Suns out… Guns out…

I apologize that there wasn’t a blog last week… Last weekend we were all out and about at the gun show  in Post falls. Thanks to all the members that came out and chit-chatted with us, and a big thank you to all the new friends that we made. It is always fun when you can spend a little time talking all things freedom with some good, like minded people. While I am at it, there won’t be a blog next week either, Kris, Brad , Ellen and myself are headed down to elk camp for the weekend in hopes of putting a little meat in the freezer, and were going to try to get some new videos done for you guys too, a lot of that just levers on how good the hunting is.

With that being said I will try to keep this short.

What I learned at the gun show:

1. It is stupid to have a gun show where vendors are not allowed to carry. If you haven’t been to one in a while, they may surprise you.Some vendors will have literally $150,000-$200,000 in firearms on display, not to mention countless amounts of ammo and accessories, The fact that event organizers will not allow them to carry there side arm seems a little strange. Even though we brought no firearms to sell this time, (remember PWP now has a class 7 FFL, we will be building some AR’s. And remember by joining PWP Kris will do FFL transfers for $15 cheaper then anyone else out there. Yet another perk to joining.) we still had our cash box for decals, shirts and memberships. That’s a couple hundred bucks that is just sitting there, and by the rules of the gun show, any firearm that entered the building had to be unloaded and safety checked. I understand there reasoning, and with Kris and Brad’s affinity for all things fixed blade, I never felt vulnerable, but it just didn’t make sense to me.
2. There are plenty of guns out on the market, and there are deals to be had if your  patient. We had a table right across from us that had a Windham Weaponry SRC carbon 15 new in case (if you don’t know much about Windham rifles, read up on them a bit, its a pretty cool story, and each of there rifles comes with a 30 round PMAG, Hard case and a lock. On top of that if you buy a Windham at Cabelas, both companies donate to the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) for their Outdoor Recreation Heritage Fund (ORHF).  The ORHF provides for many different programs that take disabled American veterans hunting, fishing, recreational shooting and more.) Any way, these rifles can be had for right around $850 (cheaper on-line) every day. That being said, that rifle sat on the table across from us for a whole day with a price sticker of $585 on it. By Sunday they decided to sweeten the deal a bit with an extra G.I. mag, and 3 boxes of P-TAC ammo. They also dropped the price to $500. It still sat there until the end of the show when someone offered him $450 cash. Am I saying that the cost of firearms has dropped across the board? Hell no. But on some firearms, if you are willing to be patient, there are still some deals out there.
3. Keep your guns! My Dad bought the 7 1/2″ Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 Mag that I woods carry, around 20 years ago for $230. The retail on them now is $850 dollars, the cheapest ones at a gun show are 500 bucks, with most riding between $550-$700. The same can be said for all of the classic rifles and side-arms. Have you seen what a Smith and Wesson 629 goes for? How about a pre-64 Winchester model 70? It will make your head spin. Should you buy up any old gun that you see for cheap because it will be worth a ton of money? It’s your money and you can do with it what you will, but I think it doesn’t hurt for a guy to be a little research and have a few cards up his sleeve when he goes to any event where firearms may be seen. Check out books like the “Blue book of gun values“, and for those of you that have smart phones (I know, I know, I’m the only person still rocking the flip phone) you can download an app like “New Gun Digest” it cost you $20 a year, but it will instantly put correct information at your finger tips. Notice I said any event where firearms may be seen, some of your best bargains on firearms don’t come from gun shows at all, they come from garage and estate sales, next time your out with the fam and pass by a garage sale where you see outdoor stuff, stop and talk with the people, within minutes you will have a pretty good feel for them, and just ask the simple question “are you guys selling any firearms, or anything like that?” A lot of times, you will get the reply, “well we weren’t really thinking about it, but yeah we have a couple that have just been collecting dust for years.” You never know what they may have, or what they may want for them. But the best thing you can do is not sell your firearms, I know that its tempting to thin the heard a bit, and recoup funds to finance something else, but just be really picky about what you are willing to part with, shortly down the road you may wish you had it back, or be kicking yourself when your trying to replace it.
4. You really don’t need to wear your tac-vest and mean mug to the gun show. Seriously! Its one thing if you buy one at the show, and put it on because you don’t want to carry it around the whole time. Its another when you walk in off the street with more gear on then most swat teams are issued. Double leg rigs, 6 extra mags, taser, a Scottish claymore mounted vertically on molle locks, and God knows what else. Then to top it off, you walk around all smug faced turning your nose up at everything. That isn’t cool man, and you aren’t impressing anyone. If you want to impress me, turn the machismo down a bit, and use your “expertise” to help somebody else, if someone is trying to get a drop leg rig and looks a little confused, ask if you can give a little advise. Smile, laugh, and enjoy the company. If you,  don’t like to be in the company of others, or feel that you need enough tactical gear to fight off an oncoming hoard of zombies, stay at home, or in your shipping container, or wherever it is that you “combat nap” at.

In all seriousness though, The gun show was a lot of fun. And thanks to all of you who came out, you meet some of the coolest people at social gatherings like that. Not only do you make friendships, but you also make contacts and connections, its networking face to face, not over the internet.And maybe what we should start going her at PWP, is to start a (now I’m really going to be dating myself) a Rolodex of information for companies that we use. If you are too young to know what a Rolodex is ill try to explain it.It was pretty much a trial size ferris wheel that sat on your desk, and you used it to organize business cards in alphabetical order, each card had the name of the business, there address, and phone number, and a lot of times people would pen in the name of who they talked to at the company, as to be able to personalize better with them when the called again. (think the contacts area in your smart phone) No apps, or avatars of anything. kind of lame by today’s standards, but hey it works. We have contacts from all over that we use on everything from gun projects and  sheath making, to plumbers and dog breeders  They are companies that we trust.  For example, if you are in need of a good gunsmith, or reloading supplies (this guy has TONS of powder, primers, brass, you name it, he has it) go see Hunter at Brown Dog Gunsmithing, hes a hell of a nice guy and his shop is in Athol. If you need some leather work done, custom holsters to dog collars, give Barbed Wire leather in Pinehurst a call, she can make just about anything that you can imagine, and she is affordable.Looking for a waterfowl dog, look no further then Northwood Retrievers (based out of Athol), Will and Brandy are great people and they breed and train the best dogs that I have ever hunted over. These are just three examples of people that I have built relationships with, If you have companies (especially local ones) that have done you right, send us a link and maybe we can post and share that info, theirs nothing worse then being in a time of need and not having someone that you can trust. Take care everybody,and if your headed out for opening day, be careful and may all your shots find there mark.

-Grant Willoughby 10/9/2016-