Saturday, January 10, 2009

Indy 1500 Report

Tam's Shootin' Buddy showed up Saturday at 0750 on the dot. We were out the door shortly after 0800 and among the first few hundred arrivals at the Indy 1500 Gun and Knife show. Yes, that's what I said: early as we arrived, we parked the width of the lot in front of the East Pavilion away, in a spot near the edge of the crowd.

We had a good day; no really great finds (I passed up a Star "Firestar" in .40 S&W that would complete my set of these heavy, dependable little compacts, made in 9mm, .40 and .45. Nice little guns, terribly underated, did I mention the weight? Ow) but some good solid stuff -- magazines and ammunition and new belts (Amish leather, it said on the sign. If true, they have unusually thick hides) and EBR (AR-15) bits. Oh -- and books, the latest installment of the Most Dangerous Men collection of thumbnail biographies for me and a definitive treatment of John Moses Browning's .38 automatics for Tam.

The first hint of "interesting times" showed up in Shootin' Buddy's quest for AR-15 mags. One dealer told of showing up with a pallet-load of one of the better sorts...and selling them all by the end of the day Friday! Decent AR-15 mags weren't unfindable, but they were selling very well and prices were a bit up. Expect more and more of this.

Some of the better-known names in AR-15 parts kits were there -- Model "1" Distributors, among others -- and doing a land-office business. They'd brought plenty, fear not, o gentle reader.

By the time we'd worked our way from one end to the middle of the hall, crowds were pretty thick. We made a cargo run out to our vehicle (and smoke break for some members of the party) and noticed a very long line for tickets. Started back through the hall from the middle, became mired in traffic, backed out and started over from the far end, and still didn't manage to see everything. Crowds got so thick, it was impossible to look at much. Along the way, we met up with some old friends -- Farmer Frank and the redoubtable Sheriff Ken Campbell among others -- and just missed Caleb.

When we left about 1:00 p.m., the crowd was packed almost solid and yet the line to get in stretched halfway down one side of the hall and all along another -- and gunnies were still arriving!

It's a good gun show. There's plenty to see and to buy. But my advice is either show up early tomorrow, or be ready to make a long day of it.

And be like the kewl kids: if you haven't already, buy or build your "evil black rifle" now.

Update: I failed to mention that we adjourned to Broad Ripple Brew Pub for a bit of a snack after the event -- I can now recommend their delicious chili -- and afterward, dropped by Rene's bakery. One of the physically-smallest jewels in Broad Ripple's crown (I've always been reminded of the galley of a submarine, as he's got an entire bakery in the space of a garden shed, everything happening right behind the counter for customors to watch), it is also one of the most sparkling. How good is Rene's? I purchased a couple of sugar cookies for Shootin' Buddy and he rang up Roseholme about a half-hour after departure, still on the road, to annouce he had devoured one, hidden the other from himself to save for later, and wanted more as soon as possible.

10 comments:

  1. yeah, bummed i missed ya.

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  2. I have the Firestar in .40 and I love it. Great little gun.

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  3. Unfortunately, I can't take you advice Roberta. Ebil black rifle have been a nono here since 1994.

    Which is yet another reason I want to move.

    (W/V: "conderso", I'm guessing some kind of evaporated milk?)

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  4. Firestar = heavy? Oh, absolutely. Nicely compact, well made and pretty accurate, but they weigh a short tonne and have sharp corners where there aren't even any edges. I bought one in 9mm from a co-worker who was seriously short on funds. I told him it was worth more than what he asked, but he needed the money rat THEN.

    I think it would have been okay with a well designed holster on a heavy belt, but I already knew I didn't want to keep it. I swapped it in on a .40 Browning Hi-Power - - Which didn't seem to weigh significantly more.

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  5. Similar to my experience down here yesterday... though, Georgia Arms at least made it up here with ammo - unfortunately that wasn't what I was seeking...

    Like you said, I expect more of the same at shows for the foreseeable future.

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  6. I'm an inveterate optimist. I have faith that freedom loving Americans will prevail. It might be painful and possibly even bloody, but we will prevail.

    At the core is that we know what is worth fighting for and the opposition simply waits for someone to hand it to them.

    I've got to get to the next Ft. Worth and/or Dallas gun show. It's a major hassle, particularly with big city traffic, but probably worthy of the special effort.

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  7. No EBR for me...can't afford the prices right now. Post Christmas, and all that (also dental work, but at least I avoided the root canal)
    For an EBR I have to settle for my SKS. Hey, it has a bayonet for extra evilness.

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  8. Mrs. Drang has a .40 Firestar as well, and we heartily agree that it is a nice, albeit heavy, piece. Alas, a victim of the dual scourges of (American) gun control and (Spanish) governmental economic policies. (I.e., nationalization and consolidation of the Spanish firearms industry.)

    Got my lower built, need an upper.

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  9. Aw, I went on the wrong day and I missed you! I was there on Sunday. Bought my first gun: a Remington 870 pump-action shotgun (.20 gauge) in all black. It's my baby.

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  10. Awesome!

    Every time someone buys their first gun, an angel gets its wings. :)

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