his year's Collectibles &Antique Gun Show may
be the 15th annual show, but it will be the first for new
owner Bryan Gillette. A pawn shop owner from Bozeman,
Gillette started out as a vendor at the Bozeman Gun
Shows. He says, "After a few years, the people that
owned the Bozeman show were getting ready to retire
and asked if I'd be interested in taking over. I bought
the Bozeman shows 10 years ago, the Livingston shows 4
years ago, and in January I bought the Great Falls shows
from Dennis Mack." Gillette says he shadowed Mack to
get a feel for how Mack ran his shows.
Gillette says the gun market has grown and changed
direction in recent times, "For a long time, at my shows,
I'd see people come in and buy and buy and buy these
black semi-automatic guns. But now that's dropped way
off and it's back to the original collectible firearms and
varmint guns and self-defense guns." This year, Exhibition
Hall at Montana Expo Park will focus on having 200 tables
filled with Western rarities, collectibles, and memorabilia.
Gillette says the hot items gun collectors are always on
the lookout for are the old Colts and Winchesters. That,
he's used to dealing with…but there's another side of
this show that'll be an inaugural experience: "Dennis has
had antiques here and that is a market I've never dealt
in-so I guess I'm gonna learn as I go this year," Gillette
says with a laugh.
48 • portfolio
Western Collectibles & Antique Gun Show
A New Sheriff's in Town
By Heather Bode
western
collectibles
and
antique
gun
show
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