Read and Weep.... the good old days...

good old days ?

and a case of Ben Ginter's beer was $2, but they taped two dimes inside the box because the BC Government would not allow them to sell cheaper.
Unfortunately, there was only money for one case of beer a month then, if I was lucky.
Money was a lot harder to come by in those days.

Most of our fun stuff is actually cheaper today when you account for inflation and increased earning power.
 
My father was making 3-4 $/hour & 15 $/day subsistence working motorhand on drilling rigs in '72. That's 47 $ day before tax.
That was pretty big coin in the day. A days wages for a decent surplus rifle; seems fair.
Motorhand makes 27 $/hour & 150/ day sub now. Can we buy the same rifle for 366 $ ? Maybe not the snipers; but we can get a nice 6.5 Swede for 350ish.
I don't think things have changed too much.
Just gun's that were common then are not now, some of the common one's now were unheard of then.
IMO
 
now it;s the SKS`s, Nagants, Swedes, Swiss and other Milspec assortment factor the past to present and a 200.00 SKS is only a day and a bit pay for so many on this board!!
 
buffdog said:
Cased Lewis Machine gun, wood chest, 8 drums, drum loader, spare barrel and parts, anti-aircraft sights................$60.00
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OMF...:yingyang:...wow....:eek:

Randy B said:
now it;s the SKS`s, Nagants, Swedes, Swiss and other Milspec assortment factor the past to present and a 200.00 SKS is only a day and a bit pay for so many on this board!!
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If you ignore the "ammo-price-factor" :p , you can still find some very sweet & affordable Swede Mausers...:cheers:
 
In 1971 my Father bought a brand new house in a brand new sub-division in North Vancouver (Upper Lonsdale). He paid $31,000. He was an assistant branch manager at a Western Canada head office of a large national insurance company (The Royal). He was making $13,000 per year ($250/week) plus a "company car" (all expenses paid). His house cost him 2.4 times his annual salary (my parents considered it well beyond what they should buy). What happened? I want that same house for 2.4 times the annual salary of a assistant manager who makes about $120,000 per year now. $288,000 please! I'll take it. Hahaha. CGNers from other parts of Canada (like Winnipeg) might not see the problem here.

Here: you should play Crack Shack or Mansion? (Vancouver real estate parody)

http://www.crackshackormansion.com/
 
saskbooknut said:
and a case of Ben Ginter's beer was $2, but they taped two dimes inside the box because the BC Government would not allow them to sell cheaper.
Unfortunately, there was only money for one case of beer a month then, if I was lucky.
Money was a lot harder to come by in those days.

Most of our fun stuff is actually cheaper today when you account for inflation and increased earning power.
Click to expand...

If only liquor-sellers in Ontario had such "moral courage" when McGuinty started his latest alcohol-related 'moral' posturings....:(.....(or if only we had independant liquor-sellers who could choose to have such courage ! :redface:...)
 
I have an article on surplus aircraft disposal by the US military in the July 1945 issue of "Flying" magazine. Some prices; B-17 Flying Fortress-$350, B-25 Mitchell-$200, P-51 Mustang-$100, Grumman F6F Hellcat-$100, Packard Merlin V-1650 and Allison V-1710 engines-$10 each. Fuel, maintenance, and hangarage costs would have been prohibitive for Joe Average at the time, even at the giveaway prices of the aircraft.

The going price for a Mustang on the surplus aircraft market nowadays is well in excess of a million dollars. Now if only one of my relatives had bought a whole squadron of these and squirreled them away in a hangar for the past 60 yrs. Unfortunately the best they could do was to buy a Kinner radial engine for a DIY snowplane and an anti-aircraft drone engine for a DIY gyrocopter.
 
This thread was started in only June of 2008.....in only these past 2 1/2 years we can ask ourselves how prices have changed in military surplus firearm prices. What is desireable now that was not as much then?
 
How true! I used to see alot more K98 rifles being offered. At one time I thought there was an almost endless supply. As well as Arisakas. Just in a couple years they have become definitely not scarce, but less frequent on the EE.
 
Heard of those motorcycles in crates when I was a teenager in the 1960s but I never saw them advertised in any of the surplus catalogues of the time.
 
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joe n said:
How true! I used to see alot more K98 rifles being offered. At one time I thought there was an almost endless supply. As well as Arisakas. Just in a couple years they have become definitely not scarce, but less frequent on the EE.
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When I really got into collecting (read:turned 18) I remember seeing M1 Garands for $50-$100, full wood Enfields for $175, Original Gew98's for $150, WW2 dated Wz29's and German captured VZ24(t)'s for $200...

No one wanted WW1 and earlier rifles... Especially me! All I wanted was the German stuff then, like K98's, G43s, MG34's, etc....

I should have listened to one of the Commonwealth addicts at the local gun store when he told me to buy Enfields and Garands... I was like pfft, I can get those cheap guns anytime, I want to get on the German bandwagon while I still could... sigghh, If only I knew I could have made 1000% profit and bought all the Teutonic s**t I wanted later.... :(

And this was in 2002! We've come a long way baby! ;)

When I first met you at the big Calgary gun show in 2002, I had just bought my LSR K98 Sniper for $1100, and a nice byf43 P38 for $450. It seems the P38's have not come up much in price, but the K98's sure have!

Now, when I want to get my hands on 71/84's, and Gew88's, Gew98's etc... they have almost surpassed the WW2 German stuff in price! Damn you Nabs! :p
 
joe n said:
This thread was started in only June of 2008.....in only these past 2 1/2 years we can ask ourselves how prices have changed in military surplus firearm prices. What is desireable now that was not as much then?
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I can still remember the period in those 2 1/2 years when milsurps chambered in 7.62x51 collectively doubled (or went even higher ! ) in price on the E & E....:eek:...the FR-8's weren't selling for $500 a pop back in 2007 :( , no one even thought to offer an FR-7 for more than $200 :nest: , and Ishapore 2A/2A1's roamed a lot more frequently on the exchange ! :p

Though there's a cute and neatly-priced FR-7 in the exchange right now......
 
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i doubt that you get a decent Garand for $50 in 2002.
However, you most certainly could get a Danish rebuild at Lever Arms for $150 in around 1996. Or 4 for $500, thats $125 each.
Now going for $600-800 each.
 
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