It’s been about a week since our local gun show ended. Despite being surrounded by guns my entire life, my interest in them didn’t develop until after I was much older. I don’t recall ever having been to one, prior. So after finding out that one was scheduled at a nearby mall last June 11-14th 2015, I made sure to go.
Being this was my first gun show experience, I didn’t really know what to expect.
The venue was smaller than I thought. Not anything like the warehouse size conventions I’ve seen watching videos on YouTube. Going around the venue through a counter clockwise fashion, I made note of the major local firearms vendors.
Upon entering you have Metroarms to the left side, who sell very affordable 1911 variants, made locally.
Metroarms Stall, and their various 1911s. 
Metroarms’ base 1911’s. They can be had for a little over Php 16,000 and up.
They have this trend wherein they use zip ties on the frame and slide to prevent you from racking the action for all auto loaders in the convention. Maybe this was to prevent damage or wear on the components from the many visitors. This made it difficult, if not impossible, to judge the gun’s slide to frame fit.
Metroarms also had their higher end models on display. They were mostly hi-capacity double stack 1911. Most featured long dust frames and a match barrel. These go for more than double the price of their more affordable single stack 1911s.
I don’t have a picture on here but, they take orders for barrels. They have 1911 barrel stocks which go up to 6″ maximum length. So if you’re looking for a replacement barrel or spare, they might have what you are looking for.
Next to Metroarms’s stand we have the Pascual Enterprises booth. They have a number of spare parts for the 1911 platform and some very out of place Glock magazines.
Espineli is a long time retailer that has some very interesting things on display. Due to the hi-power ban, most booths have no long arms or rifles to display. This is true for Espineli, but they did have a couple of H&K G36 magazines for sale.
Again we see the zip tie practice going on here. If you want prices, you have to ask the guy over the counter, or you can try reading that green slip that’s upside down.
Nice job having this on display. Sadly it’s behind glass casing.
I was looking for but had not seen the Beretta CX4 Storm on my first day on the floor (nor throughout), but they did have the Kel-Tek KSG, UTG 15, FNX 45, PX4, and Smith and Wesson M500.
A couple more booths that caught my eye were the Squires Bingham and Lynx Firearms booths.
The 5.11 booth was packed with tons on display. I was in the market for AK pouches and was pleasantly surprised to find single and double pouches available. This is surprising considering that the AR is the common long arm found in our country.
One of the bigger booths belonged to Trust Trade. The majority of their displays involved Glocks. I had inquired about long arms, and like most of the other booths, they had limited info to say.
Greyman booth. An authorized Infinity Firearms dealer. Whenever I think of the Infinity branding, I can’t help but be reminded of airsoft’s Western Arms brand name. They had many beautiful replicas of double stack 1911’s bearing the Infinity logo. It was really my first exposure to the double stack 1911.
They had a bunch of components on display. These included slides, barrels, magazines, lower grip chassis, and mag wells, just to name a few.
The display case on the left hand side of the booth housed various configurations of Infinity’s firearms.
If you’re looking for a specific firearm, you need to check out Nashe. Their booth may not be the biggest, but their display was extensive enough. They carried notable brands of handguns and had quite a few interesting things on display. And unlike the other booths who brush you off for inquiring about firearms not in their display, their staff will point you to their people who are willing to talk to you about it.
If you are familiar with the .22 TCM (Tuason Craig Micro-mag), then you’ll know what this is. Armscore had on display their conversion for pistols to fire the .22 TCM round. Like the Five-Seven’s round, the .22 TCM offers high velocity and good shot control in a defensive caliber. Do a google search on the .22 TCM and maybe watch some videos online demonstrating it’s capabilities. I’d say that Armscore has a winner of a round here for a alternative defensive caliber. That’s 2,000 fps in a 5′ barrel! You also have to see the fireball it creates at the muzzle!
All in all, my first time experience at a local gun show had been a mixed bag. I came in with high expectations but left a tiny bit disappointed. There were lots of hand guns on display but there wasn’t much more than that, save a few small caliber bolt/lever rifles and shotguns. I’d say that the variety of fire arms available is a little lackluster for an event that happens once a year. To top it off, some stalls had this vibe of “look but no touch” feel about them. Zip ties and food wrapping on certain fire arms took away from the presentation in my opinion, but I do understand the sentiment that the Philippines is not really the safest place on planet Earth for guns to be displayed and handled by the public.
Despite the downsides I still found myself enjoying the experience for what it was. So if you asked me if I would recommend going to a Philippine gun show/convention, I’d say yes with some reservation; if only the first day. So if you have some free time and have absolutely nothing better to do, take a peek just to see what’s new and available for whatever year you happen to attend. It is also a good place to sort out your permits and licenses. If you happen to miss it for the year, there’s always the next.
– J4
