The Lodi Gun Show: February 24'

This past weekend I got the chance to check out the Lodi Gun Show, or “Gun Expo,” and do some window shopping with my boys. This particular expo comes to town once or twice per year, and takes place inside the Lodi Grape Festival Grounds- the exact venue where the Lodi Grape Festival is held (obviously). Admission is $15 per adult and is cash only. This is usually a 2 day event, which is held on the weekend. 

For transparency sake, I’ll cut to the chase here. It was kind of an underwhelming experience (in my opinion). I didn’t end up purchasing anything, and neither did any of my friends. However, there were several cool things to check out- I just wasn’t exactly blown away by the event overall. 

First and foremost, the Fairgrounds consist of a fairly large area, with several pavilions and a vast outdoor space with lots of grass and pavement. This gun show was not a crazy big event, as it only took up the space of one pavilion. Additionally, there is no recording allowed within the expo, which kind of sucked because I was hoping to document all the cool stuff I was going to find. I found out the hard way and was given a warning not to film. The last and most significant reason why I thought this was a sub-par experience was because of the pricing of everything. People usually go to expos like this to find some deals. Unfortunately, everything seemed to be priced at retail standards, making it no better than walking into a Sportsman’s Warehouse or Bass Pro Shop. AR-15 magazines were still like $20 to $30 each, and bulk ammo still came out to about $0.51 to $0.70 per .223. Cartridge. 

Now, onto the good. I will say, there were quite a few different tables within the single pavilion, and there was a decent amount of variety. There were also some local gun stores who were tabling, such as Stockton’s KW Defense, which was good to see. Upon walking into the venue, the first two tables at the front were just full of weapon optics. LPVO’s, red dots, hunting scopes, etc. I even got the chance to check out a thermal scope, with a price tag of about $2k. Walking through the middle of the expo, I remember seeing one table filled with magazines for various firearms (both used and brand new)- handgun mags, rifle mags chambered in .308, 7.62, .223, shotgun magazines, etc. Towards the back of the venue is where you will find all of your extraneous tactical gear (plate carriers, battle belts, bump helmets) and even some military surplus (cammies, pins, used duty holsters, etc.) 

Me and the Boys checking out some of the tables.

The final verdict. While we didn’t end up buying anything or finding any great deals, it was still nice to look at everything that was there. Expos like these are also good for the city of Lodi and some of it’s local businesses, so that’s always a plus. One positive thing that I can say about all gun expos, is that they are valuable to go to if you are on the fence about making a firearm purchase or purchasing some other form of gear. The ability to handle something in person that you are about to buy, can help you make a better informed decision- much like test driving a car before dropping a significant amount of money on it. 

God Bless,

Producer Reese.