Super old pricing coments.

cubrock said:
And pay stubs from the same month.
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I looked in my file of old receipts and found one for an Anschutz 1416 with DST that I purchased in 1979 at an overseas rod and gun club. I paid $125 for it which works out to $519.69 today. As I recall I was taking home about $800 a month then which is $3,300 today. I was supporting a wife and baby on that pay. The rifle worked out to a considerable portion of a month's income back then.
 
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Thai Tran said:
You guys are making me feel really bad for my $500 Norinco SKS....
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Well if you feel that bad, I’ll give you double what I paid for my first one. It cost me $49.95 from Roses dime store. So I’ve got a cool hundo waiting with your name on it. Heck you can even keep the extra $.10 🤣🤣🤣
 
Average Joe said:
Well if you feel that bad, I’ll give you double what I paid for my first one. It cost me $49.95 from Roses dime store. So I’ve got a cool hundo waiting with your name on it. Heck you can even keep the extra $.10 🤣🤣🤣
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True. I should appreciate the moment. Things are never going to be the way they were
 
Majicmike said:
0-100 in Oh SHIT!!!😎
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This is indeed the new performance measure...if this time is not at Least under 10 seconds, your car is neither efficient or high performance.
Toprudder said:
I remember riding up and down the country road on my bike so I could find drink bottles to return for the deposit. $0.02 each. Find ten bottles, buy a candy bar and a drink.
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We did this so we could go to the city pool and splash around all day.
cubrock said:
And pay stubs from the same month.
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THIS is what folks conveniently forget...quality firearms are less expensive Today than they were in 1955....a new Colt Python cost $125. 90% of the population in Horry County made Less than that in a Month...
 
Icculus said:
requisite i paid $49 and a bag of sour cream and onion Ruffles
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Ha, jokes on you, they didn't even have sour cream and onion ruffles back when the XYZ was $49!

I do agree with you though, so much so I'm not even going to read through the 4 pages of comments because I'm sure I won't agree with any explanations given.
 
I paid .10 a round for surplus .30-06 in the mid 70s which is a little over .50 a round today, pretty comparable.
 
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In 1970, after graduating from college, the US Army gave me a great job for $124.50 per month with free housing and an ability to shoot free ammo in their firearms! They taught me to field strip and reassemble both an M-16 and a 1911 without looking at them. Only by the grace of God, did I not also get the free tour of SE Asia.

It's amusing to me that people who now have free access to almost any piece of knowledge (and lots of lies) by surfing the internet complain about a discussion topic instead of just skipping the threads that bother them.
 
Everything has gone up in price. I remember paying 25¢ for box of 22 lr ammo. Gasoline was 19.9¢a gallon .In 1973 a brand new Chevrolet Monte Carlo was $3500 and a furnished mobile home was $3000.I wish I had bought all the N framed S&W revolvers for the $280 price tag. And Colt phytons that were $319 in the 1970's.and How many remember when you could buy a brand new stick built house for $25,000. Would I pay $500 for a SKS ? No. Only because I don't care for them. That s because I prefer AKs more. If you want something today you will have to pay today's prices for it .
 
Toprudder said:
The Norinco SKS that I own was bought a long time ago from a Roses department store for $75. (Not by me). I was very happy to pay $325 for it several years back. I didn't bitch and moan that I missed the good-ole-days. I think the story is cool enough to be worth mentioning when I talk about its history. It is part of the history of gun ownership in this country.

Listen to the old codgers, you might just learn something.
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One of my favorite rifles to shoot is the RPK I bought out of Rose's in Zebulon. They had lost the box so I carried it out of the store and through the parking lot au natural (the rifle, not me) for $199. Great shooter that now wears russian furniture and the matching Norinco bipod.
 
JohnFreeman said:
One of my favorite rifles to shoot is the RPK I bought out of Rose's in Zebulon. They had lost the box so I carried it out of the store and through the parking lot au natural (the rifle, not me) for $199. Great shooter that now wears russian furniture and the matching Norinco bipod.
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That's where I bought my first SKS ($49.95) and Mosin($19.95)...
 
Icculus said:
Thanks for looking out Joe. For AR's I'm currently pretty set with BCM, DD, and Geiselle. 1911 I'm covered with TRP, Standard Mfg and saving for a Nighthawk custom. Good looking out though. My main point was when it comes to buying surplus. When trying to get accurate pricing on k98, sks, 1903, etc people love to quote prices that were relavent 40 years ago and I'm happy for them but they serve no purpose for people looking at current values. Apparently though my comments made me a whining newb millennial who rubs people wrong and doesn't appreciate how good I have it. Sincerely thank you for the post though
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Ah, I see the point of your post now. Very fair and valid argument.
 
It only seems like yesterday that I bought an unissued moisin nagant m44 with 1,000 rounds of ammo for $110 . But it was the same year I built my house which was 2014. I sold the rifle with 100 rounds of ammo, never fired it for $400 Five years ago . Still have the ammo . A friend of mine passed away and his wife gifted me his moisin 91/30 hex
Still has cosmoline in the barrel.
 
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Icculus said:
Can we come together and agree that whenever a thread about SKS, AK, M1 Carbine, M1 Garand, German Mauser etc comes up that any comment about how you bought one back in the day for 75 cents and a pack of bubble gum is pointless in todays world. Look I'm not trying to sound bitter (although lets be honest, slightly I am) but I'm a late gen x'er who got into firearms late. These comments are offputting to me and I can't imagine how they sound to new young buyers and collectors and only perpetuate the crusty old gun guy thing. TRUST me we get it. We missed the hay day. Everytime someone asks about what they should pay or the value of a specific sks/xyz the requisite i paid $49 and a bag of sour cream and onion Ruffles post doesn't help anyone and annoys more than it doesn't. Ok rant off
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Hmmm...

I am of two minds re this thread. After reading all this I understand the kernel that is the core of the OP. When someone wants help pricing an old surplus firearm, nostalgic posts aren't useful. Interesting historical context but not helpful in pricing.

On the other hand, hearing of others' experiences in the "salad days" of surplus firearms is Interesting.

I myself purchased a SMLE Ishapore 2A1 in .308 from (dare I say...) Rose's for 64.95. Mosin were 39.95. This got me to get my c&r license, and more followed.

I do kick myself for passing on the crate of Yugoslavia sks's from aim surplus for 74.95 each if you bought a whole crate. 2 years later they hit 279 apiece.

As some have stated, the golden days prices have to be measured against the wages of the day. In 1977 my rich uncle employed me at the princely sum of $374.40 gross pay per month. My take home pay after taxes was about $260; when I married in 1978 my net with all allowances was $508. Those good deals were so far out of my reach then it doesn't bear mentioning. We saved to have $1.50 after all expenses to play a round of goofy golf each and share a can of soda while we played a game of pinball each.

Context matters; old coders reminiscing about the "good Ole days" help provide it.

So, there's my rambling. If you find it off-pudding just go back to the best and review your listings for what you have listed to sail.

CB out.
 
I think recalling how I bought a 1903 in 1964 for $30 is relevant. It may not have much to do with the current pricing of a 1903 but does have a lot to do with the availability of one. I went into the Army Store down on Vine Street and had my pick of 1903 Springfields, 1917 Enfields, British Enfields, German Mausers, 1911 pistols, stacks of bayonets, and lots of other stuff that is very hard to find these days. There were piles of those things from which to choose. I would look through the adds in outdoor magazines and see many different weapons available by mail order. I bought a British PIAT bazooka but was tempted by a mortar. Weapons from all over the world could be shipped right to your door. That was cool stuff for a 13 year old boy. I wish I could go back for a few days even at today's prices.

What changed, and why did it change?
 
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Charlie said:
I think recalling how I bought a 1903 in 1964 for $30 is relevant. It may not have much to do with the current pricing of a 1903 but does have a lot to do with the availability of one. I went into the Army Store down on Vine Street and had my pick of 1903 Springfields, 1917 Enfields, British Enfields, German Mausers, 1911 pistols, stacks of bayonets, and lots of other stuff that is very hard to find these days. There were piles of those things from which to choose. I would look through the adds in outdoor magazines and see many different weapons available by mail order. I bought a British PIAT bazooka but was tempted by a mortar. Weapons from all over the world could be shipped right to your door. That was cool stuff for a 13 year old boy. I wish I could go back for a few days even at today's prices.

What changed, and why did it change?
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Inflation, export controls, import controls, and the UN arm twisting of countries to destroy their surplus arms rather thsn resell them.
 
Back in the mid 80’s there was an old-as-dirt WW1 vet that owned a horseless carriage. An open top car that you steered with a stick and would do 10 mph. He’d ride his wife around on sundays. I’d get behind him on a curvy road and my 16 y/o punk self would cuss him all the way till I could pass him.
Now, I’d give anything to see them again.
Appreciate what you have right now, cherish the rest.
 
Yeah, just a real shame I spent my elementary years during the Clinton administration playing in the sandbox instead of stacking $199 AKs.
 
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