1946 Advertisement Sporterize your Enfield

[Hank Stone]

And many where cannibalised!

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[John Sukey (Deceased)]

I can remember buying a No1Mk3 for $9.95 and a No4 for 11.95. 03Springfields were expensive, $40

[bradtx]

Hank, Thanks for the blast from the past. I would think a Johnson conversion would be well done, at least.

John, I remember from the early 60s there were trash cans with mil-surp bolt actions placed muzzle down offered cheaply at the sporting goods/army-navy store we frequented. L-Es, '03s, Mausers and 'them Russian rifles' all sweating cosmoline. Yeah, good times.

Brad

[John Sukey (Deceased)]

And barrels of Lee Enfield P07 bayonets, your choice for a buck each!

There was a Military Surplus store in Chicago that gave a german helmet as a premiumn if you bought a certain amount of merchandise.

"Too soon ve gets old und too late ve gets schmart"

[Hank Stone]

When home on leave in 63 or 64 I bought a Mk5 carbine,from a ARMY-NAVY store between 9th and 10th avenue and 42nd street,in Manhattan NY,NY,I think the name was Hector's A&N store.

I road the subway and El back home to the Bronx NY,with the carbine in full sight,nobody even looked concerned.

She had like a rubber based paint on the steel,I thought OH Boy a rust bucket,but the bluing when removing the paint was about 80% good,and the bore was fine,a little dark with no rust.

When I bought my house in 68 I took the Mk5 UP State NY with me,and promptly sold it,the Mk5 couldn't hit a pizza box at at 100yds.

[bradtx]

I forgot about the bayonets, John! Which for some reason caused me to remember that not even KOOL AID could stem the aluminum taste from the canteens. Modern army-navy stores seem to lack the proper smell, also.

Hank, That goes hand-in-hand with one of my favorite storys as a kid. Nobody thought a thing about a group of us riding our bicycles, .22s held by our thumbs on the handlebars on our way to the city dump to shoot rats. I still have that Sears lever action .22 I begged for in '61.

Brad

[Hank Stone]

I forgot about the bayonets, John! Which for some reason caused me to remember that not even KOOL AID could stem the aluminum taste from the canteens. Modern army-navy stores seem to lack the proper smell, also.

Hank, That goes hand-in-hand with one of my favorite storys as a kid. Nobody thought a thing about a group of us riding our bicycles, .22s held by our thumbs on the handlebars on our way to the city dump to shoot rats. I still have that Sears lever action .22 I begged for in '61.

Brad

OH yes rat hunting,we had a dump by the White Stone Bridge in the Bronx NY.We would pull in at night turn the headlights off for a time,then turn them on,wall to wall rats,open fire.Kids cant have fun like that any longer,it's agents the laws now.

[smle-man]

That would cost $543 in today's bucks! That sure seems expensive. The rifle itself cost $84 in 2009 dollars. Hunters and shooters must've been desparate for sporters right after the war.

[kcw]

That would cost $543 in today's bucks! That sure seems expensive. The rifle itself cost $84 in 2009 dollars. Hunters and shooters must've been desparate for sporters right after the war.

The "fair trade" laws of the time, under which the manufacturers dictated the retail prices of commercial items, made new guns very expensive. Moreover the conversion from military to civilian production took some time. Ammo was still rationed well into the 1946, early 47. Add to that the HUGE demand for anything that shot by returning veterans who'd developed a love of shooting during their service..
SMLE's seemed to be a popular surplus choice in my neck of the woods. I'm guessing that the Brits dumped them in huge quantity right after the war. They were the cheapest thing on the rack at the "Outdoor Store" on Main Street. Various U.S weapons showed up some time later but were always much more expensive.
As a kid I recall the "gun corner" of that store being greasy,dark and smelly, just like the guns on the rack. Loose rounds from torn cardboard boxes cluttered the floor. The lady shop keeper just swept them into the corner. I recall a sign that ammo was 5 to 8 cents a round depending on caliber. Everything dried up quickly after the 1968 ban on surplus importation.

[me2]

Makes ya wonder how many of those Johnson conversions are lurking in closets and attics across the country. Yes, I remember the "good ole days"! Winnicks Army Navy in Elmira NY. Got my #5 there in 1960. A year earlier my dad got his #1 MkV at Ackley & Son in Westfield Pa. followed by a P-14. I cant accurately remember the prices but they were definately cheap.