THUNDER BAY - For more than 30 years, Roger Nordlund of Dryden, Ont. has been buying and selling antique firearms. In that time he has amassed a rather extensive collection and while he takes pride in cleaning them up to a show shine, it’s the community of collectors that has kept him going.
“It takes a long time,” he said. “People at home get to know you and they want to sell some guns and will call you up. If the price is right, you buy them and resell them.”
Nordlund was one of more than 30 exhibitors at the Slovak Legion for the New Ontario Shooters Association Gun Show on Saturday.
The show, which is being held in Thunder Bay for the third year in a row after having previously been held in Kakabeka Falls and Murillo, provides something for all outdoor enthusiasts, be it guns for hunting, taxidermy services, knives, or shooting sports.
“It’s Northwestern Ontario,” said show coordinator, Trevor Buzak. “There are a lot of outdoor people, a lot of people hunt, even though there are a lot of restrictions on hunting now, there’s a lot of shooting sports, and there’s the social aspect of it. It’s kind of like the first outing for spring.”
The show expects to draw more than 1,200 people over the two days, with all money raised going toward supporting the New Ontario Shooters Association, which offers the only junior shooters program in Thunder Bay.
“The junior program provides a safe environment for kids between the ages of six and 18-years-old,” Buzak said. “We are hoping to get a few thousand dollars to help offset some of the costs for the kids so it’s a little more affordable.”
And while outdoor enthusiasts often attend the show to get the latest gear for the next hunt or fishing trip, it also attracts collectors interested in owning a piece of history.
“There’s a lot of war memorabilia, including uniforms, medals, and then there’s the firearms that are pre-1900 that people have a lot of interest in because they have a lot of value,” Buzak said.
Nordlund had several antique firearms on display during the show, including antique prohibited handguns, Snider-Enfield rifles, Winchester lever-action rifles from 1887, 1884, and a pair of centennial Winchester rifles from 1967 that have never been fired.
For Nordlund, who has been touring various gun shows for decades, this can be the only place where other collectors can find and purchase antique firearms.
“They’re rare,” he said. “They are hard to find. You can buy any new gun you want downtown, but some of these older ones, you have to come to a gun show to find them because you won’t find them anywhere else.”
“I’m getting out of it now,” Nordlund continued. “I was quite a bit for quite a few years. I used to go 10 or 15 gun shows a year, but now I only go to four. Just local so I don’t have to go so far.”
The New Ontario Shooters Association Gun Show continues on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Slovak Legion.
