Baltimore Gun Show - March 18-19
 

Looking forward to the Great Baltimore show.

If there's interest, I can put together a dinner for Saturday night for PGCA members and friends.

Josh, we usually get a group together and go to Schultz''s Crab House however Daryl Corona lives in the area snd says there is better seafood closer to the show.

Let's get a list of who would like to go to dinner after the show and we'll go from there. I'll be driving home after eating.

Is Obrycki's still a favored crab house? It sure was in the late 60's when I was in OCS at Aberdeen Proving Grounds

I'm in for dinner on Saturday night.

The weather may put a damper on the gun show next weekend a blizzard is coming to the DC area starting tonight.:banghead: J.J.

I have attended the Old Baltimore Show for 52 years and been an exhibitor there for the last 19 years. I well remember standing in line in a howling sleet storm up on the hill overlooking the 5th Regiment Armory along with 2 or 3 hundred other people waiting for the show to open back in the 1960s. If there is any impact whatsoever on the show this weekend it will surely go down as a cataclysmic meteorological event! Go anyway!!

No wonder I never saw Kevin in line at the 5th Regiment Armory. I always waited in line on the downhill side of the entrance. My biggest disappointment at that show was passing up a lamp made from an eight gauge Parker for about $25.00

They'll have plenty of time to clear the snow away. MACA members get to park indoors anyway.

Edgar, what is your table number. Kevin and I are at B-4 and B-5.

Edgar, WHERE WERE YOU?? Murph and I missed you severely! I even brought some special cigars to share with you while we waited in line to set up! (George P., the master of 'Charlie Purple', also missed out on a prime stogie!). Looks like we'll have to smoke them at the Southern in April!!. K.

Thanks for that Kevin. I missed not seeing you and Bill and was having flashbacks to last year's setup day. M24 was manned by neither of us this year, but we were assured we would have it back next year. Hate to loose it after all these years. I trust brothers Corona,Bishop and the other PGCA regulars kept you company.
So lets have the report; what did I miss, what did you buy, what about your compatriot?

I bought 2 Frontier pads and a bottle of Balistol. I'm a big spender! There were a few nice Parkers there, a nice A grade 20ga. Fox, and a nice EE grade Lefever. I was tempted but I just bought a Parker last week so I passed on them.

Well Chuck, doesn't Margaret need one? (you need to be more creative)





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Get a new dog and buy him one

That's what I do

Dean and Rick must have all the angles figured out.:rolleyes::bowdown:

Kevin and Bill's display of the big Fox guns was awesome as was the 32" 20 HE on display with the 12's. Really, a gun to die for. Good job guys.

Chuck and I spied one really high condition Trojan 12. When we were discussing the gun with the owner he stated that "The Trojans came with blued receivers". I had to shake my head at that as he had the gun priced at $1995 with the "incorrect" case hardening.

There was an AE 20 Fox which to me looked unfired in pristine condition, the EE Lefever which Chuck mentioned and a slew of Parkers, non of which floated my boat. I did check out a 20 ga. Lefever which looked really nice upon first look but when I measured the bores/chambers it turned out the chambers were lengthened to 3.5" and there was a repaired bulge on the right barrel at the muzzle. What a shame as it was 28" with over .030 in each barrel.

So, I splurged along with Chuck and bought 4 Frontier pads and a bottle of Ballistol.

I think I'll buy a couple of smallish plastic spray bottles and start buying the bottles of Ballistol rather than the rather expensive spray cans of it.

I've only ever been to the Baltimore show once, last year, but I'd sure like to get there again someday.



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I've never used Ballistol so I thought I'd give it a try. These are 16 oz. cans that you can just screw a sprayer head directly on to the can. Cost $15 so they are more economical than the spray.

Yeah, you do NOT want to lose your place on the MACA roster! It took me 3 years to get into that show just for a display table! As you are well aware, there are no "walk-ons" for tables, but if you pay careful attention to the rules, you can luck out. Our friend John Allgood got a table last year literally 4 days before the show when several tables came open and they ran down the contact list. John was smart enough to keep in touch with the Show Committee contact they assigned him by calling up every few weeks to see if his name had advanced on the waiting list - really the only way to go.

Chuck and Daryl buzzed our booth regularly to give us updates on walk-around sellers carrying good stuff. I haven't heard anyone mention it yet, but there was an outrageous Parker $250+ grade hammer gun cased and displayed on a local dealer's table, one of the nicest I've seen in years. Also lots of buzz about the absolutely mint, probably unfired 20 ga. AE grade Fox which, so far as I know, went home with the dealer after the show. Bill bought an outstanding big bore (REALLY big!) graded Lefever that I will let him share with you when he gets home later today from the L.C. Smith shoot up in Carlisle PA. Our consortium scored a very nice condition 26" AE grade Fox as well, which we coaxed out of the trunk of a walk-around who wanted to sell us a Lefever and/or an LC Smith he was carrying around (he didn't want to walk all the way out to the parking lot to retrieve it, but we "encouraged" him enough that he eventually caved).

Daryl related in another post about the amazing dialog with the dealer who had the blued-all-over Trojan for sale - there was another one even scarier - completely blued in a super shiny finish (hot blued then buffed??) which the dealer was very proud of - $2200 firm! As always, we had a great time and I was particularly gratified to get rid of even more of my dwindling supply of geegaws and books. Missed you man!

I like and trust Ballistol but can't stand the odor - a fellow vendor at the Chantilly show put me on to "Eezoxx" last year - outstanding stuff but without the skunk cabbage smell. Don't know whether you can buy it in just liquid form (I've only seen the spray cans) but it is good stuff.

You can get Eezox in the can. Look on Amazon.

This is all I use. Great stuff.

Kevin, I have a can that came in an H&H cased 450-400 Royal. The whole case wreaked of it. I do know it makes very good bug repellent.

Kevin - I can't stand the smell of Ballistol either. I have been using G96 for years -tastes great and less filling. Billy

Kevin,
I did see that screwed, blued and tattoed Trojan and it was hideous. The seller was real proud of it and I bet he took that home with him.:banghead:

I had a great time at the gun show stop by to talk with Kevin & Bill got to see old friends I have't seen in years found a seagull decoy for my collection.:) J.J.

Hmmm. Been a long time since I've seen a good recipe for sea gull.

Tastes like owl, properly prepared.

Pluck and draw the seagull as you would any other fowl of the air. Make a succulent stuffing of rye bread crumbs mixed with rosemary, dried cranberries, pepper, 1/2 cup of cognac, 1/2 tsp of sea salt, 1 tsp of ground black pepper, and 1/4 cup of EVOO. Mix ingredients thoroughly.
Take one freshly washed red brick (Brian Dudley may still have some left from the Parker fire rubble in Meriden) and place it evenly inside the cavity in the gull. Surround the brick with the stuffing previously prepared and loosely stitch up the opening with old decoy anchor line.
Pre-heat oven to 350 for ten minutes, then place the gull on a rack over a pan to catch the drippings. Cooking time should be approximately 2 hours, 45 minutes (depending on the species of gull) basting every fifteen minutes during the last hour of cooking.
Finally, remove gull from oven and let it rest for fifteen minutes.

Open gull and remove the brick.

Discard the gull and eat the brick.... it will be a whole lot better than that sea gull!!





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Sorry I missed the $250 Grade and the high condition Trojan, but I did get to inspect the unfired condition Fox AE 20. The owner is a friend and shooting companion and I will pay his reasonable price, someday. He helped me with the purchase of an outstanding 20 gauge Sterlingworth a bit more than a year ago. My depleted physical condition may mean that Kevin will have a new partner next year. I just can't do three days any more. However, I have enjoyed almost 50 years of this show and will continue to attend.

Bill, is it sitting with Kevin for three days, or those wonderful folding chairs? They don't give us enough room to bring my leather wing chair. It's a good thing they put that rubber mat down, because it makes walking the show more tolerable.

This year the entire floor was carpeted.

Empire must have been having a 50% off sale. Oh wait, they do every day.

The show at the Fairgrounds has always been carpeted, but I just can't walk the aisles like I used to and I can't sit for three days either. I am the second partner that Kevin has worn out. What a guy. I will continue to attend as a guest, but not as an exhibitor. I still can't stop thinking about the eight gauge Parker lamp for $25.00. My two barrel cased set C Grade Bernard Steel Parker was a Baltimore find, thanks to my host, Kevin.