Gun ads from 1961

[Ryanxia]

I know there have been threads in the past with old ads but I saw a few in this one that I hadn't seen before. Even some foreign ones. Pretty neat.

http://gunsleague.com/2016/07/23/ta...gh-the-gun-ads-of-the-good-ol-days-18-photos/

The anti-tank guns would be a good addition to the collection these days..

 

[Acera]

Cool Link.

Thanks,

 

[bannockburn]

Ryanxia

Thanks for the ads! Quite a hoot back in the day! Wouldn't mind one of those Model 1917s for $29.95!

 

[kozak6]

Don't forget about about inflation. People weren't buying guns for pocket change. Minimum wage was $1.25 in 1961.

Run the prices through an inflation calculator. A $480 Johnson is an outrageous steal. An $80 Mosin is a great price now, but they were still well under $100 until the past few years.

 

[Jim Watson]

Fun. But before you get all thrilled over the prices, think what you (or your Dad) were making that year. I was just a student making $0.85 an hour sacking groceries, I think my Dad was drawing $4000-$5000 a year.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Adjusting for inflation $29.95 cash in 1961 would have the value of $237 today; still, not a bad price for an M1917.

 

[jmr40]

The median household income in 1961 was about $5,600. The most recent year I can find data on is 2014 when it was almost $54,000. We can buy a better gun today while paying a smaller percentage of our income for it than ever before.

I really enjoyed the link none the less. Thanks for posting.

 

[j1]

Ryan thank you for your post. Very entertaining and informative.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

To give some context for gun prices 1961 versus recent:

The 1961 minimum wage of $1.25 per hour inflates to $9.90 for 2016.

The 1961 median household income of $5,600 inflates to $44,363 for end date 2014 (so "almost $54,000" in 2014 is a gain in spendable income).

 

[Swing]

Super neat-o.

 

[dwjwin50]

Probably still plenty of those anti-tank guns still around CA these days.

 

[Ryanxia]

I have an inflation rate calculator on my phone and its come in handy more times than I thought it would. I originally downloaded it (free) to see what the $200 NFA tax stamp is adjusted for inflation ($3,488 in 2015 money).

That being said the prices back then adjusted for inflation were still pretty darn good.

 

[skimbell]

This is the one that I always liked...

 

[Piper106]

I liked the ad for the 20mm Solothurn anti-tank gun.

As I recall the ad said; "No (special) license needed".

Fast forward to 2016. I assume that not only is the gun (canon?) a NFA 'destructive device', each round of ammo needs a $200 NFA tax stamp also.

If I am right about the change in legal status, was that due to the 1968 GCA?? Wonder what was the reasoning was behind chnging the NFA status. Not like something like this is the choice of someone looking to stick up the neighborhood liquor store.

Wonder how many of these babies are legally owned in the US as of 2016???

 

[CapnMac]

Scary how many of those ads I remember from magazines in the barber shop--but, then again, GCA 68 happened when I was eight. I remember surplus and junk places with M-1 Carbines in barrels for $50, too. Not when I had $50, naturally.

Lessee, in '78 when I graduated high school, a Mercedes 250 SLC was an outrageously expensive $55,000. Executive vice presidents made $80-90K; CEO/Presidents made a phenomenal $150K.

 

[Acera]

I liked the ad for the 20mm Solothurn anti-tank gun....................

Fast forward to 2016. I assume that not only is the gun (canon?) a NFA 'destructive device', each round of ammo needs a $200 NFA tax stamp also..............

No need for a $200 stamp each round unless it is explosive. Plenty of 20mm ammo that is not. You can buy it and have it shipped to your door for about $35 each. (IIRC the LHATI shoots the same round.)
Also Gunbroker has some collectable ammo for it listed.

Now if you want a 20mm, Anzio Ironworks makes one that shoots 20mm Vulcan ammo, which you can get for as little as $10 a round.



Did notice that Colt AR ad has the limited production model in it which was my first AR-15. Round hand guards over a heavy barrel with the old style carry handle and sights. They soon went to the better rear sight.




,



.

 

[Hardtarget]

I spotted a shotgun my dad hunted with. A Rem. 11-48, 12 ga, semi auto. the add price tag was $115.00. He spent some money considering there were four kids in the house.

Saw a few others that made me drool!

Mark

 

[Ryanxia]

I spotted a shotgun my dad hunted with. A Rem. 11-48, 12 ga, semi auto. the add price tag was $115.00. He spent some money considering there were four kids in the house.

Maybe he got it used or made a trade for it. I know some of my family members old guns were gotten in strange ways.

My grandfather has a rifle that he got when a friend wanted to borrow $10 back in the day. This guy was notorious for not paying people back. My grandfather agreed but held on to the guy's rifle as collateral. Guy never paid him back and he's had the rifle 40+ years now.

Skimbell - you HAD to post the thompsons lol. I've wanted one so bad for a long time. Not scraping up the money for a pre 86' one and I had a semi auto one (M1 model) but being closed bolt and having an insanely heavy cocking weight (+50lbs no joke) I sold it. I was going to SBR it and at least it would be a functioning rifle that looked like the WW2 model.

 

[il.bill]

I distinctly remember as a kid in the early 1960s seeing advertisements in the back of magazines I read that listed Springfield 1903s, German Mausers, and Russian Mosin Nagants for less then $20 shipped to your door - I never ordered one because I was convinced that getting a real WWII army rifle sent to my home was one of those "too good to be true" scams one hears about.

This thread brought me to a gun history in the USA link - much of it was old news to me, but I learned a thing or two, so I thought I would share: http://gunsleague.com/2016/07/21/the-secret-history-of-guns/.

The biggest disappointment was no real explanation of how the "well-regulated militia" phrase in the 2nd Amendment is a direct reference to the Constitution's clause dealing with the power of Congress to organize said militia and the citizens' right to keep and bear arms acting as a counterbalance for liberty.

 

[Vector]

The AR hunting ads should be used to learn the liberals that it has been marketed for hunting long before many of them were born.
Then again, even the 1911 concept is lost on them, not understanding how old the semi-auto has been around even before their grandparents were born.

Thanks for posting.

 

[jcwit]

I was stationed in Washing, DC in 1965, we used to go down to Hunters Lodge in Alexandria, VA. Should have bought my wants back then, but wanted money in the bank instead.

As far as wages, I never ever worked for min. wage. Always made more, much more.

 

[OD92fs]

Beretta should have kept that slogan..."Nothing matches the dependability of a Beretta. Nothing."

 

[KevininPa]

Super neat-o.

Neat-o? How appropriate!

 

[mikemyers]

Anyone reading this thread will most likely thoroughly enjoy this:

http://www.gunsmagazine.com/1964issues/G0164.pdf

To me, it's fascinating - what's the same now, and what has been lost to the past.....

 

[Midwest]

Anyone reading this thread will most likely thoroughly enjoy this:

http://www.gunsmagazine.com/1964issues/G0164.pdf

To me, it's fascinating - what's the same now, and what has been lost to the past.....

Thanks for the link to the 1964 pdf Guns Magazine. Not to derail the thread in anyway, but just to add a comment about one of many interesting articles in it.


As someone who studies gun control laws from the past, I found the article "The Second Amendment is NOT Enough" interesting. Running on pages 16-18 we get a look at gun control from a 1964 perspective.

It looks like (from the article) that the infamous Dodd Gun Hearings main concern was mail order handguns. The key suggestion at the time is to make changes to the FFA (Federal Firearms Act) with an amendment eliminating mail order handguns and leave it at that.

This makes me ponder on the thought that if that amendment was added to the then FFA . Would it have head off implementing the Gun Control Act of 1968? Or would it have been used by the Dodd hearings as the first step and still pass the '68 GCA with even more restrictions than what we have now?

A scant two years later in 1966 NJ imposed the Firearms ID card on law abiding residents and thus earning that state the title 'The State With The Worst Gun Laws of Any State". Two years after seeing what NJ did, Illinois introduced their 'FOID' card in 1968 as did Massachusetts a year or so later.

We'll never know, believe me I am no fan of any gun restrictions on law abiding American's, because the criminals will never follow any law.

Anyway, thanks again for the link.
.