doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Las Vegas show?

Jerry,

No apology necessary. My comment about my feelings being hurt was all in fun.

I suspect that a few collectors of very high end knives would have made the same statement about there not being any "big name" builders there. Knives are as subjective as any collectable item. It's all in the eye of the individual. What types of knives are collectable and what maker's names are desirable is all a matter of personal tastes.

But, thanks for the apology. If you are ever in my area, please feel free to give me a call and drop by my shop for a visit!

I had not been to the LV show in about 8 years and much has changed. It is a shadow of it former self on the international side where the higher end doubles tend to be. There is not the excitement that was present several years ago and the market seems flooded with sellers but little buyers. While looking at several top end retailers I was approached by individual wanting to unload some of their personal collections for a quarter of the dealers pricing.

Talked with Tony G and he says the auction online sites are killing these shows. Most of the brand names are going to the SCI shows. The antique side reminded me much of Reno shows 3x times a years.

I was able to sell my McKay Brown and buy a Joe Manton Flintlock 16 bore in short order. Other than that the amount of Purdey's and Hollands has tripled but little is moving and mostly asking much less than I saw 6-7 years ago. I suspect many dealers are stuck with these 12 doubles with little room to make a profit now that the Russian market is soft. I would not want to acquire more 12 bore top tier English doubles and expect to recoup investment for many years. The most astonishing thing I show or failed to see was that few attendee were under sixty which does not bode well for love of fine weapons. On the antique side the comradeship was superb and everyone quite jovial. Many fine tables and great collectors present.
Then there is Vegas. The Riviera is still a cool place for this show but outside, it looks like someone dropped a bomb on the place. Many construction projects are halted it looks like after the 07 meltdown with rusting girders and cranes everywhere. If not hunting birds I suspect will come back
to visit old and new friends but nothing really got to me except the flintlocks after dreaming of a double on Montana pheasant
NorMax

Thanks Daryl and Nomax for the synopsis. I'm just trying to figure out which show to go to. It sounds like the Antique Arms and International Sporting Arms show has a real good variety of firearms to look over. My interest is mostly in double guns. It would be great to see some of the old American classics, as well as the British, and European double guns. As far as the dealers of new double gun product, who is typically in attendance? New England Custom Gun, CSMC, Griffin & Howe, William Larkin Moore, Quality Arms, Lion Country Supply....?
Thanks.
Tim

Tim, here's a list of the exhibitors at this year's show:
http://www.antiquearmsshow.com/exhibitorlist.cfm?eventid=4

Perfect, that's really great. Thanks Wild Skies. I had been to their website a few times, but for some reason I wasn't able to open any of the links.
Tim

Thanks for the reports, guys.

Normax - I would love to see the Manton. Stuff like that makes my hands shake. I've handled a couple Mantons and it felt like I was reaching back through history. Are you going to shoot it?

OWD