Tincanbandit Review: Crossroads of the West Gun Show: Phoenix

 I just got back from the Crossroads of the West gun show in Phoenix and decided to tell all of you what a great show it is.

This is my third time attending the December CotW show in Phoenix, I can't tell you why I didn't write a review earlier, but better late than never, right?

A little background: The show is held the 1st weekend in December and is billed as the largest of the year and is also their only 3-day show. 

The Crossroads team has been hosting gun shows for 47 years, I don't know how long they have been hosting them at the Arizona Fair Grounds, but they seem to have it pretty well organized. 

I don't know how many people were in attendance, but it was busy. I saw several familiar faces, some streaming live or taping info at the show, I even spotted Ian McCollum from Forgotten Weapons wandering the isles.

There were hundreds of tables, in four large buildings as well as a 1/2 dozen tents and many tables on the fringes of the buildings in covered and uncovered spaces. The long building on the left was hosted by Small Arms Review and featured tons of full auto weapons and antique arms, this is also the building with the most surplus and project guns for sale.

The location is the Arizona State Fairgrounds near where Interstates 10 and 17 meet. The address is: 1826 W McDowell Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85007. There is ample parking onsite, the cost is $12 per day. Entry fee is $26 for a 3-day pass, $21 for a 2-day pass. The gates open at 11am on Friday and 9am Saturday and Sunday, closes at 5pm on Friday and Saturday and 4pm on Sunday. If you buy the weekend pass, you will get a wrist band when you exit on Friday afternoon.

You are allowed to bring your firearm in, but it must be unloaded and checked by security. There is food onsite, plenty of restrooms and even a beer vender. For those of you not from Arizona, it is legal to drink a beer and shop for guns at this event. Although the Small Arms Review building banned all drinks from their building.

If staying overnight, I recommend staying a bit away from the fairgrounds, the area is not the best and has lots of homeless wandering around looking for things to steal.

I can recommend staying near State Farm Stadium in Glendale, off the 101 loop. There are a couple of nice hotels there and restaurants with walking distance as well as a mall and movie theater.

For those not from Arizona, be prepared weather wise, this year it was warm and sunny (high 70's in the afternoon), but it can sometimes be cold this time of year, best to bring a light jacket, just in case.