Anyone old enough at the time to remember? Or have a catalog from back then?
From what I know I could guess pretty close, but wonder about an exact number.
Just curious. About 20 years before my time.
Thanks
I'm not that old, but I'm going to throw out a wild guess. How about $130.00????
Thanks Kingston. $109.50 in 1951. That is an interesting catalog.
My guess would have been like bsa, just a tad higher.
Sometime in the '74-'76 period I paid about $135 for a new Ruger M77 .270. I don't remember M70's being priced much differently. At the time, I felt the Ruger was the better gun, and I still think I was right . . . at the time. So, let's call it '75. Given the 24 years from '51 to '75, and despite inflation not being bad (?), I must say the $109.50 number seems high to me. Not disputing, only commenting.
1950 prices were $109.50 for a standard & $162.50 for a super grade. add $15 for lyman 48 sight.
Seems high, but I don't doubt the knowledgeable posting are correct. So, a bit of a hijack, but related. Can anyone tell me the MSRP in 1975 for:
Winchester M70 standard
Remington M700 BDL
Ruger M77
Those were pretty much the Chevy, Ford, and Dodge "pickup trucks" of the hunting rifle world at the time.
I bought a .243 featherweight in 63,139.00, a weeks wage .my post 70 I bought in 1968 in 338 was 169.00,my super Blackhawk was 116.00.
Extrapolating rather than answering. In those days of yore, mid-sixties, working & going to school. Guns not even on my budget horizon. But as even now we nostalgically lament the 'deals'... As 60n148w, notes above - personal spending power probably most personally relevant in those prior eras. Then too, what about the plethora of things competing for our dollars! Just in electronics...! But moving on, the final 'consideration in the (pick a date) dollar as adjusted to present value. For instance:
To calculate inflation between 1951 and 2016, start with the CPI inflation formula:
CPI in 2016
CPI in 1951
* 1951 USD value = 2016 USD value
Then plug in historical CPI values. The U.S. CPI was 26 in the year 1951 and 240.007 in 2016:
240.007
26
* $100 = $923.10
The "purchasing power" of $100 from 1951 is $923.10 in 2016.
SOURCES: "The Bureau of Labor Statistics' annual Consumer Price Index (CPI), established in 1913. Inflation data from 1665 to 1912 is sourced from a historical study conducted by political science professor Robert Sahr at Oregon State University "...AND GOOGLE!
So, the actual purchasing power of that $100 in 1951 is now about $925. So now, calculate how many of the pre '64 Winchestr Model 70 rifles that firm could presnetly manufacture & sell for something just less than $1K. The answer 'ZERO'.
The generalization that "average" Americans have much greater purchasing power now than in 1951. For most of us, just "too much stuff, too little time!
My take