As you might have picked up from previous posts, Mike the Musicologist, myself, and some other friends who shall remain anonymous went up to Tulsa this past weekend for Wanenmacher’s Tulsa Arms Show. We generally try to go to every third one, but what with the Wuhan Flu et al, this is the first one we’ve been to since November of 2018.
I’m working on a longer post about some of the things I picked up during the show and around Tulsa, but I have to wait until one item arrives at my FFL. (On a related note, I am thinking more seriously about getting a C&R license. The problem is: I am already supposed to get one colonoscopy a year. I don’t need BATFE giving me a second one.)
A few things I noticed:
- It didn’t take us as long to go through the show as it usually did. I felt like I had seen all the tables by about 2 PM on Sunday.
- The reason is that it seemed there were fewer vendors. I think Wannemacher’s still sells all their tables, but it seemed like a lot of vendors may have purchased tables and then backed out for this round. Additionally, it seemed like a lot of vendors who were there decided to pack up their tables and close early: either they sold everything they’d brought, or just wanted to get on the road.
- There were a lot of people selling AR pattern rifles and parts at the show. But as usual, almost all the ones I saw were not mass-production platforms (Bushmaster, S&W, etc.) but were from small builders. I really didn’t pay much attention to prices, because I wasn’t looking for a new AR pattern rifle. (I am kind of looking for a cheapish AR upper for my own personal Behind Every Blade of Grass gun (hattip: McThag), but it wasn’t a priority for me at this show.) Someone Who Isn’t Me did purchase an upper in .224 Valkyrie, but I didn’t note the price.
- There were, as always, a lot of ammo vendors at the show. Which means ammo prices were competitive. I didn’t buy any ammo at the show. (I did pick up a box of .221 Fireball from Sports World and a box of 10mm Hornady Critical Duty from Dong’s Guns while we were roaming the city.) My Friends Who Are Not Me keep close track of ammo prices and did pick up some at the show for what they thought were good prices: 280 rounds of M-1 Garand specific .30-06 ammo for $1.25 a round (with ammo can and enbloc clips), 1000 rounds of .45 Auto for $.44 a round, 1000 rounds of 9mm for $.34 a round, and 1000 rounds of .380 for $.37 a round.
- I saw a lot (relatively speaking) of older Smith and Wesson Model 48 revolvers for sale. It wasn’t like every other table had one, but I saw far more than I expected to see, even given the size of the show. The Model 48 is a K-frame revolver chambered in .22 Magnum. They are nice guns, especially the older ones. I was just surprised at how many I saw for sale. (No, I didn’t buy one: I already have one in 6″. It’s very nice.)
- Pretty much all of our meals were good. We had the traditional German food at Siegi’s Sausage Factory, Thai food at Lanna Thai (“Lana!“), pretty good barbecue at Oklahoma Joe’s, excellent bulgogi at a hole in the wall called Gogi Gui Korean Grill, and a nice higher-end meal at Smoke Woodfire Grill. (Our usual higher end Sunday night meal place, The Chalkboard, is now only serving Sunday brunch.) We also had an excellent breakfast Monday morning at Bramble Breakfast and Bar in the Pearl District. (I recommend the Monte Carlo Benedict.) Also an excellent breakfast: Toast and Franklin’s on Main in Broken Arrow.