Remembering the Older Days of Reloading/Shooting

I have had a few fords. I think a 1961, 1963, 1965,1966, 1970, 1972, 1977 and a 1979. Also owned Dodges and Chevys. The worst rig I owned was a Toyota 4 Runner followed by a Chevy S10 Blazer. Both were small and fuel mileage was crap on both. I can't say that I have a favorite brand. I work on them all, so I hate them equally.
Toyota paid me well for head gasket jobs on the 3.0 L & 3.4 L. I could turn a 12 hr ticket in 4.5 hrs, flat rate. And at another dealer I got $50.00 cash for each one I would do. Back when they had the big recall/ Those were the days.
 
I t you also had the experience to eat beef tongue sandwiches with butter & oni

But you also had the experience to eat beef tongue sandwiches with butter & onions. Yummy
When I can remember I cut out elk and deer tongue along with heart, liver, kidneys and sometimes the oysters . 😉
 
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So how many had a whoops early in reloading that set you straight from that point forward? Just asking for a friend.,,,,
Well when first getting into reloading I learned the hard way that you don't run the ram down all the way on 264 win mag and don't start with the max load in the book. Third round came out in two pieces, car head fell out was not easy getting the rest of the case out of the chamber. lol
Live and learn, glad I lived.
 
Gun prices then and now. Around mid 1980s I was at a turkey shoot and spotted a old man sitting beside the fire barrel with a nickel steel Winchester model 12. I though to myself I'm going to try to buy this old gun. I walked over and began to talk to him. After a bit I ask about selling the Winchester. He told me a story about it took him 40 and half days to earn enough money to buy the shot gun. Making one dollar per day at the saw mill. He also said the owner at the hardware store kept asking if he had enough money to pay when it come in. He told the store owner don't worry about the money just order the gun. Old man was 16 at the time of purchase. I ask if he made less money because he was only 16. He said no every body made the same money one dollar per day. WE think $40.50 was cheap,but think what it took in the day to get that Winchester.
 
While taking count of the remaining bricks of LR and LRM primers on my shelves, I began to pay extra attention to various price labels on some of my older supplies, and while we all know how much our sport has inflated in recent years, these old price tags brought back memories and a sting of the current state of things. The box of 215 magnum primers I bought several years back from the LGS in a clearance sale, and yes, I paid $3 for 1,000 (original was $7.99) and it is still full. I bought similar bricks of older primers in SP, SR and LR, and they were all like new and have worked without issue. However, I decided to save several of those to keep in my collection.

There were many, many more items with price stickers that today make me laugh, so I thought I would just post a few so the younger crowd can see how it used to be once.

Part 2: Added a few powders and 338 bullets. The $5 can is an unopened 1lb of WW 540 and the $7.95 is a can of W 452AA. The Sierra 338 bullets really made me laugh at $5.69. Was I ever that young?
I've got a Boc of CCI LRMP that were $1.50 .
While taking count of the remaining bricks of LR and LRM primers on my shelves, I began to pay extra attention to various price labels on some of my older supplies, and while we all know how much our sport has inflated in recent years, these old price tags brought back memories and a sting of the current state of things. The box of 215 magnum primers I bought several years back from the LGS in a clearance sale, and yes, I paid $3 for 1,000 (original was $7.99) and it is still full. I bought similar bricks of older primers in SP, SR and LR, and they were all like new and have worked without issue. However, I decided to save several of those to keep in my collection.

There were many, many more items with price stickers that today make me laugh, so I thought I would just post a few so the younger crowd can see how it used to be once.

Part 2: Added a few powders and 338 bullets. The $5 can is an unopened 1lb of WW 540 and the $7.95 is a can of W 452AA. The Sierra 338 bullets really made me laugh at $5.69. Was I ever that young?
I have a box of 1000 CCI LRMP that cost $1.50...So$1.50for a 1,000 primers was good ole days..Never to Return
 

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That's not too bad! In the early '90's when working a 7 on 7 off job, several times a year I would leave work and immediately drive straight through to BR, La. from South-West Wyo. in my high performance……1977 Honda Accord 😂. Often making the 1800+ miles under 30 hours! 🙀 I usually had to get 4 or 5 hours sleep once getting there!

Then do the same getting back to Wyoming. Round trip, 4 days visiting family, and back to Wyoming…..back to work without burning a vacation day! 😉 memtb
Were you a rough-neck on an oil rig?I did that many times when the mechanic work slowed down in the winters in Louisiana,the boss would tell me to go and make some real money and come back in April.
 
Gun prices then and now. Around mid 1980s I was at a turkey shoot and spotted a old man sitting beside the fire barrel with a nickel steel Winchester model 12. I though to myself I'm going to try to buy this old gun. I walked over and began to talk to him. After a bit I ask about selling the Winchester. He told me a story about it took him 40 and half days to earn enough money to buy the shot gun. Making one dollar per day at the saw mill. He also said the owner at the hardware store kept asking if he had enough money to pay when it come in. He told the store owner don't worry about the money just order the gun. Old man was 16 at the time of purchase. I ask if he made less money because he was only 16. He said no every body made the same money one dollar per day. WE think $40.50 was cheap,but think what it took in the day to get that Winchester.
Yeah now I can go buy a decent new gun on a weeks pay. lol
 
Walk in a gun shop back in the day, they'd nearly always have 5 to10 Winchester Model 12's on the rack on East side of the Mississippi river. Go in a shop out West and they had nice selection of Winchester lever guns. There was pretty good price difference from East to West on Deer rifle vs Duck guns' just had to find where they had an ample supply. That horse trading was mostly just Gas Money. Ya had to stop and stretch the legs and grab cup of coffee, at the local gunsmith shop.
 
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I used a lot of H870&H450 in my .264WinMag. I should've bought 50# of each. Hodgdon's Reloading Data Manual #19 2nd Edition, early '60's
View attachment 454488
That's how the Old Man Hodgdon, got his start, rail cars of WWII surplus powders. Many an old trapshooter or prairie dogR shooter, had a cardboard drum of powder, in the reloader room. Just like those laundry powder drums, last for years.
 
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Were you a rough-neck on an oil rig?I did that many times when the mechanic work slowed down in the winters in Louisiana,the boss would tell me to go and make some real money and come back in April.

No sir…..but, had a lot of relatives that did!

I got married at 16, saw friends and relatives chasing the "oil field" or construction, that were often drawing unemployment……I wanted a study job, though with less money!

By age 24 I had a job in a paper mill, as the years passed….I continued to work in industrial plants, from Exxon Chemicals to gas plants in Wyoming! memtb
 
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