Crossroads of the West

As much I would like to give the Gun Show a great review. I just can’t in good conscience do it. I’ve gone to 2 Gun Shows in the area recently (Vallejo and San Francisco) and both have been disappointing. First off, I renewed my NRA membership at the booth (Dec 4^th) and 2 months later the NRA has no information about receiving my membership (Strike 1). The majority of the goods are outdated or of low quality. Do people even buy quad rails anymore? C’mon this is 2016! (Strike 2). Lastly, if you find anything there you’re most likely getting swindled because everything there is overpriced and you’ll be upset with your purchase later after some research. (Strike 3).
This might be a good place to go if you know of a reputable seller that will be here and is selling quality reloads or ammunition at a good price, but I highly doubt it. These gun shows are just looking to prey on the uninformed and convenience buyers. Avoid if you can and buy what you need online or support a local Bay Area gun store.

Ten years ago this show was good. I enjoyed taking my lady to her first gun show. She liked it plenty fine. Some obscure antiques were neat to see.
My main complaint is the selfish «dealers» selling 22 ammo for $ 65-​$ 85 a brick. Are you kidding me? I just bought 2 bricks from 2 local stores in Santa Rosa. I paid $ 25 a piece. The «dealers at the gun show are the people buying up the 22 causing an artificial shortage then jacking up the price.
Don’t patronize the selfish jerks. They are the same folks who cut you off in traffic to get a car length ahead. Me first, me first. God bless America!

This was our first time at the gun show but we knew to show up early. We arrived around 8:20am (Doors open at 9am) and there was already a line. We were lookin’ to buy ammo and the guys in front of us were super friendly and talkative that the 40 mins flew buy really fast. They told us to follow them but the main ammo place, you can’t miss them, we were about 10 people back from the ‘prepaid ticket’ line outside but we were about 30 people back from the ammo line. They were only letting in people for the main ammo line, seven at a time, so to get to the font of the ammo line took one hour and forty five minutes! The guys at the ammo place were very helpful and informative, especially for us first time gun owners.
The rest of the venue is alright. Some vendors are nice and some can be real d!@&$. LookyiLou was a great vendor that was real informative on what kind of cleaner to buy for our kind of gun so that it wouldn’t get scratched on the inside and gave us tips on where you can save money and when you can splurge when buying things for your new gun. Great guy and super friendly.
We were glad we went but once you factor in: gas, price of tickets, parking, and waiting in line, you can get brand new ammo online for about the same price.

This was my first gun show so I didn’t know what to expect… except that we went during the ⁴⁄₁₃ — ⁴⁄₁₄ fiasco. Dollar off coupon on their website making it $ 11 bucks per person + $ 8 parking.
The first day, we got there too late. Line was around the corner, but not as bad as others. The line went pretty quick, but the line for ammo was huge already. We jumped into the first one we saw and it was such a disappointment to know we were in the wrong one. We were at Redline Ballistics. You need to go to the dealer with the giant yellow ammo sign for the best deals. I was actually expecting to see more guns for sale, but nothing I wanted. I guess it’s just Dicks and Big5 for me.
Second day: We arrived early enough to be the first one in line and not have to pay for parking. We were probably the third ones in line for ammo. Luckily they still had .22lr’s left. This time we walked around and I didn’t see anything I wanted. The prices for rifle cases were outrageous.
The ammo is cheap enough that I’d come here again, but only for ammo and nothing more.

There are not very many gun shows in the San Francisco Bay Area. I rated this show up a star for that reason.
With recent concerns about firearms and ammunition regulations, people absolutely flocked to the latest show in January 2013. One estimate was that over 10,000 people attended on Saturday alone. Vendors sold a variety of products, including large quantities of ammunition. FFL dealers were on hand to facilitate the lawful transfer of firearms between private parties. One interesting vendor is the San Francisco Japanese Sword Society (
) There were numerous vendors of personal defense products, powerful flashlights, etc. as well as a handful of militaria and relic vendors. Selection varies by show. The show Web site has a coupon for $ 1 off the $ 12 entry fee. Parking is $ 8.

This gun show used to be pretty good but now it’s more like a flea market — not many actual guns but plenty of stun guns, survivalist equipment, knives, books, etc.
On the Crossroads of the West website you can print out a coupon for $ 1 off admission but it’s still not worth the entry fee

Used to be a fairly awesome gun show. Now it’s fairly castrated. Not sure if it’s due to county regulations or just bad business, but the ‘show’ was less than impressive. Very few firearms, almost no ammo and a lot of vendors peddling cheap stuff you could just as easily find on ebay. There were a couple of vendors who had some pretty awesome kits (mostly AR-​related), but it just wasn’t worth the $ 8 for parking and $ 10 per person entry fee.