Gun Prices Where You Are

Do not forget what is driving the prices.
The value of the dollar is a joke.
Next is the commi red flag followers.
Should mention all the "new / 1st time gun owners.

Howdy Garry..  Good to read you are still "hopping about".
I have missed the Lexington Show every time north.  Made it to Tulsa once in the fall. 

I agree with what you are saying about the components being super expensive or nonexistent. I also know that when push comes to shove a business sometimes must raise their price simply to stay in business. Some might say I’m sounding a little paranoid but this could also be part of a master plan to disarm our citizens. I would guess that only about 10% of gun owners reload their ammo. Note I said reload, gun owners that actually hand load are fewer still.
It is also more than a little scary that people are so terrified of not having firearms and the ammo for them they will go out and pay these obscene prices. Please do not misunderstand what I’m saying, a business must make a profit or it won’t be a business very long at all. Raising the prices on guns or ammo between 10-20% is fair during this nation restocking we will call it. Conversely raising the prices on these same products between 100-300% is just plain greed. I shared with Dan that several of the regular dealers you see at every gun show in this area have some guns that they have had on their tables for ten years or more! I do not understand how these dealers break even after table rental, gas or diesel for the trip, food and shelter for 2-3 nights. Just my two cents, your mileage may vary.

Todd, Amen Amen Amen!! I’m a gen X guy myself and you forgot to mention one of the most serious activities when we played outside, you had to build your own fort!🤣 I remember buying bricks of 500 22lr ammo for less than $10 back then. I grew up in the country and nobody got upset to see several 10-12 year old boys walking down the road with their 22 rifles or single shot shotguns! The worst thing that could possibly happen was if a neighbor thought he saw you being unsafe with a gun and if he did either he would jerk a knot in your tail or worse tell your father! Game over at that point!! I remember going to a place where people would dump stuff illegally, old cars, refrigerators, washers etc, lots of times we would stay at least half a day shooting field rats and the people and the snakes were happy we provided the service. It sure makes me sad that those days are long gone now and will never be back I’m afraid!!

Grasshopper mentioned the $10 a brick 22 ammo. I was a kid at the tail end of that era. I remember paying $9.99 at down under guns for CCI Blazer 22 ammo.

Down under guns went out of business but when they did they treated their good customers right. Kirk the son of the Woman that owned it pretty much gave things away to loyal customers because his mom was getting married to a fella that Kirk thought just wanted the store. He sold me everything in the store related to ammo loading and bullet casting for a token amount. That was a whole lot of stuff for very little money. He did the same with everything in the store for folks that had been regular loyal customers then closed the doors. He told me then he was off to law school to become a lawyer.

The guy your talking about from Artic Gun Works is Gary Junk a fitting name. I had him re-barrel a rolling block for me and he charged $450.00 and I supplied the barrel. I later found our that he didnt even do the work but sent it out because he couldnt cut the flat bottom threads used on original Rimington RB. I found out when I asked him a question about the barrel something that I specified but did not get. That is when he told me he didnt do the job because he couldnt answer the question. He sent it out for the work but then added his fee to the job. He simply lied to me when I asked him if he could cut Remington threads and he said he could do the job. I could have sent it out myself. Ticked me off when he wanted $450.00 to get my rifle back. I dont remember the year Down Under went out but it was shortly before we left Alaska which has been about ten years.

i remember $.69/50 cartridges of 22lr and $7 for 500 cartridges at the local Gee Bee and K Mart stores. i think that $5 or $6/25 high brass shells for 12, 16, 20 gauge and $4 or $5 for low brass. $8 for 30-30/20 cartridges and $10 for the '06.

when the 30-30 and '06 went to $10 and $12, i decided to handload. that was the best investment EVER!!! although the Lyman turret press is now retired and it is replaced by a Lee Classic Cast Press. i have a Hornady Auto Charge Powder Dispenser (old one) that has replaced two of Lyman Beam Balance Scales.

even tho i used and had them, i don't like any "plastic" guns. wood and blued steel, thank you. i'll even like a birch laminate, but where i draw the line is "plastic" guns. "plastic" has no place on a hunting rifle. "plastic" stocks,  "plastic" gun parts,  "plastic" magazines and whatever  "plastic"-else. i know the gun manufacters' want to do gun building cheaply, but if you do it cheap, you get a piece of crap.   

back in the mid '90s, i had a chance to buy a Savage m99 in 250 Savage. it had a brass counter spool and a tang sight (rear sight too). best of all, its action was bereft of a scope and mount. whoever had it, the rifle was meticulously clean of scratches and dents, but it was used well. unfortunatly, we couldn't agree on a price and with a heavy heart, i left it there. i should have came up with $200 more , but i didn't have the money.

i sold a bunch of guns to cover my divorce lawyer, but i shouldn't have sold the Ruger SRH (7.5" stainless barrel) in 44 mag. that has to be my most accurate handgun, bar none. 3/4" at 100 yards (bench/5 shots) was my best. normally it would go 1 1/2 - 2" groups at 100 yards, with a 1 1/4" group whenever the shooting gods smiled upon me. it liked to digest 200gr and 240gr Hornady XTPs with a hot charge of Win296 (something that i will NEVER do again!!!!). i killed 6 or 7 deer with it, my longest shot was 120+/- yards on a big doe. i believe it was a 200gr XTP, but it could have been a 240gr. the others were 30ish yards and under. i did buy another exact Ruger SRH, but i couldn't match the accuracy. so i sold it and bought a Ruger SBH (4 5/8" blued barrel) in 44 mag and i still have it with 4 or 5 deer under my big gut. 

i have, or rather gave my son a Mossberg m500 with a double bead sight in 12ga. that and a load Remington Heavy Game load of #6 did many of birds and rabbits in. i'm glad i gave it to my son, i figure since i am one armed and can't use a pump..........my son can. and no, i will not sell my Remington m14 in 30 Remington. i'm taking that and my post '64 Win m94 in 35/30-30 with me when i die. 

Yeah Dan I knew his name was Gary Junk, he’s a retired helicopter pilot and to me he’s a gun parts changer, not a gunsmith. I just remember the first time I met him I was at an Anchorage show with you trying to help out and for some reason he got extremely upset you were selling loaded cartridges in obsolete calibers. I was proud of you for not losing your temper because he was acting like a total jerk, I’ll try to keep it PG13 but it still chaps my butt to this day the way he acted. I never once recommended anyone to use his services. Anyway I hate to hear down under went out of business but I’m really glad you were able to make the most of them closing shop.