Portland Gun Show Report--June

Dwight Gruber · 06-14-2004, 03:58 AM

The gun show in Portland this weekend was a shocking event. The Portland Expo show, historically regarded as one of the better thousand-table shows in the country, has fallen on desperate times. Banishment of the beef-jerky-and-beany-baby contingent reveals just how many of the tables have been dedicated to non-firearm interests of late, and widening the aisles has not disguised the fact that fully a quarter fo the tables that were left were unfilled; and a double-handful of table-holders I have seen here for the last two years--many of them sellers of interesting guns, and one major bookseller--were not around.

There were any number of rationializations as to why this occurred, ranging from this being the Rose Festival weekend in Portland, to there being too many of these shows during the year, to the results of the recent BATF sting operations. Regardless of the reasons, the view in the hall was that the prognosis for this major show is not good.

That being said, there were not many Lugers at this show, either.

One table with a 1916 DWM in respectable shape for $650, a 1918 DWM reblue for $550, and a reblued 1938 S/42 (with strawed small parts) for $750.

But the most interesting guns on this table were sold before the doors even opened--a Vickers and a 1912 DWM for $1.4k for the pair! I was disappointed not to have the opportunity to pick them up; but the table holder told me that the 1912 was nice, but the Vickers was a buffed'n'blued piece, not very good.

I had an opportunity to examine the Vickers today, it is indeed a polished and deep black salt blue rebarrel, but it turns out to be an old John Martz refinish, complete with JVM stamped on the frame under the sideplate and the original work receipt.

A 1918 Erfurt upper/DWM lower mismatch, $500.

An Alphabet Commercial with GERMANY stamped on the toggle in place of DWM, $1.050. This gun is being discussed in the the Commercial Luger forum, the short version of the story is that the piece is bogus.

And that, folks, is basically that.

--Dwight

06-14-2004, 03:58 AM	#1
Dwight Gruber User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,908 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1,330 Times in 435 Posts	Portland Gun Show Report--June The gun show in Portland this weekend was a shocking event. The Portland Expo show, historically regarded as one of the better thousand-table shows in the country, has fallen on desperate times. Banishment of the beef-jerky-and-beany-baby contingent reveals just how many of the tables have been dedicated to non-firearm interests of late, and widening the aisles has not disguised the fact that fully a quarter fo the tables that were left were unfilled; and a double-handful of table-holders I have seen here for the last two years--many of them sellers of interesting guns, and one major bookseller--were not around. There were any number of rationializations as to why this occurred, ranging from this being the Rose Festival weekend in Portland, to there being too many of these shows during the year, to the results of the recent BATF sting operations. Regardless of the reasons, the view in the hall was that the prognosis for this major show is not good. That being said, there were not many Lugers at this show, either. One table with a 1916 DWM in respectable shape for $650, a 1918 DWM reblue for $550, and a reblued 1938 S/42 (with strawed small parts) for $750. But the most interesting guns on this table were sold before the doors even opened--a Vickers and a 1912 DWM for $1.4k for the pair! I was disappointed not to have the opportunity to pick them up; but the table holder told me that the 1912 was nice, but the Vickers was a buffed'n'blued piece, not very good. I had an opportunity to examine the Vickers today, it is indeed a polished and deep black salt blue rebarrel, but it turns out to be an old John Martz refinish, complete with JVM stamped on the frame under the sideplate and the original work receipt. A 1918 Erfurt upper/DWM lower mismatch, $500. An Alphabet Commercial with GERMANY stamped on the toggle in place of DWM, $1.050. This gun is being discussed in the the Commercial Luger forum, the short version of the story is that the piece is bogus. And that, folks, is basically that. --Dwight