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Originally Posted by Mule Deer
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.


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My Dad & I purchased a pair at K-Mart around 1960 for $ 9 each. He "sportarized" them, the very thing to do at that time. Mine shot very well and I still have it stuck in the back of the gun safe. I carried it on mule deer hunts in New Mexico while in the Air Force. Killed a mess of porcupines, & once shot a Turkey on the fly (gliding away) but never a deer. Back when I maintained a FFL I ordered several for the local PD for their use in "honor guard" ceremonials. ( much more expensive by then) Like a lot of things in life, a crystal ball would have been handy when presented with an opportunity to buy those rifles.


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Well done John, brought back memories from years gone by.

35,000 guns in one store? Making Ft. Bragg feel insecure I guess.


I am..........disturbed.

Concerning the difference between man and the jackass: some observers hold that there isn't any. But this wrongs the jackass. -Twain


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My favorite gun shop was the old Mountain View Sporting Goods in Mountain View, next to Anchorage. The resident "old school' gun smith was a guy named Jack Shine. Old Jack had a cabin on Lake Susitna next to my friends the Perkins family. Old man "Perk" was and old school guide in Alaska and had been guiding in Alaska since the 40's. Jack made Perk up a Mauser .308 Norma with a Canjar trigger and a Douglas barrel and when it was completed Perk gave his converted Springfield in .308 Norma to his son Ken. Ken and me were best man for each other at our weddings, sadly he is gone.

The new Mountain View Sporting Goods on the old Seward Highway is a far cry from the old one that sadly burnt down in the late 60's. After that there was no "dominant gun store" in Anchorage for many years. That all changed because of gun writer Jeff Cooper of Gunsight fame and an article he wrote about Wild West Guns in Anchorage. One of there employees came up with a take down Marlin 1895 in 45-70 and the rest is history. When the article was written old Jeff was at the height of his influence with his teachings on the Modern Technique of the Pistol, the 1911 in .45 ACP and the Scout Rifle. He said the take down 45-70 was a big advancement for firearms, etc. Well that really helped to put Wild West Guns on the world wide stage. Many a gun rag reader bought into it.

Never mind the fact that for many years Winchester and Savage and others had been making take down rifles. It is as if it was something brand new and by now we all know new sells! Me and many other Alaskans dealt with different gun shops. I had a one time dealing with them and like others, went else where for future gun stuff. It is amazing what one article can do for a business.

If you live close to a reliable competent, honest and timely gun shop, count your blessings and PM me with their name please.


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Anybody been to SoDak Sports on the west side of Aberdeen, South Dakota? A GREAT selection of both new and used guns, but especially shotguns, as that's big-time pheasant and waterfowl country. Bought my first 10-gauge double there maybe 20 years ago--but haven't been back since.

SoDak also has a store in Mitchell, but I haven't been to that one, as apparently it's newer.


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Originally Posted by Mule Deer
Anybody been to SoDak Sports on the west side of Aberdeen, South Dakota? A GREAT selection of both new and used guns, but especially shotguns, as that's big-time pheasant and waterfowl country. Bought my first 10-gauge double there maybe 20 years ago--but haven't been back since.

SoDak also has a store in Mitchell, but I haven't been to that one, as apparently it's newer.


I get there just about monthly. They keep a really good handle on reloading components, there's a warehouse next door for that stuff, gotta ask if you don't see it or need a greater quantity than what's on the shelf. The number of used guns in-house is greatly reduced vs. 20yrs ago, new ownership too. Lowell, and then Scott ran things differently than the new guys do. Pheasant hunting has changed significantly in that country too with row-crops vs. CRP. They still have a very active trap/skeet population in the area.


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John,
I enjoyed the article. In 1968, I signed on with Savage Arms as a factory salesman. Part of the job involved making stops at every LGS in my territory to drop off advertising, counter mats and other such goodies. We also brought in the latest new guns for the store staff and customers to handle. In those days, Savage gad a “deluxe” 110 and a similar 99 in the line, and they were real beauties.
I got to visit maybe 100 LGSs in my less than a year with them, including Doug Turnbull’s dad’s place, Creekside Gun Shop. What I remember best were the warm welcomes, the impromptu shooting matches (everyone wanted to try the 1413 Anschutz ) and the occasional invites home for dinner. Since then, I’ve been in shops from Moscow to Praetoria. Oh yes, in 1968, all the shops had wooden floors.
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I too love gun shops. When in a city for the first time, one of my must "do" is visiting the gun shops. I was in Helena in June of 2019 (fishing the Missouri at Craig)so naturally I had to visit M.D.'s Capital Sports. It was at the head of my to do list. I been in gun shops in Alaska, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and a couple European countries. One thing I've noticed is how similar they all are. And, how much in common we Loonies have.

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Originally Posted by super T
I too love gun shops. When in a city for the first time, one of my must "do" is visiting the gun shops. I was in Helena in June of 2019 (fishing the Missouri at Craig)so naturally I had to visit M.D.'s Capital Sports. It was at the head of my to do list. I been in gun shops in Alaska, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and a couple European countries. One thing I've noticed is how similar they all are. And, how much in common we Loonies have.


I want to get up to MT for, if nothing else, a visit to Capital Sports after years of reading about MD’s awesome finds in there.

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That was a nice article, John. I went in the Horn my last swing through Bozeman, and left stunned. It's changed about as much as Bozeman has since 1983.


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Yeah, it's different these days!


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As mentioned, the biggest throwback for me is the smell. A mix of faint pipe smoke, Hoppes #9, 3 in 1 oil, leather, and wood. I still have a gun case I bought 30ish years ago that still has a faint trace of that smell left in the liner.

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Originally Posted by 338Rules
I don’t know if it is our smaller market place in Western Canada, or the waves of ineffectual stupid gun laws that we endure, but the great shops like those you describe are disappearing from the retail landscape here all too steadily.
Wood floors ? I can think of one out of the way establishment in Bashaw, Ab that I make a pilgrimage to whenever I’m nearby. The amalgamation and growth of the big city lgs drove the smaller establishments under. These still weren’t competitive against the Big Box chain stores moving in, leaving a void in the retail gun shop landscape.
Oddly these small shops which are left, seldom had the lowest price to match the bigger outlets , but their proprietors remained content to turn there inventory a little slower, at a higher margin, relying on customer satisfaction and repeat business for long term survival.
I hope that these great gun shops emerge stronger, with the support of their distributors and customers.


Bashaw Sports is definitely worth the stop/trip. They carry some very interesting guns/ammo and parts.
In Medicine Hat we have The Outdoorsman, small shop with some interesting stuff. Used rack is front/centre, first place I look
when I'm there which is weekly.

I sure miss Guncraft in Calgary. That place cost me a lot of coin in the 80's!
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Seems like I only get into Outdoorsman in Medicine Hat once a decade, but it’s definitely one of the good ones.

In Calgary, I remember Barrotto, and Russels sports fondly.
Guncraft on Edmonton trail was special though.

I remember looking at several interesting used guns that I kick myself now for not bringing home.
A 600 laminated in 350 Rem mag, also a BLR in .358 Win

Shops like these are sort of like adoption Centers for used guns in need of a supportive new home

🥴


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I bought my first deer rifle a pre'64 Winchester M/88 .308, at Paterson Rod & Gun when it was on Goffle Rd. in Hawthorne. I shot the biggest buck I've ever taken with that rifle, a Northern Maine bruiser that field dressed @ 254#. Took the head to PR&G to be mounted and Jim was so impressed he wrote about it in his Paterson Evening News column "In the Great Outdoors".

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Originally Posted by ckat
Originally Posted by super T
I too love gun shops. When in a city for the first time, one of my must "do" is visiting the gun shops. I was in Helena in June of 2019 (fishing the Missouri at Craig)so naturally I had to visit M.D.'s Capital Sports. It was at the head of my to do list. I been in gun shops in Alaska, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and a couple European countries. One thing I've noticed is how similar they all are. And, how much in common we Loonies have.


I want to get up to MT for, if nothing else, a visit to Capital Sports after years of reading about MD’s awesome finds in there.


Just caught a whiff of the original 'Red's' pipe smoke from Red's Trading Post when I read that. Red's is still around and a decent shop (with a wood floor) but has lost the luster of the original. Finding anything interesting on the shelves is much more difficult with all the tactical and plastic stuff. Boise Gun Company was a great place, stacked to the rafters but closed up a couple years ago.

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I knew a great little gunshop owner who got divorced, and he had to move, and build a new shop. He went with the wood floor, and this was back in the 1990s. He had a heckuva nice shop, and kept a lot of old double shotguns, and lo and behold, he actually stocked Winchester rifles! His was about the only shop in the whole Louisville area that actually stocked Winchesters, so I spent quite a bit of time and money there. He liked Rugers, but he sure didn't like Remington rifles, and wouldn't stock them. He was a bit "opinionated", but since his opinions mirrored mine, we got along well.
I went to school with his nephew, and that helped, as he was kinda fussy about who he'd sell to, as well.
It was nothing to see an old tom turkey wandering in and out of the shop, or his black cat Adolf, who was pretty cool. He also had a "pet" fox and had, at one time, a prairie rattler someone had brought him from out West someplace. "The Powder Keg" was a really interesting and fun place to hang out.


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I thought that speaking badly about Remington rifles was asking for trouble around here!


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Originally Posted by Steve Redgwell
I thought that speaking badly about Remington rifles was asking for trouble around here!



Dunno, don't care! I was expressing Hardy's opinion, and he doesn't visit this place. Hardy didn't like them, and wouldn't stock them. He DID like Remington shotguns, and kept them around, but then, who doesn't like an 870 Wingmaster? He wouldn't stock the Express line, telling folks they could buy them cheaper at WallyWorld. He kept NICE stuff, not the generic stuff carried by box stores, and he wasn't shy about saying so, either. It about broke my heart when he retired and closed up his shop. It was always a good trip to his place.


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That's okay. I'm not a Remington 700 fan either. smile


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Steve Redgwell
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