A long-standing local gun show

This coming weekend, Jan. 14th and 15th, is the annual Wasilla Hockey Booster Club Gun & Outdoor Show at Wasilla High School. This is a very popular and well attended show which has been happening for years. I remember attending this show shortly after moving to the area decades ago. I hadn’t been to many gun shows while living in the Kodiak area, so it was a real treat to attend a large show locally.

I haven’t been to many gun shows over the past few years because of my ankle problems. Now that that problem has been surgically corrected and I can walk again, I try not to miss any of the local Wasilla, Palmer, or Big Lake shows, if possible.

Over the years, I’ve found some good deals at the local shows. One year, I was looking at, but not necessarily for, a Savage model 99 lever-action rifle. One person had a used model 99 in 308 caliber which looked to be in good shape and the price wasn’t too bad. He was selling it because he needed some funds to finance a fishing trip he had planned. We talked some and I ended up finding a cash machine just down the road from the show where I withdrew the needed funds. I went back to the show and bought the rifle.

It's not a match quality gun but has more than adequate accuracy for hunting purposes, which is what I intended for its use. I carried the rifle on a few moose hunts and had it with me a few seasons while I was watching my bear bait station. I never had the opportunity to harvest any animals with it, but it was an interesting addition to my collection of lever action rifles. Its design was way ahead of its time compared to the Marlin and Winchester designs.

I had purchased a 10-gauge shotgun specifically for goose hunting several years ago (I’ve yet to chase geese with it, but hope springs eternal). I have a friend who also has a 10-gauge shotgun, and we hunted together a couple of days one season. We didn’t get any shots at geese, but we did harvest a few ducks. We were both interested in reloading for the 10-guage to reduce the cost of shells.

At one Wasilla show, I found a guy selling a MEC brand SteelMaster reloading machine in 10 gauge. The machine was brand new. The seller told me he had never removed the unit from the box. He had only opened the carton to check on contents. Being new to reloading shotgun shells, I went home that evening and researched what the machine was and what it sold for new. The seller’s asking price was about half of what the machine retailed for new. I went back the next day and bought the machine first thing.

While talking with this seller while we were making the deal, I learned that he had bought a Remington SP-10, 10-gauge semiautomatic shotgun (the same model shotgun I had bought) specifically for goose hunting. However, work and family commitments made his hunting trips impossible. He eventually sold the shotgun a few years prior to offering the reloading machine for sale. I lucked out here!

Another vendor had a MEC shotshell resizing unit for sale. The unit was incomplete, so the seller was only asking a few dollars for it. I bought that set-up and was able to find the 10-gauge missing parts online for a few dollars more. I ordered them and had a stand-alone resizing set-up for a fraction of what the same complete unit would have cost had I ordered it from a retailer.

Another time, I was able to trade a pair of slightly used boots to a vendor selling knives. I was able to get some nice cutlery to complement my muzzleloading shooting interests. I was able to sell an old reloading press set-up to a collector and was able to sell a bunch of old traps to folks for use as cabin or mantlepiece decorations. These traps had belonged to my father-in-law and had some interesting history harvesting animals around Kachemak Bay. The traps were worn out and unusable, but did make unique “Alaskan” decorations.

At another show, I bought a used Leupold (half price) scope missing the turret caps. I sent the scope back to Leupold and asked them for new caps and to check out the scope. They sent me a brand-new scope. What a deal!