Times long gone

[HW11]

I was looking in my ammo stash for some 38 rounds and came across these.

 

[arfmel]

 

[gunzo]

 

[vito]

I haven't been shooting as long as many here, but I well remember a brick of 500 22LR at well under $10.

 

[Busterswoodshop]

I remember when 22's were less than a quarter a box.
We would collect soda bottles along the highway and turn them in to buy 22 ammo.
What's funny is , that back then shorts were the cheapest , then Long and Long Rifle was the most expensive.
It is totally the opposite now days.

 

[Jim Walsh]

One of my examples.

 

[Rustynuts]

Brings back old memories of getting my allowance and buying 22 short ammo for my old Remington rifle.
The great old days

 

[Joe Reilly]

Any of you want to double your money?

 

[Ale-8(1)]

I remember the second-hand store where the neat old lady would sell us individual .22LR cartridges for a penny each. Yes, really.

 

[The Preacher]

Not too long ago (early 2000s) but it seems like an eternity.

 

[edm1]

In the early 2000’s you could buy 500 rounds of Federal XM193 for $110, 400 rounds of surplus 30’06 in an ammo can for $89 and South African battle packs of 7.62 for $28. I forget all the other prices. Yes 550 rounds of .22 were $9.99 at Walmart till Sandy Hook. Luckily I bought lots of that

 

[gunzo]

I drove about 4 towns away to Centerfire Systems, some may have heard of them. Just a small waiting room off the side of a warehouse. They had a desk with the monthly sales flyer. When ready to order you pressed a buzzer & a clerk would enter the room. Told him I wanted 5/1000 round cases of 7.62x39 for the $78 dollars a case.
He asked, why didn't ya come last week? Why, I ask. He then said, it was $68 a case last week.

 

[GypsmJim]

I used to shoot at a range every Friday evening. I would stop at KMart on the way and buy a amber colored box of Mini Mags for 99 cents. I still have every single box. They come in handy for stocking bulk bricks.

A few years later, Gander Mountain opened a local store. Being a valued previous customer that used their catalog, I would get a free $10 coupon every once in awhile. That would buy a free brick of .22s.

I may still have a couple of old boxes with price tags on them, but the ammo is long gone. Funny thing, though, is that my stash of primers and powder amassed the day Covid was announced, will probably last me for years to come.

 

[Justice B. Swift]

In 1983 I purchased a Ruger MkII Bull Barrel Target pistol at our local Bi-Mart Store for the grand some of $169. Needing something to shoot out of it, I turn down the ammo aisle to check out the best budget ammo. I bought 3 bricks of Remington Peters 40 gr. solids and 1 brick of 36 gr. Winchester hollow points. The hollow points were so expensive I only got 1 brick, at the ridiculous price of $8.99 / brick. The R-P's were on sale at $6.99 / brick, down from the "every day" price of $7.99. I also picked up some CCI large rifle primers for my home brewed 30-30 shells at $12.99 / 1000. A week later I was checking my lucky number (you know... for my wife), when I noticed they had some "bulk" bins of brass cartridge cases. They had both 38 Special and 357 Magnum in bins. They were priced at $0.05 each. and $0.06 each respectively, for brand new brass. Problem was I had never heard of the "Jippo" maker. Some unknown company called Starline... I decided to risk everything and buy 100 of each. Ahhh!, the good old days.

 

[ArizonaTea123]

How about two boxes of Winchester Super X 158 grain 357 Magnum dated 1967 at $5.85 a box

 

[Randyzzz]

I don’t go back quite as far as some of the posts above, but this box of .22 is marked 1971. Western Auto… full brick, complete.

Here’s some primers and powder, from the 90’s…

And after the 1994 Northridge, CA earthquake, there were companies that bought all the “damaged” inventory form stores like Big5, and sold it out of state. We lived in Ogden, UT at the time and I bought a ton of ammo, accessories, and I seem to remember a gun or two… this is all I have left.

 

[HW11]

My granddaddy was in the store business and then my daddy started working there when he came back from WWII and ran it until he passed away. I remember when people didn't buy a whole box of shotgun shells or bullets. They might buy 2 buckshot or 5 bird or rabbit shot. .22 bullets could be bought as singles. It was rare to see somebody buy the whole box of 25 shotgun shells. It was a poor farming community.

 

[jyo]

Bought a barely used, walnut stock Ruger 10-22 for $50 bucks with three extra 10 rd magazines thrown-in...! Bought three 500 rd bricks of Remington 22 Golden Bullets for $5 bucks each... I don't remember how long ago this happened, but I was a young guy back then...!

 

[ex13F]

I've probably posted this story before but when I was a youngster there was a gas station in town that sold ammo. Under the glass next to the cash register was a hand written note signed by both my parents saying that it was okay to sell me any ammo that I wanted as long as I had the money to pay for it but do not let me charge it to their account. Back then we charged fill ups and paid the tab the first of the month.

 

[usmc69]

I remember when 22's were less than a quarter a box.
We would collect soda bottles along the highway and turn them in to buy 22 ammo.
What's funny is , that back then shorts were the cheapest , then Long and Long Rifle was the most expensive.
It is totally the opposite now days.

Darn, you are old! That had to be in the 1950's. Cheapest that I ever bought them for was in 1961. LR was $0.45, Longs were $0.40 and shorts $0.35 a box in a small general store just outside Buffalo where some cousins lived on a dairy farm.

 

[Busterswoodshop]

Darn, you are old! That had to be in the 1950's. Cheapest that I ever bought them for was in 1961. LR was $0.45, Longs were $0.40 and shorts $0.35 a box in a small general store just outside Buffalo where some cousins lived on a dairy farm.

It was in the 60's
All we had for miles was was a post office and a little store.
We used to go over to the post office and read the wanted posters on the wall.