Price List

[Dosgatos]

Picked up a 75th Anniversary Catalog complete with price list. How about a .38 Safety Hammerless for $29.00? Well OK, maybe you'd have to pay a little more for the pearls.

[shawn mccarver]

Nice items. I would love to take the time to bring the values forward, adjusted for inflation to see what the equivalent amount would be today!

[DCWilson]

I have a copy of that 75th anniversary catalog too; it's a treasure trove of information.

Inflation: from the 1920s to now, you will find varying ratios depending on whether you compare food, goods or housing. The range is somwhere between 20:1 and 100:1 depending on the item.

Let's say produced goods are 25-30X more expensive now. That means the list price on the equivalent handgun (a J-frame Centennial) would be somewhere around $750-900, which i think is about where it is. The counter price will be somewhat lower of course, but I bet it was back then, too.

[Dosgatos]

BTW, does anybody know what a ".38 Colt New Police Metal Point" cartridge is? See the second picture, bottom.

[wiley]

Basically it's a 38 S&W with a jacketed bullet.

[Dosgatos]

Take another look at this larger image. That's either a very odd looking bullet, or they were trying to depict a cross-section?

[desi2358]

That's a cutaway or cross-section view showing the construction of a jacketed bullet with a lead core. Probably seemed a good way to illustrate the "metal point" design.