MACA Show
 

Don't keep us in suspense!! Reports?

I was unable, physically, to participate to my normal level. I am selling, not buying, so I had to pass up a really nice 16 gauge Sterlingworth, loaded up with color for an asking $525. It broke my heart to let that one go. Less than $500 probably would have bought it. Got to talk with some old friends, but couldn't access the whole show. Lots of nice Parkers, but I had to pass. If I can get a partner, I may go back to having a table. Sitting is better than walking.

Ok, what is the MACA show?

Bill you must have not been moving too slowly; I got there after you by c, 40 minutes according to Bill McPhail's confirmed sighting of you around 9:30 am. I tried to catch up but didn't know your row & aisle scanning pattern.

The nice 16 Sterly for $525 was nowhere to be found; the nice cleanup candidate early A grade ejector Fox missing a forend was very near to finding a home just as I left. Trick will be to find a forend iron with the early (Fox & Horne patent?) ejector mechanism.

More nice Parkers than I have seen there in years; very few Foxes (c. a dozen or less) with prices all over the map with few if any graded guns. Tons of Winchester levers and Colts like the old days, noticed (I thought oddly) the near complete absence of the once-ubiquitous Browning A-5s in 12 and 20 gauge and especially Sweet 16s, one of the most popular guns found at this show for years, known as THE place to find nice ones!

Tenor and amenities of the show have changed as well: the noise level is noticeably higher since they quit carpeting the place; vendors yelling to be heard and many complaining of the effects of concrete flooring on the feet. Aisles are noticeably wider by what appears to be 1.5-2 feet more than the longtime widths. The entrance foyer once again has vendors set up across from the display-only tableholders there, which is a good thing.

Some longtime vendors claim MACA lost 150-200 tableholders over the last few years as a result of the pandemic and escalating component, fuel and lodging prices in the aftermath. Overall, still one of the best shows in the country, with heavy emphasis on antique arms (knives, swords, muzzleloaders, tomahawks, etc.). Always a nice selection of fine British and European guns as well.

Maryland Arms Collectors Association show.

Did Josh Lowensteiner have a table?

The internet has taken its toll on the gun shows.

When I started going to the cow palace, the rows went A-Z, AA-FF. The distance from B1 to M-23 was bad enough with carpeting, and Jerry Smith was equally far away in the opposite direction. It always was a good show for Winchesters and Colt. If LeRoy ever packs it in, they may as well give up.

I did not see Josh at his usual table location nor anywhere else in the show.

He probably did, but was never behind it in the past. He pounded the pavement.