Sears ammo

[Jim]

When did Sears stop with centerfire ammo? I found an '06 case with their headstamp on it and am curious how old it might be.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I don't know when they quit.
I found one last year in a estate buyout.
Jon
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/searsHScropped.jpg

[Guesser]

1968 scared a lot of mail order companies out of the ammo business. I suspect that it was probably in that time period.

[lylejb]

I remember Sears selling guns and ammo in the store, in the late 1970's, but I cant remember exactly when they stopped. I think maybe 1980 - 1983 .

[Bret4207]

Boy, I'm guessing the very late 70's-early 80's. I remember buying 22's at Monkey Wards in the late 70's prior to leaving for the Corps and my Dad buying an 8mm Mauser at the local Sears while I was in boot camp in '79. If you could find someone with a collection of the Sears Big Books from that era you could probably get a better guess.

[Patrick L]

I know guns went out of our local Sears store in the early/mid 80s. This is also when they discontinued the specialty "hunting" catalog, so I would suspect around then.

I am sort of on the hunt for a Sears "Ted Williams" (aka Winchester 1200/1400) shotgun from that same time frame, just because my son is a die hard Red Sox fan, and a bigger Ted Williams fan. I think he would get a real charge out of owning one!

[Jim]

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=204813556

[firefly1957]

Sears just like today never made ammo they had someone else do it but if they ordered enough there name was on the head stamp.
But don't tell a Huskvarna dealer you have a craftsman made by huskvarna they will deny it forever.

[jlchucker]

Sears just like today never made ammo they had someone else do it but if they ordered enough there name was on the head stamp.
But don't tell a Huskvarna dealer you have a craftsman made by huskvarna they will deny it forever.

Yeah, the ammo was really made by Winchester, Remington, or Federal. on contracts. I think Montgomery Ward back in that day did likewise. And don't forget the now long-gone Western Auto.

[shotman]

sears ammo was made by federal. they stopped the same year Reagan was shot . as ammo was sears. was that 81 82???

[leadman]

I think mid 80s is probably correct. We moved to Az. in '81 and they were still selling guns and ammo then. I still have a bunch of Sears 22lr ammo.

[Jim]

So, best guess, y'all figure about 25 years old?

[JIMinPHX]

So, best guess, y'all figure about 25 years old?

25 years would probably be a minimum.

It could be A LOT older.

[lwknight]

But don't tell a Huskvarna dealer you have a craftsman made by huskvarna they will deny it forever.
Something must have changed recently. All the Craftsmans I've seen are Poulan.

[edsmith]

I remember when you could buy elephants and lions at sears, $6000 for a elephant, $3000 for a lion. now they are so P.C .

[beemer]

In the mid 50"s my Grandma ordered a donkey from Sears. Papa and my Dad took the old GMC pickup to load it up. They came home with the little thing setting in the cab between them. Granny said she couldn't pick out the *******.

My Mom wrote the story and sent it to the Good Old Days magazine a few years ago. It has a picture of me settin' on the donkey. You can imagine what I hear about that one.

Dave

[Jim]

If you can, you oughta' photograph that and post it.

[Hickory]

I ordered chickens from Sears everyother year when I was younger.
My dad bought a Henry-J car from Sears

[shooterg]

My first .22 was a "J.C. Higgins" (actually a Marlin) from Sears, still have it and it's "Ted Williams" 4x scope .

[NVcurmudgeon]

Sears just like today never made ammo they had someone else do it but if they ordered enough there name was on the head stamp.
But don't tell a Huskvarna dealer you have a craftsman made by huskvarna they will deny it forever.

Firefly, the Sears name used on many outdoors sports products including firearms was "J. C. Higgins." I recently saw a post on a Swedish sporting firearm site that asked about the model no. of a J. C. Higgins rifle, action by Husqvarna. One responder posted that 1t is a Model 1600, another poster said the S. O. P. used on that site is Model 1640, so dealers are not the only ones that wish Sears would just go away.

[mroliver77]

I thought a trip to sears was a holiday when I was young. I am talking the big one in the city not the county seat outlet store. Man the hours I spent looking at the Sears catalog! I ordered steel traps and personalised name tags when I was ten or so. It was a big deal to me.

Jay

[woody1]

When did Sears stop with centerfire ammo? I found an '06 case with their headstamp on it and am curious how old it might be.

1988?

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_did_sears_roebuck_stop_selling_fire_arms

Regards, Woody

[armed_partisan]

I still don't know if it's a hacker Hoax or not, but Sears.com has a number of firearms related items, including CMMG Uppers for AR-15s!
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SPM119893552P?keyword=cmmg&sLevel=0&prop17=cmmg

[curiousgeorge]

Did not have a Sears close by when I was a kid but the local Western Auto was like the proverbial "candy store". Not only did they carry guns of every kind but also had every kind of reloading supplies that you could want. The old man that ran the store was a gun collector so everyone for about 4-5 counties around would come just to buy, sell, or trade firearms with him. When you walked in you never knew what would be in the used racks. I can remember seeing a nickel plated receiver fully engraved and gold inlaid German drilling one time. As others have stated, you could order everything from chickens to wringer washers.

[32ideal]

Never bought firearm related items from Sears, but had a Ben Franklin five & Dime about two blocks from my house, purchased Remington Rocket 22rf Shorts in the Chicklet box for $.50 a box, many a squirrel fell to those shorts, must have been all of twelve years old. :rolleyes:
32ideal

[alamogunr]

Not ammunition, but this has always been interesting to me:

http://www.wisnersinc.com/additional_info/store_brand_house_guns.htm

[Shooter]

I thought a trip to sears was a holiday when I was young. I am talking the big one in the city not the county seat outlet store. Man the hours I spent looking at the Sears catalog! I ordered steel traps and personalised name tags when I was ten or so. It was a big deal to me.

Jay

+1 on the traps. I made big money is the winter with Victor traps ordered from Sears Rearback.

I have a full box of .22LR from my FIL's estate, and a 16 Ga. double shotgun. J. C. Higgins (AYA).

[Bad Water Bill]

When I worked at Sears I SOLD one of those Henry J's Thanks for reminding me.

I just went into the gun room and checked out the J C Higgins Model 20 12 ga pump that I bought for my dad. I doubt it has had 100 rounds thru the tube yet.

Memories.

[RP]

Well dont know about ammo but was before my remembering time. I do have a Santa Fe arms 30/06 mauser my dad got from them back before me I think but he told me he paid 69.00 bucks for it. Had a guy offer to buy if from me about 15 years ago for 800.00 bucks he said the barrel was not that great but wanted the action. Well the old gun is in my safe and will stay there while iam alive.

[BeemerMark]

I am sort of on the hunt for a Sears "Ted Williams" (aka Winchester 1200/1400) shotgun from that same time frame, just because my son is a die hard Red Sox fan, and a bigger Ted Williams fan. I think he would get a real charge out of owning one!

I still have Ted Williams Ammo in 30-06 and 30-30 from my Father's estate. Made by Hornady.

[looseprojectile]

for the cross refrence chart.
I have a brick of Hawthorne 22 lr ammo. Wards out lived Sears in my neck of the woods.

Life is good