Till now my participation in events/rondies/shows has been limited to very local stuff -- the NMLRA Shoots and small happenings here in my own area. I know there's probably a network of info out there for getting a list of things going on within a day's drive of me, or so, but rather than hunt around on the internet for it I figured it'd be faster to ask folks who are actually already involved.
What I'm looking for are events within six-to-eight driving hours from SE Indiana, preferably weekends, that would welcome a vendor coming in with a batch of economically-priced rifles. As a basis for comparison, it's almost exactly an eight-hour drive for me to travel to Hagerstown, Maryland, so looking eastward anything in Ohio, Pennsylvania, western Virginia, or other points further north or south would work out. Westward, points in Iowa and Missouri, or closer, would be do-able. I have no problem with pre-1840 dress but I do become psychotically violent when confronted by thread counters or reps for strictly-juried events, so definitely more casual events are what I have in mind.
I plan/hope to quit my "real" job come the end of the year and would like to have at least the start of a schedule of events I can travel to, to sell my guns. Any assistance in the way of info on actual things coming up, or leads on lists fo such events, would be much appreciated.
Mongrel/Mike you probably already know about this sight but if not it has lots of events etc..
http://rendezvousohio.com
No, I didn't -- thanks much.
You'd be surprised how much building these things full-time means being almost completely unaware of anything else connected to our sport. I really need to start getting out more -- thus my having to ask where there is for me to go when I DO finally get out.
ship me a dozen and I'll sell em for you at Wool-A-Roc this fall..... pnic :mini-devil-28492:
You know, NEXT fall that might be an offer I take you up on, Jim. Not a dozen, but some. No point in stopping my guns from seeing new places and people, just because for the time being I can't.
You know that offer is always good with me as well...
Quote from: Rev on July 30, 2012, 08:28:06 PM
You know that offer is always good with me as well...
I hope so! You're my gateway to the West, Rev!
here is the next big one in my neck of the woods, Central Nebraska.
http://www.nebraskamuzzleloaders.com/UNMLA%20%20Shoot%20Flyer.htm
Mike, I for one would whole heartedly welcome you to any of the eastern Ohio events you make it to. There is a great little event this weekend at Gnatenhutten, Ohio and another next weekend at Yellow Creek Lonrifles in Mechanicstown, Ohio. The Great Trail festival is Coming up soon as well. There are a whole crap ton of folks that go thru that one and you could sell right from a blanket for at all the ones I have mentioned. Best of all, no thread counters at any of them.
Mike, here is another link. http://www.muzzleloadermag.com/Events/Rendezvous.html It is Muzzleloader mag, so there are listing from all over the country, but I noticed several appear to be in your neck of the woods.
Mongrel,
You might want to consider our show in Newark, Ohio, approximatley 30 miles east of Columbus. 1 day show, Saturday, September 29th 9AM-4PM with between 65-70 tables. Set up Friday evening or "early" Saturday morning. This will be our 14th annual show and it just gets stronger. Good quality items, antique and contemporary. Tables are $25 and they fill up fast with early recervations. If you are interested give Jim a call at 740-344-8476. You're welcome to use my name if you call him but he may hang up on you.
Mark
One of the best sources I've found for locating events has been Smoke and Fire News. It lists events by time period/type (buckskinning, Rev War, time line, etc). Within the type they are listed by date. They give details and location of the event.
Here's a link to find out more:
http://www.smoke-fire.com/smoke-fire-newspaper.asp
Mike, PM me with your address and I'll send you a sample copy.
flwa
Well, some simple logistical and financial issues have arisen, particularly in the area of quitting the job at the end of the year but also with heading out immediately to begin doing events and shows.
Money for table or blanket space is no problem. I spend nearly as much in the combined early mornings of a typical work week, on keg-sized cups of Diet Pepsi and Krispy Kreme or Hostess products, as a table or space for a trade blanket is liable to cost me at a weekend event. However....
Weather issues sort of require an enclosed trailer to haul my guns and other necessities, and since I don't own a tent and am for the time being definitely not going to buy a tent, especially a PC tent (which is the only kind that would make sense given where I'm most likely to be pitching it), an enclosed trailer is doubly necessary as a place to sleep. I've been given a very nice road-legal utility trailer that over the winter I can build up into the enclosed model I need, so spending several hundred dollars at the very least for a used enclosed trailer wouldn't make much sense -- and having to take the time to build what I need means no heading out in search of adventure and profit, just yet.
When I started thinking along the lines of building the halfstock trade rifles that I want to make a standard part of my product line, I also realized that quitting my job and losing that portion of my income would probably put a screeching halt to actually making real guns of any ideas I might have for new things to try. To build up just a couple demo models to show off the features I could offer -- I plan a higher-quality version and then one priced about $75-$100 less, both in either maple or walnut -- is going to involve a parts cost in the $500+ ballpark. Losing the "real" job and relying solely on gun orders and local handyman work, any such spending on experiments is going to become wishful thinking for a good while, and I'd rather deal with being consistently overworked and tired for a few more years than take the chance that I might never have the luxury to build or try something new. So -- playing it safe and secure might not be in the bold spirit of folks who went before us, striking out into the uncharted unknown, but then again those days are long-gone -- a person not only needs but is actually required to have more than what food he can shoot for the pot and a place to pitch a tent and flop down a bedroll.
So to build a trailer, increase my start-up inventory, and prepare for the spring....
I feel you have made a wise decision. Jobs and money are hard to find. Especially something you apparently enoy. Besides, my question is, are you in a union, if so, how long before retirement? Usually around here they can retire after 25 years. That is worth sticking it out.
Our forefathers DID play it safe. They werent just farmers and such, they were also RIFLEMEN.
One of the things that has pushed me to wanting to be done early with my "real" job is that in five years I've had a single 1% on the dollar raise (a huge 11-point-something cents per hour), while the teachers and particularly the Admins of the school district enjoy annual contract-signing bonuses, "stipends" to compensate for expenses incurred in doing or training for their jobs, and other perks that aren't CALLED raises but amount to higher take-home pay. In other words, in a real world not polluted with lawyers and criminals in positions of authority and influence -- raises.
So I would leave this job now, if I could, but, in addition to the points mentioned in my previous post, I am five years away from having accumulated sufficient points based on my age and years of service, to draw 70-75% of my Indiana state retirement benefits. That will be sufficient to my needs. In an additional five years I can hopefully start actually saving some money, increase my retirement pot, build my gun business (or have time to realize this just ain't gonna work), and learn the ropes of doing events and gun shows -- all before having to make a living or starve and face foreclosure.
And you're right that at least the prudent people back in the day did prepare well for their adventures. No one travelled on a wagon train without the money to purchase a wagon and such supplies as were REQUIRED to be allowed to join most groups headed west. No one simply started walking west with only a rifle and what he could carry on his back, unless he was in desperate circumstances. Preparation and outfits cost money and men would work and plan for years to finally achieve the dream of cutting ties and seeking a new life. Since I'm the one who often reminds folks here how, back then, no one expected anything to happen overnight and it was normal to spend years preparing for the next step and fulfilling obligations incurred in the meantime, I believe I should heed my own advice and take this one step at a time instead of trying to reach my goal with a quick dash and a long jump.
This is getting off the subject a bit. But here in Pa., my x brother-in-law was a teacher for 15 yrs. He got his doctorite degree andthe school district was forced to pay him according to his degree, per union contract. He was a pt teacher and health. Not a Principle or Superintendent, just a teacher, making $70,000 per year with a retirement of $50,000. at 20 years service. Go figure. And the teachers are always crying poverty. Yeah right. although not all teachers are as lucky to have such a union. By the way, that was 11years ago.
Yes, it is getting off-track, and though I could say much (I've worked for public school systems, one in Arizona, one here, for a combined total of over 20 years) it would ruffle feathers, incite some confrontational discussion, and be totally out of place on this site. Therefore I will leave it be.
My point was that I'm ready to be done. I know what will come next, so far as how I make a living. The fact, though, that unlike most prospective jobs this one won't go away or be hired out to someone else while I get my affairs in order, means I have the luxury of time, God willing and the crick don't rise. Might as well make the most of it. I've been given a great gift and am trying to be careful not to blow it by way of either impatience or stubbornness, which along with a barely-controllable temper are my greatest faults. I can't afford to rush, can't afford to refuse to make time and the effort to learn, can't afford (yet) to toss my keys to whichever Admin eventually might trip my trigger and tell him precisely what he and all concerned can do with their school district.
(http://www.pic4ever.com/images/meditationf.gif)should be my attitude, instead of the(http://www.pic4ever.com/images/budo.gif)that has by-and-large been my mode of operation most of my life.
Sounds like a plan!
Build it up and in five you will have that little check every month to feed and fuel you...may even be able to take a day off once in a while..see you on the circuit then..
Doug