Colt Officers original price

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1951 Shooters Bible (Stoeger's) lists the Officers Model Special at $75.00. That would be retail. The Detective Special was $65.
 
I would hope I wasn't being paid 1951 wages, otherwise I would have little chance of doing as Guillermo suggests.

Heck, I'll bet that even the Old Fuff in all his eminence didn't make what can be earned today. (I could be wrong, he might be rich as Croesus AFAIK).

I do remember my first job (in high school) paid $1.25 an hour. Little chance to buy the Colt catalogue at 1900 prices at that rate.
 
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Colt revolvers have been historically priced at about a weeks pay for an accountant type person. So, in my mind, there were expensive. I might add, they are still expensive.
 
TY, as was my suspicion. In '76 I bought my first from a Dothan, Ala. gun shop and even though I saved as best I could, couldn't afford a new Python and instead bought a Trooper Mk III. Still seemed pretty expensive on my means.
 
... were Colts considered pretty pricey in those days Fuff?
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As I remember they were more expensive then Smith & Wessons, but not prohibtively so. Ruger was just getting started, but his little .22 pistol was a big hit because it undersold everybody else. There was no foreign competition as such, but gun shows were filled with GI "brought-backs" that they no longer wanted. I remember paying $25 for a brand new/never fired (until I go it) German 9mm Luger, and I turned down an apparently unfired Colt 1877 "Lightning" with genuine pearl stocks as being way overpriced at $75. :banghead:

The thing with Colt was that they were slow in getting back into production (except for the Government Model .45) for which demand was slight. Smith and Wesson on the other hand went right to it, especially with their .38 Military & Police, for which demand was out of sight. The .357 Magnum (pre-model 27) was much sought after but seldom found, and eventually I got a 5" only because one was ordered by a deputy sheriff who later backed out. The outrageous cost was about $100. I paid so fast the money almost caught on fire.

Of course it should be remembered that wages of the day weren't all that high either. Even at an early age I was quickly learning the advantages of the used gun market, that included a substantial supply of low-cost/high quality war surplus guns being brought in from Europe. I was really (sob!) ripped off when I had to pay $16.00 for a .455 Webly-converted-to .45 Colt, S&W Triple Lock.

Ah... Those were the days. :cool:
 
$ 16.00 for a triple-lock! Fuff I am disillusioned, how could you ever be so spendthrift!
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Well I wasn't a push-over. :uhoh:

I tried to talk the seller down, but he pointed out that others were charging more - up to $20.00 and these hadn't been rechambered. I could have got .455 ammunition imported from Canada, but it was very expensive. So I chickened out and gave him the 16 bucks. I hope someday I can get my money out of it. :D
 
In 1951 gas was 18.8 cents a gallon. When adjusted for wages in 1951 the current firearms prices are bargains.
 
The real bargains today are the Colt DA revolvers from the 1920's and 1930's. Most can be bought for less than $300 in good condition, and I think it is a good bet that the prices will rise as it dawns on collectors that they aren't being made any more.

Jim
 
In 1951 gas was 18.8 cents a gallon. When adjusted for wages in 1951 the current firearms prices are bargains.
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Analytically speaking.
Unfortunately, quality is not included in the price.
 
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