Store Brand Rifles from 50's, 60's, Wards, Western Auto, etc.

[jds holler]

Back in those days, I would often walk home from school so that I could hit the various shops with guns/sporting goods.

My route took me to Pay-Less Drug, The Gun Store, Hal's Sporting Goods, Van's Sporting Goods, and if I went around the block, Listers Gun and Pawn, and Klamath Pawn and Loan.

All these places were well stocked with new and used guns of all types. AND if they knew that you were sixteen years old, they would treat you with respect, because that seemed to be unspoken age of acceptance. Fact was, that in those days, damned near everyone had some kind of job by the age of 16, and they knew that you were a potential paying customer. Most of us already had a rifle at least from the age of 12 or so, and had to spend some dollars to feed it.

In our world back then if you didn't have a job and a gun, and at least a plan for a car, by the age of 16, you were a pretty sad sack. jd

 

[msalm]

I had always wanted a nice little .410 shotgun years ago and found a Coast to Coast .410 pump which was made by Mossberg. It didn't feed the greatest so I sold it off and years later found a nice Rem 870 Wingmaster NIB at a pawn shop in Colorado Springs. Much nicer shotgun but it still has a hiccup every now and then feeding a round. I kept that one though.

 

[JSH]

You beat me to it, Coast to Coast. I would see their add in the paper and always wanted to go in one. Mom and dad didn’t trade their, I don’t think I ever set foot in one.

We had a store called Play World. Had every kind of toy you could think of for all ages. Toddlers stuff, various ball sport stuff,fishing gear,hunting gear,powder and primer.

Had a store called ITCO, before Christmas they always had guns.

Home town hardware store had old nail kegs with you name it put in their. Seems like one keg was $10 and the other was $25 take your pick.

 

[Mulligan]

Thinking about all these guns got me to reminisce with myself. One of the most gorgeous guns I remember was something I never heard of as a kid. The rifle was a "Herter's"! They also had loading equipment etc..etc.. It seemed to me at the time that it reeked of quality>>> but that was as a very young kid.

I have several sets of Herter'd dies and a Herter's rifle. It is a Mauser 98 in .243, the stock was a 'do-it-yourself thing", according to my Pops. He bought the kit and built a rifle for mom.
CW

 

[Riesel]

Really enjoying this thread, a real walk down memory lane. I have a great fondness for those old Marlin made .22's and probably have a dozen or so that I've refurbished.
My favorite is a Marlin 60 that has a "gold" medallion inlaid in the stock that honored the Boy Scouts ( I think ) Got 'em with plain stocks, squirrel and acorn and some sort of futuristic
"swoosh" All great shooters and I rotate them regularly. They all love the CCI 1070 fps ammo.
Riesel

 

[Liven The Dream]

I have a J.C. Higgins .270 Winchester. It’s an FN Mauser that was sold by Sears.







It’s ummm...going to be taken apart to build a custom rifle.

Lee I picked up a few of those FN Actioned Rifle years back just for the Action . Gun Show Specials at $200 plus .

 

[butchlambert]

I think Revelation was Monkey Wards.

Nope, Western Auto.

 

[Ringostar]

We have an old JC Higgins bolt action 16gauge. My dad bought it new and I started hunting with it at 12 years old. It’s very accurate with slugs, and has taken a lot of deer. I used it until I bought a new Rem 742 30-06 when I was 17. It now just stays in my sons gun safe along with my dads old Win 94 30-30. He promised to keep them in the family.

 

[Twicepop]

Nope, Western Auto.

Forgot all about Western Auto, I stand corrected.

 

[butchlambert]

View attachment 1155914

In 1962 at the age of 16 I bought a sporterized surplus M1917 Enfield 30.06 for $50 from the S.S. Kresge 5 & 10 cents store. They sold regular surplus M1917 Enfields for $25. I also bought a surplus M1 Garand for $50 from them. The Sporterized M1917s were in rifle racks whereas the regular M1917s and M1 Garands were just piled on top of each other on large tables. Here is a picture of me back then holding the rifle, a rifle which I still have and shot at the range last fall.

What military base was the picture taken?

 

[butchlambert]

Dusty, Only Revelation was sold at the company stores. The "franchise" stores had lee way. Herters was a go to place for several shooting items. Probably the big supply houses in days gone by.
I was a Western Auto store manager in the mid 1960s.

 

[drags]

When I was in the 9th grade we went downtown to school , on Saturday my father and I went to a local hardware and I made a down payment on a Mossberg 22 the model that held 30 shorts in the tubular magazine. I made payments every week with my paper route money until I paid it off (29.95) after I paid it off I picked it up after school and walked home with the rifle which I still have the store was about 2 or 3 miles from my house and could you imagine doing that today. I think it was 1955.
Drags

 

[BW64]

Had a NIB never fired Marlin 338 that was a gift from my Sister for work done at her new home. I loaned it to my son before I moved to Vegas in 2001. Well son had some marital problems & his @#%$^ locked him out & got a restraining order. Thus the guns were confiscated by Ocean County NJ DA office. He tried to get them back legally but was told he needed a purchasers permit which he had lost when she locked him out. He applied for another but lived in PA at the time & they told he needed to be a resident. After a few go arounds with the State he gave up. Then I made a special trip back to see the DA at which point I was restrained & escorted from his (POS) office!! I found out 5 years later through a NJ trooper friend that the DA had that exact rifle in his personal collection!!! nice how LE works!!! OK Rant over!!

BW

 

[Joe Maisto]

I thought it might be fun to see or hear about these old rifles that you could see in any department store, or their catalogue back in the day. I remember lusting for them when I was a kid. I think some of the names were Ted Williams, Western Auto, Western Field, ummm PennCraft??

Seems like they were made by Mossburg, Savage, Stevens, Marlin, ???

I've got this one that is a pretty nice rifle, and perfect for what it was made for. Nice wood, nice blue, comfortable to carry, -- Western Field Model M780. It's a Mossburg, but marked no where on the gun. This one was given to me along with a Rem 788. After shooting them both, I kept this one. Crazy, I know.

View attachment 1155872
My first 22 was a Western Auto "Revelation", also made by Mossberg I think.

Anybody got any of these, or see them around? jd

I have a JC Higgens mod. 50 in a .270 Mauser action stamped "made in Belgium". I put a Timney trigger on it and a 3x9 Redfield Widefield as well. Couldn't ask for anything better .

 

[STOMP442]

Wow, this thread brought back some memories. My father gave me my first rifle on my 12th birthday, a Glenfield model 60 with the squirrel on the stock. Times were a little tough for us back in the early 90s and dad traded some mechanic work that I am sure he could have used the money from for this old .22. It was a little beat up and had a few scratches here and there from the previous owner but it functioned flawlessly. Still, probably the best birthday gift I ever got. We lived about 10 miles out of town when I was a kid and the walk home from the bus stop was about a mile and a half or so down our dirt road. The bus stop was near Mrs. Jones's place, a sweet old widow whos lawn I would mow once a week for a cold Dr. Pepper. She was kind enough to let me stash my rifle at her place so I could pick it up and shoot rabbits on the walk home. Those were the days.

 

[butchlambert]

Had a NIB never fired Marlin 338 that was a gift from my Sister for work done at her new home. I loaned it to my son before I moved to Vegas in 2001. Well son had some marital problems & his @#%$^ locked him out & got a restraining order. Thus the guns were confiscated by Ocean County NJ DA office. He tried to get them back legally but was told he needed a purchasers permit which he had lost when she locked him out. He applied for another but lived in PA at the time & they told he needed to be a resident. After a few go arounds with the State he gave up. Then I made a special trip back to see the DA at which point I was restrained & escorted from his (POS) office!! I found out 5 years later through a NJ trooper friend that the DA had that exact rifle in his personal collection!!! nice how LE works!!! OK Rant over!!

BW

Sorry for your experience. I guess I'm lucky, all of my police experience has been totally great.

 

[Texas10]

Back then you could mailorder a rifle from Sears or Monkey Wards. My dad ordered a .22 bolt action from Wards. A week later it arrived and then another week later a second one arrived that he didn't order. Somehow Wards duplicated the order and all the paper work seemed correct so he kept both.

Still have them and the original WesternField scopes, and they shoot quite well.

 

[Joe Maisto]

I'm currently building a 1903 sporter in an original Herters stock, simply classic lines and look. Building it as a gift for my father. Almost done with it!

And I still have a Herters catalog !. Their bullets had a tongue twister of a name. Here goes...
"Super Wasp Waist Sonic Missle tail Bullets " !

 

[butchlambert]

And I still have a Herters catalog !. There bullets had a tongue twister of a name. Here goes...
"Super Wasp Waist Sonic Missal tail Bullets " !

I have a few of the Wasp Waist bullets left.

 

[drags]

When I was in the 9th grade we went downtown to school , on Saturday my father and I went to a local hardware and I made a down payment on a Mossberg 22 the model that held 30 shorts in the tubular magazine. I made payments every week with my paper route money until I paid it off (29.95) after I paid it off I picked it up after school and walked home with the rifle which I still have the store was about 2 or 3 miles from my house and could you imagine doing that today. I think it was 1955.
Drags

I forgot to add but the hardware store also had a Rem. 722 in 222 caliber for $89.95 or $99.95 that I wanted but I had to quit my paper route because I was playing football and couldn't afford the rifle, but I really wanted it and still think about it till this day.
Drags