Before America Was Afraid of Firearms...

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Sluice Willis

Sluice Willis

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Don't know what its like where you live, but I walked into my friendly neighborhood gun shop and walked out 15 minutes later with a brand new Bushmaster AR-15.

I guess I still live in the U.S.A.

I can do the same, but not everybody can. Did you fill out paperwork? Pass a background check? Show ID? Would anybody question why you would need an AR-15? We used to be able to order rifles, shotguns, handguns and ordinance right through the mail no questions asked, no background checks, no ID, and nobody questioned why anybody would want to. When I was growing up every house had a gun collection and nobody gave them anymore second thought than they would a hammer or a screwdriver. Hardly the climate and atmosphere of today's times. The main reason I posted this is because I like looking through these old gun ads. I thought others might enjoy them too and it's also a good reminder of how things used to be. I like to share history especially with the younger crowd.
 

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Sluice Willis

Sluice Willis

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Rifles no problem here either, pistols are another story unless you have a conceal carry license it is a 3 day waiting period.

What about long guns and ammo from the internet? Places like Gunbroker will ship them to an approved FFL dealer in states where it's legal.
 

Treasure_Hunter

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I get bulk ammo delivered to my home...
 

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Sluice Willis

Sluice Willis

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I get bulk ammo delivered to my home...

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BosnMate

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When I was 12, there was an NRA sponsored shooting club in the town where I lived. We shot .22 rifles, during the school year, I think on Wednesday evenings. I know it was at least one day a week. There were four neighborhood boys that went and shot our rifles. One parent would carpool us to the Ford Garage in town, where the 50 foot range was in the basement. It cost 25 cents, and you got a half box of .22 long rifle ammo. Each kid shot 5 targets, prone, sitting, kneeling and offhand, and one warm up target, five shots each. In the middle of winter, dark comes early, so when we were done shooting, if it wasn't raining, we would have to walk home, which meant four 12 year old kids walked through town armed with rifles, after dark, and nobody said or did anything, and no cops stopped to talk to us. That would have been around 1949. When I turned 16, I saved my money, and bought a Colt .22 caliber Huntsman semi auto pistol. There was a three day wait, and my parents knew what I was doing, so I don't know if the store owner called my folks or what, but I bought the pistol, and then went to the high sheriff and got a permit to carry it concealed in my A model ford coup, so it wouldn't be stolen out of the car when I was at school. During hunting season, if you were going hunting after school, you took your gun to school, and left it in the car. I had two or three jobs, cleaning apartments, delivering papers and yard work stand out. Most of the money I made went for two things, gas and ammunition, .22 long rifle and 12 ga. shotgun. The 4 cylinder A didn't take lots of gas at .35 cents a gallon, but even at a penny a shot, there never was enough ammo, so I also took up archery, because I could make my own arrows and use them over and over again. Oh yes, I didn't live in Idaho, or Wyoming, that was in San Luis Obispo, California. This is history, not politics, but I have to stop now or it will step over the line.
 

bzbadger

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Local gunshops have gotten pretty pricey on ammo anyone know of a good site that delivers but doesn't charge an arm and a leg for 22 & 380 also in need of 35 Remington. There's so many sites all promise best price but then nail you on shipping
 

voodoo

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Love the old ads......wish Canada would loosen the laws just a bit......
 

Boatlode

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NHBandit

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Local gunshops have gotten pretty pricey on ammo anyone know of a good site that delivers but doesn't charge an arm and a leg for 22 & 380 also in need of 35 Remington. There's so many sites all promise best price but then nail you on shipping
This is a good company to deal with. Get on their mailing list for the weekly specials. .22LR is still tough to find though. I scored some at the local Bass Pro Shop recently but it comes in one day & is gone the next nearly everywhere. https://www.wideners.com/
 

Mad Machinist

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Me too. I never buy less than 1000 rounds - its too expensive otherwise.

Been quite awhile since I ordered any, but the last time I ordered I got cussed out by the UPS guy since he had to unload more than a few boxes.

Last time I bought was when I could get mil. surplus 5.56 at $90 a thou and .22 LR was $25 a thou. Bought it cheap and stacked it deep.
 

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Last time I bought was when I could get mil. surplus 5.56 at $90 a thou

You will never see those prices today. I'm happy if I can get a case for $250.
 

Tejaas

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Cool vintage catalogs.

Heres a fun fact - In '63, Lee Harvey Oswald bought his (military surplus) Italian Carcano rifle via mail order with Klein's Sporting Goods up in Chicago.

$12.95, delivered to his PO Box in Dallas.

Well, IF you believe in that whole non-conspiracy thing, haha.

Kidding.


~Tejaas~
 

Nitric

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LOL Yes, I remember going to the Grocery store and it had a sporting good section.A few guns,fishing lures,ammo,etc.... It really hasn't been all that long ago! And in city limits in Ohio...Bricks of .22 were around $9. I would spend the rest of the afternoon with a loaf of bread and wasting the the bullets!(some will understand this) I was probably? 13 somewhere in there.

Ohhh you could also get the latest release's on 45 records or cassettes right before the checkout line. lol

I like the old ads too! It shows how fast things change. The same Grocery chain would run gun and ammo sales ads in the weekly paper. You had to dump those out to get to the comics!
 

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GMD52

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I can remember going to the Woolworth's in downtown Burlington, and in the sporting goods dept. they had a couple barells of WW11 rifles for sale...I bought Italian carcano's for 15$, Mauser's for 20-25$ and the fine 6.5 Swede mauser's for 35$. This was in the late 60's-early 70's...wish I had bought the whole barrel!....Side light...in the 1930's when the firm of Griffin and Howe in NYC put on an addition, instead of reinforcing the concrete with rebar, the fill the addition floor slab with thousands of German Mauser barelled actions! But sadly they too are now gone....Gary
 

Mad Machinist

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I can remember getting .22LR for 25 cents a box. Could amuse my self for .50 cents a day and nobody cared I was just a "kid" buying .22LR. Of course it was a small town where everybody knew everybody.
 

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Sorry, some posts removed for politics... If you want to discuss amount of rounds guns need and regulations please do so in our politics forum..
 

worldtalker

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I recall a State Trooper lived next door,He always took me to shoot His .38 in the backyard....try that with cops today!!


GOD Bless

Chris
 

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