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Old 07-12-2010, 06:11 PM
walter o walter o is online now
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Default Small town gun shops

I'm an old Codger and in my youth i remember that most every town had at least 1 place that sold firearms or someone who was a gunsmith. They for the most part seem to be gone .I remember going to them and lusting over the firearms i could not afford , buying a 50 round box of 22 L.R for $.55 and walking to the river that was a few blocks from home or the dumps and shooting.I do remember the owners of the shops taking the time to talk to us about shooting safety and about different firearms .As I grew older I visited shops in other cities around our state . Saw stacks of old Winchesters being sold from shops that were closing . By that i mean 1 person owned & run shops .I remember going to gun shows in Kankakee IL. and looking at tables piled with OLD Guns of all kinds, many still out of my price range some in it . Went to Abercromby & Fitch in Chicago on the loop and looked at guns from the war between the states to African big game .I went to a small gun show this past weekend here in Indiana and saw a few tables set up with the old guns Colts, S&W, Sharps & Winchesters I still can't afford them but I still enjoy looking and talking to the owners of them . I guess that is what i enjoy about this forum It brings back lots of memories and i get to look at lots of firearms.
THANK'S to all of you.
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Old 07-12-2010, 06:21 PM
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Walter, since you live in Hammond go take a look at the Cabela's gun library there. The often have some interesting guns.
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Old 07-12-2010, 07:27 PM
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I remember we used to go to a shop in Lafayette and old Mrs. Bramahn would give us 3, 12 ga shells for free if we would bring her back 1 rabbit. And an old german in the middel of town would give us 2 dollars for a rabbit. We (2 of us) could get 6 shells and give the old gun shop lady her 2 rabbits and then go sell the old german 2 rabbits and have dinner for 2 evenings. Then we would go back to the gun shop and buy 2 boxes of 22 ammo and go rabbit hunting all season for free. That old shop closed in about 1975 as I remember. Ya, memories, just think the kids now will be able to remember how they changed from Windows 2000 to Vista and talk about when they had to double click everything. I remember the old computer shop at the mall------------------------------
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Old 07-12-2010, 08:18 PM
walter o walter o is online now
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Right ,you reminded me of the shop in Crown Point I stopped in and the owner wanted to sell me a muzzle loader made by Hacker Martin , that was just after Martin's death, at the time didn't know who he was.Also remember a shop just N . of Lafayette In .the owner made leather foot ware stopped in on the way back from Friendship and got to talking about muzzle loaders , showed him one i had made and he offered me a full buffalo hide saying that a gun like mine deserved a good case to be carried in . the price was right and i still have it, along with a vest i made from the rest of the hide.
this was back in the 70's
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Old 07-12-2010, 08:18 PM
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Up here, the small gunshops are disappearing also. I once saw a cartoon in one of our outdoor mags that summed it up thusly: "It's hard to go broke in this business; it takes a lot of government help". And unfortunately for those of us who like guns up here, a lot of gunshops have closed their doors, and, larger retail chains have stopped selling as well. Just too much government red tape.
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Old 07-12-2010, 08:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by walter o View Post
Right ,you reminded me of the shop in Crown Point I stopped in and the owner wanted to sell me a muzzle loader made by Hacker Martin , that was just after Martin's death, at the time didn't know who he was.Also remember a shop just N . of Lafayette In .the owner made leather foot ware stopped in on the way back from Friendship and got to talking about muzzle loaders , showed him one i had made and he offered me a full buffalo hide saying that a gun like mine deserved a good case to be carried in . the price was right and i still have it, along with a vest i made from the rest of the hide.
this was back in the 70's
I am trying to think of a shop N- of Laf. cant think of any close, there is Jerrys in Rennselear but that is almost up by you. Course north is a big area. That and it was 40 years ago.
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Old 07-12-2010, 08:34 PM
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My Uncle used to run a barbershop/gun shop in the small Kansas town where I was born way back in 1959... you tried to get a haircut when no one else was in there, or hoped that no one said anything about a gun, or else your haircut might not be all that great, he kinda seemed to forget what he was about talking about this gun or that...wonder how many left that shop needin a barber more than when they went in?
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Old 07-12-2010, 08:38 PM
Skeeziks Skeeziks is offline
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Am I to understand that the barber was Anti-gun?
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Old 07-12-2010, 09:06 PM
Muley Gil Muley Gil is online now
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"Am I to understand that the barber was Anti-gun?"

Sounds like the barber also sold guns and would think more about guns than he would about haircuttin'.

There is a barber/gun shop in Galax, Va. Unfortunately, his prices are way too high.
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Old 07-12-2010, 10:13 PM
walter o walter o is online now
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Default north of

If i remember the shop advertised buffalo moccasins .It was on an exit n.bound [I] 65 going up a long hill N. of the Wabash I have been back that way and think the shop is no longer their. remember this was in the 70's
any one remember Hacker Martin name from the old muzzle-loading days
Gizmo
this is a name should google and see his work
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Old 07-12-2010, 10:32 PM
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In my early days the main small town source for guns and ammo was hardware stores. Actual gun shops were usually in the larger towns.
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Old 07-13-2010, 12:13 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by walter o View Post
If i remember the shop advertised buffalo moccasins .It was on an exit n.bound [I] 65 going up a long hill N. of the Wabash I have been back that way and think the shop is no longer their. remember this was in the 70's
any one remember Hacker Martin name from the old muzzle-loading days
Gizmo
this is a name should google and see his work
Well I think I may know the place and if I am correct it is still there just no longer sells guns, it was called Trader Horn it was up a hill across the Wabash going into West Laf. Still same name and it is the place to get Carhart clothing now. I got a used in the box Woodsman from that place. Sorry I dont know the black powder guy.
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  #13  
Old 07-13-2010, 12:25 AM
Bat Guano Bat Guano is offline
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The Cody Firearms Museum has a replica colonial gunsmith's shop, with tools, wood shavings, firearms in various stages of (dis)repair, and so on. As a young man I came to know a gunsmith who by preference did a lot of work on muzzle loaders, and when I go visit that museum periodically I go into that shop. Everything in there reminds me of that old gunsmith who is now passed on. talk about memories. Of course, his shop is now history too.

There is probably more real gunsmithing going on in amateurs' basements today than there is in the yellow pages.
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Old 07-13-2010, 11:08 AM
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When I was a kid in the 60's I used to visit SARCO in N. Jersey and then in the mid 60's we moved to Central Jersey, Hunterdon County. Nearest real gun shop was Art's Sport Shop in Frenchtown..along the Delaware River. Art Servis was the owner and was VERY tolerant to inquisitive kids.

He had a long display case with various pistols and the occasional long gun, with a wall full of long guns behind that case. With pictures from his hunting trips and mounted heads on the walls as well.

The other Shop I enjoyed visiting was Rays Sport Shop on Rt 22 in North Plainfield. They sold a lot of guns, gear and uniforms to cops. So always had a great display of S&W's and other handguns. I hung out there quite a lot from 1974 to 1979. Bought a lot of Smiths there...wish I would have had the brains to have KEPT THEM ALL!

I recall visiting Rays in the early 1980's and Dwight the gun manager BEGGING me to take some revolvers back home to Montana as they were overstocked with them. They had boxes and boxes of M-10's, 15's, 67's , 66's and all sorts of snubbies....all over the back store room! Literally hundreds and hundreds of them!

Blessed to have a few good shops here in Montana. Capital Sports in Helena is clean, well stocked and very well managed. Great gun smiths and service deptt too.

Unfortunately the local gun shop is going extinct. Replaced by Sportsmans Warehouse and Cabellas type outfits. Everything at retail...nothing gets ordered unless it's on their approved list of items.

FN in MT

Last edited by Frank237; 07-13-2010 at 11:11 AM.
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Old 07-13-2010, 03:59 PM
Skeeziks Skeeziks is offline
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Quote:
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Unfortunately the local gun shop is going extinct. Replaced by Sportsmans Warehouse and Cabellas type outfits. Everything at retail...nothing gets ordered unless it's on their approved list of items.

FN in MT
If they're not already extinct then they are certainly on the endangered species list.

I really miss the little family shop we had in our town where my father first took me as a boy of five years old to get my first fishing rod & reel...and then, later, when I was 12 to get me my first shotgun. It was the place we always visited before every outing; whether it was for some Mepp's spinners to go trout fishing, or to pick up a box of 12 ga. high brass #4's for duck hunting. And the yearly ritual every september of going down there to get our "sportsman" licenses was always so exciting for me.
My best friend & I used to ride our bikes thru the woods and along the railroad tracks to get there so we could buy a few boxes of .22 LR for our Marlins and also to listen to Mr. Sliter tell us of "the good ol' days" when there was game everywhere!
Mr. Sliter died around '80 or '81 and his partner, Mr. Brownsey, closed the place down a few years after that and life has never been the same. Going to a Wal-Mart to get your hunting license just doesn't have the same appeal.

Thank the Good Lord for memories.
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Old 07-13-2010, 04:04 PM
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Default Hacker Martin

There is some really good reference material on Hacker Martin in one of the Foxfire series of books. I don't really recall which book it is. Also, guy by the name of Herschel House made a rifle for the class and now he and his brothers are well known and respected rifle builders in the muzzleloading world. If only we knew what the SAA's you could buy for $50 back in the early to mid 60's bring today, we probably would have been a lot more kinder and gentler to them!
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Old 07-13-2010, 09:37 PM
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The first shop I remember my Dad taking my little brother and me to was Carter's in Shabonna, IL. I was about seven or so and barely tall enough to see inside the display cases, but I was hooked.
The great thing about the smaller shops that you just don't find in the bigger ones is their willingness to trade. As a result, some shops have a poor selection of used guns.
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Old 07-13-2010, 10:33 PM
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We still have one in my County Seat down and I try to buy something there once a month.
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Old 07-14-2010, 11:34 AM
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Ya we still got one around here, it's off in a little hole in a back woods. Owner thinks he's got a freakin monopoly on guns around here and sells everything so high all he collects is dust on his guns.

Used to be some good old shops around here, where there was always some older men hanging around swappin lies and knives. But the only guys that hang around our one gun shop now are trying to see who's went to jail the most times. Times have definitely changed, even at my, relatively, young age.
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Old 07-14-2010, 11:51 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank237 View Post

Unfortunately the local gun shop is going extinct. Replaced by Sportsmans Warehouse and Cabellas type outfits. Everything at retail...nothing gets ordered unless it's on their approved list of items.

FN in MT
They are certainly disappearing one by one but I don't think they'll be extinct in my lifetime. We've lost a couple here in Phoenix the last few years, but this is smack in the middle of 4+ million folks with a Cabela's, a BassPro, AND Sportman's Warehouse. I think out in the hinterlands the small shops will continue as is for the foreseeable future.
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Old 07-14-2010, 12:26 PM
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There are still a few around. I recently went to the Web and located all the FFL's within a 75 mile loop of where I live, and determined which ones have shops. I am planning a day trip to visit them all and see what may be found. You never know what may be laying on the shelf in a small town store.
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Old 07-14-2010, 12:59 PM
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I live in a small town in SE Ma (pop approx 20,000 about 40 miles south of Boston) and we have 3 gunshops and 2 shooting clubs.

I can't think of any of the surrounding or nearby towns that don't have at least 1 Mom & Pop type of gunshop...many have more than one.
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Old 07-14-2010, 01:08 PM
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Quote:
Ya we still got one around here, it's off in a little hole in a back woods. Owner thinks he's got a freakin monopoly on guns around here and sells everything so high all he collects is dust on his guns
There are a couple of this type near me.

Do NOT undeerstand how they can keep the doors open.
Owners must have independent income.

Bekeart
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Old 07-14-2010, 02:02 PM
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Key West still has a barbershop /gun shop. I've gotten haircuts there a few times but since I am an out of stater didn't purchase any guns . It's Moe's Barber Shop on Duval and is run by a nice guy who was originally from MN but if I remember correctly got out of the Navy there and married a Conch. It's the kind of no nonsense barbershop I remember from the 50s.
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