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Flea market find

1480 Views 9 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  saintclair
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I came across this catalog from 1970 while browsing a local flea market. Neat blast from the past. Too bad no price's.

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I religiously read my dad's Gun Digest Annuals when I was a kid. He had several from the early 1970s, and IIRC, the PPS sold for around $90.00.
Bear in mind, we're going back through 30+ years of memories. My numbers could be off a bit. I've slept since then.
Knowing the prices, while interesting, would just lead to hurt feelings of what we did not buy back then. Of course I could not ahve bought a handgun in the early 70's anyway!
Don't get too nostalgic about old-time Colt pricing. It is only inflation that makes old-time pricing look attractive. When one compares old-time Colt pricing to old-time wages, old-time Colt pricing was never a bargain.

In the early 1970s, a PPS may have cost around $90. In those years, I made minimum wage, $1.65/hour (gross), or take-home of around $1.10/hour - or about 82 hours of work to buy a PPS. Now, a high condition PPS can be had for around $500+/-, federal minimum wage is $7.25 or around $6/hour take-home, for a total of 83 hours needed to purchase the PPS.

The costs of Colts related to the cost of labor has remained pretty much constant over the history of Colt firearms.

IIRC, in the mid-1970s, a Colt Trooper .357 mag. revolver cost around $139.99, while a Ruger Security Six .357 mag. revolver cost about $99.99. Today, I wish I had bought the Colt, but at the time I did not have the additional $40, so I bought the Ruger. Back then, the $40 difference was a big deal; not so much today. The Ruger has done everything that I asked it to do, so in hindsight, the Ruger was the right choice.
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Lee
That is a nice find. I enjoy going back through old catalogs from time to time.
It's an era past, we'll likely not see again.
Thanks for sharing with us.
IIRC, in the mid-1970s, a Colt Trooper .357 mag. revolver cost around $139.99, while a Ruger Security Six .357 mag. revolver cost about $99.99. Today, I wish I had bought the Colt, but at the time I did not have the additional $40, so I bought the Ruger. Back then, the $40 difference was a big deal; not so much today. The Ruger has done everything that I asked it to do, so in hindsight, the Ruger was the right choice.
Yes, but not from a collector or appreciation per dollar view, although I bought Rugers when I could have bought Colts for the seemingly better bang for the buck we had with our non-forecasting blinders on at the time.
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I really wish I'd coughed up the $750 for a new, 4" blue Python back in the mid '90s.
An LGS had them for that price.
I couldn't afford it then.
Can't really afford it now.
Don't get too nostalgic about old-time Colt pricing. It is only inflation that makes old-time pricing look attractive. When one compares old-time Colt pricing to old-time wages, old-time Colt pricing was never a bargain.

In the early 1970s, a PPS may have cost around $90. In those years, I made minimum wage, $1.65/hour (gross), or take-home of around $1.10/hour - or about 82 hours of work to buy a PPS. Now, a high condition PPS can be had for around $500+/-, federal minimum wage is $7.25 or around $6/hour take-home, for a total of 83 hours needed to purchase the PPS.

The costs of Colts related to the cost of labor has remained pretty much constant over the history of Colt firearms.

IIRC, in the mid-1970s, a Colt Trooper .357 mag. revolver cost around $139.99, while a Ruger Security Six .357 mag. revolver cost about $99.99. Today, I wish I had bought the Colt, but at the time I did not have the additional $40, so I bought the Ruger. Back then, the $40 difference was a big deal; not so much today. The Ruger has done everything that I asked it to do, so in hindsight, the Ruger was the right choice.
Damn inflation. My little retirement fund while probably get me a six pack Pearl light when I retire.
I used to have all the Gun Digest yearlies going back from 1962-1975, including the 1971, 25th Anniversary Edition. I only kept that and a 1975 and a 1966 editions because they had articles or pictures I wanted to keep. You can't keep everything. It's tough to see the old prices, but it's even tougher when you look at how many makes and models of all types of firearms there were. Lots of really fine guns are no longer available, even though we have some new ones to take their place. Too bad so many are plastic, or cheap to manufacture, rather than works of art. Kind of like cars. The American classics of the 30's, gave way to the Sports cars of the 50's, which gave way to lots of vanilla boxes.

Jim.
Relative to the same quality guns (Pythons, SAA's, etc.) my estimate is that $1000 today will buy you what $100 would have bought you in about 1970 which was when the dollar was backed by gold and/or silver. We may even be a bit worse off than that.
Things like electronics and other items that are made in China are much more affordable today as compared to 1970.
I was buying guns in 1970. I could usually go to a gun show with $100 in my pocket and come home with a good
used Python or a SAA. Today a used SAA (3rd Gen) would be a bargain at $1000.
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