Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Remember when you could buy guns at department stores like Sears & JCPenny?

I bought a Fox 16 ga double from Western Auto in the late 60s for $75. It was like new.
I remember seeing the barrels of Mauser rifles by the checkout stand. I don't remember the price but it wasn't much.

Years ago the Scaggs here went out of business and had a big sale. I bought a 20 ga. sxs labeled Universal (made in Spain). I keep it loaded with buck for defense. It's a cheap gun, prone to rust and the wrist cracked. I wrapped it with fiberglass which has held for 20 years but it's not strong. However, it fits me perfectly. I'd love to have a quality gun like it that fits me that well.

Bought my first gun at a Globe store

Sears, Montgomery Ward and others would advertise guns in their catalog and ship them to you.

Purchased a Smith Model 28 @ Local Montgomery Wards..

I remember when the Sears catalog was toilet paper in the outhouse.

Lee Harvey Oswald ended that forever. Whether he killed Kennedy will always be debated but he did have a mail order rifle.

yes also Watson's Hardware and Dave Conolly's Western Auto in Clemson, S.C.

Anti-gun propaganda ended that, Oswald was the excuse.

It works well too, a large percentage of guys on this very forum think GCA1968 is a good thing

In the mid 90’s Longs Pharmacy (maybe just a local chain) had a nice selection of guns, ammo and fishing gear. I used to stock up there before any of the big box stores opened up. I probably have some old steel loads I bought there when I was younger. My Dad bought his Colt King Cobra there.

It’s a Sprouts Market now…

I still have that exact same Ted Williams branded model that my dad gave me back when I was in HS.

I ain't that old but have a couple department store branded guns. I bet there are a lot more of them out there than people realize. A Westernfield Marlin and a J.C. Higgins Stevens.

I still have my first fly reel , a JC Higgins, I bought at Sears about 1965.

My mother got my first .22 rifle with S & H trading stamps, when I lived in Colorado I used to buy .44 Magnum ammo at the Rexall drug store. The local department store gun department had British Enfiedl .303 Jungle Carbines in stacked in fiber barrels for $39.95. I remember visiting Numrich when I was a teen, Sarco too. Bought some exhibition grade American walnut stock blanks from the Herter's catalog for peanuts.

Got my Weaver V9 AO from Service Merchandise.
I was in 5th or 6th grade ( went on a Rem 660.in .222 ).

Married a gal 6 yrs older than me, that worked there at that time. Dunno if she sold my dad and I that scope.

Kinda funny.

Coast to Coast had a few in a glass cab in town near F&W area. Dunno time frame, but they had a Rem SP10 whenever that was.

My first shotgun was a WesternField purchased from Montgomery Wards.

I paid $200 for a Remington 1100 from JCPenny. That was the best price I found. They didn't carry them in our local store, but I ordered it from their catalog and picked it up in the store. This would have been the late 1970's. I had to walk several blocks down Broad Street downtown to get back to my car with it. In the box of course.

The local Sears had a display in the store, but their building was away from the downtown area at the time. Neither JCPenny nor Sears have a store in our area anymore.

And Coast to Coast..

I bought a Mauser action from Wards when I was 14 years old, regular mail.