Sample of some stuff with price tags that Dad had stored away. Found it in a pair of toolboxes this weekend

Looking at the receipts the prices would be from 84/85, with the box for $9.37 being 20 rounds of 30-06.

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Had to check some records....

My current "salary" (SS and pension) is now 3 times what I made in 1984. So I guess those prices aren't that good after all.

$0.50 x 3 = $1.50 / round. Just a quick look up and I guess $1.00 - 1.25 is the going rate these days.

Funny thing, though, since I reload 30-06 with home brew boolits and pre-pandemic component prices, I turn them out now for about 10 cents a piece.

Everything is relative. I had an ongoing discussion with my Grandma when I graduated from college and told her I made $10K a year. "Well, you are rich...Grandpa only made 35 cents an hour".

Nevertheless, yes, I wish those prices would come back.

I remember paying $8.99 for Remington Core Lokt non magnum calibers then getting a $2 rebate in the 80s……. Remember Jim, back when Dicks sold guns and ammo.

I could swear I was paying about 15 a box for SJWC in 44 Magnum- Winchester White box, about then. ( 1984)

This is the only "record" I have. I checked and dang if'n retirement pay isn't 3X. Shows how "short" current dollars are. I have a more recent invoice with better prices. Joe

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Behavior Creates Destiny

Damn pharmer!!!!!!!! I thought I was the only one stacking up overtime like that. 60-70hr weeks were the norm for me. Most people just aren’t willing to do that nowadays.

I was 28. I could work 5/12's, 8 Saturday & 8 more Sunday if'n I was lucky. I have this stub because I was shorted quite a bit. I could also "party" until 1 or 2 am, get a couple hours shuteye, hit it again. Then again, I could put a 94 lb. bag of "Rinker Portland" on my shoulder and run it up a "gang ladder." Not 1 functioning brain cell @ the time. Joe

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Behavior Creates Destiny

When I was in the Corps as a S/Sgt. and making a bit over $600.00 a month, I thought I was in "High Cotton"!

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

They will if it's "remote"....

That box of 9mm Blazer from 1984 would cost 23.32 today adjusted for inflation. $1 from 1984 is worth $2.96 today. You can buy a box of 9mm Blazer ammo for about $13 now so those prices are only cheap if you compare them to today dollars.

My last job before retirement had no overtime capabilities. They gave me a cellphone and I was expected to be available 24/7/365. I often got calls at 3AM. If I couldn't resolve their problem on the phone I had to come in. If I was on vacation they didn't expect me to come in, but nevertheless I had to respond. ISO regulations would accept a verbal approval, as long as I signed the paperwork when I returned.

My ONLY exception to the rule was when I left a message on my voicemail that I would be at my camp, where there was no cellphone coverage. (I never told them when they put in a new tower on my mountain....LOL)

But, you know, I knew all that going in so I can't complain. Plus, I was paid well and I truly enjoyed a new challenge every day.

Funny, the 9mm and 44 Magnum are about the same. However, back then 9mm was the "new kid on the block", so to speak, at least here in the mainstream. Now 9mm is everywhere and it seems most use it to some extent. 44 Magnum ammo, on the other hand, has shot through the roof for the exact same reason as the 9mm was comparatively more expensive in '84-85. Not many use it so it commands a "premium"...

$7.89 for a box of Blazer 9mm. In 84/85 9mm was still not that common and expensive so I started reloading 9mm.

35 years later (2019) When Walmart stopped selling handgun ammunition, my local one was closing out 9mm at $6 a box for aluminum or steel cased and $7 for brass cased.

I will put in my 2 cents, I have a old CCI 22 Mini Mag 100 box, and a CCI 22 Stinger 50 box, with the orange K-Mart stickers on them, $1.99, the Stingers $1.49, not sure, I think from the early 70's, did not hunt or shoot for years, just worked to many hours for years, just checked, I shot those up, still worked great that old, no mis-fires, have been using those boxes for new 22 ammo, wore the stickers off, bought a new M617 a few months ago, for target shooting, nothing like weighting over 50 years to get good with a handgun, was pretty good with a rifle or shotgun back in the 60's and 70's.. that was a long boring story ..

I remember back in that era, every deer season all the sporting goods stores ran the same sale. .30-30s were $6.99, and .30-06, .270, and .308s were $8.99 everyplace that sold ammo.

That is probably the most interesting specimen pictured.
That WAS the cheap stuff of the day.
Somewhere along the line that cartridge's price fell through the floor to become the most cost effective centerfire on the shelf.

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it just needs more voltage

I remember the low prices, but I shot all my ammo back then so no old boxes. I Bought what I was going to shoot mostly shotgun shells. I remember when steel came out and a box of three inch magnums went up to about 10 bucks a box.

And Model 27 was $375.00 in 1982

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V/r,
Markham

Is the box of 44 Mag $7.99 or $17.99? If $7.99, that’s the most surprising to me. Now those are pushing $50 or more for a box.

In 1970-71 most every Friday after work and on the way to the range I would stop at KMart and buy a 100 CCI Mini-mags (in the amber plastic box) for 99 cents. I saved every box. Now I
shoot Federal Bulk and have enough boxes for over 5 bricks.

The .38 Special was the cheap cartridge of those days. 9mm's weren't that common. Most of the nine's you saw were surplus.

The only new ones that were relatively available were the S&W 39/59, Hi-Power, and the Colt 1911. All were much more expensive than revolvers. They've switched places. Now revolvers and their ammo are more expensive.

I remember buying .38 ammo around that time for $5 and change. Reloads at the range were $4 if you returned the brass. They were **** though.

Now everybody and their dog makes a 9mm. It's a wild guess on my part but I'd say there's ten times as many brands/models available today vs. then.

Long's also sold guns and ammo back then.

Now, CVS just sells pills and junk.

I bought a Savage 340 no mag in 30-30 for a $100 at a yard sale. the fellow threw in a 30 cal ammo can with 3 boxes of Rem 30-30 ammo from Pamida...$5.97 box. the loaded mag was in the ammo can. Don't know when they bought it. 80s?? The Pamida store closed shortly after we moved to the area

oldrookey, that is a amber box. my newer boxes' are clear, if 1971 was 99 cents, what year was they $1.99, around 1980 ? seems like K-Mart had them on sale every other week. Have been using that Federal 36 gr. CPHP in the 1375 bucket & the 325 boxes, put them in the CCI boxes, for my M617..

I know they changed to clear, but my recollection is it was after I switched to bricks. So, it was after 1974 when I moved away from the KMart neighborhood.

When Gander Mountain opened a store in town they gave previous catalog shoppers a $5 free coupon. At the same time bricks (500) were on sale for $4.99. I remember getting 2 coupons and getting 2 free bricks a few months apart, only having to pay the sales tax. For the life of me, though, I can't remember the year.

My next recorded data was as late as 2007, when WalMart was selling 550 bricks for $9.95.

I bought a Pre-27 from Gander in 2009, just before they closed my local store. It was mismarked. Should have been $1,295, but they had to sell it to me for the marked price of $295. A year later I got a Pre-14 for $195. Boy was I sad when they closed THAT store...

I started doing a lot of shooting when I was a senior in college, which was 1963-64. I was paying $5.00 for a brick of 500 Federal Monark .22 LR, or a penny apiece. Inflation since then has been a factor of 9.83. Since you can currently get similar ammunition for less than 6 cents per round, it's effectively cheaper now than it was then. After graduation, I acquired a Model 14-2 and a Model 39. .38 Special was $3.82 per box and 9 mm was $4.75 per box at discount stores. Both are significantly less expensive now, especially the 9 mm. Also, selection of ammo was much more limited back then. Maybe these are the good old days!

Back in the 80's I was buying 38 Special reloads cheaper than I could get 22 ammo and then had brass to reload. I still use 38 brass from those days. Those loads used a 158 grain SWC. They were sort of anemic but always went off. I trapped a lot back then and used them in a 3 inch model 36. It has been to long to remember where I got that ammo but think it was Zero

I did a similar thing. Back in the 80s, when I was a proud working teenager of 18, every weekend someplace (KMart, Sears, Monkey Wards, etc) had boxes of .22 LR on sale for .99 a box. Since I was a working man, I bought a BRICK! The next weekend, someone else had a sale. I bought a BRICK! This continued for several years. I never stopped to think that I really didn't shoot all that much .22, I was much more a shotgunner and budding skeet shooter.

Fast forward to the shortages, pandemic, etc. and I just started shooting up the thousands of rounds I had accumulated!

I see some have adjusted for inflation, but wanted to add...


In 1984
$9.37 = $27.48
$1.34 = $3.93
$7.89 = $23.17
$5.95 = $17.45
$7.99 = $23.43
$8.99 = $26.36


In 1982
$9.00 = $28.42
$13.50 = $42.63
$375.00 = $1,184.08

In 2001
$125.96 = $216.84