Hoard of old Gunmags (the reading kind)

[hps1]

I first joined NRA in Feb of 1954, then upgraded to life member in 1961. With the exception of probably less than a dozen copies, have every issue of the American Rifleman to date. Back in the day, there was a good market for such, but today, not so much.

They have proven to be a great reference source from time to time and fun to spend a rainy afternoon recollecting those revered "better days".


Regards,
hps

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[tazbigdog]

I have a lot of old blackpowder magazines, like Muzzle Blasts. Will re-read when I retire and get back into building.

 

[pharmer]

Sorry, this is all I got. Joe

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

Back then, before the Net, those mags were your only source of what was new and coming up and what was cool and unavailable to a poor young man-----I poured over those carefully and took in every word.

 

[tactikel]

Thanks for some great memories! I had a stack of G&A, Shooting times, American Rifleman, Soldier of Fortune, and Gun Digest About 3 feet tall, lost all them when the basement flooded back in the 70’s

 

[Gordon]

Wolf Publications : Rifle and Handloader are still an occasional buy if they have stuff I'm interested in.

 

[Old Dog]

And some of us simply like confirmation bias.

 

[hk940]

Back in the 70's-80's I was subscribed to a half dozen gun magazines, and looked forward every month to what was new. It then got to the point where a lot of the issues were rehashing old articles (pet loads for the .357 etc).
I let my subscriptions run out soon after that.
When I moved from NJ in 2011 I had a full set of gun digest from issue 1 to 2011. I gave them to my gunsmith because I did not to move them (they take up a lot of space and are heavy).
I just replaced them with a three set on DVD 1944-2019, Brand new off ebay for less than $10.00, they weigh a lot less and take up a lot less room.
Search around on ebay as the prices vary a lot.

 

[bannockburn]

I still have a small cache of old magazines from Guns and Ammo, Shooting Times (mainly for the Skeeter Skelton articles), American Handgunner (beautiful color layouts of various guns), and American Rifleman (informative articles, especially those on U.S. military weaponry). My favorites are some of those magazines from the '50s that have those great gun ads in them!

 

[hps1]

In 1961 I ordered a "select grade" M1 from a similar (not exact same) Klein's ad in the Rifleman. The rifle was in pretty good condition but with light pitting throughout the barrel probably from corrosive ammo.

The stock had been "refinished" complete w/a 1/8" gap between stock at heel of receiver. Looked like the stock had been sanded with an 8" auto body grinder. Since it shot surprisingly well, I put a new stock on it and bedded the rifle, tuned it up & it shot well enough to shoot matches for a few years.


Shot the barrel out, then replaced the rifle but never changed that barrel because it has the British proof marks of a lend leased rifle.

It still has the original (uncut) op rod but unfortunately, I replaced the early (locking) rear sight with a NM sight and took the original milled trigger guard off and replaced w/stamped guard to provide tighter bedding. Paid $97 for the select grade IIRC. Thinking it might be worth the effort to "restore" it to original condition today.

Sure wish I had taken advantage of those surplus prices back then, but........ $100 in 1961 = $1,031.56 in 2023.
Regards,
hps

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

I still have a small cache of old magazines from Guns and Ammo, Shooting Times (mainly for the Skeeter Skelton articles), American Handgunner (beautiful color layouts of various guns), and American Rifleman (informative articles, especially those on U.S. military weaponry). My favorites are some of those magazines from the '50s that have those great gun ads in them!

Ye Old Hunter had a real leg up on the competition -- Hunters Lodge was wholly owned by Interarmco (later Interarms) and served as their US retail outlet!

When I reached my later teens, dad showed me three rifles, still in their Interarmco boxes, that he'd bought (I think) through the local Montgomery Wards store: a No.4 Lee Enfield, a Brno K98k with the oversize stamped triggerguard, and a Ludwig Loewe mfg 1895 Spanish Mauser. Unfortunately their condition suffered from decades stored in our attic, and after his death in 2001 I sold them off in hopes of replacing them later on with better examples of the same. I'm still looking for a 1895 Mauser in as good shape as his started out.

I'm quite confident he paid less than $20 apiece for the three in the 1950s.

 

[hk940]

I still have a small cache of old magazines from Guns and Ammo, Shooting Times (mainly for the Skeeter Skelton articles), American Handgunner (beautiful color layouts of various guns), and American Rifleman (informative articles, especially those on U.S. military weaponry). My favorites are some of those magazines from the '50s that have those great gun ads in them!

A time machine and a sack full of money. of course it would have to be money from the time period. No Monopoly money 100's.
I did get two one dollar silver certificates from the bank last week!

 

[Charlie98]

I bought my first gun magazine in 1978... OCT's issue of Guns & Ammo, and only because it had these long-slide .45's on it (...and this was years prior to the Terminator getting his... )

Shortly after that, the G&A Annual came out, with that catalog of firearms in it... and I was hooked. I would buy other magazines, but G&A was always my favorite. This was also the timeframe when Elmer Keith was the Editor... and I looked at this guy and wondered who the crazy old man was with the cowboy hat! But... I learned pretty quickly.

Being a packrat, I saved every issue of anything I bought, all organized and labeled... and eventually wound up with something like 4 cardboard paper boxes full of magazines, which I had to wag around the country as I moved here and there. Some years ago, I decided I needed to shed the dead weight... and went through ALL of those, only keeping the ones that had any relevant articles in them... anything .41MAG and .348WCF related, relevant load data, and even some Wish List firearms. I culled it down to ONE paper box full of magazines. In all honesty, I probably need to scan the majority of that info into the computer (I already have some of the loading data scanned in) and just get rid of the rest of them, but I really like an actual magazine in my hands.

Spending a few hours rooting through those boxes did, however, propel me down Memory Lane, for sure. Some of those articles I remember reading as a teenager...

 

[bannockburn]

Charlie98

I bought my first gun magazine in 1978... OCT's issue of Guns & Ammo, and only because it had these long-slide .45's on it (...and this was years prior to the Terminator getting his... )

I started with Guns and Ammo with a subscription beginning with the December edition, 1972. With writers like Elmer Keith, Jeff Cooper, Garry James, Bill Jordan, P.O. Ackley, Bob Milek, and John Wooters, they had nearly every aspect covered in the way of gun interests.

Shooting Times magazine was another one I use to subscribe to, though that was more because Skeeter Skelton use to write a column and various articles for them. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the great stories from his past, most of which were gun related.

 

[hps1]

I did get two one dollar silver certificates from the bank last week!

Bidenomics has folks digging deeper into their sock than normal.

With writers like Elmer Keith, Jeff Cooper, Garry James, Bill Jordan, P.O. Ackley, Bob Milek, and John Wooters, they had nearly every aspect covered in the way of gun interests.

Bill Jordan was stationed in the lower Rio Grande Valley and put on a fast draw demonstration for our sportsman's club in the late 50's IIRC, maybe mid 60's. Fast and accurate! Thanks for the memory.

Regards,
hps