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Baltimore Gun Show
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February 3, 2014 - 6:05 pm
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Has anyone on the forum ever gone to the antique gun show that will be held in Baltimore next month? Someone told me it was big and worth going to. ❓
Gene

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February 3, 2014 - 6:35 pm
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Attended this show for 10 years. No modern firearms and always well attended.

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February 4, 2014 - 2:28 am
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Yes, the best on the East Coast. You could also try The Forks of the Delaware show in Allentown. Five times a year, much closer to you, and lots of antique firearms.

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March 17, 2014 - 12:58 pm
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So, how was the Baltimore show this year?

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March 18, 2014 - 9:55 am
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Ian,
http://s1248.photobucket.com/user/cardiacharp/media/GENE-DESKTOP/Mod%201873%20with%2036%20barrel/1e06a385-f46f-4d75-9538-3c340df44968_zps90e18ddf.jpg.html

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36 inch barrel
This show was great and exhausting. I’ll have to go into training before going again in order to be able to see it all the way it should be seen. After a while I just started getting overwhelmed. Unlike the West Springfield show I went to in 2013 this one was worth the trip. I can’t understand why WACA doesn’t have a presence there or for that matter why Cody records office isn’t open for this show date. It must be politics.It seems if it’s not west of the Mississippi it doesn’t get that much attention. Why WACA would be at West Springfield (flashlights, peanuts, Chinese knives, and black guns) and not at this antique gun show is somewhat of a mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed this show. There was a lot to see and the vendors were friendly and informative. A number of them were still unaware of the PR serial number differences. This was a informative and interesting show, as good or better than Vegas and I would definitely go again.
Gene

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March 18, 2014 - 1:15 pm
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Gene:

WACA wasn’t there because we weren’t invited. It costs $3,000 – $5,000 for us to attend a show and offer display awards/cash and a member reception (remember the Exec. Secretary comes from Oregon and incurs plane fare, car rental and motel expenses). West Springfield offers WACA free membership tables, free WACA member entrance and subsidizes our expense by donating $2,000 – $3,000 to the club to help defray expenses.

Baltimore is also ALL ANTIQUES. A lot of our Winchesters do not fit into the pre 1899 category. That leaves out most Model 1892s, 1894s, almost all of the shotguns Model 70s etc.

We would love to find an east coast promoter with a September/early October show date who would host WACA. We have too little attendance to hold our own show.

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March 18, 2014 - 2:51 pm
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Gene, glad you enjoyed the show and it is a relief not to have to wade through tables of Black Guns and now Pink ones, also beanie babies and remote helicopters to see the guns that we enjoy as collectors. It does take some conditioning in order to see all the show and talk to vendors and look at the excellent displays.

Rick, I think what Gene was referring to is that there is not someone there promoting the WACA organization. This would only take one table and someone (member) that would be willing to display some of their own guns, have some back copies of the Winchester quarterly magazines to hand out or sell at a discount price. Memberships could be sold and processed. In the past years that I was a vendor at this show, I seen tables with other collector associations there promoting their own collector interest. The Marlin Collector Association, Remington Collectors are a few that I can remember. These were done in a small scale but it is effective.

I agree that the show promotes guns no later than 1898 but allow later guns and have never seen the show to object to this. The only requirement is that no handguns post 1898 are allowed, believe me there are lots of Winchesters brought to this show that don’t get to any other show.

Gene , usually the CFM is opened for research on the weekend of this show and I am surprised that it wasn’t. But I was also just as surprised when I walked into a small show in Mesa Arizona the same weekend as the Baltimore Show , and there was Jesi Bennett set up doing free researches and promoting the CFM, by selling memberships, offering special prices on Research Letters and giving out candy and pens. 🙂

Anyway thought I would just add my two cents on this subject.

Brian

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March 18, 2014 - 3:40 pm
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Brian:

Yes, totally agree. As an example, Brad Dunbar went to a show in Eau Claire, Wisconsin weekend before last and offered to host a WACA table. Georgia sent him a WACA tablecloth, membership application forms, WACA show flyers and table applications, some magazines and calendars and as a result, he signed up 7 new members!

We would gladly welcome other member volunteers to host WACA tables at other regional gun-shows in the east, southeast, mid-west and southwest.

We will be anxiously watching to see all the raised hands!

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March 19, 2014 - 9:30 am
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Rick,
Let me first reply by explaining that in one of my past lives I was an unpaid youth soccer promoter for about twenty years and I understand the frustrations that come with this type of office. I was President of Intramural, then the President of the referee association, then Travel, along with founding and running the operation of two Clubs, so I DO understand your comment “We will be anxiously watching to see all the raised hands!” To wit, I think I can still recognize an attempted dressing down and would like to address your first reply.
Am I to understand that the only reason for the Club to represent at a show is for travel reimbursement for the Executive Secretary and that the quality of the show isn’t a factor. The decline of the West Springfield show has been discussed on the forum in the past so I won’t beat a dead horse. One has only to look at the empty spaces in the background of the show pictures in the winter 2013 Collector magazine. I along with my wife made the eight hour round trip to this show in 2012 and attended the awards reception and enjoyed the experience of the reception. That said, I think there were more high intensity flashlights and other paraphernalia there than guns let alone Winchesters. I will say however that there was ample room to move through the extra wide aisles. Personally, I don’t go to shows to check out the black guns, beef jerky or flashlights and can move through a show like this in about an hour and a half. It took me longer there because of the Winchester displays and conversing with those displaying their collections. I learned some interesting observations on Winchester bluing from Dr. Ken Johnson.
The Allentown, Pa. show by The Forks of the Delaware has a show in October. That show was listed as one of the top ten in 2009, I believe, by the N.R.A. magazine. Baltimore was rated as the best on the east coast, I believe. Here are some of the Model 1892 serial numbers I jotted down for one of our members survey: 393472, 401216, 102396, 102645, 235694, (ANTIQUE?).
Rick, I don’t know if you noticed but my hand is in the up position!
I’ll be your huckleberry.
Gene

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March 19, 2014 - 5:05 pm
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"Road King" said
Rick, I think what Gene was referring to is that there is not someone there promoting the WACA organization. This would only take one table and someone (member) that would be willing to display some of their own guns, have some back copies of the Winchester quarterly magazines to hand out or sell at a discount price. Memberships could be sold and processed. In the past years that I was a vendor at this show, I seen tables with other collector associations there promoting their own collector interest. The Marlin Collector Association, Remington Collectors are a few that I can remember. These were done in a small scale but it is effective.

Brian

Brian

That’s basically what I did. It gave me a good excuse to be at an entire show and wander around before hours and really look for stuff!

I didn’t really care for the crowds at shows until I was behind a table a few years ago and liked that much better. Besides getting some new members into WACA I also talked at length to some current members. I’ve known some of the other vendors for a few years and it’s also good to have a chance to talk about what they collect, not just what they are trying to sell.

I didn’t have a lot to put up on the table to sell. I’m mostly collecting things that I want to keep. That ‘s another nice thing about having the WACA things on the table. I might have to display some things at the next show and hopefully draw some more interest.

If anyone who’s never sat at a gun show before is considering this, I highly recommend giving it a chance. Besides, you never know what old Winchester might come walking around right to your table!

Brad

Regards

Brad Dunbar

http://1895book.com/

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