Yesterday's gun and ammo prices in today's dollars

[Jim K]

In a 1903 catalog, 9mm Luger ammo (presumably imported) sold for $2.50 per 100. At a 40::1 conversion to today's dollars, that is $100. I have seen similar high prices for ammo in other old catalogs, but can't lay my hands on them right now. IIRC, prices equivalent to $40-60 a box of 50 were common for center fire revolver cartridges.

Hi, DaveHH,

I was giving the modern equivalents. The actual pay for a a cowboy or a soldier was $.50 a day, but they got "room and board"*. A laborer got $1 a day, a skilled worker $2. My grandfather and great uncle were stonemasons; in 1900, a master mason got $2.50 a day, a journeyman $1.50-2.00.

An odd variation from our common belief is that few cowboys carried guns; an SAA cost over a month's pay and many ranches banned handguns. Rifles and shotguns were "issued" as needed.

*The term "board" has come to mean renting a room, but at the time it meant the room and two meals a day - the "board" was the dining room table. Of course, cowboys and soldiers often didn't really have a "room", being in a barracks or bunkhouse, a tent, or just a bedroll.

Jim

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.

[smle-man]

I wonder when recreational shooting on a regular basis became acheivable for the common man? I dare say that firearms and ammunition are much more affordable for us these days which is why we have multiple quantities of firearms today. In decades past someone would have one, two, or three firearms. Now it is not unusual for even a casual shooter to have half a dozen and a collector approaching 100. At what point does the firearm market become completely saturated?