Strange to today's society-places you bought guns from

In 75 I bought my current deer rifle at the local K-Mart sporting goods auction.

The following year I ordered via the J.C. Penny catalog a Charter Arms AR-7. (mail order)

And in 96 I won a rifle at a Friends of NRA dinner, and picked it up at a True Value hardware store in Mercer, Penn. they were one of the dinner sponsors.
 
Around 1963, I got my first 22lr tube fed rifle from SEARS. It had Ted Williams signature on it. My son has it today.
My Dad bought me a break open single shot 12 gauge from SEARS in 1964.
I was 14 and had to attend a Saturday rifle/shotgun safety class at the SEARS store.
My father was not a gun owner or hunter but he supported my interests.
I remember the first time he took me out to shoot the shotgun.
There was a bush with a dozen small birds in it and I fired a shot into the
bush. Killed most of the little birds.
My father was almost in tears and we had a long talk about the purpose and intent of owning a gun.
 
Ya Stiener those Ted Williams were made by a few manufacturers, I think (not positive) Savage and Marlin made a bunch of them.

As a little kid my great Aunt had reproductions of old sears catalogs, and I loved laying on the carpet just pouring over all the guns..


edit
Heres a post of a Winchester branded Ted Williams
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=519910
 
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I bought my first rifle at a Western Auto. My first 10/22 came from Walgreens and I've bought a couple of shotguns from Kmart. Most hardware stores sold guns around here. I remember walking into a department store( the name escapes me) and seeing dozens of Argentine 7 and 8MM rifles in a barrel for $19.95 each. I thought it was a great buy until I asked about the ammo. A box of twenty rounds ran the same price as a rifle.
 
One of my favorite old haunts was the Army Surplus store in Hawthorne, Ca.
Gas masks, trench coats, canteens and web belts, helmets and of course, guns everywhere...I remember the counter 4 rifles deep in imported 22 rifles.
 
My first gun came from Western Auto. My second one came from United General Products which was a discount department store similar to what Walmart became, and the third one came from JC Penny back when they were more like Sears.

But, I almost bought a black powder revolver kit from...wait for it...an amusement park. Back in the 70s, the local amusement park was called Silver Dollar City and it featured an old west theme. The gun store in the "town" sold black powder kits and complete guns.The park security officers even carried SAA style pistols to complement their western garb. The amusement park is still around and today it's known as Dollywood (still owned by the same company but with Dolly's endorsement added).
 
First gun at Gambles

Got my first gun my parents bought me from a Gambles store 10 miles away fomr here. Our local hardware store is also a bait shop / sporting goods store and they still sell guns and ammo. I usually get better deals on guns there than at any of the Ganders or Cabelas. They also have ammo more readily available. Can't rembmer the last time I saw 22LR anywhere besides our local hardware store. Was in there last week and they must of had 20-30 thousand rounds of 22LR on the shelf and it wasn't priced crazy either. It wasn't at the prices of 18 months ago but I don't think it will ever get to those levels again, or at least not for a while.
 
20-30,000 rounds of 22lr??
Man I would keep that little gem to myself!
Ummmm


Do they sell online? Lol
 
I went to high school in rural GA, a local preacher sold guns out his kitchen back when you could still operate an FFL business out of your home.
 
Years ago I bought my 1st milsurp Garand and an 03A3 at a small five-n-dime store called Woolworth. I think the price on one was around $80 and the other about $100.

Have also made a couple ftf purchases at police headquarters and one at a LE range.
 
Back in the 60s I worked for a small (5 or 6 stores) drugstore chain. They sold guns in one of the stores in High Point NC. I never bought one there, should've because I would have got my employee discount.

Mike Irwin reports having bought from an undertaker. A good friend of mine owns a funeral home & has his FFL. I've bought guns from him.
 
One of my local ace hardware stores has an "armory" section in the back with a great selection of new and used guns. It's right in the middle of town too. I saw a USP .40 there once for like $400 and almost baught it... But didn't.

This was only 2-3 years ago and this store is still open and still only a minute from downtown GR and the "medical mile."
 
But, I almost bought a black powder revolver kit from...wait for it...an amusement park. Back in the 70s, the local amusement park was called Silver Dollar City and it featured an old west theme. The gun store in the "town" sold black powder kits and complete guns.The park security officers even carried SAA style pistols to complement their western garb. The amusement park is still around and today it's known as Dollywood (still owned by the same company but with Dolly's endorsement added).

That's cool, I call on them as a vendor...
Now that I think about it, unless I am creating my own reality here..
Knott's Berry Farms in Buena Park, Ca had a "gun shop" in the ghost town area that sold BP kits..Either that or the blank firing Colt SAA replica's.
 
vkeith said:
But, I almost bought a black powder revolver kit from...wait for it...an amusement park. Back in the 70s, the local amusement park was called Silver Dollar City and it featured an old west theme. The gun store in the "town" sold black powder kits and complete guns.The park security officers even carried SAA style pistols to complement their western garb. The amusement park is still around and today it's known as Dollywood (still owned by the same company but with Dolly's endorsement added).
Click to expand...

I'm from WNC, I remember Silver Dollar City, or wait, am I thinking of Ghost Town in The Sky? Anyway, gunfights in the street and armed robbery on the train! Fun stuff!
 
In 1985, I bought a full-auto M-11 SMG at a local auto parts store. In1986, I bought an 10" double barrel shotgun pistol from them. Those were the longest three-month waits of my life...
 
About 20 years ago I bought a pistol from a co-worker. Not so strange you say?
Well he brought it into work and showed it to me right in the production area. We exchanged money and I kept the pistol at my work station for the rest of the day. There was no thought of it. Heck, every time someone bought a new gun, bow or knife they brought it in for "show and tell."
I'm guessing if you tried that today at most places you would get fired or arrested:rolleyes:
 
OTASCO

My first rifle was a stevens single shot bolt action 22 purchased with lawn-mowing money at OTASCO in the mid 70s. The second, was a savage/stevens model 24 22/410 bought at OTASCO by my father as a Christmas present in 1978. I still have the model 24:)
 
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