Decided to visit the Crossroads of the West gun show in Costa Mesa, and boy, what a waste of time on top of being a total rip off! From getting my ticket way before opening time to finally making it through the gate it took 1-3/4 hours. Didn't see a lot of the typical AR-15 crowd in line, though, (talking about the guys who are as wide as they are tall a.k.a. "sponge bobs" or "waddlers", conversing in English only as secondary option, saggy pants, tattooed up to their necks, the back of their shaved heads looking like hot dogs in a shrink wrap). The line consisted mostly of average Joe's in panic mode. Vendors catered to the insanity by jacking up their prices like gas stations before Thanksgiving. In the name of capitalism and free enterprise, let's not let a good tragedy go to waste must have been the collective thought of ammo dealers and they "corrected" their prices accordingly. They already added the Obama-reelection penalty last year, now the added the Newtown surcharge to their ammo and powder prices, plus sales tax. Although, being a small business owner myself, I'm willing to pay a little extra to keep local mom 'n pop business alive, but not when the gouging becomes this obvious. Since the reelection all my ammo has been bought over the internet at prices much better than at the gun show. But the blame is not only with the vendors (some clown tried to sell a G43 ac44 with a buttstock cobbled together from about 10 pieces, sanded into oblivion with painted metal parts for a measly $3,500), even the organizer jacked up the entrance fees in anticipation of a twice as large as usual crowd.
Of course, everything was picked clean when I finally made it through the gate, only the overpriced junk (like the G43) was still there. Luckily, a vendor who was still arranging his table when I walked by had just put up a K98 bolt. I stopped, briefly inspected it and we agreed on a fair price. It's an all matching J.P. Sauer, serial number is 5549 with "o" suffix on bolt handle; as far as my knowledge goes this is a rather late Sauer bolt. Eagle proof with swastika on back side of handle root. Matching full 4 digit serials on firing pin, bolt, bolt shroud, safety and cocking piece. Extractor is serialed "49". All parts with E/37 inspector mark. The extractor might have been reblued. Still didn't justify $16 entrance fee end endless waiting in line.
