Gun Stuff You No Longer See

[evets_56_98]

Good old days

I have Westernfield .22 s/l/lr rifle bought from Montgomery Wards by my father in law that I inherited yrs. ago.Made by Mossberg for the purpose of selling at Monkey Wards.(The good old days right there).Best shooting .22 I have too.

 

[saltydog]

Back in the 60's the local hardware store had a 55gal drum of cut in half, like new, thompson's and grease guns. My dad paid a dollar for a new grease gun mag and thought that was expensive.

 

[kimbershot]

first shotgun--father worked for emhart which owned stevens. bought a brand new 311 double barrel 12 ga. for 68.00 with employee discount. my dad brought it home and handed it to me--and it had no serial number.

 

[hq]

The glass faced gun cabinet.

It's nothing short of amazing what can be done with 1" ballistic glass and walnut veneer on 7 gauge hardened steel, you know. It looks just as fragile as plate glass and wood, but try breaking into one...

I'm currently building one, more like a lit display case for a few early 20th century SMG:s to hang on the wall, but it seems that this design weighs over 300lbs so hanging it anywhere is pretty much out of the question.

 

[Mk VII]

Electric bedding on .22 match rifles. All the rage in the 1940s and '50s, don't hear about it now. And we don't seem to miss it.

 

[gamestalker]

Reloading supplies, ammunition, and firearms being sold out of drug stores and liquor stores. Seriously, I used to go to a drug store when I lived in N. Arizona to buy much of my reloading components and tools. Actually, I've seen more than one drug store that back then that stocked all type of sporting goods, even out board boat motors. I recall the pharmacist answering particular questions I would have about various reloading questions too.

And I also remember a liquor store, which I believe is still selling guns & reloading stuff. That one is a rather odd combination, guns and liquor out of the same store, and next to one another on the shelves too? Ya, I'll take one of those AR's, two boxes of ammo, and a bottle of vodka. Oh, and will the vodka work for cleaning my brass also?

GS

 

[Starter52]

Crimped .22 shotshells filled with dust shot. Every hardware store sold them when I was a kid. Also gone are BB guns without a manual safety, and pump shotguns that you can slamfire (no disconnector).

This is a great thread. evets, thanks for opening it again.

 

[Stophel]

I haven't seen a gun rack in a pick up truck in at least 15 years. It used to be universal here. America has changed since the 90's.

What else don't I see much of anymore? Forged steel. Classic designs. And semiauto pistols without "accessory rails".

 

[JM Browning]

Non MIM S&W revolvers, too bad

 

[tactikel]

Ads on the back of "Shooting Times' and 'Guns and Ammo" for M1 carbines for $79.95, and Garands for $89.95. Carcanos were $19.95. Mailed to your house. I miss those days!

 

[bannockburn]

George Lawrence holsters and Mustang grips made some quality products that I miss from way back when. Would also love to see the Ruger Security/Service/Speed Six put back into their line-up.

 

[HexHead]

Weatherby ads with Hollywood royalty being handed their new rifles or admiring their big game kill.

 

[km101]

Back when primers came in a wooden tray instead of plastic. And back when you could FIND primers.

Military surplus ammo. I remember back in the 50's and 60l's when .30 M1 carbine ammo was only slightly higher than .22 rf ammo. We used to plink with carbines instead of .22's.

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

I remember looking at the ads for military surplus guns and ammo in the late 50's-early 60's. Not only the mauser 98's, m1 garands & carbines and other military bolt action rifles but also ancient rolling blocks, handguns of every type and even surplus anti tank rifles. If it wasn't full auto it was for sale. All you had to do was fill out the order form, send in the money with the order and shortly you received your order, usually delivered by your friendly postman. Those were the days. Kind of interesting with the almost lack of gun control in those days how few and far between gun incidents were compared to the world today. Makes one wonder.

 

[Willie Sutton]

Bannermans Ads... selling Civil War surplus. New!

Tyler T Grips.

Pop buying .22 Longs, for when a short just didn't do it but you didn't want to be wasteful and use a .22 Long Rifle. "Can't be wasteful"... how many times did Farmers who grew up as kids themselves in the Depresson Era recite that to their own kids and grand-kids? "Waste not, want not", coming from the mouths of folks who had known want.... want of food, want of clothes, want of everything.



"My grandfather once told me a story about when he was younger you could walk into a hardware store and buy single rounds of ammo."

Absolutely true.

I remember going into the hardware store and buying single cartridges of .22 birdshot. Before I was old enough to carry and shoot the family "bolt action single shot Remington .22 that stood behind the door" with .22 shorts along afield, I was allowed to carry it afield alone after school with birdshot for the 10 year old kids sport of sparrow-hunting. I guess Pop figured that with an effective rangs of 20 feet that I was not going to get into too much trouble with it. Birdshot was expensive compared to shorts though, and since I had to earn my own funds and buy my own ammo, having single-shot purchasing power at the hardware store was important. And this was post-68, when you were supposed to be 18 to buy ammo. The news hadn't apparently reached the hardware store, as the old man gladly sold me what I needed. I'd buy five at a time if I could afford it. .Earning 25 cents an hour for mucking out stalls on a neighboring farm was how I paid for things. Later on it was tossing hay bales onto a wagon during hay season. Penny a bale. Been a while.

I remember the first time Pop let me carry shorts alone to shoot with. That was an important day.



"According to the Warren Commission the slickest, quickest firing most accurate rifle ever built"

You, sir, are busted: That's a line from Fat Freddy. You know what comics I am talking about...




Willie

.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Federal Hi-Power ammo for 8 bucks a Brick and Federal Lightings for 5 bucks from a Fred's Dept Store.

 

[JM Browning]

Good Ole Days?

I used to buy 357 lubaloy Winchester or Fed. cant recall, less than $10 at Target. Bought my Remmy 700 there also.

Face it everything has gone up, way up but now prices can be compared on the internet. Cheaper than I've seen at gunshows.

 

[mac66]

Lots of back in the day stuff I could mention. Just thought some would enjoy this. 10 years or so ago an old guy who lived down the block died. I really didn't know him but would ofter stop and talk to him while he was out tinkering with his fishing boat in the driveway. About a month after he died his wife knocked on the door with a box of old ammo. It was cool old stuff so I thought I would take a photo of it. There was actually 5 boxes of shotgun ammo and about 20 boxes of 22s. Enjoy

 

[gamestalker]

I remember when my buddies and I could walk into the local TG&Y or hardware store on our way home from Jr High school, and purchase 22RF or shotgun shells. I would imagine it wasn't legal for them to sell to minors, but back then they just knew we were kids that liked to shoot and hunt critters, we weren't bad kids.

I can also remember when my kids and I could stop by their school to show off their most recent successful hunt, and the firearm they used. We could walk into the school with firearms back then too.

GS

 

[Palehorseman]

Early 1960s I took an apprenticeship in Chicago, money was tight, but lived right around the corner from Chicago Gun Center and it was like a cheap, but good buffet.

In pic, the Trapdoor was $15.00 and the Persian Mauser carbine was 20 bucks out the door. I look back on those days and say, fool, fool.

 

[Hokkmike]

Was at a curious store yesterday and saw a press for making paper shotgun shells.....

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Browsing the Dec 1957 Guns magazine, I found
Federal Firearms Corp., 822-C N. Hollywood Way, Burbank, California, had Husqvarna revolvers (Nagant style) for $13.95 very good condition, #17.95 for excellent. Mail order instructions:

When ordering, include a signed statement: "I am not an alien. I have never been convicted of a crime of violence and am not under indictment or a fugitive from justice. I am 21 years of age or older." Mass., Mo., Mich., N. Y., H. J., H. C., R. I., Omaha and New Orleans require permits. Enclose with order.

Also in the Dec 1957 Guns I found DEWAT (de-activated war trophies) "bores plugged in accord with Fed. Firearms laws on machineguns."

Cadmus Industries, 56 Craft Bldg., 5860 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles 28, Calif., had STEN guns complete with magazine for $17.95, magazines $3.95 and mag. loaders $1.95. Order by mail, $5 deposit for COD.

The Dec 1959 issue had an ad by Potomac Arms Co., P.O. Box 550 -- 329 S. Union St. Alexandria 2, Virginia, announcing LAST OF DEWATS: Chauchat, Good $19.95; Chauchat, V Good $24.95; Accessoriy Kit w/Dewat, $3.95; MP 44--small supply, $49.95. (The MP44 was the StG44.) "All items shipped Express charges collect unless sufficient postage is included with order."

 

[tacmedicp94]

Being able to run around the neighborhood hiding in other peoples yards, trees, and bushes while carrying toy rifles and playing ''war.'' Folks would step outside, see me in their bush or tree and suggest that i move down a little further or higher for better concealment. Now days there would be Police swarming the area due to reports of a ''man with a long gun.''

 

[On An Island]

Being able to run around the neighborhood hiding in other peoples yards, trees, and bushes while carrying toy rifles and playing ''war.'' Folks would step outside, see me in their bush or tree and suggest that i move down a little further or higher for better concealment.

Yeah, me and my buds Kyle and James used to tear around the neighborhood playing army. Good memories. Thanks.

 

[justashooter in pa]

then there was the neighbor kid that liked to "hunt" squirrels with a 12 gauge shell taped to the end of his crossman air rifle...somehow the squirrels always got a pass on that rig. haven't seen him in a decade or so. found him in the white pages on the net. got his answering machine, 500 miles and 40 years away.