Anybody Remember Guncraft?

dak47

dak47

CGN frequent flyer
Super GunNutz
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Location
Summerwood/Bridge City TX & Okanagan BC
The store that used to be in Kelowna in my younger days ;)

I'm up far to early for not going to work and was lamenting the final closing of Wholesale Sports while I was stuck out on a remote job site when the memory of that old store popped in my head. Lots of my early utilitarian hunting stuff came from there while I drooled over the top shelf items that seemed carved of unobtanium.... Never had a bad experience there and remember handling some truly exotic hardware at that counter.

True shame that the proper brick and mortar LGS is just about extinct! Not talking about WSS but the old big counter non-chain stores, there are a couple (not the same scale) left in the valley that I prowl but more and more I'm an online kind of purchaser so I guess the enemy is me..... Strange thoughts when the wife is still sleeping and the house quiet. Going to go to Del's or Antler Creek today and git some stuff!

Dirk
 
Used to be one in Calgary, did a lot of business with Gunther, Pete and the boys. They used to phone us in Edmonton when something cool would come in. Made a ton of trips up and down highway 2 in those days!
 
Sadly, not many stores like that around these days. Wholesale Sports amalgamated a couple of the good Calgary stores and Poof, thirty years later, we have none but Cabelas and Bass Pro , which are now one and the same.

Grizz
 
We had one in Kamloops on Victoria Street, just around the corner from the old cop shop.
Still have a shotgun from there.

Ohhh, the memories.
 
Guncraft in Kelowna was a short walk from the telephone building I used to work in. Spent a few lunch hours walking there to sniff around and buy stuff. Bought my first reloading gear from them, as well as a .22 rifle. They also did good gunsmithing and Chris Weber moved on to his own business after they closed.
The other alternative back then was to wait for the next trip to Spokane and go crazy in the White Elephant on North Division.
 
Jack Robinson said:
Used to be one in Calgary, did a lot of business with Gunther, Pete and the boys. They used to phone us in Edmonton when something cool would come in. Made a ton of trips up and down highway 2 in those days!
Click to expand...

Yup same for me, every trip to the bright lights included a pre-requisite stop to see the big ole bear tooth and visit with the Y'all.
 
Walked into the Guncraft in Kelowna with my girl friends father when I was in grade 11, he came out with a Model 70 300 mag and I left with a model 70 338 xtr, still shoot and carry the gun today.
 
Jack Robinson said:
Used to be one in Calgary, did a lot of business with Gunther, Pete and the boys. They used to phone us in Edmonton when something cool would come in. Made a ton of trips up and down highway 2 in those days!
Click to expand...

Wasn't the old Calgary location on Edmonton Trail?

I was in Wholesale Sports Calgary a couple weeks ago savaging through the remaining stock and struck up a conversation with nice old gent who was doing the same and he said he worked at the Calgary Guncraft store back in the day. Didn't get his name but had a good conversation with him.
The times they are a changing.
 
kc34 said:
Wasn't the old Calgary location on Edmonton Trail?

I was in Wholesale Sports Calgary a couple weeks ago savaging through the remaining stock and struck up a conversation with nice old gent who was doing the same and he said he worked at the Calgary Guncraft store back in the day. Didn't get his name but had a good conversation with him.
The times they are a changing.
Click to expand...

Yup, in a former service station building on the corner of 12th Ave and Edmonton Tr NE. Then it turned into a video store and to save money they re-used the original "GUN" letters and named it "NGU Video". The video store closed years ago and the building was torn down but the empty lot is still there. I still have all the rifle cleaning brushes that I bought from Russels when they were downtown on the corner of 10th Ave and 1st St SW. they gave me weird looks when I bought like $50 worth of assorted sizes to use for cleaning engine oil galleries. Then they moved to Heritage and McLeod and went away when WSS took over Frenchy's and Barroto Sports.
 
Little bit off topic, but how cool were Edmonton and Calgary before the boom of the last 18yrs? Before the endless subdivisions that all look the same and the chain stores and retail developments that are also all the same. Used to be a cool locally owned business for everything imaginable.

Bought my first rifle/scope combo from the original wholesale sports on 97thand yellowhead in Edmonton. Cool old place when they had the big catalog on newsprint and weren’t trying to be Cabela’s
 
dirtybarry said:
Yup, in a former service station building on the corner of 12th Ave and Edmonton Tr NE. Then it turned into a video store and to save money they re-used the original "GUN" letters and named it "NGU Video". The video store closed years ago and the building was torn down but the empty lot is still there. I still have all the rifle cleaning brushes that I bought from Russels when they were downtown on the corner of 10th Ave and 1st St SW. they gave me weird looks when I bought like $50 worth of assorted sizes to use for cleaning engine oil galleries. Then they moved to Heritage and McLeod and went away when WSS took over Frenchy's and Barroto Sports.
Click to expand...

Actually it was UNG Video.
And Frenchy’s/Barotto’s on Heritage were great and knowledgeable guys with an awesome hand-loading section
 
leveractionjunkie said:
Little bit off topic, but how cool were Edmonton and Calgary before the boom of the last 18yrs? Before the endless subdivisions that all look the same and the chain stores and retail developments that are also all the same. Used to be a cool locally owned business for everything imaginable.

Bought my first rifle/scope combo from the original wholesale sports on 97thand yellowhead in Edmonton. Cool old place when they had the big catalog on newsprint and weren’t trying to be Cabela’s
Click to expand...

Actually, the ATCO empire started a couple of blocks south of the Guncraft location,as a trailer rental company. :)

Grizz
 
I still have an absolutely gorgeous LH Model 200 takedown Sauer in 6.5x55mm that came from Guncraft. It was my goto rifle for many years. Unfortunately, none of my kids or grandkids are lefties and I'm reluctantly considering parting with it to some deserving southpaw. I dealt with them on a number of occasions and was very sorry when they closed.
 
Calgary Guncraft was at a location just down the street before they moved into the old service station location. There were in one half of a building... I don't remember what the other half was.... I do remember a big fellow by the name of Cliff who did very nice engraving. He would start the day with a big bottle of Pepsi and a large chocolate bar.

I remember there was a crawl space under that building. Gunther would test fire guns through a hole in the floor down into dirt... Occasionally gases would build up from test firing and when another shot was fired there was a second "whoomf" and the floor felt like it lifted and dust would come out of the flooring as those gases ignited. The gun guys were used to it but I think it freaked out the other tenant.

It was a few years before Guncraft expanded into BC.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom