Well darn,,,
Wannenmacher's was a bust this year.
I went there with a Grand of disposable money,,,
I ended up spending a total of $20.00,,,
And $10.00 of that was admission.
I hit the floor at 9:30 exactly,,,
It took me until 5:30 to walk every aisle.
I was looking for two specific rifles,,,
A DSM-34 .22 trainer or a KKW .22 trainer,,,
But I was keeping my eyes open for any .22 single shot rifles.
I found no KKW's at all,,,
Not even at the big Mauser dealer table.
I only found three DSM's,,,
One was priced at $3,400.00,,,
It had a metal plate inlaid into the stock,,,
Apparently it was won as a prize by some German marksman.
One was a generic version but in nice condition,,,
But the seller was asking $1,350.00,,,
And wouldn't budge from that.
The last caused my heart to flutter a bit,,,
It was clean with nice blue and good wood,,,
It even had the correct leather sling that was still good.
The dealer had an $850.00 tag on it,,,
I was trying to control my excitement at this.
But as I pulled the bolt to inspect the bore,,,
I saw the four ragged holes where someone had tried to mount a scope.
They had done a terrible job,,,
The left side of the receiver was mangled.
I went back and looked at it twice,,,
But I knew I wouldn't be happy with it,,,
The owner said he could go down to $800.00.
I decided to pass on it.
I was also keeping an eye out for a nice Polish M-44 Nagant Carbine,,,
I found several incredibly ragged Chinese models,,,
And a few reasonable Russian guns,,,
The highest was $325.00.
But since I want this rifle to pair with a Polish WZ-48,,,
I decided to let those stay on the rack as well.
The last firearm I was looking to find,,,
Was a Rossi R-98 .22 revolver,,,
No luck there either.
What I did see all over the very large show,,,
Was outrageously high prices on just about everything.
I saw a dozen or more Winchester 67's,,,
The cheapest was $165.00.
Run of the mill .22 rifles were going for well over $200.00,,,
Anything a bit special was well overt that price.
Even the prices on brand new guns was above on-line retail prices,,,
I saw a lot of people looking up prices on their cell phones,,,
In short I didn't see many people filling out 4473's.
So after walking my poor old feet to painful stubs,,,
I ended up buying a set of three Chinese made throwing knives,,,
They will be end up as Christmas presents to the three sons of a work friend.
I had a good time though,,,
I got to smell gun oil and handle many guns,,,
But I sure wish I could have found one of my quest guns.
Oh well,,,
Maybe the next show will be better for me.
Aarond
.
Wannenmacher's was a bust this year.
I went there with a Grand of disposable money,,,
I ended up spending a total of $20.00,,,
And $10.00 of that was admission.
I hit the floor at 9:30 exactly,,,
It took me until 5:30 to walk every aisle.
I was looking for two specific rifles,,,
A DSM-34 .22 trainer or a KKW .22 trainer,,,
But I was keeping my eyes open for any .22 single shot rifles.
I found no KKW's at all,,,
Not even at the big Mauser dealer table.
I only found three DSM's,,,
One was priced at $3,400.00,,,
It had a metal plate inlaid into the stock,,,
Apparently it was won as a prize by some German marksman.
One was a generic version but in nice condition,,,
But the seller was asking $1,350.00,,,
And wouldn't budge from that.
The last caused my heart to flutter a bit,,,
It was clean with nice blue and good wood,,,
It even had the correct leather sling that was still good.
The dealer had an $850.00 tag on it,,,
I was trying to control my excitement at this.
But as I pulled the bolt to inspect the bore,,,
I saw the four ragged holes where someone had tried to mount a scope.
They had done a terrible job,,,
The left side of the receiver was mangled.
I went back and looked at it twice,,,
But I knew I wouldn't be happy with it,,,
The owner said he could go down to $800.00.
I decided to pass on it.
I was also keeping an eye out for a nice Polish M-44 Nagant Carbine,,,
I found several incredibly ragged Chinese models,,,
And a few reasonable Russian guns,,,
The highest was $325.00.
But since I want this rifle to pair with a Polish WZ-48,,,
I decided to let those stay on the rack as well.
The last firearm I was looking to find,,,
Was a Rossi R-98 .22 revolver,,,
No luck there either.
What I did see all over the very large show,,,
Was outrageously high prices on just about everything.
I saw a dozen or more Winchester 67's,,,
The cheapest was $165.00.
Run of the mill .22 rifles were going for well over $200.00,,,
Anything a bit special was well overt that price.
Even the prices on brand new guns was above on-line retail prices,,,
I saw a lot of people looking up prices on their cell phones,,,
In short I didn't see many people filling out 4473's.
So after walking my poor old feet to painful stubs,,,
I ended up buying a set of three Chinese made throwing knives,,,
They will be end up as Christmas presents to the three sons of a work friend.
I had a good time though,,,
I got to smell gun oil and handle many guns,,,
But I sure wish I could have found one of my quest guns.
Oh well,,,
Maybe the next show will be better for me.
Aarond
.
I got paid Friday, but I got clobbered this week at work, spent 3 days away from home unexpectedly for work because one of our guys got sick and it totally slipped my mind. 
