National Gun Day in Louisville

[bloodandgutsmurphy]

Howdy Ingo,

My buddies and I have been looking forward for the January Indy 1500 for a few weeks now. I recently found out that Louisville is having a large show the same weekend as well. I am just looking for opinions of the show, seeing if it is worth the four hour drive down there (I live in NWI) . Second question, is there a fair amount of private sellers there? I am not too familiar about laws concerning out of state gun sales. Thanks

 

[jss1956]

I've been attending the National Gun Day for quite a few years. To me, nothing compares, except maybe Tulsa. Compared to the 1500, well, there is no comparison. Parking is $7.00 and admission is $12.00. If you are looking for black guns you will find this is not the best show. Blued steel and wood are the theme here. There are some evil black guns but they are few and far between. For spending about the same money as the 1500 here is what you get:

3-4X the tables as the 1500 in a modern building with aisles you can actually walk down
No flea market trash like purses, food candy, jerky, etc. Not allowed
The rare, hard to find and unusual stuff you don't see elsewhere
Real gun dealers with high quality and are willing to negotiate
Hunting guns, military, antique and modern firearms and ammo
A steady stream of private sellers by the doors or in the lobby

I've purchased more guns at this show than any other, either from the dealers or at the door. I stopped attending the 1500 several years ago. I go to a gun show to see guns, ammo and shooting, not flea market trash and junk. Comparing the 1500 to the National Gun Day is sort of like comparing ... Well you get the picture. Check out the pictures. I'll be there Saturday. Any other questions? Send me a PM.

National Gun Day - the best national gun show

 

[Kirk Freeman]

National Gun Day must be experienced to be believed.

View From The Porch: National Gun Day report.

 

[DapperDan]

Plan on attending Saturday early, Indiana plays at 12:30 so have to be out of there by then

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I love the Louisville show. It really ruined the 1500 for me (although I still like going to the 1500). As jss1956 said, the emphasis is on the older guns, which is right up my alley. Indy1919a4 and I will be there before they open Saturday. If you get there early enough, you can park for free (just have to get there before they man the ticket booths for the parking lot). There is usually a military surplus show going on in the same building, but I've never been in that one (separate tickets required), but I understand it leans toward the more collectable milsurp stuff, and the prices reflect that.

 

[rob63]

I love the Louisville show. It really ruined the 1500 for me (although I still like going to the 1500). As jss1956 said, the emphasis is on the older guns, which is right up my alley. Indy1919a4 and I will be there before they open Saturday. If you get there early enough, you can park for free (just have to get there before they man the ticket booths for the parking lot). There is usually a military surplus show going on in the same building, but I've never been in that one (separate tickets required), but I understand it leans toward the more collectable milsurp stuff, and the prices reflect that.

Although there is a militaria show held each time, the OVMS Show of Shows is the one that is worth going to and it is only held once a year. This year it is Feb. 18-21. It is truly unbelievable, dealers literally come from all over the world to that show.
[video=youtube;jVj5mwjXbJw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVj5mwjXbJw[/video]
Regarding the gun show, I will be driving right past Indy on my way to the Louisville show. It is awesome.

 

[AmmoManAaron]

Although there is a militaria show held each time, the OVMS Show of Shows is the one that is worth going to and it is only held once a year. This year it is Feb. 18-21. It is truly unbelievable, dealers literally come from all over the world to that show.
[video=youtube;jVj5mwjXbJw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVj5mwjXbJw[/video]
Regarding the gun show, I will be driving right past Indy on my way to the Louisville show. It is awesome.

The OVMS Show of Shows is worth going to, but it is a FOUR day show. IIRC, Thursday is members only, so Friday is your best bet if you want to find good stuff. Sunday is dead and a lot of dealers are packing up because the show is so long and they come from so far away. There are a lot of uniforms, patches, and helmets, but there are good guns, mags, and ammo to be had as well. I've never left the OVMS show empty handed. Of course, I've never left the National Gun Day show empty handed either! I've left the Indy 1500 empty handed a bunch of times.

 

[femurphy77]

1500=, National Gun Day=+++

 

[trophy hunter]

i`ll be there saturday..

 

[Gunaria]

Don't want to burst people's bubble but this is not the large NGD show. This show is only 1500 tables. The spring NGD show is 2000 tables. With the INDO 1500 the same weekend, I feel dealers and sellers will be split on which show they will do. But if I had to choose, I would do NGD.

 

[Fawkes]

I usually go to the NGD show, and the OVMS Show of Shows, which in the past has basically occured on the same weekend right next door to each other in the Expo hall. In that situation each show helps the other generate traffic and diversity of offerings. This is the first time these shows are on different weekends and I suspect traffic will be off and it will be pretty much like a standard NGD/Great Eastern show. I don't know why or who messed with the winning formula of simultaneous shows but the show that really can't be missed is the Show of Shows, very interesting and rare militaria as well as guns and like it has already been said exhibitors and traffic from all over the world. I was carrying a soviet shaskha that I had just bought and I was approached by a very drunk Russian who insisted I sell the sword to him. I did my best to be diplomatic and offered the sword to him at 3x what I paid and thankfully he went on his way after a long conversation with another Russian via cell phone.

And it won't be a revelation to some but unless you are there at set up on Friday you miss the best deals/unusual items.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I usually go to the NGD show, and the OVMS Show of Shows, which in the past has basically occured on the same weekend right next door to each other in the Expo hall. In that situation each show helps the other generate traffic and diversity of offerings. This is the first time these shows are on different weekends and I suspect traffic will be off and it will be pretty much like a standard NGD/Great Eastern show. I don't know why or who messed with the winning formula of simultaneous shows but the show that really can't be missed is the Show of Shows, very interesting and rare militaria as well as guns and like it has already been said exhibitors and traffic from all over the world. I was carrying a soviet shaskha that I had just bought and I was approached by a very drunk Russian who insisted I sell the sword to him. I did my best to be diplomatic and offered the sword to him at 3x what I paid and thankfully he went on his way after a long conversation with another Russian via cell phone.

And it won't be a revelation to some but unless you are there at set up on Friday you miss the best deals/unusual items.

I've heard that there is a car show there this weekend also. I wonder if that conflicted with the OVMS show?

 

[Fawkes]

DD, I suspect Dixson (or is it Dickson) stuck his foot in it seeing as how that seems to be his M.O. I think he dropped his December show and wanted to give more time between this show and the spring show. Just my guess however. OVMS seems happy with their traditional late February date. His loss because I know many guys that wouldn't go to NGD unless they didn't happen to already be there for the SofS. Whatever, we'll see I guess, at least hotel rooms should be easier to get.

 

[mkgr22]

The real reason for the schedule change was announced a year ago.

The Kentucky Expo Center canceled the date of the combined NGD/SOS show for 2016 after receiving a request for a commercial helicopter trade show that will use the whole facility. (More money for them.)

There were no other weekends available in the first few months of the year with enough space for both shows at once, so the two split.

I have heard that the OVMS is OK with the separate date, since many of their vendors would leave the SOS on Friday night to set up at NGD instead.

 

[johntheplinker]

Howdy Ingo,

My buddies and I have been looking forward for the January Indy 1500 for a few weeks now. I recently found out that Louisville is having a large show the same weekend as well. I am just looking for opinions of the show, seeing if it is worth the four hour drive down there (I live in NWI) . Second question, is there a fair amount of private sellers there? I am not too familiar about laws concerning out of state gun sales. Thanks

I've only been to the Indy 1500 a couple of times and wasn't impressed, NGD a bunch. To see everything at NGD you either need to stay moving or take 2 days.
Also for your second question, you'll need to go through a FFL for all firearm sales, including private sellers. IIRC there's usually somebody set up to do just that for a reasonable price.

 

[ctb1]

If you buy a handgun at the Louisville show don't you have to have it shipped to an Indiana FFL?

 

[maxipum]

unless you are a c&r and the handgun is on the list.

 

[Fawkes]

The real reason for the schedule change was announced a year ago.

The Kentucky Expo Center canceled the date of the combined NGD/SOS show for 2016 after receiving a request for a commercial helicopter trade show that will use the whole facility. (More money for them.)

There were no other weekends available in the first few months of the year with enough space for both shows at once, so the two split.

I have heard that the OVMS is OK with the separate date, since many of their vendors would leave the SOS on Friday night to set up at NGD instead.

Interesting as the OVMS show is February 18-21 2016, which is close to the traditional date of the NGD and SofS, you'd think Dickson would have aligned with that weekend other than lack of space, and from the times I've been to that show there seemed to be abundant vacant expo space, but who knows.
I guess the helicopter show is some other weekend as otherwise OVMS wouldn't be able to get space that weekend. I agree many vendors abandoned the OVMS show for NGD but that makes it even more odd that NGD wouldn't try to mirror OVMS.

 

[dsol]

If you buy a handgun at the Louisville show don't you have to have it shipped to an Indiana FFL?

Yes you do. Many of the dealers there have an Indiana dealer they work with. Last time I purchased one at the show, the Indiana dealer he worked with met me at his shop after the show was over for the background check and transfer.

 

[DSmith78]

Anybody go? I assume its a typical gun show of over priced stuff or is it worth going to