I remember the 70s.

[Charlie Horse]

AR's and such are today's good deals. If I was younger and wanted something to invest in, I would sock away 5 or 10 of those.

Take it from a guy who wishes he'd listened to the old guys when he was in his 20's, 30's, even 40's.

Wish I had bought acreage back then. Or more S&W revolvers.

[Texas by God]

I noticed no one has mentioned shag carpeting or 'shaggin' wagons'. (Shudder)

“Good Times Vans” often were…..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Hannibal]

AR's and such are today's good deals. If I was younger and wanted something to invest in, I would sock away 5 or 10 of those.

Take it from a guy who wishes he'd listened to the old guys when he was in his 20's, 30's, even 40's.

Wish I had bought acreage back then. Or more S&W revolvers.

Predicting what will be valuable in the future.....

Good luck with that. Many have lost fortunes.

[charlie b]

AR's and such are today's good deals. If I was younger and wanted something to invest in, I would sock away 5 or 10 of those.

Take it from a guy who wishes he'd listened to the old guys when he was in his 20's, 30's, even 40's.

Wish I had bought acreage back then. Or more S&W revolvers.

LOL, lots of folks still own acreage out here in NM and AZ that is not worth the taxes. One of my classmates would not listen to reason when he bought some land outside Belen, NM. Advertising brochure predicted it would be 'in the middle' of Albuquerque metro area in 20yrs. Hint, there is a reservation between Alb and Belen.

OTOH, failed land deals outside Phx have started to meet the expansion of the metro area. Apache Junction, Queen Valley, Fountain Hills, New River, etc, etc. It's only taken 70 years All of them were bought and went bust at least 2 or three times. Some cases the grandkids are the ones who finally get something out of the original investment.

[FergusonTO35]

Guns and property are just for enjoyment to me. Yes, they do go up in value but as long as I have everything I need I'm not really concerned about that. In general, if you sell something and then need to replace it you'll have to spend about the same amount you received in the first place. I've known alot of people who try to flip houses and end up earning basically minimum wage once you add in materials and time spent. Both my parents have built and sold numerous homes. Whether they realize it or not, the time they spent on those houses on top of their regular jobs would have been much better spent with their children. You can't buy that for any amount of labor or money.

[charlie b]

Totally agree. Guns are like anything you invest in. You can make money by buying low and selling high, but, there is some 'luck' involved.

Our last house was one of those money holes (more than most anyway). We knew it going in and paid the price. 15yrs later we came out of it with cash that was just about double what we put into it NOT COUNTING LABOR. If we took even minimum wage for all the work we did we would have lost money. Not any kids at the time so spent our 'together time' on the house.

[Ithaca Gunner]

What I miss most are the people, the neighbors, my dad's friends, uncles, my parents of course, (lost dad in '78) and our Pastor from the 60's-70's, a tall impressive man with deep red hair parted down the middle who could deliver a sermon with zest and interest. There was a different and better attitude among people, the service station guy who filled your tank and the cashier at the corner store all knew their customers and treated them like neighbors, (because they were). Everybody took a few moments for some, ''chat'' with you and kids knew no bounds, they zoomed and played through most everybody's yards with no real complaint from the owners, but if they miss-behaved or broke something, you could bet their parents knew about it before the kids could reach home, (the housewives of the day were super quick with a phone and they knew everybody's number by heart).

As for guns, there was two places around here I loved going, ''Joe, The Motorist Friend'' and ''Town And Country''. These two enablers were about 300yds. from one another, across a parking lot. Joe's was a small chain of ''auto parts/car care'' stores. Yeah, they had all the usual car stuff including tires, tools, fluids, and parts, but fully half the store was toys, bikes, Lionel trains, and all sorts of sporting goods with an entire end isle for guns and hunting. Long guns filled a rack the depth of the store, handguns, knives, scopes, and binoculers in a glass case that stretched 2/3 the depth with self serve ammo and accessories taking up the opposing isle. Camping, fishing and archery stuff filled the front on one side. Town and Country was a classic full service department store with registers in each department and people actually staffing each department. Guns were straight back the store along the center back wall. Sporting guns and handguns to the left, some on stylish displays and a counter. Mil-surps on the other side with a narrow wall between. Mil-surps were out in the open and could be handled by simply walking over to them, new or fine specimens lined the wall rack while the used beat up rifles occupied range racks on the floor. At any given time they probably stocked up to 200 firearms at a time. Another great place to gun-drool while not local was the Western Auto in Wellsboro, PA. Great selection of sporting guns, full service gun counter with the first Italian Winchester '73 re-pop I ever saw, beautiful color case receiver, deep blue, and very fine walnut stocks. At first I thought it a mint original.

Like many of you, I couldn't afford much or many, but I do remember walking out of Town and Country with a never issued 1909 Argentine Mauser! Joe's provided a Remington 512 dad bought me.

[FergusonTO35]

GM, Ford, Chrysler and AMC all had plenty of failures in the 80s in particular. Remember those early diesel conversations GM sold? Huge ***. Ford had the fireball Pintos. Chrysler Imperials. AMC Pacers. And dishonorable mentions go to the Yugo. I could go on at length but no point.

Lost of junk on the roads back then.

Oh yes, I remember the Moldsmobile 350 diesel because one of my co-workers had one in a big 88 land yacht. His was a grandma fresh example that actually ran ok and you could give the car behind you a black cloud with a good stomp on the pedal whenever you needed to!

[Hannibal]

Oh yes, I remember the Moldsmobile 350 diesel because one of my co-workers had one in a big 88 land yacht. His was a grandma fresh example that actually ran ok and you could give the car behind you a black cloud with a good stomp on the pedal whenever you needed to!

They tried the same engine in 4x4 pick-up trucks too. They quickly became despised by any who knew them.

[FergusonTO35]

Oh yes, the 6.2 and 6.5 were a massive improvement by comparison.

[MOshooter]

Depends on what type of music you liked. I was not a disco person "my wife was" but I didn't listen to it. I listened to rock mostly. To me the 60s and 70s had the best rock music ever.

+1....

[Electrod47]

got this .308 Remington 788 in 12/74 from Woolworths - total complete with UE4X scope - total with tax $67.99 - still have it with original receipt + packaging - still shoots less than 1" at 100 yards with my cast reloads - got me a 396lb. boar back than - only one i have ever seen with the blond stock -

Got mine in 1981 at TGY store for 89.00 sans scope in .223 cause I wanted a more powerful varmiter than my H&R 577 .22 Hornet I bought at Kmart for 69.00 a couple years earlier. No blond stock here either on my 788

[murf205]

Yup, J. C. Pennys used to sell Belgium FN bolt rifles under their "Musketeer" brand and Sears had a large selection of Winchesters.

Sure did. I bought a Browning Light 12 at Penny's for $216 + 3% tax out the door in 1973. Many a dove and Bob White quail fell to that little gun.

[snowwolfe]

I remember paying a buck for a box of .22 long rifles in the late 60’s. Adjusted for inflation they are less expensive today.
Good old days? They really weren’t that good IMO

[redhawk0]

I remember some of the 70s....but much of it was a fogggggg!

[elmacgyver0]

Guns have never been an investment for me.
I just like having them, some I never shoot, but like to take the out and look at them from time to time.
Been shooting more lately and using some that have been collecting dust.

[gc45]

Great time for me; finished my Masters, bought my 1st collectable smith, and 1st collectable Win.

[26Charlie]

Really like all these reminiscences. By the ‘70s I was out of the Marines, married with kids, trying to make a decent life for us in an up-and-down economy.
The gun I still wish I had been able to buy, I saw in a gun shop in Pocomoke City, Maryland when I was 15. It was a Winchester 1876 in 45-75 caliber, for $125. Shop owner told me it had been owned by oystermen because “it would shoot all the way across the bay” back when there were oyster wars on the Chesapeake Bay.
As a kid working my first paid job on a truck farm at 65 cents an hour (1956) there was no way I could afford it.
The migratory workers were paid 75 cents, but were worth it because they could do stoop labor (pull turnips, pick cucumbers, pick tomatoes, pick melons) far faster than local kids. I, however, had one advantage which I leveraged, a driver’s license. I drove the trucks through the fields, picking up the baskets of produce and taking them to the packing house, unloading them for the women working the sorting and packing lines. I traded lower back stooping for lifting, carrying, and driving, a good thing for me. I was better at it.
The car I drove then was my dad’s 1948 Nash.
What I did with my $6.50 a day wages, was buy a C&H reloading press, a Lyman lube & sizer, and a 311413 mould,all of which I still have. I sent my Springfield rifle to Flaig’s in Pennsylvania for a 26 inch semi-target barrel and Lyman 48 and 17A sights. Still have that, too.
I went to Pocomoke City that day, mostly because I had never been there. Still wish I had come back with that Winchester .45-75.

[pietro]

.

How about the introduction of the .35 Remington chambering in the Marlin 336, in the early 1950's ?

[Wayne Smith]

I have told kids for years I feel sorry for them - no one knows how to write or sing a love song any more.