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Remember some of those well. First rifle was (is..as in still have it) a Sears .22 model 101. Got that one back in the mid to late '60's for about $25.00 as I recall. That was in Austin at the time. Just east of I-35. Right across the interstate from Academy Surplus, another great store at the time. Made by Winchester. Many a round of .22 short went through there...and remember paying around .50-.70 cents per box. Available at the local hardware store, meat counter at the grocery store, etc...
Years later, bought a Stoeger arms Luger from a Gibsons that was closing down in Lubbock. Got that one for $79.00. Also picked up a Stevens 12ga single Model 12 I think) from a Woolco that was closing down (Lubbock). That one went out the door for $42.00.
Sure miss those stores.

I worked part time for Gibsons in the early 80s. I worked in the sporting goods / hardware area. I still have my Llama .357 that I bought while working there. I remember selling a lot of Colt Pythons.

puma guy wrote: If you by a Marlin 39 get a used pre-Remington model.

I'm not too up on Marlins. What is that exactly?

Owens wrote:Remember some of those well. First rifle was (is..as in still have it) a Sears .22 model 101. Got that one back in the mid to late '60's for about $25.00 as I recall. That was in Austin at the time. Just east of I-35. Right across the interstate from Academy Surplus, another great store at the time. Made by Winchester. Many a round of .22 short went through there...and remember paying around .50-.70 cents per box. Available at the local hardware store, meat counter at the grocery store, etc...
Years later, bought a Stoeger arms Luger from a Gibsons that was closing down in Lubbock. Got that one for $79.00. Also picked up a Stevens 12ga single Model 12 I think) from a Woolco that was closing down (Lubbock). That one went out the door for $42.00.
Sure miss those stores.

I forgot about Woolco.

I managed the sporting goods/automotive portion of a few K-Mart stores in the early-mid 80's, and definitely remember selling guns. At the time, it didn't seem to be any more of a big deal than selling hunting licenses. As a matter of fact, the hunting licenses had more paperwork.

LDB415 wrote:

puma guy wrote: If you buy a Marlin 39 get a used pre-Remington model.

I'm not too up on Marlins. What is that exactly?

Remington took over manufacturing of Marlins after they were sold to Freedom Group in 2007. The quality of the guns went down drastically after that, especially the lever guns. Even simple thing such as milling dovetails perpendicular to the barrels seemed to be beyond the capability of workers at the Remington factories. The Marlin firearms are referred to as "Remlins". When seeking a lever action Marlin look for the JM on the barrel. If you want to know more there's a Marlin owners forum.

ScooterSissy wrote:I managed the sporting goods/automotive portion of a few K-Mart stores in the early-mid 80's, and definitely remember selling guns. At the time, it didn't seem to be any more of a big deal than selling hunting licenses. As a matter of fact, the hunting licenses had more paperwork.

I had my older brother help me buy a Ruger Super Single Six pistol at K-Mart in 1965. He had just turned 21 and I was only 16.

My first rifle was a Sears bolt action single shot .22 s,l,lr ! Got it for Christmas when I was 7. My first lever gun Western Field 30-30, came from Monkey Wards. Christmas when I was 11, so I could go deer hunting the fall I turned 12. Western Auto in Springerville was the place to buy ammo!

puma guy wrote:

anygunanywhere wrote:There is a Gibson's in Kerrville.

I have been to the one in Weatherford. It had a nice selection of firearms, reloaders/reloading supplies, scopes and accessories. I wrote a review a while back; they had some nice folks working in sporting goods. The whole store for that matter.

The Gibson's in Weatherford consistently has better prices and selection on a lot of the mid-range manufacturers that most sporting goods or gun stores. When we lived in Azle between 2010 and 2013 I had taken a random Wednesday off for some reason, and while in Weatherford decided to stop in to see what they had. They'd just gotten in three Ruger 22/45 MkIII with threaded barrels marked at $350. Talking with the counter clerk he said he'd just bought one himself less than 5 minutes prior. At that price I was sold and started filling out the paperwork, before I could finish another gentleman came in, saw the remaining one and said he'd take it. Pure luck that I got there when I did.

Just here recently when we were back home visiting for Thanksgiving, my buddy and I headed out to PCSC to do some shooting. I'd forgotten to bring my 10 round Pmag so he could use it in sighting in a couple ARs from bags. One our way out we stopped at several big name gun stores between Dallas and Fort Worth, but no one had any stock. On a whim we stopped at Gibson's, not only did they have one, they had a whole rack of MagPul parts/accessories priced in line with what you'd expect to pay online. As a matter of fact their gun/shooting section seemed to have expanded slightly from the last time I'd visited. Glad to see them still doing well in Weatherford.

As for others, I still have a few boxes of Winchester 20 gauge around here somewhere with K-mart price stickers on them. Same for a couple boxes of .22 shorts, though I'd be hard pressed to lay my hands on either. I'm sure I'll find both next time we go to move.

SigM4 wrote:

puma guy wrote:

anygunanywhere wrote:There is a Gibson's in Kerrville.

I have been to the one in Weatherford. It had a nice selection of firearms, reloaders/reloading supplies, scopes and accessories. I wrote a review a while back; they had some nice folks working in sporting goods. The whole store for that matter.

The Gibson's in Weatherford consistently has better prices and selection on a lot of the mid-range manufacturers that most sporting goods or gun stores. When we lived in Azle between 2010 and 2013 I had taken a random Wednesday off for some reason, and while in Weatherford decided to stop in to see what they had. They'd just gotten in three Ruger 22/45 MkIII with threaded barrels marked at $350. Talking with the counter clerk he said he'd just bought one himself less than 5 minutes prior. At that price I was sold and started filling out the paperwork, before I could finish another gentleman came in, saw the remaining one and said he'd take it. Pure luck that I got there when I did.

Just here recently when we were back home visiting for Thanksgiving, my buddy and I headed out to PCSC to do some shooting. I'd forgotten to bring my 10 round Pmag so he could use it in sighting in a couple ARs from bags. One our way out we stopped at several big name gun stores between Dallas and Fort Worth, but no one had any stock. On a whim we stopped at Gibson's, not only did they have one, they had a whole rack of MagPul parts/accessories priced in line with what you'd expect to pay online. As a matter of fact their gun/shooting section seemed to have expanded slightly from the last time I'd visited. Glad to see them still doing well in Weatherford.

As for others, I still have a few boxes of Winchester 20 gauge around here somewhere with K-mart price stickers on them. Same for a couple boxes of .22 shorts, though I'd be hard pressed to lay my hands on either. I'm sure I'll find both next time we go to move.

I was very impressed when I visited the Gibson's in Weatherford. The firearm prices while not at Wal-Mart level certainly beat Cabela's, Dick's and Gander Mountain were certainly decent. Friendly helpful staff, well stocked shelves of reloading and other high quality shooting merchandise; a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Pawpaw wrote:It wasn't only discount stores. As a teenager, I worked in the neighborhood True Value hardware store and we sold rifles & shotguns.

Those were the good old days.

In small towns, some of those stores that sell everything still sell guns and ammo. Ace Hardware usually has a few guns in any given town around here that may be too small to have a real gun store. Gebos also carries guns.

I have some old 410 and 22 ammo boxes with Kroger price tags on them.