Gun Stuff You No Longer See

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I was just sitting and started think about all the different gun stuff you don't see around much these days. (Feel free to add your own memories to comments.)

#1 GUN RACKS: I am from Tennessee and back when I was growing up it was pretty much a given that of you saw a pick-up truck, you could bet there would be a gun rack in the back window. Seldom a gun in the rack except for hunting trips but always a gun rack. (Often with an axe handle.)

I think it changed in the 90's when trucks became nicer and more than just work/farm vehicles. They fed into the redneck stereo type and you definitely would want to park at a mall with a gun begging to be stolen BUT I do miss seeing them in people's back windows though.

#2 REALLY BIG HANDGUN LASERS: Think like the one on Arnold's 1911 in the (first) Terminator movie or Danny Glover's Desert Eagle in Predator 2. (Which not to drift TOO off subject... what a crappy sequel!)

I know technology improves and things are made smaller and better all the time. However, it genuinely surprises me (that given the firearm communities love of tradition and stalwart dislike for new things) there isn't a hardcore "the big old lasers are better" group. If you consider they continuing popularity of revolvers (admittedly I like and a few myself) and there are guys that still "don't trust" polymer guns. (Not the same as just liking metal better but still just refuse to believe they are any good.) Through in just a love of nostalgia like guys building AR-15s that look like Vietnam era M-16s and basic GI 1911s, it's not so far-fetched to imagine some guy clinging to his old Mini-Maglite sized pistol laser.

Plus, I just wonder what happened to all the old ones. (I wonder if they sold them for scrap metal like the old large satellites for TV... always laugh when I still see on behind a building or something.)

#3 SURPLUS GUNS IN MAGAZINES: I recall as a cub scout seeing ads for switchblades in the back of Boys Life but that was about it. Later, I would see ads for old police trade-ins in Shotgun News in my early teens.

However, I heard stories (post WWII) there were tons of cheap 1911s (and ammo), Garandes, Bolt Action Springfields, Mausers and all kinds of other stuff for sale in the back of several magazines. I would love to have confirmation of this stuff.


Those are the three that first come to mind. I'm sure I will think of some more later but I would love to hear everyone else reminisce about these or other examples of firearm related things that are pretty much extinct these days.
 
Those big old lasers ate through batteries at an alarming rate and many used odd ball battery sizes, and were less powerful than today's laser pointers and were heavy. I doubt many people 'miss' them.

1. Leather slings. I sill use them and like them. Now it's all bungee cords and nylon.

2. I don't 'miss' gun racks.. in fact they were hard on guns.. can rub the bluing right off a rifle barrel. Someone should re-design them so that doesn't happen.

3. Lustrous bluing and other finishes. You rarely see a well done blue gun anymore. Granted with less skilled labor mass producing 'functional' over 'ornamental' touches like fire blue screws and case hardening. I realize tennifer and gunkote are tough and durable but they don't look as good as royal blue. You'd think someone could make a arty finish that was also brutally tough by now.
 
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A friend of mine had a glass faced gun cabinet. It was really sharp looking IMHO. Made of nice wood it really was a great way to show-off your nice guns. Oddly, we have a nice old curio cabinet that we inherited from my grandma but it never even crossed my mind to have one of those nice old gun cabinets. I guess I'm too afraid/paranoid about theft. My pretty guns and ugly ones all live together in my real gun safe.
 
I am right there with you on leather slings. I am not a huge fan of the neoprene slings.

sent from my Galaxy Note II.
 
A co-worker gave me an old magazine that advertised Mausers for $40.00, so yes, those existed. I have also seen ads online for .30-06 ball Korean War surplus for less than $.20 per shot. (I never saw them when they were actually active advertisements)

Gun racks!!! I need to make one for the bed of my truck!!! I have a locking cover over the bed, so theft shouldn't be too much of an issue...
 
Guys just hanging out at the gunshop. When I was growing up, a gunshop just wasn't a place to buy firearms, it was a hangout. There were always a few guys just sitting around swapping lies, more than willing to share their vast knowledge of firearms, hunting, shooting, ammo and ballistics with a wide eyed youngster. There were always piles of goods we could dig through to find some rare treasure, like a bayonet for a Turkish Mauser, some oddball optic, web gear from some far off land that had been embroiled in some forgotten war, or if we were really lucky, a genuine K-Bar.

Now-a-days, a guy has to take a number just to get the cold shoulder when you look without buying. Hey, I wanna get to know the guy behind the counter- You only buy a firearm from a friend, never a stranger
 
lol there was a gunshop here in Aurora that had a coffee machine and a 'smoking lounge' in the middle of the store. I shocked the old guys hanging around the ashtray by walking in and actually purchasing a gun they'd 'all been talking about' in the consignment case. I had a cup of coffee with them while I waited for my background check.

It was a neat little independent shop. Kind of felt like the old 'general store pickle barrel' kind of crowd.
 
Going into a gunshop and finding a big barrel filled with old bolt action military surplus rifles, and at bargain prices too.

The ads in the back of gun magazines featuring George Lawrence holsters, Mustang and Jay Scott grips, and for various foreign guns, like the Walther PPKs and P-38, imported by Interarms.
 
Slings - I have both. The nylon & suede ones I have on two guns are easier to wrap around my arm to brace the rifle and are not affected (too much) by sweat (they are washable).

Gun cabinet - mine is glass-fronted as well. No kids to worry about and it was a present from a former neighbor after the death of her son.

Paper shotgun shells? Nah, don't miss 'em. Not waterproof, can be too easily damaged/mangled, thicker walls (needed for strength) meant less shot in the shell.
 
.22 ammo

ColtPythonElite beat me to it:)

I can just hear myself talking to future generations about how cheap 22 used to be. I'll say "Back when I was 18 in 2008 I could buy a bulk pack of 550 for $15. And you didn't need a background check and psych exam to purchase it either. Ah, those were the good old days!" lol!
 
Army surplus stores with REAL army/military surplus stuff, like stacks of helmets, canteens, crates of bayonets, and etc. Had an awesome store in my hometown when I was a kid, I can still remember the smell.
 
Barrels full of surplus guns at WOOLWORTH'S, of all places, at great prices.

Handguns at Bergners, K-Mart and Browns Home and Auto.

Rifles and shotguns on display in an open (but locked) rack at Sears, Penny's and Wards, not to mention the wider selection available thru their catalogs.

Being a teenager and asking to look at a Smith & Wesson Model 29....the gun store clerk put it on the counter for me, knowing full well I couldn't legally buy it. (And still remembering the feeling of picking it up...)

Bricks of .22's for $8.97

Sunday newspaper ads showing guns and ammo for sale at all of the above sources.
 
Ahh!!! REAL Army&Navy Surplus stores!!! Used to buy all kinds of cool stiff there as youngster. Steel helmets, sleeping bags, BDU pants (cut 'me off just below the side pockets... the ORIGINAL cargo shorts!) Dummy grenades and the big one across town had tons of old bolt action rifles (all beaters) in 55 gallon drums. My favorite thing to look at was the all the old unit insignia patches. (Some of the old ones are genuine works of art!)
 
yzguy87 said:
ColtPythonElite beat me to it:)

I can just hear myself talking to future generations about how cheap 22 used to be. I'll say "Back when I was 18 in 2008 I could buy a bulk pack of 550 for $15. And you didn't need a background check and psych exam to purchase it either. Ah, those were the good old days!" lol!
Click to expand...
I just threw away an empty old box of federal that had a price tag that said $4.97... It was a 550 round box that I bought about 25-30 years ago.
 
I regret NOT buying some of the WW2 surplus stuff I could have back when I was a teen and at the surplus store ALL the time.

Like I found a Garand ammo belt that I had bought as a kid for a 'costume' marked like $5. Some stores had 'drill rifles' that were demilled 1903's in barrels.. loads of bayonets.

Those stores often HAD actual surplus ammo for sale--while your big box sporting goods store did not. Like weird stuff like 6.5mm Japanese or Carcano ammo.
 
David E:

Maybe you have an idea which bolt-action mil. rifles they had in Woolworth's, about '67 in Overland Park, KS.

Our family was not into guns, but my impression is that they were Yugo Mausers (?). The wood looked unfinished and they had several of them.
Were these the types of Mausers which were common in Wool.?
 
Yes, gun racks in trucks was the thing. I couldn't wait to buy one for my first truck. And then I remember when the idea to mount them on the roof of the truck, and how innovative it seemed.

Lasers, well I never thought much about them really, still don't. Nothing wrong with the concept by any means. I just never wanted to deal with the risk of damaging them as hard on carry guns as I am. I suppose if I were better financially appropriated I would use them, but they are a bit spendy for someone of my resources.

As for surplus weapons, I have bought a few tid bits back when they were very affordable. I bought a new .303 British around 1970 or so for like $35 I think. It came in a crate and was packed in that armory grease gunk. I cleaned it up and refinished the furniture nicely, well as nicely as could be accomplished, considering all the dents, poor quality wood and fabrication flaws in the wood. I then sported it out some what for deer hunting and what not. But the best part was my when my buddies and I managed to get our hands on a whole bunch of surplus tracer ammo, which was a ton of fun when we went camping up in our favorite rock wall canyon. The rounds would simply explode when the impacted the rock face, soo cool!

Then I got an 8mm Mauser in good enough condition to actually safely be fired. Most of them I ever came across back in those days had such horrible head space issues that you couldn't safely shoot most re manufactured ammo without serious concerns. My brother in law picked one up and had it tapped for a scope, and then ordered some custom hunting ammo for it only to discover it had a serious head space issue. By the time he got finished fixing the issues and setting it up for hunting, he had spent considerably more on it, than if he had just bought a Rem. 700 in 30-06 NIB.

Yep, those were the good ol days indeed. I loved just digging through the magazines and shopping the surplus store for what ever seemed useful. Sterno stoves, canteens, and the various fanny and back packs from WWI and WWII. Oh ya, I forgot about the sleeping bags and tents too.

And back then I remember you could get store credit for your 22 rim fire brass at just about any store that sold ammo. When my buddies and I wanted to go shooting all we had to do was hit a couple shooting spots and get enough brass together to get a few boxes of 22 lr, or even some longs, or shorts. I don't know if 22 short is still being produced these days? I still have a couple boxes that are probably 45 years old.

Thanks for helping me to recall some of those wonderful memories.

GS
 
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Odd guns in pawn shops, Remington 51, 1910 Mauser, S&W Escort, Broomhandle Mauser, 1st generation Colt Peacemakers, etc.
 
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