Philadelphia Army National Guard - Appalachian Promotions

[red dog]

yes, it is a small show. there is a lot of foot traffic, can be crowded. limited firearms dealers. worst show? imo not even close. from a dealer stand point this show delivers consistent sales that bring us back time and time again. i guess it is in all what you are looking for.

[Mrrogers191980]

Far from worst show in PA, however, one trip down there was enough for me. Its just to small and crowded to be enjoyable. I have gotten a few quality blades there but not much else. I usually go to shows for the ammo and the prices last time were horrible, literally a few bucks off range prices.

[Burlington]

I just got home and will never go again. Yes, it depends on what you're looking for, but I'll be darned if I could find "it." I went with low expectations thinking, if nothing else, I'll get some powder and primers. WRONG! None there. It looks like even Top Hat bagged this one. Fortunately I'm set with ammo through the 2016 election, but there was 7.62x54 spam cans for 139 and federal 5.56 1K boxes for 399. No thank you.

[palawstudent]

Well, you just saved me $7 and an unncessary trip. Did they even have any REASONABLY priced, new WASR-10s?

[Dogpupkus]

Thinking about going in an hour or so. Will try to update with a report.
Also hoping to find AKs, would like a non-SKS 7.62x39 back in the collection again.

[silent*anarchy]

yes, it is a small show. there is a lot of foot traffic, can be crowded. limited firearms dealers. worst show? imo not even close. from a dealer stand point this show delivers consistent sales that bring us back time and time again. i guess it is in all what you are looking for.

Well it all depends on what you sell, remember gun shows were original a mix of TRUE REAL military weapons plus real military gear mostly collectable/historicle and some hunting/reloading items. But now they have become more like "arms fairs" or "arms bazzars" with mostly new import military rifles or fantasy black rifles and accessories from china or bulk ammo sellers. Over the decades i have sold at a variety of shows up and down the north east from mass to virginia and i have stopped selling at 99% of them because they have degenerated into these. I sell vintage militaria, nothing past the vietnam war and the great majority of the customer attending these shows have zero intrest in collectables anymore, all they want are modern high cap mags and everything stated above. Its no wonder the demoncrats in the government target gun shows so much anymore. I do miss the old days.

[palawstudent]

Well it all depends on what you sell, remember gun shows were original a mix of TRUE REAL military weapons plus real military gear mostly collectable/historicle and some hunting/reloading items. But now they have become more like "arms fairs" or "arms bazzars" with mostly new import military rifles or fantasy black rifles and accessories from china or bulk ammo sellers. Over the decades i have sold at a variety of shows up and down the north east from mass to virginia and i have stopped selling at 99% of them because they have degenerated into these. I sell vintage militaria, nothing past the vietnam war and the great majority of the customer attending these shows have zero intrest in collectables anymore, all they want are modern high cap mags and everything stated above. Its no wonder the demoncrats in the government target gun shows so much anymore. I do miss the old days.

You contradicted yourself in your post. You stated, [you] "...remember gun shows were original a mix of TRUE REAL military weapons plus real military gear..." and you referred to them today as "arms fairs". I assume you are talking about gun shows from the 1960s to the 1980s. Back then M1 garands and M1 carbines were considered "recently retired military weapons", and they were still being implemented by countries throughout the world. Their technology was still relatively decent compared to the M-16a1. As far as selling real military gear, back then military gear consisted of: web belts, alice packs, pouches with alice clips, and suspenders. Gun shows haven't really changed ever since then. Today they sell assault rifles that have technology that are equivalent to the military weapons or a little behind on the technology. I haven't seen too many civilians with corner shot rifles or rifles with "smart cartridges" that explode after passing through a window. As far as military gear today goes, our soldiers are mostly using the molle system. At gun shows, they are currently selling the molle system. The concept of gun shows hasn't changed over the years, but the weapons and gear technology has been updated the same rate as the military. Another thing to note is today there are more companies making "military style weapons" than there were in the past, hence the larger selection. In the past, the only companies who generally made these military-style weapons were ones who were contracted to make them for the government. Another reason you don't see too many "true military weapons" is because our military has been decreasing in size since World War II. That means there are fewer weapons being manufactured. Ever since World War II ended and we became a super power, we have been giving away all of our used equipment to other countries. Between Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, think about all of the M-16a2 rifles we gave to those countries. That's why you don't see as many of these "true military weapons" at gun shows.

[Tin Soldier]

You contradicted yourself in your post. You stated, [you] "...remember gun shows were original a mix of TRUE REAL military weapons plus real military gear..." and you referred to them today as "arms fairs". I assume you are talking about gun shows from the 1960s to the 1980s. Back then M1 garands and M1 carbines were considered "recently retired military weapons", and they were still being implemented by countries throughout the world. Their technology was still relatively decent compared to the M-16a1. As far as selling real military gear, back then military gear consisted of: web belts, alice packs, pouches with alice clips, and suspenders. Gun shows haven't really changed ever since then. Today they sell assault rifles that have technology that are equivalent to the military weapons or a little behind on the technology. I haven't seen too many civilians with corner shot rifles or rifles with "smart cartridges" that explode after passing through a window. As far as military gear today goes, our soldiers are mostly using the molle system. At gun shows, they are currently selling the molle system. The concept of gun shows hasn't changed over the years, but the weapons and gear technology has been updated the same rate as the military. Another thing to note is today there are more companies making "military style weapons" than there were in the past, hence the larger selection. In the past, the only companies who generally made these military-style weapons were ones who were contracted to make them for the government. Another reason you don't see too many "true military weapons" is because our military has been decreasing in size since World War II. That means there are fewer weapons being manufactured. Ever since World War II ended and we became a super power, we have been giving away all of our used equipment to other countries. Between Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, think about all of the M-16a2 rifles we gave to those countries. That's why you don't see as many of these "true military weapons" at gun shows.

Why are using the term "assault rifles"? That is an incorrect description of what a lot of us hold near and dear to our hearts.

[palawstudent]

Why are using the term "assault rifles"? That is an incorrect description of what a lot of us hold near and dear to our hearts.

My appologizes, sir. I was just trying to quickly express my opinion before I walked out the house to grab a bite to eat.

[Dogpupkus]

Only AK's were some overpriced tantals and some seriously overpriced WASR10's

Saw a Romanian PSL, but it didn't have a price tag on it.

Of course, there were a few tables selling cheap Hi-Points and garbage Loricin/Jennings/Bryco pistols to unknowing buyers.

Saw an ARMSCOR (RIA) 1911 for $389, a few LCP's at $250-300

Ammo prices were awful, as expected.

Almost everything was over-priced. Too crowded. Too many random people drooling over, handling, and crowding around AR's,

Lots Nagant Revolvers and Mosin Nagant Rifles. ($130 range)
Saw a few Romanian Toks, a couple Bulgarian Maks, A couple P-1's a few P-38's. Taurus garbage was absolutely everywhere.

Not satisfied really, but I expected to not be impressed.
Overall, save your money.