Originally Posted by cmansguns

I remember 1961 at a store in the little upstate NY farm town (village they called it). The store was aptly named The Outdoor Store but everything in there was Mil-surp. Their "good" stuff was on a wall with price tags hanging off the trigger guard. Example of "good" stuff was a 03-A3 or a .303 SMLE that had the sights milled off, Lyman peep and a ramp front, refinished with a Fajen Monte Carlo stock. Price? $29.99, 4X Tasco scope (or equal) mounted for an extra $4.99.

Their "**** stuff" was in barrels!!!. Yep...you got it 03-A3 at $9.95, maybe 20 sticking out of a large barrel(s), 30-40 Krags, K98's, SMLE's including what I thought was the coolest of all in those days...The SMLE 5 Jungle Carbine with the bad looking flash hider. Your choice.
The M1's if I recall, had their own specific dedicated barrel and a sticker at $29.95.

The real "**** stuff"....where me and my buddies had to hang out was "piles"....no barrels, no crates or boxes, just piled on the floor were Mosin Nagants priced at $4.00 each or 3 for $10.00.....no body, but no body would be seen dead with a Russian rifle or pistol in 1961!

I was not old enough to buy from the pistol/revolver barrels but the manager always let us kids drool and handle those 1911A1's priced at $12.00 each.....hand select for $14.00, Lugers for $9.95.

And the helmets, stacked like plastic lawn chairs at Lowes now days....sitting in the corners of the building at least 10 foot tall stacks, German, USA, Jap, some with bad looking holes, some with liners, some with "blood on the risers" as the Paras use to say. All at $1.00 each, and if my buddy and I would clean the cosmoline out of his latest haul of 03-A3 or Ariska's we could take a helmet and a bayonet (who knew what they fit, where they came from....they were cool). I know I had dozens....all gone (probably trashed) when I got through with basic/AIT years later.

Anyway.....like posted above my gas pump jockey job (thankful to have it in those years) paid a whopping $0.25 per hour and I tried to average about 20 hrs/wk so not much left for surplus.....not when I had an image to uphold as a teenager, hunting and fishing habits that had to be fed, and girls (that's what did it for sure)