Cost of guns in '75
- Thread starter gsn
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
If you could stretch it.....
If you could stretch for another $20-30 you could skip from the basic model to something REALLY special.
If you could stretch for another $20-30 you could skip from the basic model to something REALLY special.
muddocktor
Member
In 1974 I paid $200 for my nickel 5" 27-2 from a small gun shop in Natchitoches, LA.
As I remember, in 1973 - 1976, the models 19 any barrel length were priced at $125.00, as were model 39's. Model 66's were priced at $150.00. The trick was finding one. Model 28"s were slightly less expensive,and model 27's were more expensive.
Browning High Powers and Colt Commanders were slightly more expensive.
Browning High Powers and Colt Commanders were slightly more expensive.
1977 I bought my first S&W, a Model 19-3 4" from Meltzers in Garfield NJ. $193 and change. Joe
I used to carry a $100 bill in my wallet in case I ran across a nice deal in a used revolver. That was usually enough, not any longer now 5 times that or more.
But back in the 50's $5000.a year was the national average
|According to my business records in the mid 70s I bought 5 consecutive numbered Model 60s for 86 dollars and change each just so I could buy a Model 53 with an extra cylinder for IIRC 175. For some reason I don't have the receipt for the 53. I think the 53 had been discontinued by then...and I wanted one. I sold 4 of the M-60s to one fellow for a tidy(at the time)profit and kept the other M-60 for my own use...wish I had kept the 53 also..,..but it was not all it was cracked up to be. Back in the 50s my parents didn't make but about 4000 with both of their incomes. Heck I had a pool room in town for the local kids in 1962 and I made more money than both my parents combined. Things were tight on the Eastern Shore of Md
Last edited:
I knew a couple LEOs that carried 36s or 60s off duty or as a second during that period and the biggest problem was getting your hands on one. Never heard anything about a Chief making a request to speed things up. 36s and 60s and 19 2 1/2'' & 4'' and any 29 were almost impossible to get your hands on.
Some dealers put a very hefty surcharge on certain guns, like $50 more or in some cases a doubling of the price. If you played that game you could find one sort of fast. We had one goniff dealer in my area that ALWAYS had 29s, 60s and other good guns in stock, but you most certainly paid well for the privilege of getting a hard to get gun when you wanted it.
If you had a more reputable dealer your name went on a waiting list and after a normally long wait you could get the gun at close to list price. As for me I was never a LEO, put my name on a list at a LGS I did a lot of business with and got a 60 in that time frame at list price in about 6 months!
LoboGunLeather
US Veteran
I remember in 1975 receiving a hefty raise, from $757 per month to $844. After federal tax, state tax, retirement contribution, and Blue Cross-Blue Shield deductions my take-home checks were $275 every two weeks. My house payment at the time was $182 PITI, bought that house in 1973 (brand new 3BR, 1B, 1-car attached) for $17,700. A brand new Ford 1/2 ton pickup (6 cylinder, 3 speed manual) could be had for under $2500 at year-end close-out price, for those who could afford it.
Yeah, you could get a brand new Model 19 for $140 retail, about $120 police price, if you could afford it!
Colorado Sportsman License (fishing, small game, deer, elk, antelope, bear, mountain lion) could be bought over the counter for $35. Now we have to make application in the spring, wait for the public drawing to see whether or not we can even get a big game license at all, and each species requires a separate application & license (all at much higher cost).
Gasoline was $0.35 to $0.45 per gallon. I usually kept $25 per week for gas money and lunches, maybe had enough to stop off for a beer after work once per week. Now I put $200 per week in my pocket for "walking around money".
On the positive side, I think I have gotten a lot stronger! In 1975 there was no way I could pick up $40 worth of groceries; now I can do it with one hand!
Yeah, you could get a brand new Model 19 for $140 retail, about $120 police price, if you could afford it!
Colorado Sportsman License (fishing, small game, deer, elk, antelope, bear, mountain lion) could be bought over the counter for $35. Now we have to make application in the spring, wait for the public drawing to see whether or not we can even get a big game license at all, and each species requires a separate application & license (all at much higher cost).
Gasoline was $0.35 to $0.45 per gallon. I usually kept $25 per week for gas money and lunches, maybe had enough to stop off for a beer after work once per week. Now I put $200 per week in my pocket for "walking around money".
On the positive side, I think I have gotten a lot stronger! In 1975 there was no way I could pick up $40 worth of groceries; now I can do it with one hand!
In 1977, I paid $244 for an S&W Model 19-4, .357 Combat Magnum, nickel with a 4-inch barrel. I paid a hefty price from the local LEO supplier to get the first and only 19-4 in town. It was a trophy-winning shooter. I carried that wonderful revolver until I retired 24 years later. It is still in the family.
DocB
Member
I was born and raised in Westchester County in New York. New Rochelle to be exact. By 1958, my father was making $12,000.00 a year working for CBS. Nobody in town made what he made except the medical doctors. All my friends had dads making around $3,000.00 a year. Didn't have to worry much about the price of guns since nobody had one except the LE guys. Moved to SE Georgia in 1960 and guns became the focal point of my life. Any Smith you ever saw out for sale was right at $65 new in the box. I know it stayed that way until 1970 when my wife and I moved to Mississippi and I bought a new M10. That was the year price inflation was just getting started.
And we lived a much better lifestyle then, too. (middle income class).
What a great nostalgia thread! 
It made me pull out my old records from 1982, covering all my acquisitions from 1976 (when I received my first LTC) through mid-1982 (when divorce stopped my collecting for the next 25 years). 
Despite being just 3 years old of college and having just barely purchased my house, I still managed to put away $50/mo and add something to the collection every quarter. In time, I got that up to $75/mo, but never higher before the Big D turned me into a pauper. The good news? I still managed to hold onto most of my "old" collection during the darkest of times.
As I looked through my old records, a couple things popped out at me that I hadn't remembered. The last two planned purchases (already ordered and in the pipeline) were a Smith & Wesson Model 40... and an electroless 6" Colt Python. I had totally forgotten about the latter. Damn, I wonder what that Python would be worth today. Needless to say, both orders had to be immediately cancelled. Such is life. 
I also notice that a Beretta 92 pistol was contemplated as the very next (but still unfunded/unordered) acquisition. Well, it took me another 31 years of waiting, but in July 2013, I was finally able to buy one! It was my first new handgun since 1982.
It made me pull out my old records from 1982, covering all my acquisitions from 1976 (when I received my first LTC) through mid-1982 (when divorce stopped my collecting for the next 25 years). Despite being just 3 years old of college and having just barely purchased my house, I still managed to put away $50/mo and add something to the collection every quarter. In time, I got that up to $75/mo, but never higher before the Big D turned me into a pauper. The good news? I still managed to hold onto most of my "old" collection during the darkest of times.
As I looked through my old records, a couple things popped out at me that I hadn't remembered. The last two planned purchases (already ordered and in the pipeline) were a Smith & Wesson Model 40... and an electroless 6" Colt Python.
I had totally forgotten about the latter. Damn, I wonder what that Python would be worth today. Needless to say, both orders had to be immediately cancelled. Such is life. I also notice that a Beretta 92 pistol was contemplated as the very next (but still unfunded/unordered) acquisition. Well, it took me another 31 years of waiting, but in July 2013, I was finally able to buy one!
It was my first new handgun since 1982. 
bluetopper
Member
The first gun I ever bought was a 6" model 586 in late 1980 when I was eighteen years old for $232 at Noble Firearms in Ft. Worth, TX.
Last edited:
Bought my first modern gun that year.Remington 582 (22lr) with a weaver v-22 scope for $78
Weren't VWs still selling for $1995 then?
Weren't VWs still selling for $1995 then?
Bought my first Smith & Wesson in 1975. A 1956 vintage, 5 screw, K38 Masterpiece, 6 inch barrel with diamond target grips in 98% condition. Paid $150.00. I still have it and it is one of my most accurate handguns. With the change due to inflation that $150 in 1975 would be almost $700 is todays dollars. Values really haven't changed for some items.
Last edited:
