I went to Atlanta show in late 60s and Bruce had a pair of consecutive numbered VHE 20 gauge skeet guns and two Fox XE 20s one had sst! Bobby

It was a sad day when Ohio Gun Collectors was thrown out of Columbus. Those of us who thrived on authentic German food missed the Columbus German restaurants. I got my taste for John Oberlies rifles at the old Columbus shows. Oberlies built the best rifles in the country in the 30s through the 50s. Too bad John Amber somehow never got wind of him. Through my Columbus contacts, I added fourteen Oberlies rifles to my collection.

Absolutely Bill. Great gun shows and good accommodations. Too bad the restaurant and motel owners didn't protest losing the gun show every 2 months. City politicians doing what they do best. I gotta be careful and not get political.

They moved to Cleveland and eventually Cleveland got it shut down but lost the lawsuit against the closure.

Sure would be nice if the OGCA moved back closer to upstate NY.

The OGCA still do great shows in Wilmington. You should try to make a few. I try to set up for 3 or 4 a year. Very knowledgeable dealers and attendees and lots of good guns. Not as big as Columbus was but still worth a trip.

The OGCA still do great shows in Wilmington. You should try to make a few. I try to set up for 3 or 4 a year. Very knowledgeable dealers and attendees and lots of good guns. Not as big as Columbus was but still worth a trip.

We actually were never thrown out of Columbus but left on our own because of the handgun ordinance in the city of Columbus. It cost the restaurants and hotels a vast amount of money as this was a well attended event with people coming from all over the country. The ordinance also cost the city a NRA convention that would also have brought in a large amount of revenue. Wilmington is a nice show but its nothing even close to what the Columbus show was. Also- your not the only one who misses the food in German village. Schmidts Sausage Hous was one of my favorite restaurants. It was also home to the original Max and Ermas. Those giant hamburgers with a side of onion rings and a big mug of Draft beer was a treat for me.

The DGJ also had an option to get your copy early. In addition Orvis mailed a listing of the guns the had for sale. They both had guns you would never see in Idaho.

I remember snagging a couple of deals off of the DGJ ads. You have to be quick and decisive, because often, when you're mumbling and murmuring about the price, another buyer is doing the same thing.

Since there were no photos on the old Shotgun News and Gun List, sellers had to write the description of the guns. This lead to some VERY creative writing. Having been on both sides of that I have to laugh at some of the things I read and wrote.

John, you wrote good descriptions "back then," and caused us to ride to Nashville to purchase three guns from you (before the internet). BTW, I still have those guns and have enjoyed them greatly for many years.

In Columbus, dinner at the Claremont Motor Lodge was always a treat. Waitress "Perry" would take orders from 6-7 rowdy gun guys with no paper - just mental - and never made a mistake. It was a show. She always got tipped very heavily

Best ad writer in Shotgun News was Tom Gibbons. "Never a screw turned."

There were some real characters in the business back then. I remember dealing with a gentleman from Connecticut who spoke very pompously. I would call him about a gun he advertised and he would answer "I shall ascend to the gunroom and find it". He would then describe the gun in very flowery over the top terms. I bought a couple from him just to see what the hell he was talking about. Great fellow but just weird. I can't remember his name.

Bill, I still have some of Tom's ads that I saved for reference, AND I bought some guns from Tom. I wish I'd known you back then for advice!:crying:

I vividly remember one of the first gun shows I ever attended and that was on March 24, 1968, up here south of Rochester NY at Vince's 50 Acres Party House.

Near the door where you came in was a Parker DHE in 28 gauge priced at $1350.00. Holy Crap, you can almost buy a new car for that much money.

I did buy at that show, a late style 12 gauge Fox AE grade, SN 33743, for $225.00. I got it from Henry Grillo who was from the Utica area, who I got to know very well over the years.

In September of that year, 1968, I bought an early style 12 gauge A grade Fox, SN 7983, from Glen Appleby from Galeton, PA for $175.00. I still have that gun and have put around 20,000 rounds thru it in the last 10 years, mostly with my low recoil 1/2 ounce 12 gauge loads.

I had that AE12, SN 33743, a long time. Traded it, plus another 15 guns or so plus some $$ to Bill Jaqua on August 4th, 1976 for an exceptional 16 gauge Fox.

Boy O Boy, I wish I could do some of that again.

No dealer today would trade one of his guns for fifteen other guns. They might trade fifteen of their guns for one of yours.

Bill, I once sent Steve Barnett 19 nice shotguns in an even trade for one.

That reminds me of a gun writer who once wrote something like:
"That guy put the screw in screwdriver"
I have used that since.

This thread should be THE GOOD OLD DAYS !

there used to be trade day in riply miss..in was held on the first Monday of each monthand still is...you could buy ammofor a penny each shoot you gun in a ditch right in front of the court house....try doing that today...yep good old days...could buy a 1866 Winchester from 25 to 35 dollars....never seen a parker there....charlie

I remember the ads in the back of the gun magazines back in the 60s where you could buy a German Luger or military surplus 1911 for 25-35 bucks.
I think "Extra Fine" condition cost you a couple extra bucks.

Okay, pursuant to this esrlier post of mine, here’s the ad mentioned above.


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Now there's a .410 I would buy!

And always ended some of the ads on the best Foxes with "WHAT A FOX''!

You could clearly hear this through the pages of the ad. These were the days when an imagination was vivid and well developed. Memories...

This is a great thread. I haven't read why it went from Shotgun News to The Gun List mentioned yet. Aaron, Shotgun News was a large format, like 12" x 16" newspaper style reader. And so was The Gun List. Shotgun News was totally random as to the ads; no organization at all. There were ads for guns shows and gun stores mixed in amongst all of the classified ads for guns. When you got the periodical it was a test in the accuracy of speed reading, you couldn't just turn to the "P"s for Parker. And then came a technological leap. This new classified gun newspaper, The Gun List, came out was organized alphabetically. What an innovation! Well, a lot of people immediately jumped to this new fangled "organized" classified paper so you could immediately find those Parkers and Winchesters. And Shotgun News just started to fade to the background and eventually went away. In those days knowledge was power and the "old" guys that had been trading guns all their lives had all the knowledge. You had to gain their confidence to start getting those grains of knowledge because there were very few books that had any useful information. Most of the books that really expanded the collecting interests were penned the the late 80s and 90s. Folklore and campfire stories was the source of great information in those days and you can imagine there was some BS floating around out there as well. Not intentional, but there was little basis of fact. The good old days indeed. :)

As a sidebar to address label in the picture of the Hunting & Fishing magazine cover I posted, Carroll Varney, 357 State St., Augusta, ME - I wonder if this is the same Varney family that started Varney's Sporting Clays just 10 miles to the south in Richmond, ME...?

The "New Hampshire Boys" and I have shot at Varney's a time or two.





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I remember in 1985 when I first got my FFL and Shotgun News was THE source. Guys would want to buy gun X, Y or Z for the cost listed in SN. They were not happy when I told them that was wholesale and if they wanted that price they had to get their own FFL.

I also remember as a kid going into Eagle Arms in Breinigsville, PA and seeing all the surplus rifles on the racks, hanging on peg boards or stuffed muzzle up in oak barrels. I vividly remember Italian Carcanos for $25 and beautiful Swedish Mausers with full-length tiger striped stocks for $30!! Eagle Arms is still at the same location but those prices are LONG GONE!!

While he was best known for the Parkers that passed through his shop, here is a great Fox ad from 1989 --

Attachment 103880

Unfortunately, I only got one out of this ad.

Two DE 20s in that ad and an XE!! Wonder where those are today?

Gun shows were a primary source of nice guns for me, before the internet. There seemed to be a show almost every weekend between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.
Gunlist was great in the beginning. The last few years I used Gunlist it seemed like I was always a day or two to late for the "bargains". I finally figured out that guys were getting them in overnight mail. By then the net was taking over.

I recall while hunting pheasants on an Illinois pubic access hunting area at least 40 years ago when our party broke for a cigarette (those were the days) when another party joined us. My day was made when one of them asked “Is that a Parker?” referring to my rebarreled 5-digit serial number Parker. I have never forgotten that guy because few knew about them back then.

I still have it.