[mrerick]

Thanks for the report, Dave.

When I lived in the Hudson Valley, the only show nearby that I attended was at the Poughkeepsie National Guard armory. It was very small and crowded. Still fun to get out and see things. i don't remember there being non-firearm related booths, so to me it was a good show.

In Raleigh, the shows are held at large multi-use facilities that also inlcude buildings used for agricultural shows. They are thoroughly cleaned after each use, so remain fresh and attractive. Some of the shows here are huge, with hundreds of vendors. It's definitely a different experience.

Our shows prohibit taking photographs, but now so many cellphones have cameras that it's difficult to control. I suppose individual dealers could allow you to document Lugers you see, and that could prove useful in the future along with other documentation.

I've bought three very nice Lugers at our local show in Raleigh. My first, a .30 DWM Alphabet Commercial; My Simson and a Mauser 42 date byf. I actually got them all on the second day of weekend shows, so they survived all day Saturday without sale.

There are a few dealers that always bring mixed serial number Lugers or ones with finish issues and try to get way over collector price for them. They recognize me, and probably don't appreciate anyone with knowledge being at the shows.

Every once in a while, a dealer shows up from afar (Florida, etc...) with interesting stock. This is how I saw my first righteous Krieghoff.

And a few years ago, someone showed up with just a small tray table (like you'd eat on while watching TV) with three very high priced Lugers. He was from out of the area. They had been improperly refinished and a very poor re-crown job done on two of them. Within 30 minutes of my closely inspecting them (and not saying anything), he closed up shop and left. Interesting...