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

I bought a Remington 592 5mm magnum probably about 1970 at Tempo in Minot, ND.

In '80 I purchased a Glenfield 22 auto for my Mom for Mother's Day. It was purchased at the local Farmer's Co-op. And don't forget that every drugstore had a section for guns and ammo, and often reloading supplies. My first varmint rifle came from Penny Wize Drug in Caldwell Id. My 12 ga mag Wingmaster came from Coast to Coast.

Handguns, rifles, and shotguns were just part of Americana, essentials like gas and groceries. Until the Commies started gaining influence in the mid eighties to nineties.


Oh, just remembered. The Coast to Coast over in Nyssa Or used to rent rifles and shotguns. The guys from Portland would drive over to the East side of the state and rent a gun for their deer or pheasant hunt.

My 30-06 Remington 760ADL came from JCPenny new in 1976 $139.99
The RCBS 30-06 SB dies came from service Merchandise 1979 $12.99

I still have Sears ammo for 30-30

I remember my first rifle was a Chipmunk my dad bought for me from our Hardware store that was a local, non national chain back in 1983. Our small town had a few places back then to buy guns. A few were Western Auto, Montgomery Ward, sears and JC Penny. Sears and Pennies were not a large retail store, but the small catalog stores. I was too young to remember dad getting guns from them but remember Western Auto as a place to get them. I really miss those days. Yellow Front had reloading supplies and gun gear that was actually good stuff. Now it’s a matter of ordering online. Now one place in town has reloading stuff and it’s a gunsmiths shop that had guns and other items. Decent enough prices too, so I make sure to get my fair share from him.

Oh yea, good ol’ times. I remember pa buying guns at McIntyres hardware in Anchorage. Dick McIntyre was a buddy w/ dad. When the store received their S&W model 29s, the line of customers went around the block outside.

And Kmart, sports authority and several others.

They all stopped selling guns and all eventually went bankrupt.

Safeway store in Lander WY carried gun stuff and ammo up until about 1984.

I remember buying my first rifle, a Ithaca m49 22 single shot in 61 for $20.00. I was 9 yrs old and it took me most of 61: and until Easter 62 to pay for it. I was sick with walking pneumonia that Easter, and had $17.00 saved up. My dad got up that day and headed to town, and when he returned that evening he had my rifle. I shot a brick load of ammo every month through it until trading it off in 64 for a savage pump 22. This was bought at the old army surplus store here.

I bought my son a Chipmunk, but my father did not approve of the design. He said the firing pin and bolt body were galling. My wife took the rifle back to the store.

My first store bought gun was a H&R Topper .30.30/ .20ga combo from Gibsons. I think the price was $49 bucks,still have it in the safe.I remember the gun counter guys and their patience with a young boy with no money,but would let me handle guns that I couldn't possibly afford.

[bleep] I remember when I would look in the local saturday paper garage sale classifieds and half of them would list guns! miss those saturday excursions

a lot of old hardware stores had a gun department some still do

Yes.

Nah, K-Mart maybe

I think Scheels started out as small department in a hardware store.

Bought one of these in a mall department store in the early 80s.

Back in the day, the JC Penny catalog was hard to beat for gun prices. It actually gave buyers some leverage when dealing with the LGS. In 1977, JCP had the 700 BDL for $209. I mentioned this to the salesman at Cook’s Sport & Ski and he offered one for $200. I took the deal. I was 15, so dad had to come down & actually buy it. Nobody had ever heard of the mysterious “Straw Man” back then. The chambering? 30-06, of course. No real deer hunter would do otherwise.

IIRC, the Browning Citori was $429 in the catalog at that time. A rich man’s gun, we all thought.

Yep. But also Montgomery Wards (monkey wards), Woolworths, K-mart, and just about every hardware store you walked into.

Montgomery Wards had a large sporting goods dept back in the 70’s. They ran sales on shotshells that were very competitive. My late FIL managed several of their stores.

More recently, Holiday gas station stores used to have good sales on ammo, decoys and other hunting supplies. They too have mostly eliminated that product line.