Found an old 1995 Shotgun News today...

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1995 was the year I got engaged, and had quit going to gun shows as I thought the milsurps I enjoyed were getting too few and prices too high back then. I used to regularly pore over each issue of Shotgun News from about 1986 to 1993 though. Like some others I used it for benchmarking when I attended gun shows. I don't remember actually ordering anything from any ads in Shotgun News but Oh! if I'd had discretionary income to speak of when the slew of C96's from Asia hit in the 1980's, some with extremely elaborately carved wooden shoulder holsters, my accumulation (I don't dignify it with the term "collection") would be significantly different.

But look at those arsenal refinished, matching numbers, Nazi proofed P38's for $329 in 1995.
 
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Well the fact you found that to be”old” Is depressing. :( I retired in “97”. :)
I subscribed to that for a few decades. Never bought anything thru it but was a reference for the many gun shows I attended over the years.

No offense meant. :)
 
I LOVE THAT JAPANESE TYPE 38 converted to 7.62x39.... any one own one??? Any one seen one.??? Any Idea how those beauties come to being????
My dad had one. It was a rather crude rebore job done by the Chicoms and given to the NVA, who didnt really want them and passed them along again to the Viet Cong. Many were captured by US and ARVN troops and again passed along to local village militias.

A few thousand were imported, pretty sure by Century, but not sure if they came from old Chinese and Vietnamese storage or some other source.

My Dad's had extraction problems and wasnt very accurate. He only shot it a few times and tossed it in the attic. Its probably still there. It was in very rough shape, as were the handful of others I remember seeing at gun shops back then.
 
My dad had one. It was a rather crude rebore job done by the Chicoms and given to the NVA, who didnt really want them and passed them along again to the Viet Cong. Many were captured by US and ARVN troops and again passed along to local village militias.

A few thousand were imported, pretty sure by Century, but not sure if they came from old Chinese and Vietnamese storage or some other source.

My Dad's had extraction problems and wasnt very accurate. He only shot it a few times and tossed it in the attic. Its probably still there. It was in very rough shape, as were the handful of others I remember seeing at gun shops back then.


Many thanks... I just looked and there are a few now and then on gunbroker & some comments out there about accuracy issues from crappy sight pictures... But with all the negatives I read, with all the downsides I see.. And even with you confirming it... I must say..

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Thanks for the memories, Pat!

In addition to the Shotgun News, there was another monthly newspaper style gun publication available on the newsstands. Lots of private classified ads along with the full page distributor ads common in SN. I can’t think of its name. Anyone remember?
 
It was a shotgun news I brought from home that caused a stink at The Citadel. I pointed out that all that was needed to reactivate the M14 rifles stored in each pair or trine of Cadets' rooms was the Firing pin, extractor and spring, and ejector and spring and there they were in three different adds.

Someone noticed just before Christmas and a detailed inspection began to locate functional rifles. One of the Romeo Company officers that spent his weekends driving to DCM matches left his private and not mentioned to the school M1 NM in his rifle slot behind the door of his room and kept his M14 in the trunk of his car. As he was a cadet officer and normally left his assigned rifle ( to carry a sword) in his room nobody noticed in all that time. He reported not loosing any points over his M1NM with his bone stock M14 on DCM events. Unfortunately his M1NM was in his room when the great parts hunt began.

As it happened I had returned to 4th Bat between classes and the cadet with the gate duty told me what was going on and I dashed to my room and removed the "contraband" in both our rifles. I then got gigged at supper for "gross personal apperence - items in trouser pockets - 3 demerits-Explanation Of Report" because there were two sets of parts and an M1 combo tool (necessary to install and remove those parts easily, yes you can use the M14 tool but it is harder, especially installing) in by bulging ( to upper class eyes ) trouser pocket.

We then all got a good talking to after supper to the effect that if the School wanted us to have functional rifles for D&C then the great State of South Carolina would provide us with such. The M1 guy got his rifle back and a private talking to as well.

I had to giggle at the inspection while uncovering the activated M14s failed to turn up a pair of BP revolvers, a BHP, a PPk, and a M19 S&W I knew upper classmen to have concealed in their rooms in our one company, and to the best of my knowledge none of the magazines we should not have had or ammo ..."and if you're not from Romeo, to Hell, to Hell with you!"

-kBob
 
Shotgun News was so beautiful back in the days of cheap guns and parts. I still have in my bedside table the 9/20/2006 and 11/20/2006 editions where Steven Matthews showed us how to put together a belt fed semi auto 1919 a4. I was going to do it myself, but the welding equipment was too expensive for me to buy at the time.
These issues are available free to anyone here who wants to build one. Cost you only for shipping the editions, my cost no sweat. PM to me if you want them.
 
Shotgun News was so beautiful back in the days of cheap guns and parts. I still have in my bedside table the 9/20/2006 and 11/20/2006 editions where Steven Matthews showed us how to put together a belt fed semi auto 1919 a4. I was going to do it myself, but the welding equipment was too expensive for me to buy at the time.
These issues are available free to anyone here who wants to build one. Cost you only for shipping the editions, my cost no sweat. PM to me if you want them.

Off the topic, not that I know, But I am just guessing, just supposing.. But you can spend more putting together you own semi 1919a4 then if you pick up one on the open market with all the Bells and Whistles. But sometimes economics is not the be all and end all...
 
Thanks for the memories, Pat!

In addition to the Shotgun News, there was another monthly newspaper style gun publication available on the newsstands. Lots of private classified ads along with the full page distributor ads common in SN. I can’t think of its name. Anyone remember?

Maybe “Gun List?” Was there a Gun List publication?
 
Well the fact you found that to be”old” Is depressing. :( I retired in “97”. :)
I subscribed to that for a few decades. Never bought anything thru it but was a reference for the many gun shows I attended over the years.

I graduated H.S. in '95. Even though more than 50% of my time on this earth has elapsed since then, it still doesn't feel that old.

It's fun to see how certain brands' price increases outpace others, and how used prices for some now are about what new prices were 25 years ago.
With few exceptions (SKS is one) the better stuff is still more expensive, the cheapest stuff is still cheaper, and the middle's still the middle.
 
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Most folks see these and think WOW look how cheap etc. without thinking about inflation/median income etc.

What struck me most is in 1995 dollars a SIG P229 with Night Sights is over $700 :what:

I mean an $8800 PSG1 is one thing but a P229!!!! $700 in 1995 was REAL MONEY. Hell it’s real money now.
Ya, SIGs arent the high-brow brand they once were. Back then the P220 was an object of desire that real working folks would only gaze at through the glass, but nobody I knew actually owned a vaunted SIG. Dont get me wrong, they are still nice guns, but they are definitely more mass-market now than they were back then.
 
Most folks see these and think WOW look how cheap etc. without thinking about inflation/median income etc.

What struck me most is in 1995 dollars a SIG P229 with Night Sights is over $700 :what:

I mean an $8800 PSG1 is one thing but a P229!!!! $700 in 1995 was REAL MONEY. Hell it’s real money now.

You make a great point but $80 in1995 would be $138 today.
A new SKS for $80 then would be quite a bit more than $138 today.
 
I didn't turn 21 till 1996. I bought a Glock 21 off a guy in MN. Paid $600 for it.
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Shotgun News was a dangerous read for me. Caused me to get a curio & relic license and the big brown truck would regularly drop long, grease stained packages on my deck. One of the last SN purchases (through an FFL 1) was a $400 kalashnikov pistol that has no purpose in life other than to make me giggle.
 
I'm 36 but even I can remember dirt cheap sks, mosin and various milsurps that have gone through the roof today. I think best buy in my timeline would have been mosins by the crate. I had a gun shop by work that sold nagant revolver with holster and cleaning kit for $85 , would have been around 2005 or 2006, can't believe I've seen some over $500, those things are terrible! I also remember seeing dragunovs for under $1000, I saw one selling for $8k recently , some go for more, that's just nuts and wrong. I wish I was buying age back in the 80s, there were certainly some treasures to be had!

Thanks for the pics, I really enjoyed looking at the prices!
 
It just seems odd how prices on certain guns only appreciate at the rate of inflation while some hold steadily low, then balloon almost instantly. I remember the $69 SKS from 25 years ago. I also remember the $125 ones from 15 years ago. Or how many Mosins I'd passed up for $75-$80 in the mid-2000's. Tang Safety model 77 Rugers in any caliber you wanted for $250-$300, MkII's for $300-$350 ...And the Ruger Single 6 convertible I bought with box, papers,& both cylinders for $200 in 2005. Last gun show I went to, guys were in the mid $500's for ones in similar shape.
By contrast, a Ruger Red Label is still in the same $1000 range it was in 20 years ago. This gun stuff doesn't always make sense. Guess it's more depressing when we lived through those times and didn't have the foresight.

Somewhere I have some Fur, Fish & Game mags from the late 50's /early 60's. Probably some guys around here that'll remember those days too. If I can find them I'll post some of the gun ads for comparison to 1995 prices.
 
I bought Shotgun News all the time though I never subscribed. I bought some weird stuff out of those pages over the years and pre internet it was THE source for hard to find items and parts. Ah the good old days.
 
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