The Good Old Days are Gone
- Thread starter Picher
- Start date
i did like the selection of milsurps in the late 50,s and sixies, but their were no sks,cz-52,ak rebuilds plus a whole host of others that have been comming in as of late. are their many new milsurps going to come in? its any bodies guess,but oboma will try to end it all. however its all depends on your finances at the time you refere to,no money no fun. eastbank.
Back in the 50's a gun shop owner told me that most people buy hunting rifles for about a week's pay and won't pay more than that. In the 50's most people around here made about $75-90 a week. You could buy a Win 94 for that, but a Mod. 70 Was around $120, without scope. More people bought 94s, perhaps for that reason, but also because they tended to hunt more in the woods and not in places where it took a scope to shoot one.
A lot of guys weren't very savvy about guns or accuracy. Many used guns handed-down by their fathers and grandfathers. They may have had more hunting experience than shooting experience...many hunted with the same box of ammo for about 15 years or more. (How many of us can say that.) I've seen many bullets pushed back into 30-30, 32 Spl., or .35 rem cases by so many loadings/unloadings and being in the magazine when others were fired.
Yes, the good old days may be threatened by shortages these days, but firearms technology, quality firearm costs and ammo improvements have been pretty nice, compared with my old days.
Back then, stores would break ammo boxes, so you could buy one or several rounds. A buddy of mine went deer hunting with only 5 rounds. He shot them all right over a nice buck because he was looking over the open rear sight, just putting the front sight on it. The deer just stood there and looked at him!!!
We had to go home because he was done for the day. My '06 rounds obviously didn't fit his .30-30 Win.
A lot of guys weren't very savvy about guns or accuracy. Many used guns handed-down by their fathers and grandfathers. They may have had more hunting experience than shooting experience...many hunted with the same box of ammo for about 15 years or more. (How many of us can say that.) I've seen many bullets pushed back into 30-30, 32 Spl., or .35 rem cases by so many loadings/unloadings and being in the magazine when others were fired.
Yes, the good old days may be threatened by shortages these days, but firearms technology, quality firearm costs and ammo improvements have been pretty nice, compared with my old days.
Back then, stores would break ammo boxes, so you could buy one or several rounds. A buddy of mine went deer hunting with only 5 rounds. He shot them all right over a nice buck because he was looking over the open rear sight, just putting the front sight on it. The deer just stood there and looked at him!!!
We had to go home because he was done for the day. My '06 rounds obviously didn't fit his .30-30 Win.
You can still - or could until recently - get Mosens for <$100. And I suspect 15 1950's dollars were worth at least 99 2011 dollars.
If you want to spend 2 weeks pay on a rifle you can still get a beautiful combination of blued metal and walnut. But now we have the option to spend a couple days pay and get something that will function about the same.
Some of the specific milsurp deals are gone, but that's the nature of discontinued products - there's a finite supply.
Ammo is cheap, and most people are pretty accepting of guns. It's certainly possible to intentionally make people uncomfortable, but I've never noticed a reaction when I travel with a gun case. But maybe that's more prevalent in rural areas.
Personally I'm glad you can no longer order a gun through the mail and have it left on the porch if you're not there to collect it. I'm also glad that people convicted of domestic abuse can't buy guns. And - in part due to the fact that one of my moms cousins accidentally killed one of his friend as a child - I'm glad that we've become aware enough about gun safety that's it's no longer culturally acceptable to leave loaded guns where children can get them.
The current shortage has nothing to do with government interference, or political heat from the con control crowd. It's entirely the result of all or us buying up everything we can. It's a vicious cycle - there's no ammo because we've bought it all, so when a shipment does come in we buy it fast (before someone else does), so there's no ammo.
If we all stopped buying ammo so obsessively the supply would normalize. SO I agree that - if we want to see prices come back down - we should take it easy and try to conserve for awhile. Preferably before the big national chains mark their prices up and extend how long the local shops can keep their prices up after the supply comes back.
The trick is everyone has to do it, and that seems unlikely.
If you want to spend 2 weeks pay on a rifle you can still get a beautiful combination of blued metal and walnut. But now we have the option to spend a couple days pay and get something that will function about the same.
Some of the specific milsurp deals are gone, but that's the nature of discontinued products - there's a finite supply.
Ammo is cheap, and most people are pretty accepting of guns. It's certainly possible to intentionally make people uncomfortable, but I've never noticed a reaction when I travel with a gun case. But maybe that's more prevalent in rural areas.
Personally I'm glad you can no longer order a gun through the mail and have it left on the porch if you're not there to collect it. I'm also glad that people convicted of domestic abuse can't buy guns. And - in part due to the fact that one of my moms cousins accidentally killed one of his friend as a child - I'm glad that we've become aware enough about gun safety that's it's no longer culturally acceptable to leave loaded guns where children can get them.
The current shortage has nothing to do with government interference, or political heat from the con control crowd. It's entirely the result of all or us buying up everything we can. It's a vicious cycle - there's no ammo because we've bought it all, so when a shipment does come in we buy it fast (before someone else does), so there's no ammo.
If we all stopped buying ammo so obsessively the supply would normalize. SO I agree that - if we want to see prices come back down - we should take it easy and try to conserve for awhile. Preferably before the big national chains mark their prices up and extend how long the local shops can keep their prices up after the supply comes back.
The trick is everyone has to do it, and that seems unlikely.
TheNatureBoy
New member
You guys are killin' me with this (old mans voice) "back in my day" stuff.
5.56RifleGuy
New member
There were never any good old days
They are today, they are tomorrow
It's a stupid thing we say
Cursing tomorrow with sorrow
They are today, they are tomorrow
It's a stupid thing we say
Cursing tomorrow with sorrow
Justice06RR
New member
The good old days for me is when ammo was plentiful, rifles like AK's and SKS were $300 (Mosins for around $89) or less , parts are cheap and in stock, and people enjoyed shooting because we didn't worry about AWB's and gun control B.S.
I think the best days are ahead of us. There are more US Gun owners now than ever before. We were able to defeat the Asault Weapons ban because We stuck together. I am proud that our Country stood up for its Rights and Won ! It will get better because We wont have it any other way !
g.willikers
New member
For a lot of us, if we were our present age, back in the good old days.....
Well, we wouldn't be our present age.
Well, we wouldn't be our present age.
I used to throw my money away at boats...
If I had discovered the hobby of firearms and long-range shooting back then, I'd have a collection of ranging from an M82A1 to an AIAW and everything in between, and still be ahead of the $$ game
But seems to me, that current shortages aside (and this too, will pass) there has never been a better time for firearms enthusiasts.
Precision CNC machining has brought prices down- and reliability and quality up- to levels that have never been seen in the past.
IMO, the "good old days", are now (or rather, when I can buy reloading supplies again!).
If I had discovered the hobby of firearms and long-range shooting back then, I'd have a collection of ranging from an M82A1 to an AIAW and everything in between, and still be ahead of the $$ game
But seems to me, that current shortages aside (and this too, will pass) there has never been a better time for firearms enthusiasts.
Precision CNC machining has brought prices down- and reliability and quality up- to levels that have never been seen in the past.
IMO, the "good old days", are now (or rather, when I can buy reloading supplies again!).