Do you Remember?

[4896worker]

Well even in commie California we ha our time. Bought a 1903-A3 from Kmart late 60's early 70's 49.00 they had Enfield to about same price . Late 80's early 90's had FFL bought Korean comeback m1 carbine 169.00 paratroopers SKS 139.00 gun shows at that time bought MAK 90 (California legal at time AK. For 169.00 . Also got an M1Grand from Uncle Sam through the civilian marksmanship. Program in late 80's shipped to my post office after a fingerprint background check . Paid 165.00 the invoice said 65.00 for the rifle and 100. For shipping.
The good thing is I still have them all don't know what selling a firearm is

 

[farley]

In 1974, I purchased my first gun at a Woolworths store. A brand new Winchester Model 94. It cost a whopping $79. I still have the receipt.

 

[gnappi]

All of this before guns were demonized, and after the demons who abused them were not held accountable for the misuse.

It's the guns, yeah!

 

[Watertender]

Woolworth's here had both M1 Garand rifles and M1 carbines for right around $100 in the late 1980's. They were from Korea and in anywhere from fair to very good condition. I was working 3 jobs at the time and things like food and paying for our rent and utilities was more important. So I didn't purchase any of them.

 

[eveled]

When I first heard of the 1911's being sold for what seemed like very little money in the 60's. I asked my Dad why he didn't buy any? His response was similar to @Watertender 's. He also added that he was making $2 an hour. Just to keep it in perspective.

The best milsurp deal I got was an Enfield for $125 in the late 80's. I was probably making $12 an hour.

 

[fiasconva]

I don't remember Woolworth's selling those surplus firearms but we had a Montgomery Ward's that had barrels of them of different varieties, 1903's, M1 Carbines, and Enfields. They also had tons of ammo for the 1903's. But my late father-in-law bought a British 303 Enfield from a Roses store back in the 90's and never got a chance to fire it.

 

[daveag.]

No disrespect here, but all of that information is alleged, we don't know if Oswald actually shot Kennedy, we also don't know if Oswald ordered the rifle.
Why order a rifle mail order, with a paper trail, why not just go to another town, pay cash and use a fake name

 

[RC44Mag]

First firearm I bought was a Remington 1100 12 gauge circa 1980 and paid low $300's for it. Sold it about a year later for $90. This young guy ran into cash deficiency issues. Still kick myself and don't sell my guns anymore.

 

[southernbuck101]

I remember when a transferable Colt M16A1 or A2 could be bought for 700 and change plus the 200 tax.
M60s were listed in Shotgun news for a little over 2k plus 200 tax.
I was in a constant state of Rut at that time and the lower brain said "We will get one tomorrow"
Needless to say, tomorrow never came.
But I sure did.

 

[MaxMan]

More James Bond than John Wayne I guess

After my dad retired from Ma Bell in 1985, he took a part-time job at Woolworths working the gun counter in the sporting good department. I was already living out of state by then, but I have one picture of me visiting him there on a trip back home:

View attachment 40969

One time they got in a big load of surplus Swedish Mausers and my dad stacked up several sale coupons, promos, and his employee discount (and maybe a wink and a nod from the manager) and cherry picked the four nicest ones and bought them for $25 each. He sporterized one, and after he passed, I sold two of them on eBay (back when that was OK) for around $350 each. I kept the best number-matching original gun and the one he modified.

 

[MaxMan]

After my dad retired from Ma Bell in 1985, he took a part-time job at Woolworths working the gun counter in the sporting good department. I was already living out of state by then, but I have one picture of me visiting him there on a trip back home:

View attachment 40969

One time they got in a big load of surplus Swedish Mausers and my dad stacked up several sale coupons, promos, and his employee discount (and maybe a wink and a nod from the manager) and cherry picked the four nicest ones and bought them for $25 each. He sporterized one, and after he passed, I sold two of them on eBay (back when that was OK) for around $350 each. I kept the best number-matching original gun and the one he modified.+

Obendorfs, CG, Husqvarna? Like those guns. 6.5 x 55 is a good hunting round. Very accurate, like a K-31 Schmidt Rubin.

 

[Hankus]

After my dad retired from Ma Bell in 1985, he took a part-time job at Woolworths working the gun counter in the sporting good department. I was already living out of state by then, but I have one picture of me visiting him there on a trip back home:

View attachment 40969

One time they got in a big load of surplus Swedish Mausers and my dad stacked up several sale coupons, promos, and his employee discount (and maybe a wink and a nod from the manager) and cherry picked the four nicest ones and bought them for $25 each. He sporterized one, and after he passed, I sold two of them on eBay (back when that was OK) for around $350 each. I kept the best number-matching original gun and the one he modified.

I wonder what that Mini-14 was selling for?

 

[Hvymax]

After my dad retired from Ma Bell in 1985, he took a part-time job at Woolworths working the gun counter in the sporting good department. I was already living out of state by then, but I have one picture of me visiting him there on a trip back home:

View attachment 40969

One time they got in a big load of surplus Swedish Mausers and my dad stacked up several sale coupons, promos, and his employee discount (and maybe a wink and a nod from the manager) and cherry picked the four nicest ones and bought them for $25 each. He sporterized one, and after he passed, I sold two of them on eBay (back when that was OK) for around $350 each. I kept the best number-matching original gun and the one he modified.

Bill for President!!! Akk

 

[Hvymax]

Yeah I remember getting SKS's for $65 out of a barrel next to the barrel of $35 Mosins. I had my Mom buy me my Kentucky Rifle, Kentucky Pistol and 1858 Remington kits at Monkey Wards when I was a teenager. An SKS in a Ramline folder was my Poor Mans Modern Sporting Rifle for decades.

 

[peachhead]

No disrespect here, but all of that information is alleged, we don't know if Oswald actually shot Kennedy, we also don't know if Oswald ordered the rifle.
Why order a rifle mail order, with a paper trail, why not just go to another town, pay cash and use a fake name?

I don't know the answer but nobody ever said Oswald was the brightest bulb in the box.

Lots of memories in this thread!

 

[alchemist11]

I remember walking into a Woolworth's and they were selling army surplus. They had Garands and Enfields Cant remember the price but it cpu;dnt have been much

I [icked u
p 0 of them.
View attachment 40936

 

[alchemist11]

I remember walking into a Woolworth's and they were selling army surplus. They had Garands and Enfields Cant remember the price but it cpu;dnt have been much
I [icked up 0 of them.
View attachment 40936

I live in the communist state of NY so even comparisons of 15 years ago is night and day. BUT in the 1970's we use to have Western Auto where rifles could be bought easily, and if I remember correctly use to be a store in one of the early strip malls where you could either redeem S&H Green stamp books or buy things with cash and I bought that Marlin 9mm semi auto. Was a beauty!!! Wish I still had it!!! NOW FFL's struggle to stay in business. We have to fill out Fed, state and county forms to buy guns or ammo with a background check too. Someone brought up the Kennedy assassination. I think tat was pivotal in many ways. Not just gun laws, but I think for whatever reason, the deep state asserted itself and we lost any democratic government we might have had. In some manner it damaged the American psyche. After that were all the black rioting and student upheavals. Up through the 70's kids even use to bring rifles to school to hunt after school and it was not a big deal to plink, even in wooded areas around small cities. Now kids shoot others in school, and plinking around a small city would lead to your arrest. Times have changed and not for the better!

 

[Mauser9]

Yep I recall those days. Buddy walked out of our favorite LGS with a Type 99 in 7.7 for $25 back around 1972. Just in a large cardboard box with other milsurps packed with guns that had seen better days. Mum was intact too. I laughed at the time wondering what he wanted it for! Dealer threw in a box of Norma ammo for free. Sure wish I would have dug through that box now!

 

[Ale-8(1)]

In 1990 I bought a Blue Sky re-import Garand out of one of two barrels in a local gun store. Don't recall the price, but it wasn't much.

After I shot it a bunch, it got to the point where the trigger group kept trying to fall out of the stock. I replaced the stock with a new one and it's now OK.

 

[weaselmeatgravy]

Same Woolworths as in the pic of me and my dad, this was about 15 years earlier. That's me holding my prize, an Eagle Claw rod and Mitchell 300 spinning reel. I won them in a contest. They had a goldfish bowl full of gold Eagle Claw fishhooks and you had to guess how many. I don't recall my guess, but I do remember that my dad thought I was wasting my time by guessing a number that high. It was in the thousands and the Sporting Goods manager told us afterward that I was only off by eleven. This would have been around 1971:

The guy who pondered the price of the Mini-14 in the other pic reminded me of this:

We were regular customers of the Woolworths Sporting Goods department, and the store held a "Customer Appreciation Night" once per year on a Sunday in December. It was invitation only and the various managers were each allocated some number of invites to pass out at their discretion. Each invite was good for getting a family in the door. Every person admitted was allowed to buy any one item at 10%-15% off depending on the department. They would close the store (which was in a mall) at 5PM and lock the doors like normal, then the staff would eat their dinner while the crowds and parking lot thinned out. At 6PM they would open the exterior door (not the mall entrance since the mall itself was closed) and let in the crazy crowd of shoppers lined up with their golden tickets. We had scoped out the gun counter in advance and made our plan. Me and my sister's husband were going for two of the three Mini-14's they had in stock, and my dad was going for a High Standard pump shotgun with the 18" riot barrel. We were all successful and I believe that my Mini-14 cost me around $180 OTD. The serial number dates that gun to 1980, which is probably the year I got it.