Gun stuff you rarely/never see any more?

[kenboy]

Locking gun cabinet in the house with glass panel doors

 

[CountryGent]

A few come to mind:

• It is getting harder to find blued steel/wood stock guns, but I still find them.
• Ditto leather slings and holsters.
• Basket weave and oak leaf patterns on rifle stocks.
• I haven't seen revolver moon clips in a store in like 20 years, though they are available online.
• The last time someone referenced bowling pin shooting at a LGS in my presence was around Bush the Elders time in office.
• I vaguely recall Mauser C96s being reasonably priced. (My father has always had a fascination with them.) Now even very ratty specimens go for a pretty penny.
• The 10-gauge being somewhat mainstream, rather than a niche item.
• Sub-$1,000 transferable Mac-10s used to be a thing I vaguely recall seeing being referenced, at least in print.
• Parts kits a plenty is a thing of the past.
• Milsurps that are decent and/or I remotely care about hasn't been a thing for a while.
• Those crappy wood gun racks that used to be in bedrooms, dens, etc., including mine for a while, I haven't seen in a bit.
• Full-sized .32-caliber revolvers. (The only full-sized .32 Long revolver I'm aware of they still make is the Alfa Proj out of the Czech Republic.)

And probably a bunch more I'm forgetting.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Military Surplus

Canvas, ww1-vietnam era surplus, right? Not the "newfangled" ALICE-MOLLE surplus, which is being offloaded by the truckloads from the recent drawdowns of the various ME/SW Asia wars? Because I still see pallets of MOLLE and some ALICE equipment being dumped onto the used markets. As well as desert cammies, acus, multicam cammies. Some shops got another palletload of desert night camo parkas recently. Soo surplus gear is still out there..just not the same type

 

[po18guy]

Mosin's in the Big 5 sporting goods ad as a kid for $79 with bayonet and pouches.

No kidding!
Got a 1955 Romanian M44 for $59. 10, maybe $20 more for the commercial blue (how odd is that?) 1946 Russian M44. Back in about '89 or '90, I bought a Finn M 28/30 for $79 IIRC.

Not any more...

 

[RVTECH]

Gunslick is still around.

 

[Member 34319]

Canvas, ww1-vietnam era surplus, right? Not the "newfangled" ALICE-MOLLE surplus, which is being offloaded by the truckloads from the recent drawdowns of the various ME/SW Asia wars? Because I still see pallets of MOLLE and some ALICE equipment being dumped onto the used markets. As well as desert cammies, acus, multicam cammies. Some shops got another palletload of desert night camo parkas recently. Soo surplus gear is still out there..just not the same type

Just real stuff.

I feel like Chinese crap hit the market as military surplus, and real stuff is rare and not surplus like it once was. IE available for good prices. Real surplus now is just as expensive as civilian market goods.

There was a shop back in Reno that always had cool surplus stuff. Military jackets and clothing from various countries, to bivie kits, mess kits, all sorts of stuff from actual militaries in all sorts of conditions for great prices. I got two US surplus goretex bivy kits for $20 a set. Years down the road, they started selling mostly Chinese crap, and the limited surplus stuff they got wasn't the greatest price.

 

[RVTECH]

Ka-Ram-Ba scope covers.

They were great!

 

[CountryGent]

In honor of this thread (or more accurately I'm killing time until dinner is done):

 

[Knute]

Packs of BBs and those little boxes of 22 LR and 22 short ammo right on the hardware store checkout counters.

Surplus store with boxes and barrels full of old ammo, gun parts and used up rifles and shotguns.

Old guys at the LGS counter that had chairs and stools next to the counters for customers to sit on so the fat could be chewed properly, and in a no rush kind of way.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Just real stuff.

I feel like Chinese crap hit the market as military surplus, and real stuff is rare and not surplus like it once was. IE available for good prices. Real surplus now is just as expensive as civilian market goods.

There was a shop back in Reno that always had cool surplus stuff. Military jackets and clothing from various countries, to bivie kits, mess kits, all sorts of stuff from actual militaries in all sorts of conditions for great prices. I got two US surplus goretex bivy kits for $20 a set. Years down the road, they started selling mostly Chinese crap, and the limited surplus stuff they got wasn't the greatest price.

The chinese/foreign made knockoff stuff hit surplus shops as far back as the 1970s, specifically Charley's Surplus It became prevalent in the 90s and basically took over some stores in the 2000s, concurrent with the rise of airsoft and paintball . There had always been Rothco and Fox Outdoors knockoff gear since the 1980s to the best of my knowledge. Best surplus locations seemed to be around the large military bases, or within 20 miles of USAF/Govt supply /auction warehouses/USN ports. Eugene's Action Surplus is mostly legit stuff with some european surplus and lots of used mil clothing. Andy&Bax is mostly cheap chinese crap with some mil clothing. Aloha Surplus is in between, but prices are stupid on some stuff ($45+ for a 90s LBV?) Alley Cat Surplus in Boring is more vehicle/large item oriented but does have piles of specific gear like sleeping bags and poncho liners, at least last I was there early this year.

 

[CamoDeafie]

You know what I miss? Gun and pawn shops that had legit, actual surplus items including totes full of old slings and holsters, not a rack or two full of Condor and AR500 gear

 

[Member 34319]

Gun shows.

I'll reiterate.

GOOD gun shows.

Reno had The Big Show every year at the Hilton/MGM/GSR depending on the decade, the casino name changed a lot. I grew up going to that show with my dad.

Haven't been to a gun show in years. Last one here in OR was horrible.

 

[User 1234]

Ammo.

 

[CountryGent]

@Reno. Agreed, completely on gun shows. I gave up on them over a decade ago. My wife attended at least one more after I did, then stopped bothering too.

 

[CamoDeafie]

@Reno. Agreed, completely on gun shows. I gave up on them over a decade ago. My wife attended at least one more after I did, then stopped bothering too.

ARPC's shows were great until Covid

 

[Member 34319]

Ammo.

I definitely miss seeing $2.99 boxes of 7.62x39.

 

[RVTECH]

Agreed, completely on gun shows.

Ditto this.

I attended Redmond, OR fairground shows up until a couple years ago and they were already stale.

They Used to be really good shows.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Oh oh oh. Flea markets with guns for sale. Reduced when Oregon defined "gun shows" as any non retail marketplaces with more than 25 guns for sale..why OFF didnt sue Portlands PBB for having a "gun show" at buybacks, i'll never know . Ended when SB941 came into effect.

 

[Member 34319]

You don't see many honest gun reviews anymore. Nothing but paid shills these days.

 

[TTSX]

You don't see many honest gun reviews anymore. Nothing but paid shills these days.

Noticed that a lot, too. Even hot garbage gets rave reviews now. Just yesterday I was looking up reviews on Magpul's pocket knife to see why it cost $400 an all I got was "limited edition" and "buy it" yeah but.... What am I getting for $400?