JOHN DAY — Hundreds of gun enthusiasts from around Oregon, some traveling hours over snowy roads, came to Trowbridge Pavilion at the Grant County Fairgrounds to attend the 16th annual Strawberry Mountain Gun and Outdoor Show.

The event featured 29 vendors at 79 tables, offering not only modern and historic firearms for sale but also collectible swords, knives, scopes and outdoor accessories that attendees could buy, sell or trade.

Fairgrounds manager Mindy Winegar, who coordinates the event, said people came from as far as Washington and Idaho for the gun and outdoor show, first held in 2007.

The annual show is a major social event for many and it helps the local economy, she said.

“It’s a community event and people just like coming, visiting and sharing stories,” she said. “People come to buy gas, they eat at the restaurants, they buy fuel. A lot of people are staying in motel rooms.”

Casey O’Brien of Baker City said the event gives enthusiasts an opportunity to find some good deals and see some new things — and old things, too.

“I kind of have a lot of guns already, so I’m looking for something different — something that catches my eye,” he said.

Marco Valerio, also of Baker City, said the John Day event was “a good-size gun show for the size of the community.”

“It seems like a lot of people,” he added. “Clearly people are traveling to be here.”

Among them was Wyatt Huffman, who drove two and a half hours through snowy weather from Pendleton with his wife to attend the show. Huffman, who said he saw an announcement for the event on Facebook, said he has an interest in historical German and American firearms and was excited to inspect a Mauser Model 1908 rifle for sale.

“I like the gun shows that are more older guns than the newer guns because there’s a lot more history in them,” he said. “I was looking at this DWM Mauser carbine. This might be one I’m actually going to buy. I have a DWM Luger made in 1917. I’ve shot it. I’ve cleaned it and it works perfectly. This one is very nice.”

Mark Gose of Redmond has spent the past 15 years selling off the antique gun collection he’s owned for 50 years. The rifles and pistols he brought to the gun show included the famed Winchester 1873 model lever-action rifle, known as “the gun that won the West,” and a series of Colt revolvers used by the U.S. Cavalry in the 19th century. All were in excellent condition.

“It’s not your typical modern black gun show,” he said. “It’s got a few of those here, but what you’re seeing is real historical and sporting rifles and pistols, and that’s really neat to see. It reminds me of gun shows 30 years ago.”