I'm having a blast with old Gun Digests.

L

Lavan

New member
I have my own accumulation from over the years that I find myself STILL taking out to read.

But getting some of the OLD ones off eBay has been a blast.

Man, those old articles. Actual articles about hunting game.

And announcements of NEW guns.... Like Ruger Blackhawks, Pythons, Smith stainless guns, Ruger .44 carbine, .....the CLASSICS!

NO articles on "tactics" except a few on how to carry concealed and/or what guns are good for home defense. (VERY few articles on that)

Great articles on Ad Topperwein, Chas Askins (before he got full of himself), Ed McGivern, etc.

Amazing to see the prices on some of the guns we pay DEARLY for nowadays.

This period is from when I started shooting. These old books bring back some great memories.

And...hey... did you know that there was a NEW cartridge out? Yep. A shortened 30-06 that the military was even thinking of adopting.

Jeez, 22 Hornets were HOT!

These books are FUN!

Just ordered a GROUP of em. 1952, 53, 54, 55, and 58.
(The 1955 is the oldest one I have right now)

Shoot, I may even see something new like an announcement that Colt is bringing back the SAA.


:)
 
I do the same! For fun get yourself an old Herter's catalog from "da bay". I have a Wetherby catalog from 1955 that my father got new when he was a "gunner".

It's nice to think about all those guns I could have got for what seems like nothing today, but the fact is, I had nothing then to buy them with!
 
Try some of the old hunting magazines, if you can find any. Attitudes have really changed. Old hunting magazines always had a bunch of Do-it-yourself stuff in them.
 
Old prices don't bother me, I remember what I or my Dad was making at the time.

I remember the old Q&A columns. What with snail mail and publishing schedules, you had better think through the problem and be sure you were asking the right question and were prepared to understand the answer.
These days the internet appears to be the favored substitute for reading the instructions and independent thought.
 
Stay AWAY from old ....ADS !!! :eek:

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You'll thank me for THIS tip.

Stick to the narratives. :D
 
I was saving up my lawn-mowing money for a $29.95 Luger in 1967-68, Dad was going to order it when I had the bucks. Christmas 1967 hammered my funds, which is as it should be, but the Gun Control Act of 1968 ended my opportunity for the mail-order Luger before I could mow enough lawns to recoup the money.

The pawnshop Lugers cost about double that price, so by the time I had the bucks for one, other teenage considerations were paramount to me.

Didn't get my $29.95 Luger for over 20 years, by then it cost me $425 for a minty specimen.
 
Several years ago I saw a pile of old gun mags at a table at a gun show at 10 cents each. I carefully picked through them and then realized at the price I could just take them all.

The guy running the table laughed when I tried to pay for them. Said the first day of the show they were labeled free and he couldn't give them away. At 10 cents each he got more takers but still charged them nothing at check out. I did look over his table and bought a bag of .45 ACP brass to be a little more neighborly.

Maybe the old mags are coming back into fashion?
 
some

I've got some old Gun Digest's, nothing as far back as noted earlier, but half dozen or so from the early 70's. My Mom would but one for me for Christmas/birthday, that sort of thing. Bamawife bought me a years worth of old American Rifleman, late 60's as I recall, and I had a enjoyable time leafing through those.

Also have several of Keith and O'Connors books, which I read repeatedly as a kid, and treasure now.
 
Bamaranger, you should get at least ONE copy from the late 50s or early 60s.

Just for the FUN of it.
Gun Digests provided my wife and kids with presents for ME on birthdays and such so I have quite a few.

The 60s are CLASSIC!!!

Such a different world. NO GCA 68.
 
The whole magazine is the way to go. The cover, the ads, the popular models and the "new" this and that. The non gun advertising, the whole thing gives a great perspective. I'll read one from 20 years ago and remember again all I had forgotten. :)
 
For enough reading to last you a decade, pick up Ken Water's "Pet Loads" or his other book of letters to him and his answers. Try Amazon. Great reading, though I wish it was broken into 4 or 5 volumes (that's how large it is!).
 
I've managed to collect Gun Digests from the '70s-'90s, great fun to look through. Also have a Dixie Gun Works from the '50s (maybe '60s, but I believe its '56 or so). Found a few Remmington, Marlin etc product brochures from the '70s and '80s too.
 
Cornell Publishing puts out a lot of reprints of old catalogs.
I have a 1911 ALFA (Adolph Frank of Hamburg, Germany) and a 1939 Stoger's that are very useful when I look stuff up for the Internet Generation.
I need a few more general catalogs to cover the first 3/4 of the XX Century.
http://www.cornellpubs.com/index.php
 
I have an old Small Arms of the World from the 70s, I like to read from time to time-probably my best buy from the Popular Science Book Club.
 
According to a mid 60s American Rifleman, the American soldier loved his new M-16 but was anticipating the new 6mm version due later that year.

Still waiting. Lol.
 
Having 2 reloading manuals from 1967 and 1970 is just a wow factor. Most cartridges having 4-6 powders listed in the data. Both books are Lyman's 44th and 45th editions. The cover of the 45th edition showing the Winchester, Dupont and Hercules powder cans is just a treat.
 
I was watching Taxi Driver last night, and there's a scene where Travis is looking over a selection of guns ("on the street"), and I was shaking my head at the seller's description of a Colt .25, Walther .380, etc., and went right to my old Gun Digests and Guns & Ammo Annuals to figure out what the guns actually were, and what they cost in 1976.
The presumably warm 8 3/8" S&W Model 29 was priced $325, and I thought, wasn't that about the retail price at that time? Wouldn't the gun sell for more than that in such an illicit transaction?
The retail price of a M29 was $200!!
 
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