Do Boomers consider themselves lucky regarding guns?

[chicharrones]

a new f150 in 1979 was about 6k. Today it is 60k.

Back when a common pickup had two doors, a bench seat, and a gun rack to smack your head on if you got rear ended.

 

[chicharrones]

I'm not seeing the down side here.

Lol. You're bad.

 

[webrx]

LOL.
Yep and you could have a rack and 30-30 in the back at school on opening day.
D

 

[chicharrones]

I wasn't old enough to buy guns until Obama was already in office, and no one in my family passed down any cool firearms. I always get a bit jealous when I hear older guys say they bought a used Smith revolver for a couple hundred dollars, found an old Colt at a garage sale for a crazy good price, or that they have bought and sold more of some rare model than they can remember. Just finding guns in stock has been an issue for my generation.

Inflation is a factor, and I know we currently have more choices than ever for guns, but I still kind of wish I grew up in the Golden Age.

P.S. I'm more of a guitar collector than gun collector, and I feel the same way about the guitar market.

What's interesting is that a whole bunch of boomers and x-ers have been buying up old classic guns that they couldn't afford back in the day. As a first year x-er, I'm guilty of it myself.

 

[Seedy Character]

I bought a Browning BL-22 in 1975 for $121 and i made $119 a week. Same rifle today is $540.
My brother bought a Marlin Model 60, in sale it Walgreens, for $38. Today $250
I bought a 1978 Buick Regal Turbo for $6300.
Today, most cars can't differentiated until you are close enough to read the badging. Lucky if you can find anything under $25k
I bought a Ruger Super Blackhawk in 1983 at Montgomery Wards for $231. The Super Blackhawk in bought in 2021 was $450.

Some things better, some maybe not.

Had a friend that bought a 2000 Mustang Cobra. He had a 1968 Boss 302, fully restored.
The Cobra was faster, stopped better, handled better, drove better, rode better, was more comfortable and got better gas mileage. But, the Boss turned people's heads and got all the attention.

BTW, at the 35 year Mustang reunion, 15,000 Mustangs at Charlotte Motor Speedway, he placed 2nd in show with the '68 Boss.

 

[wiscoaster]

...P.S. I'm more of a guitar collector than gun collector, and I feel the same way about the guitar market.

NEW guitars are really quite reasonably priced given the inflationary market conditions, and I attribute that primarily to third-world guitar makers becoming capable of doing some really first-class quality manufacturing. And that scenario doesn't apply as much to firearms. Furthermore, I don't expect that scenario to continue indefinitely.

OTOH, collectible guitars have suffered the same supply-demand pressures as collectible firearms, likely to an even greater degree due to more limited supply. How many gold-top Les Pauls in really good condition are there out there being offered for sale as opposed to (to make a random comparison) GI-issue M1 carbines? The Gibson SG I owned as a kid, bought for about $200, and traded away when I went to college, is well north of $7K these days, IF you can find one.

 

[crestoncowboy]

Sad thing on guns is what you get. With cars we get a far better product. My 66 Ford is a big block with a 3 speed and a bench seat. No power nothing. My 2021 F150 has a 12 inch tv for a radio . In 66 a home didn't have a 12 inch TV. Lol. Heated steering wheels, self driving, self braking, cylinder deactivation, full reclining seats, headlights that shine forever, auto dimming, 400+HP and over 20 mpg. (where my 66 headlights can only been seen in absolute darkness). Same for the 79. Comparing them to a new one is a different world really.

In guns we could buy a 1911 back then. Maybe a sig 226. Maybe a double action revolver.

Today we can buy a 1911, maybe a sig 226. Or maybe a double action smith. Only thing we have "gained" is cheaper finishes, extra safety on the 1911 and a Lock on the double action.

I drive my 66, 79, 86, 93 cars and trucks for fun. If im going far or want comfort I'm in my 2021 or my wife's highlander with my face hidden.

 

[Captcurt]

I would say the availability of WW2 surplus guns was the big "bonus", back in the day.

There were a lot of them, but still a finite number. Now, they are all in collections, but the demand is still there, so prices for these has increased.

My first centerfire rifle was a 6.5 Carcano. I think that I was 16 at the time. Cost the grand total of $20 which was about $15 too much. Norma ammo cost more than the gun. I have never owned another rifle that shot that bad. Had to be the biggest piece of junk that I have ever owned.

 

[Mike OTDP]

I still kind of wish I grew up in the Golden Age.

When it comes to MILSURP, there were two Golden Ages. The period from ~1950-1968, and 1987-~2005. In the 1950s and 1960s, you could buy war surplus by mail...and there were a lot of surplus guns to be had. In the 1990s, the importation of military surplus was allowed again, and a lot of surplus firearms that had been held in storage were dumped on the U.S. market.

The future? Probably the biggest potential source would be European pistols, often surplus, that don't meet current importation regulation standards. In particular, size. There's a reason why German-made Walther PPK pistols haven't been imported since 1968...and there are reportedly a lot of those German pocket pistols out there in storage. A change in the regulatory environment would allow those now-curio-and-relic guns to be imported.

 

[tws3b2]

As far as guns go.
At about 15 years old I walked into the hardware and and put $7.00 down on my first gun "Stevens 410 bore single shot" layaway $20. There weren't many "Gun Stores" around then. " At Least where I lived". Many stores sold guns then. Hand guns and long guns. Woolworths, Sears and many more. Many time I walked into a store and there would be a barrel or something with a bunch of surplus ww2 long guns for $10-$15.
You can say we have a lot more choices today. But I don't see it. Sure today you have aks, ars, sks or what ever. But, whatever you want to call them they are still semi autos. We had plenty but they were just Called Remington, Winchester or what ever.
Quality??
This is a H&R 650-1. $100 give or take in 1978. Compared to Heritage or Ruger Wrangler, No. More like comparable to S&W today.
A 1974 Remington 700. $179 new. Comparable to the last Remington 700 made. No. If there is a gun made today that could be comparable to the quality. I can't afford it.

Back when a common pickup had two doors, a bench seat, and a gun rack to smack your head on if you got rear ended.

Yeah, But a pickup back then Was a pickup Truck. Not a car with a open trunk. A bench seat back then was good for, Well, Anything. Think about it. A bucket seat today? Well??, Sit in it. What else you gonna do .
As far as smacking your head on the gun rack. Well, I really don't know. I was only rear ended by a car one time. It just bounced off.

 

[SC45-70]

In 1983 I bought a new AR for $350.00
A couple years ago I built one with all new parts for less.

SC45-70

 

[Steve S.]

I am not nostalgic about firearms, cars, prices, etc - I would just like the time back - all that stuff makes the times - what was most precious was the time.

 

[Armored farmer]

The day after Sandy Hook you could still buy an AR for $300. That's when my younger son bought his-he had to stand in line, we got there at 7:30 AM, (opened at 7) and he got the 3rd from the last one. They were sold out by 8.
You can still find them on sale for $400, and build for a little less, but each successive "fear event" sends more to the gun store, and prices higher.

That was the same day that I bought my first AR.

 

[JN01]

What I miss most about the olden days is the large selection of used guns at the local gun shops. Most places these days have very few in stock, I guess due to on-line sales. I much rather like having one in hand before buying.

 

[Pat Riot]

Do Boomers consider themselves lucky regarding guns?


Of course…We’re called “Boomers” for a reason!

 

[bersaguy]

My dad bought his Plainfield M1 Carbine new in '68 for $65, which comes out to an inflation adjusted price of $528.00. Seeing as the M1 Carbine in '68 was the AR15 of its day, and barring the craziness of the last couple of years...then yeah, that sounds pretty on par with the present day. Not sure boomers had the golden age, I think we had it, from about '04 to '19. I certainly know it was the golden age of ammo prices, save for a couple of panic/shortages. I know my dad to some extent, and certainly my grandfather would be aghast at the prospect of doing 30 round mag dumps at the range just for kicks. Ammunition was was just too expensive and too valuable.

 

[commygun]

I became a gun nut just in time to catch the last of the Golden Age of surplus and inexpensive quality revolvers. It was going full bore in the early ‘90’s but was waning fast just 3 or 4 years later. Glad I was there but disgusted I didn’t use the opportunity more wisely. When you’re a relatively new enthusiast you don’t understand that what you’re seeing isn’t necessarily the norm.
Same thing with archery. 15 years ago you could get very lightly used, quality, longbows for half of the retail price. Those days are gone too.

 

[Legionnaire]

I'm a boomer and I don't long for the old days. I didn't have money to spend on guns back in the day. Now I have more disposable income and plenty of selection from old to new. People just starting out have the benefit of a lower relative price point for quality guns than we did back then. There are new manufacturing technologies that can generate more accurate firearms at amazingly low prices. Plus there are more efficient cartridges, way better optics with etched reticles, laser range finders ... I could go on, but you get the point.

When I was younger I didn't have the resources, time or money, to tinker in this hobby. A shotgun, a hunting rifle, and a revolver were what I could manage. Now I can on a whim buy an new upper to put on the AR-15 I don't need just to try out a cartridge that didn't exist back then. Yes, I'm lucky (blessed), and I feel it more now than then.

 

[Jimbo80]

As a straight white male Boomer from a middle class family I was born lucky. I feel very fortunate that for the most part that luck has held.

 

[JCooperfan1911]

The golden age was just a couple years ago.

Guns and bullets were at record lows. Lots of variety.

Now it’s not.

 

[medalguy]

I grew up in the 50s and 60s. I bought a carbine from DCM for I think $17.50 and still have it. I also remember walking into a Western Auto and Globe and seeing barrels of Mauser 98s and Carcanos for $9.95. The most fun I had was finding a junk yard with a pile of cut-up .50 M2s and Thompsons. I bought a bunch of them and rebuilt several into working guns, all pre-68 and registered them in the 68 amnesty. The good old days that our children and grandchildren will never know.

 

[Guns and Guitars]

“The day after Sandy Hook you could still buy an AR for $300. That's when my younger son bought his-he had to stand in line, we got there at 7:30 AM, (opened at 7) and he got the 3rd from the last one. They were sold out by 8.
You can still find them on sale for $400, and build for a little less, but each successive "fear event" sends more to the gun store, and prices higher.
That was the same day that I bought my first AR.

That was the same day that I bought my first AR.

I was working behind the gun counter at Dick’s the night of Sandy Hook. I still remember getting the call from corporate to remove the ARs, and getting hit by a mob of people wanting to buy them right after the call. Prior to that day, we very rarely sold an AR. I didn’t work there much longer after that.

 

[Lo-Profile]

When I bought my select fire Colt in 1984 it was $1299 + tax.

Sold it this year for around 25k

 

[74man]

When I was a pre teen, I would walk down the street with a 410/22, over and under and no one would say anything except, good luck hunting. I would shoot rabbits, quail, dove and even duck if I could get close enough. I lived on the beach and there was farmers between town and the beach so lots of game in the mid 1950's. I had two 410 shells and 5 .22's and would hunt for a couple of hours. People back then knew firearm safety from a young age. Then again we also got our mouths slapped for backtalk, we were taught to respect our elders, foul language got your mouth washed out with soap. We got spanked for doing something we were taught was wrong. Today, if you spank a child that is child abuse, so younger kids don't respect property or people. ""THOSE WERE THE DAYS""

 

[HowieG]

What was really different back then was what you could do with guns. In 1973, I took a rifle to a college speech class as show and tell for a 5 minute speech. In 1981, I used to stand in the driveway and shoot at a bullet trap in the garage with a 357 magnum revolver using those plastic bullets and cartridges that shot with standard pistol primers. This was in suburban Denver. There were a couple of Canadian fellows next door that were just amazed at that, so I had them over for a few shots.

My first brand new rifle was a Ruger M77 Varmint, 22-250. I paid, if memory serves, $173 for it in 1973. I still have that rifle and I still shoot pasture poodles with it on occasion.