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It really is a matter of Supply and Demand. I bought Lee Enfields in the 1950s for $9.95 to $15.95 and a Number 5 Jungle Carbine was $19.95. My first Swedish Mauser m/94 Carbine cost me just over $30 imported from Kleins in Chicago. But, the Canadian Dollar was worth about $1.20 at the time, so let's call it $24 Canadian.
Relative to that is that we were making 75 cents to a Dollar an hour in wages at that time.
The simple fact is that these and other Surplus rifles were plentiful then. They were the Moisin-Nagants and the SKS rifles of TODAY. A great War had been fought in Europe less than 15 years before that, and European Countries were devastated with their economy in bad shape. These firearms were an easy source of income, (and employment for the workers of the Companies that sporterized them.)
There were not as many Collectors of Milsurp firearms then that there is now. Most of the Collectors were more interested in the Henry, Colt, Winchester, and other "historic" firearms and really did not consider that the Snider, Martini-Henry, and various Milsurp rifles were that "historic" enough to pay a lot of hard earned money for.
Today, we have more Collectors and that "historic" factor is more recognized. There has only been a limited number of these rifles made, and no more will be produced. The Factories who built them and the machinery that made them are long gone.
Let's put it in another perspective. You could buy a new car for under $5000. So you went out, if you had the money, and bought a loaded 1957 Chevrolet, or a 1956 T-bird or even a Corvette or Mustang or a similar vehicle. That same 1957 Chevrolet after being used and with mileage on it, but in good shape, would bring $40 to $50,000 at one of the big car auctions today. That is 8 to 10 times what it would have originally cost. A $10 SMLE, if kept in original good shape, is now $400 to $500 or 40 to 50 times what it originally cost. Not a bad investment for your money, and a lot more affordable that that 1957 Chevrolet. And, the SMLE is affordable to most of us here, even though we rant about prices today.
We, the "Old Farts" of the "Recreational Firearms Community," just happened to be born when there was still Freedom in Canada. As a kid, we could ride our bicycles throughout Southern Ontario with an old Cooey .22 rifle strapped to the handlebars, in search of those big Woodchucks, and no one really thought too much about it. We seemed to be more responsible then, and there was more respect. Hard to believe, but even the Police Officers who drove by us gave us a friendly wave, and carried on their way. NOT ANY MORE!
We could buy and SHOOT a plethora of firearms. We could own, possess and fire things like Machine Guns, which had the same classification as Restricted pistols, and a LOT less paperwork to have one. I bought a Lewis, MP-40, M2 Carbine, quite a few Sten guns of all types including a Mark I, a new unfired Savage made 1928 Thompson, and a lot of other stuff that would make Bureaucrats have nightmares today. NOT ANY MORE!
A friend of mine and I went to Ye Olde Hunter in Alexandria, Virginia and bought things like cased Number 4 Lee Enfields for less than $50 each, and I even bought a 25mm Hotchkiss anti-tank gun while I was there, complete with 16 rounds of ammunition for it. We put the stuff in the back of his pickup truck and put a tarp over it. Arriving at Fort Erie Customs in the wee hours of the morning, we took the paperwork in and the Customs Officer asked what was under the tarp. When we showed him, he said "Gee, that's neat." Then we went back inside, paid the duty on the stuff, and we waved goodbye to each other and we left. NOT ANY MORE!
Will we ever see those times again? NOT ANY MORE!
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..Whilst $ figures for Enfields do seem better in the states its even more annoying having to pay an additional $200 to import, plus tax, plus delivery charges and the exchange rate, so your now back to $500/$600 which, on average, is what they are sellling for here anyway..
