adjustment tool for my PTR-91?
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Jim:
ReplyDeleteDouble yup. I got there about 10:00 AM and found a place to park waaaaay in the back.
Mission successful: bought 10 steel mags for the AK I got last month.
Getting ready for the zombies...
Old Squid.
I hope you document the process for us black-rifle newbies.
ReplyDeleteYes, as kbarrett and og suggest, we need us some pics of your assemblages.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to learn a few things about assembling a stripped lower, if you have process photos.
You're definitely correct about Promags not being an ammo feeding device.
ReplyDeleteI had a friend give me two brand new ones still in the plastic. Neither of them has ever successfully fed more than 3 rounds in a row without a failure.
I have seen this happen to many folks that have bought several different Promags for several different firearms.
Promags are definitely "The Shit".
:-)
Joe
P.S. - On the bright side I picked up 10 new Colt 30 round AR-15 mags at one of my local gun clubs for $15 each last week.
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/GunTech/NewsletterArchive.aspx?x=v&p=0&t=1&i=1103
ReplyDeleteLink to Brownells' AR-15 assembly videos for og.
Cheers!
John
For third party 9mm 1911 magazines, try Tripp Research (as in STI). He had done a custom run a couple of months back. His magazines are arguably, the best (okay argue Wilson Combat and Chip McCormack)
ReplyDeleteAh, that's nothing. We've had two recent guns shows- on Nov 15-16 and Dec 13-14. For the first one, if you showed up at the opening bell, you would have been lucky to park on the street a block away. Time to get in? about 1.5 - 2 hours. For the second one, at starting time there was a 20 minute wait just to get into the parking lot. And that was at the state fairgrounds, where they are somewhat accustomed to getting large numbers of cars into the parking lot.
ReplyDeleteThese were the first two gun shows that I was actually kinda happy I didn't get to go. Seen both venues right around starting time as I drove by and talked to a bunch of people that went, but didn't attempt it myself.
The ProMags I bought for my .308 Enfield would not even fit into the magwell.
ReplyDeleteQuelle surprise. :|
ReplyDeleteRecently purchased three 10 round ProMags for my Ruger P90 (.45 ACP). In the one range trip since, after one malfunction with the first mag, ran through all three twice with no further problems, although I found myself tapping them a little extra to ensure seating after that first instance...
ReplyDeleteOkay.
ReplyDeleteThere are sunny days in Seattle, too, but it ain't the way to bet.
Reporting in from Portland, Oregon...
ReplyDeleteDitto. Gun show attendance is through-the-roof. My first hand experience confirms what the vendors are saying: "We've never seen it like this"
Tam and friends, if you place an order with us at Brownells you will eventually get magazines, whether ours or pmags. We ship in order received, don't bill until shipped and you only pay for shipping once on any order. So, if some is in stock, some isn't, you get charged when the in-stock stuff goes out, b/os shipped already paid. And, do look at our videos as someone suggested, they'll help you put things together correctly. Larry Weeks
ReplyDelete