Good old days - $80 Garands

Wish they sold for $665. Heck even $700. I looked in the EE a few months ago and seen one that looked like it had been dragged down the back road for 50 miles and was still listed at $1600. Pricing on them is way out to lunch I think
 
The Danish Garands were only $165 at Lever Arms in 1998. The racks were full of them.

The first day I saw them, I figured that they must be junk and passed on them.

I went back a few weeks later for a second look and Alan Lever chased me out of the store because I didn't have my PAL with me. He was blathering something about there being unlocked guns on display and how I couldn't be in the store without my PAL.

I was unshaven that day, and he was alone, and I think I scared the hell out of him. I didn't bother going back until after he sold the store.

Now I see them on the EE and regret not buying a dozen of the damn things.
 
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In May 1960, the average wage across North America was around 75 cents per hour and a 50 hour work week was normal. My father bought a new 1960 Chev Bel Air, factory direct out of Ontario for $1300, taxes included. All he had to do was get it back to BC. The cost of driving it back himself, registering it in BC, getting new plates and insurance was another $300. IMHO the car was fugly but it did the job. He hitched a ride with his brother who drove a truck for a company out of Vancouver that sold fish in Ontario and backhauled whatever was available. This is to give you an idea of what kind of money was available to people at the time.

Cars of the same class have increased 30+ to purchase even used. Wages have gone up close to 30X as well. The rifles have increased in cost about 20X. When comparisons are made, the rifles were proportionately more expensive then than they are now.

I remember seeing those rifles for sale in hardware stores, gas stations and even some grocery stores back in those days. It depended where you lived of course. Often the local grocery store in small rural areas was the gas station, grocery store, clothing store and sporting goods shop. I was always amazed by how much those private storekeepers could cram into those small buildings.

They were beautiful rifles but expensive. Only people making an above average wage could afford them. There were many different surplus rifles available that were better suited for what most people wanted or were used to as well. For me at the time I was saving for one but I made $1 per day on my paper route and my parents took half that for day to day family expenses. I think it paid their combined tobacco bills at the time. Money was hard come by in North America in those days. Those rifles were the premium grade offerings and at the high end of the value scale. I didn't find another that I could afford until 1966 and it wasn't quite pristine but it was marked National Match with big NM stamps on the receiver and op rod. Getting them out of the US wasn't difficult. The border guards never batted an eye unless they were firearms enthusiasts themselves and were interested in them. Remember, collecting wasn't the rage back then. People wanted to "sporterize" them all. I can still remember the antis being upset at all the military style mankillers being fed cheaply to anyone that wanted one. Maybe they were right. I walked into our local BA station and bought my first milsur in 1961 at ten years old and bought my first center fire rifle which was a 30-40 Krag carbine for $12 and the proprietor threw in a box of 48 303 British FMJ. The carbine was in 90% condition and the 303 Brit went bang. I never tried to shoot anything but rocks and stumps with it and it seemed funny to me at the time how the cases expanded but other than that all was well. I traded the rifle to a neighbor for a year old steer and some chickens. My father was an anti and he found the rifle hidden in the hay shed.
 
MapleSugar said:
The Danish Garands were only $165 at Lever Arms in 1998. The racks were full of them.

The first day I saw them, I figured that they must be junk and passed on them.

I went back a few weeks later for a second look and Alan Lever chased me out of the store because I didn't have my PAL with me. He was blathering something about there being unlocked guns on display and how I couldn't be in the store without my PAL.

I was unshaven that day, and he was alone, and I think I scared the hell out of him. I didn't bother going back until after he sold the store.

Now I see them on the EE and regret not buying a dozen of the damn things.
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I got one. Didn't shoot it much so Ended up selling it for $750 which I thought was a good deal, although now I wish I had a Garand as it was pretty fun to shoot. Now they are too expensive for what they actually are.
 
MapleSugar said:
The Danish Garands were only $165 at Lever Arms in 1998. The racks were full of them.

The first day I saw them, I figured that they must be junk and passed on them.

I went back a few weeks later for a second look and Alan Lever chased me out of the store because I didn't have my PAL with me. He was blathering something about there being unlocked guns on display and how I couldn't be in the store without my PAL.

I was unshaven that day, and he was alone, and I think I scared the hell out of him. I didn't bother going back until after he sold the store.

Now I see them on the EE and regret not buying a dozen of the damn things.
Click to expand...

I got mine from LA in 1996 for $150. Still have it.
 
Bought my Garand from an outfit out of Quebec (can't remember the name) years ago for $300.The guy said it was very good condition with a synthetic stock.He was right and it shoots fantastic. The synthetic stock,while not as pretty as wood,never gets water/oil issues and that rifles will shoot in the black at 100 yards with my pet load no problem.He said it was from the Belgium arsenal and they re-barreled it.Love it!
 
The biggest shocker is the "all matching numbers". My understanding is that it is hard to get an all matching numbers because of how they were repaired and overhauled.
Mine is a '43 Springfield with a mix of parts I bought 20 years ago.

270 totheend
 
Many of the Garands and M1 carbines sold as surplus in the 60s were made from receivers that had been cut then welded back together.
 
Gatehouse said:
I got one. Didn't shoot it much so Ended up selling it for $750 which I thought was a good deal, although now I wish I had a Garand as it was pretty fun to shoot. Now they are too expensive for what they actually are.
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tootall said:
I got mine from LA in 1996 for $150. Still have it.
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You guys must have been clean-shaven, and remembered to bring your PAL's with you, when you bought them.:d
 
I got one in a Montreal surplus store 40 yrs ago for $76. Its an October 1942 Springfield and is a fresh Lettterkenny Arsenal 1969 rebuild with a new barrel and basically rebuilt to new condition.
 
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