Very affordable Swedish M-94 carbines
- Thread starter Rob
- Start date
Average hourly pay rate in 1960 was just under $2 per hr. So, after taxes, about 3 days pay.
Todays average pay rate in let us say manufacturing is roughly $21 pr hr. So, roughly 3 days pay to buy the same rifle in todays pay.
Pay scales by stats Canada
Todays average pay rate in let us say manufacturing is roughly $21 pr hr. So, roughly 3 days pay to buy the same rifle in todays pay.
Pay scales by stats Canada
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3 days x 8 hrs = 24 hrs. 24 x $2 = $48
29.95 ÷ $2 = 14.97 hrs.
14.97hrs x $21= $314.37
I'll take all of them at that price. Even 3 days @ $21, 24hrs x $21= $504 is still cheap.
Doesn't factor in taxes, deductions, etc, but you get the idea.
Plus his note says 1960, not 1950
29.95 ÷ $2 = 14.97 hrs.
14.97hrs x $21= $314.37
I'll take all of them at that price. Even 3 days @ $21, 24hrs x $21= $504 is still cheap.
Doesn't factor in taxes, deductions, etc, but you get the idea.
Plus his note says 1960, not 1950
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Even after inflation adjustments, they have definitely increased in value, but then, if they had cost more than $30 a piece when thousands of them were available everywhere and pre-64 Winchester Model 94's could be bought new for under $50, they would not have sold any of them. Supply and demand.
Look at Mosin carbines for a recent example. Less than 10 years ago, I was buying nice M44's for $75 each and every gun shop had 5 on the rack. Now they are all $400+ on the EE and sell pretty quickly at that price. Most gun stores no longer have them on any kind of regular basis.
Same effect.
Buy when they are everywhere, sell when they are not. A winning investment strategy.
I wish he would share the love a bit...
We bought M44's from Marstar years back for $39.95 + a nickel for another one! Plus, he gave us a dealer discount of a couple of dollars! I still have one. Yes, I realize that inflation does have an effect, but posted this just for interest! 
OP. That sure does look cheap considering today's dollar but back in 1960 $30 was close to a week of take home pay for most workers in BC sawmills.
In 1960 my father went from working in the mines as a blaster to the sawmills. He had been caught in a ground slip and was trapped underground for a couple of days with 5 other live men and 2 dead men. He never went underground again. He was making BIG MONEY while working int the mines. He made $1.20 per hour plus bonus because of his trade. His mine manager used to complain the powder monkeys made more money than he did. One of his perks was FREE housing to boot. Things have changed in that job as well. In 1955 he bought a two door Chevy new off the truck with all of the bells and whistles available at the time for $500 cash.
In 1960 he went from big money to regular unskilled labor wages. 65 cents per hour and 10 hour days, 5 days per week or 8 hour days 6 days per week. $30 per week would be appx one weeks pay. Thats a lot for a working man with a family and hard to justify when if he really wanted a rifle a No1/4/5 Lee Enfield could be had new in grease for $5 from the Army Navy. NIB K98s ran in the same price range. Not to mention several other milsurps on the market in those days.
There were enough 6.5x55 rifles in North America at the time to prompt CIL/Dominion to manufacture the ammunition with 160grain round nose bullets.
The M94 carbines were accurate with 160 grain bullets but not the tack drivers the M96 rifles were. Muzzle blast was atrocious at best. Still, they were a great little rifle chambered in a great cartridge.
The thing is, it took at least two decades for their prices to start climbing. I bought 10 of them, complete with accessories, from Lever Arms when it was still in Dunsmuir Street for $50 each in 1975. 5 were in unissued condition and 5 had been issued but it was difficult to tell the difference between them. The only way at first glance was that the issued rifles had their slings attached and the unissued had their accessories wrapped in brown wax paper. Ammo was $1/60 in a plain gray box. All of the ammo available then was 160grn round nose cupro nickle jacketed with corrosive priming. The CIL/Dominion offering was still 160 grn/non corrosive/lead round nose.
I shot a Bear with one of the issued M94 carbines. It was hit broadside on the near shoulder and exited out the offside ribcage. Range was around 75 yards at most and the exit would was the size of a baseball.
In 1960 my father went from working in the mines as a blaster to the sawmills. He had been caught in a ground slip and was trapped underground for a couple of days with 5 other live men and 2 dead men. He never went underground again. He was making BIG MONEY while working int the mines. He made $1.20 per hour plus bonus because of his trade. His mine manager used to complain the powder monkeys made more money than he did. One of his perks was FREE housing to boot. Things have changed in that job as well. In 1955 he bought a two door Chevy new off the truck with all of the bells and whistles available at the time for $500 cash.
In 1960 he went from big money to regular unskilled labor wages. 65 cents per hour and 10 hour days, 5 days per week or 8 hour days 6 days per week. $30 per week would be appx one weeks pay. Thats a lot for a working man with a family and hard to justify when if he really wanted a rifle a No1/4/5 Lee Enfield could be had new in grease for $5 from the Army Navy. NIB K98s ran in the same price range. Not to mention several other milsurps on the market in those days.
There were enough 6.5x55 rifles in North America at the time to prompt CIL/Dominion to manufacture the ammunition with 160grain round nose bullets.
The M94 carbines were accurate with 160 grain bullets but not the tack drivers the M96 rifles were. Muzzle blast was atrocious at best. Still, they were a great little rifle chambered in a great cartridge.
The thing is, it took at least two decades for their prices to start climbing. I bought 10 of them, complete with accessories, from Lever Arms when it was still in Dunsmuir Street for $50 each in 1975. 5 were in unissued condition and 5 had been issued but it was difficult to tell the difference between them. The only way at first glance was that the issued rifles had their slings attached and the unissued had their accessories wrapped in brown wax paper. Ammo was $1/60 in a plain gray box. All of the ammo available then was 160grn round nose cupro nickle jacketed with corrosive priming. The CIL/Dominion offering was still 160 grn/non corrosive/lead round nose.
I shot a Bear with one of the issued M94 carbines. It was hit broadside on the near shoulder and exited out the offside ribcage. Range was around 75 yards at most and the exit would was the size of a baseball.
The $85 rifle that it is comparable to is the Winchester 94.
My first Swedish Mauser cost me 12 hours pay, and would be about the same to replace it now. My wife's Grandfather told me that back at that time underground miners got $2.50/hour, so 12 hours pay.
My first Swedish Mauser cost me 12 hours pay, and would be about the same to replace it now. My wife's Grandfather told me that back at that time underground miners got $2.50/hour, so 12 hours pay.
So really you think that when you take inflation into account the M-94 has not really gone up in actual value and that these days you can buy a matching (or even non-matching) Swedish Mauser M-94 carbine for less than $500 Canadian dollars? I'm sure we all wish that was true...but its not.
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I'm beginning to think that some people posting on this thread might be a bit unaware of the differences between (and the different values of) the various models of Swedish Mauser. Yes, you can still buy a slightly mismatched Model 96 for well under $500 (Can), but you will likely have to at least triple that price for a good all-matching M94, if you can find one.
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I remember the 6.5 carbine for sale at my local hardware store for $39.
At that time I earned about $50 a week. So it was not a "cheap" rifle.
Today I am paid $350 an hour, so the rifle is a lot cheaper today. That said, I have not seen one on EE for a long time.
I wish those old magazine ads and catalogues were printed in disappearing ink. I saw an add the other day for LE#4T for $89. That is very painful to see.
At that time I earned about $50 a week. So it was not a "cheap" rifle.
Today I am paid $350 an hour, so the rifle is a lot cheaper today. That said, I have not seen one on EE for a long time.
I wish those old magazine ads and catalogues were printed in disappearing ink. I saw an add the other day for LE#4T for $89. That is very painful to see.
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