Every day for this entire year I will post old school printed gun ads each day.

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In 1965 I was 10 years old, reloading for .32 acp and .38 spcl with a Lyman 310 "tong tool" and devouring many of these ads in the gun magazines. Clearly all my favorites were out of reach in price. But wait! Some might still be out of reach in today's dollars. Here's a quick and interesting inflation equivalency calculator:

https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

Maybe plug in some of the prices and convert to today's money. Given the current state of events, I suspect I'd find a way to pay the updated prices :cool:

-jb, poor is a relative term
 
Love this thread. I used to save old gun ads but not sure if I still have them. I’ll hafta look.
 
Thanks for the post! I'm looking for two old ads, and I'd appreciate all the help that anyone is willing to offer.

First, the Italian company Garcia made and/or imported lots of stuff in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They seem to have had at least a one page ad. in the American Rifleman every month. Well, they had a "survival knife" with a leather sheath that was sort of supposed to compete with the Gerber knives. I gave mine to a friend and would like to give him a copy of the ad. too.

Second, there was a much older ad. from the 1930s (I think) for .22 caliber ammunition by Peters Cartridge Co. There are a couple of people in the picture and there may be some sort of indication that the peoplel in the photo were involved in developing some sort of new lube or alloy for this new .22. Unfortunately, that's about all that I can offer in the way of a description of the ad. I'm looking for it because I knew the guy in the photo who worked at Peters and developed the round. His son had a copy of the photo but lost it and always wanted another one. I promised him that I look for it and although he passed away several years ago, a promise is a promise and I'm still looking.

Please forgive me for one last note. The ad. for Hunter's Lodge brings back lots of memories. We visited the store almost every year. I'd attend the NRA convention in D.C. with the guy that I mentioned with regard to the Peters ad, and then he'd take me across the river to Arlington and Alexandria to visit the places over there, Hunter's, Interarms, Beretta, etc. Never really bought too much, but I always wanted one of the "big" guns. So one year I finally ordered one of the "big" ones from Hunter's Lodge through the mail! It wasn't the BSA model, but rather an L-39 'cause I thought the skis were "neat." Paid less than the price in the ad., if I remember correctly, but that was a lot of money for an 8 year old. Got it to give to my father for Father's Day! Wish I knew what happened to it. The very distant reincarnation of Hunter's Lodge still exists today in Ethridge, Tennessee, but its no comparison to what it was. The one thing I saw when we visited the shops in Virginia that I always wanted but they wouldn't let me buy was a Nebelwerfer rocket launcher. Just thought it was "neat" too. No ammunition of course, but still "neat"! These ads., regardless of the date, serve as outstanding examples of what we've already lost. Thanks again.
 
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Very cool ! If guns still sold for that kind of money I am sure most of us would need a warehouse by now for storage. I know I would.
 
Those crazy prices and mailed to your house, no need for the .gov to get involved.

Those prices may seem crazy today but they definitely weren't back then. When you compare those prices to the personal income then nothing much has changed over the years. They were expensive for us then just like they are now. In fact there are better deals on guns available today than back then due to improved manufacturing techniques and materials used. The "mailed to your house" is the only part of yesteryear I would like to have today.
 
It's sad to think what a thread like this would look like in 50 (or more) years when the ads from today are "antiques". In 50 years many of us won't be here and I can't even imagine what gun laws and ownership will look like.
 
hps1

I remember seeing that Herter's Catalog! My Dad was an avid fisherman and use to buy a lot of his fishing tackle from them.
 
Just keep In mind that “89.00” Garand actually equates to more like $750 and was in an era with less disposable income.

M1A like $1,100 bucks.

Now that Enfield for around $170 bucks in today’s money ain’t half bad. :)

When you put the past through today’s lenses you will usually find prices today are similar or cheaper in many cases and we tend to have more disposable income.

At least that’s my take. I was looking at some Shotgun News prices from the early 90s and the SIG prices were pretty astronomical for the time.
 
What's even more amazing than the guns are the addresses of the dealers -San Francisco, Studio Coty, CA, DC, etc. now all antigun havens.
 
This ad from 1965 always puts a smile on my face.


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If only I'd been around then; a 1911 for $54.95 (~$450 in today's money) and ammo for $4/100 ($33/100). Knowing that the go for 3 times that today, I think I'd have bought two. Always liked the old Sears ads for the $2.50 double barrel shotguns; dunno if I'd wanna shoot one, though.

Mac
 
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