1963 Shooter's Bible

The old Gun Digests and Shooters Bibles are certainly a time capsule. The referenced prices were suggested retail. I have all of the Gun Digests between 1950 and 1990 and use the for gun research or at least another form of research. I enjoy looking through them. Have a 1953 Shooters Bible that I find fun. The K-22 (S&W) was $71.50 and the Colt 1911 45ACP was $65 then.

I remember the first "Shooter's Bible" I ever read was in my High School's library, back in 1967. I wonder what the odds are of that happening today?

I can tell you I was doing my Colorado Hunter's Safety in 1968 when I was 11, awaiting turning 12 when I could get my Hunter's Safety Card. I had saved up money for a .22 rifle. I absolutely wore OUT the 1968 Shooter's Bible with turned down corners, dog-ears, smudges and drool. Then my grandfather passed away and left me his Remington BA .22. Still my favorite - I shoot it better than any gun I own. I took the money I saved and saved another year or two and bought me a Yamaha 90!

I have a near mint 1970 shooters bible. I almost threw it away because who needs a catalog from 1970? Like saving old calendars....

But it's kinda neat to look through.

"...who needs a catalog from..." It's the articles in 'em you want to keep. The How-to I have for making .577/.450 cases out of bar stock came out of one of the 'Annual's'.
"...GyroJet rocket carbine..." Probably have to explain what that is for our younger colleagues. snicker.
"...all of the Gun Digests between 1950 and 1990..." Probably worth a pile of money too.

Sunray said:

"...GyroJet rocket carbine..." Probably have to explain what that is for our younger colleagues. snicker.
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I like looking at old catalogs like that. I know that prices aren't smoking deals because wages were far less then. But I can still dream.

Those prices seem to be the same as when I started buying guns, late '60, early '70s.

Tells you how much the purchasing power of the dollar has fallen. Not so much prior to the oil embargo in '73.

I have always been a book collector and I I have always treasured books about guns and hunting.
I remember seeing a Winchester advertisement in an Outdoor Life magazine in the 60's, that made me determined to buy that rifle.
Which I did later. It was a lever action .22 model 520 and it cost approximately $80.00.

My Dad had a carpentry shop near a gun store back when I was a kid. I can recall walking to the store and looking at everything almost daily. The old Gent that ran it was very patient with me. Then again I was a polite 10 yr old too. He once loaded me a dummy .30-06 round. I treasured that cartridge.

Still have a few of the 1960, 1961 gun catalogs I picked up from his rack. The Winchester catalogs were neat as they had game animal scenes, appropriate for the gun on that page. A deer for the M-94. A marauding crow for the .22 rifle page, etc.

Not many years later the Weatherby catalogs were THE item to get. As they were in full color and had all sorts of African game, polar bears, etc. And the hunter with his Weatherby who bagged them.

Poper said:

Yup. And gasoline was $0.239. I could fill the tank of my dad's '62 Plymouth Fury for less than $5 as long as I didn't have to push it to the pumps. (The gas gauge didn't work.)

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I remember those days. I was in high school and gasoline was 0.25 a gallon. Pack of smokes was the same price. $1.25/hr was good wages for a high school kid. I washed dishes in a restaurant after school and worked at whatever I could find in the summer. Always had a job because there was plenty of those around in those days.

I have an old book titled "Modern Gunsmithing" By Clyde Baker, It is a Second Edition dated 1933. Inside on the hard cover is written in pen and ink the owner "Elmer Paul Wachhof, G. M. 3/c, 36th Naval Construction Battalion". Twenty or Thirty Years ago I tried to contact this Gentleman and Found him to still be alive but unable to talk due to old age. I had intensions of returning the book to Him but his Family indicated that He wouldn't know or understand and asked Me to keep it. I value this book and often sit and read how they did it in times past, There is a lot of good information in that old book.

Good Shooting

Lindy

JONWILL said:

I don't really care about the inflated prices. Fun to look at anyway. I have a remake of the Sears Catalog from 1908

Wouldn't it be fun to have a time machine and the ability to convert our $100 to be the same buying power as the $100 then
I would need a monster size time machine to get back

Winchester 1894 $15.53

Springfield Trapdoor $2.75 plus 20 rounds of free ammo the carbine was $3.75 ammo $2.40/100

Colt SAA $15.50 a box of 100 rounds was $1.74

Colt New Service $16.75

Luger $24.45 30 cal only soft point ammo $1.03/50

Most of the Handguns were listed under A.J.Aubrey The house brand

They look like H&R type guns.

Top Break 38 S&W was $3.75 90 day return and lifetime warranty.

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You have to remember, back in 1908, $20 was a gold double eagle and $1 was a Morgan silver dollar and all the silver change coins were real silver, not the clad combination metals they are made of today. And you could take your paper money to the bank and exchange it for gold and silver coins.

Have you checked out the price of a 1908 $20 gold coin today?
http://www.chattanoogacoins.com/1908-1929-20-St-Gaudens-Double-Eagle_p_13550.html?

Inflation, I guess! $20 = $1,548 - On sale, no less! That's over 77x original value.

I remember a Herters catalog from the mid 60's. I was born in 56, and this was a dream book. Mail order rifles and pistols, waterfowl hunting stuff, archery stuff, everything a boy ever dreamed of til he woke up to girls, anyway.