Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Ask John Barsness Questions About "GUN SHOPS"

I remember going to Tom Norman's when it was owned by gunsmith John "Doc" Korzinek, always bought my reloading supplies there and copies of Rifle and Handloader magazine. Also Paterson Rod & Gun Store, run by Jimmy Salvato when it was on lower Main St. always enjoyed looking at the puppies beneath the front window. Ramsey Outdoor Store was another favorite gun shop, bought an unfired Win. 94 there for $140.00 and a box of Winchester Silvertips for $5.00.

Ah yes, Paterson Rod and Gun. I was a customer. Bought my first shotgun, a Beretta BL-3 20 gauge, at the store on Goffle Road, Hawthorne, in 1974. Paid $265 for it used, but practically new. I still have it. I knew Lou Salvato well, also knew his son Jim and sister Joan Salvato Wulff. I pass by Lou's house on Colonial Road in Franklin Lakes often. At one point Jim was a carpenter and I had him do renovations on my home.

Mule Deer;
Top of the morning to you John, I hope this finds you and Eileen doing well as can be.

My goodness that brought back a lot of memories for me, thanks so much yet again.

As you noted, the older ones seemed to have that smell about them and maybe it was the wood floor, I'd never thought about it.

Perhaps someone can tell me if it's still open and as wonderful as back in the late '80's, but the Gunatorium in Spokane - on Argonne I believe - was one of the better places to visit just to look around if not to buy.

The Canadian ones of my youth would typically have smaller barrels - sometimes wood maybe, that I can't recall now - but there'd be a barrel of used single shot .22's off to one side of the counter and they were $10-$12 depending upon condition. A new Cooey single shot .22 was $25 then, which my father would lament as he'd bought one in the '30's for $3.50.

In the bigger centers like Regina, one would find 45 gallon drums of Lee Enfields and Pattern 14 Enfields. There'd be a barrel of the full wood military stocked ones, a barrel of "sportserized" ones and then sometimes a barrel of Jungle Carbines. Honestly I have no concept of how many Lee Enfield variants I've owned in my lifetime John, but have yet to own a Jungle Carbine, much to my regret....

Nowadays they're commanding silly high prices, well maybe they're worth it, but I recall the $100 ones I put back onto the table at the gun shows as I just didn't have the $100 to spend on something I just wanted, you know?

Anyways sir, thanks so much for taking me along with you on your revisiting the gun shops of your lifetime, hopefully it's okay that I wandered off into some of my own as I did.

All the best to you folks John. Stay well.

Dwayne

Ahlman's is S of MLPS, not N.

I always enjoy experiencing a real gun shop. The joy can be lessened somewhat if I am viewed suspiciously as an outsider or treated as though my presence is an intrusion. As for the more recently opened gun shops that I have come across, they all seem to be pretty much "black rifle - oriented" (to coin a term).

Hi Dwayne,

We're fine, and sure hope you are too! Will be hearing about the drawing results for our "special" big game tags in a few days--for me moose, bighorn sheep and bison, for Eileen moose and bison. (We both quit putting in for mountain goat several years ago.) We shall see!

Am actually familiar with the barrels full of .303s. We had those in Montana too until sometime in the 1960s. In fact, one my .303s is a "sporterized" SMLE my father's brother Larry purchased from a barrel full at hardware store.

John;
Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.

It's interesting that they had .303's by the barrel there too, but I suppose they made so many during the war. It's cool that you still have one with family connection for sure. I really shouldn't have traded off my favorite Uncle Frank's .303, but of course I did.

Up to a little bit ago, the Canadian Forces were still using John Inglis made Hi Power pistols, that's how many were sitting in waxed paper!

My goodness sir, do I hear you on not going mountain goat hunting anymore. That and rodeo rough stock riding is a younger person's activity in my view.

I can vividly recall coming back from a goat hunt in the Telegraph Creek, BC area - we were maybe 60 miles off the Alaska panhandle as best we could figure in those pre-GPS days. Anyways we came away with the firm belief that any mountain goat hunt we survived was a successful one!

Thanks again, good luck on the LEH and stay well.

Dwayne

A very interesting article John. My corner of the world, not being any kind of sporting destination, was pretty much devoid of such gun stores inside fifty miles or so, but boys anywhere can be smitten by the written word and images. There has to be a genetic component — though, strangely, I’m the only one in my family — to all of this; for example, the strange fascination for cartridges and spent cases and their aroma; being drawn to guns like a moth to light.

Our little town had a small barbershop replete with the creaking, stained, wooden floor and two small gun racks of mostly used guns with a few new ones. How do you describe the admixture of after-shave lotion and Hoppes No. 9, along with fishing reel oil? The proprietor and barber was a sportsman, wrote a weekly outdoor fishing column in the local newspaper and tolerated a kid who never got his haircut there, but who constantly came in to admire those guns and ask questions.

The gun shops I remember going to with my dad back in my youth were Skips sport shop in Grayling, MI, Guns Galore in Fenton, MI and William's Gun Sight in Davison, MI.
In my current home of Montana Shedhorn is pretty cool. As is The Fort in Big Timber. One day I hope to visit Capitol in Helena.

We still have a fair amount of small gun shops here in PA. Dixie's in Hughesville has the wood floors and the smells. Troxell's in Williamsport has concrete floors, and it's a block building. Lots of reloading supplies and everything at a fair price. National in Jersey Shore and Miller's in Mill Hall are a couple more good'uns.

“Dial-duck”? 😀. Ok, I’ll admit In my early youth I yearned for a dial-duck shotgun having seen the cool knob on the end of a gun in pictures and on a couple barber shop guns mentioned above. What could be better?
Twist and Shoot?

Edit: I still think the old Poly Choke was a pretty nifty invention. I’ll bet the inventor was watering his flowers one day, fiddled with the hose nozzle, and 💡

That article put me in mind of a time now largely gone here (in the land of Oz). When I was a teenager I could catch the train into Sydney, get out at one end of George St (the main street of the CBD), and make a day of walking along, visiting the half-dozen or so gunshops along and near that street. There were racks and racks of rifles and shotguns of all descriptions, from large numbers of cheap ex-military rifles to all sorts of fancy stuff, and you could walk into each store and have a chinwag and fondle whatever you wanted.

Before I was 18 I had bought several rifles and shotguns in those shops, and for a while I worked for a gunsmith who operated a small shop at the end of the route, in a bit of a back-alley. My job there included making coffee and conversation with the people who'd drop in, so that the boss could go to his workshop and get the work done. He also let me do the odd bit of gunsmithing, which culminated in me building a sporter on a No. 4 action.

You could buy any long-arm bar one capable of full auto (tho' even those could be had in Tasmania), and you just had to say "I'll have that one please, wrap it up, I'll take it now". Handguns were also available, though you needed a licence for those, and where I worked we'd sell these for personal protection, farmers, and target shooters. There was no particular fuss about firearms. People would even step out onto the footpath to check out the view through a scope by taking aim up at the Central Station clocktower, and no-one would turn a hair. School cadets would also take their SMLEs to and from high school on the bus or train, and my high school in the suburbs had an armoury with SMLEs, Brens etc and a miniature rifle range down the back behind the football fleld. I used to take the train to the range with my rifle too, and no-one was bothered.

Firearms were even sold in places like Kmart, and even in the small town near my parents' farm there were three gunshops. Even the little village stores sold ammunition.

There's only one gunshop in George St now, and it specialises in older military firearms as well as various militaria (swords, badges, uniforms etc). All the others are long gone. There are several gunshops scattered around Sydney's suburbs, and the odd few regional ones, but nowhere near as many as there were.

There are still some nice ones. I'm lucky enough to have a good one within walking distance of home, where they have a good selection including some very nice double rifles, drillings etc. A friendly bunch too, though they can be too busy for a chat on a Saturday morning. There's rather more involved in buying a gun now though, and you can't just go in and say "yeah, that one please".

A big thank you to Rick bin for putting this out there and a big thumbs up for J.B. for a great article. What a trip down memory lane! Also reminded me of how old I'm getting! For the most part the gun shop world ain't what it used to be. Just like everything else in the 21st century. Also made me recall my dad's depression era 22 rimfire ammo selection preferences for his Model 67 Winchester single shot that I now own. Just like the stamping on the barrel says; " 22 Short, Long, & Long Rifle".... That gun has seen it all depending on his finances balanced with intended targets. A lot of rabbits wound up as stew meat in my grandmothers kitchen when beef was too pricey.

Great article! I love the picture of the Lee Navy straight pull rifle. I have one in full military guise that was passed down to me from my grandfather. It is missing the magazine and I have never been able to locate one. Neat rifles! If I ever find a magazine for it I am going to attempt to shoot it. My grandfather had several of them but traded them off for 1917 enfields and Krags.

Capra outdoors maybe. It isn't really North of the cities now but would have been back then. The Wolf's Den in Hugo still has a wood floor and smells like tobacco and Hoppes among other things.

Capra outdoors maybe. It isn't really North of the cities now but would have been back then. The Wolf's Den in Hugo still has a wood floor and smells like tobacco and Hoppes among other things.

When I first started reading, I thought maybe you'd mention the best gun shop I have frequented in Montana..Red Rock Sports in Miles City.
Granted, I've not traveled Montana as much as others here, or as much as I'd like, but it is well stocked with bolt guns all of us loonies like and all the ammo and accessories to go with.

222Sako,

Have been to Red Rock many times, and it's a fine gun store. But would rate it somewhat behind the others I mentioned.

Yes, but it's not the hardcore gunshop of 40 years ago. The last time I was in there, maybe 2 years ago, there was a small display of guns in a backroom. Probably 90% of the shop has morphed into a trendy upscale biz selling the latest western fashion clothes, hiking boots and flyfishing gear to the well monied folks that seem to have taken over Bozangles these days.

My brother used to live outside of Helena, so on visits I've been to Capital Sports. Nice place run by good people.......