Henry Rifle Forums

What do you think??

RP

They'd be chased off the planet.
Love those old "wish " books.

times most certainly have changed

Im sure they would make the news

I’d run out and buy some.

My first rifle was a Marlin 30AW 30-30 from either Kmart, or Walmart, I don't remember exactly, in 1991. I don't remember, but I'd like to think they had an ad similar to that one! I was 13 when my parents bought me that.

And before all of you "wise" guys ask, yes I still have it and hunt with it when I'm not using my Long Ranger 308.

Cheaper sights, and birch stock compared to standard Marlin 336, but basically same rifle. I surly don't feel bad hauling it through the think woods I deer hunt. Scratches just make the birch look that much better!

I own and shoot a Sears Ranger 103-8 Single Shot 22LR that my father-in-law bought as a kid in the 1930's. It's the $3.49 model.

Here is a link to the full page from the 1936 50th year Jubilee catalog.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/imgsrv ... tachment=0

I remember looking in the Sears cat. and seeing Ted Williams selling everything including shot guns, fishing stuff, clothes. I thought the sun rose and set on him. Of course, I was just kid. I even had a Ted Williams bat in teener ball.

A guy I worked with in the early 70s was going through a divorce and had a couple of rifles to sell. I always wanted a lever gun and he had a 30-30. I paid him $50.00 for it. It shoots great, and I still have it. I never thought much of it because it was a SEARS rifle.

WAIT A MINUTE ! THAT SEARS IS A WINCHESTER ! Unknown to me at the time, Sears had contracted with Winchester to make some lever action carbines that were the Winchester Model 94 only using the Sears model number of 54. They all have the Stamped Carrier, Steel Butt Plate, and Nose Cap (273.811 which has a short nose cap). These are all listed as 30-30 and available from 1966 - 1972. The only real difference is that the stock is not walnut, but other than that, it’s a Winchester!

I also remember my dad buying my shoes from the Sears catalogue store when I was a kid.

A lot of guns, back in the day, were manufactured with various names. I have a 22 bolt rifle I bought at Western Auto. with Revelation stamped on it. Lots of hardware stores had their "own" brand, mfg. by who knows.
I believe mine was made by Marlin.
Quite an adventure trying to trace them back to the manufacturer.

Now, as to the old Sears Christmas catalog. I read the thing from cover to cover...wishing. After the thrill was gone, it found it's way to our outdoor toilet, for " personal " use.

I have an interesting first gun story that’s age related.

I was raised a city kid in Spokane WA and while my dad had a few guns he didn’t hunt or shoot for fun. In October 1972 family matters caused us to temporarily move to NE rural North Dakota. We rented a house on a farm six miles from a town of 300 with a school that served K-12 all in one building. The only time in my life I rode a school bus. Made a bunch of new friends and when spring arrived the ground hog hunting began and there was me without a 22.

This is now 1973 well after the GCA of 1968 and I’m 16. I walked into a Coast to Coast store in Cavalier North Dakota and bought a Marlin Glenfield M/60 with the squirrel stock. No paperwork, no ID, no parent around, just a 16 year old kid in a hardware store. Life was good.

I bought my Charter Arms AR-7 from JC Penny believe it or not!

I walked in a store called TG&Y. It was like a nice Montgomery Wards. This was in 1965 and I bought a Mossberg Model 500 12 ga 30'' inch barreled shotgun. I bought it with some my lawn mowing money. I mowed little ole widows for .50 cents. First game I shot with it was doves. I didn't really that it was a duck and goose gun. Nobody said anything, except to let the doves get out there a ways before you shoot. I still have that old shotgun.

Muddy Waters

I have an old Savage/Anschutz Mark 10-A 22LR that my Dad bought for me back in 1964 and then enrolled me NRA sanctioned shooting classes. Went on to competition in that class. Still have that rifle in like new condition. I was 10 years old.

I was curious. So Jus 4 fun...

My father-in-law bought a Sears Ranger 103-8 22LR rifle in or about 1936 for $3.49. That seems like very little money for a rifle, so I used an inflation calculator to determine how much money that would be in 2020.

The cumulative rate of inflation since 1936 is 1772.2%, which calculates to a grand total of $65.34.

https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

I found a 2018 article that identified ten of the least expensive 22LR single shot rifles, with the cheapest of them coming in at $112.21.

https://www.shootingillustrated.com/art ... under-200/

Not surprisingly, other market forces must have increased beyond the rate of inflation since then, so that the increased cost is not simply because of the value of the dollar.