Quote:
Originally Posted by adm
I couldn't tell you what the cost would be for CMP weapons, Dad bought the one I have now in the early 1960's before I was born. As to the age for being able to buy rifles, that would be under control of State laws. I don't know what Maine's would be, although I would be surprised at a twelve year old living in a rural area not being able to buy a single shot .22LR in the 1950's anywhere in the U.S.
|
Oh, I assumed the .22 LR was a boyhood companion for most of the NPCs in the adventure. Clayborn Allen got a single-shot Stevens passed down to him at age ten and bought his own bolt-action Winchester 52 .22 LR rifle at age 14. Law aside, everything I've read suggests that before 1968, you could buy .22s by mail order through ads in almost any magazine aimed at boys.
I was merely wondering at what age Clayborn got his own deer rifle. For his first hunting trip, he could have used a spare rifle owned by his father, but Clayborn and old Dick Allen were not warm and affectionate as father and son. As soon as possible, Clayborn would have liked to get a rifle of his own and gone hunting with his own circle of friends (some of whom were older than him by 2-3 years).
The Allens were the richest family in Allagash-Dickey in the 40s and early 50s, but at that time, it merely amounted to a middle-class standard of living in a very working class rural area, where actually starving was a real possibility for the potato farmers in bad years. They didn't begin to get 1-percenter rich until Clayborn took over his father's business in the 60s.
Edit: From the 1930s onward*, you could get a DCM/CMP version of the M1892/M1896/M1898 Krag in .30-40 Krag, modified for the NRA for sporting use (including a handy 25" barrel length), for GURPS $70 to $280, depending on exact model, year of sale and availability. Even in the 50s, I think that a Krag in fine condition could be gotten at those prices or maybe even lower.
The Enfield M1917 in .30-06 was available at GURPS $100+ from the 1920s. Before collectors started influencing the price, it seems that the Enfield was always slightly pricier than the Krags. I'm pretty sure that the price from the CDM/CMP didn't rise all that much, even after WWII, as the government never did manage to sell off all their stock. If anything, the Enfield should
drop in price steadily after WWI.
The Springfield M1903 was always a lot more popular than the Enfield among American shooters and it wasn't retired from US service until after WWII, so while it was
possible to luck into a surplus WWI model in the 1920s for GURPS $70+, a more realistic price would be higher, up to the ca $450 that a CMP Springfield cost back when you could still get it in the modern age.
For a game set in the 50s, I'd call the real GURPS price of a used Krag $70, an Enfield M1917 $100 and a Springfield M1903 $150. The M1 Carbine would be around $200, with a lot of fluctations in the price, with Malf. 14-16 examples often going very cheap. The M1 Garand wouldn't be available until 1959 and then only at full list price from
High-Tech. The price went down quickly in the 1960s for the Garand, bringing it down to ca GURPS $280 to $300, which fits the rule for half-price for recent military surplus rule in
GURPS High-Tech Pulp Guns 2.
For my game, set in the 1980s, the Krags are pretty scarce compared to the 50s, but if not mint condition and with matching parts, aren't worth all that much to collectors. Same for the Enfield M1917 and the Springfield M1903, really. I'd call the same prices for the older pieces fair, but note that this buys a lot more used guns now for the older service weapons, with a well-maintained piece going for $130 (Krag) / $160 (Enfield) / $240 (Springfield) / $320 (Garand).**
The M1 Carbine cost GURPS $600 new in the 80s from a commercial manufacturer, but a Malf. 16 weapon made out of WWII-era parts would still be available for under $200, with heavily used or badly made Malf. 14-15 weapons going for a song. I suppose that prices between those extremes might be fair for an M1 Carbine in good working order.
Mind you, prices below GURPS $300+ aren't buying as-new good-looking rifles many decades after those rifles were made surplus, they are buying functional used weapons from someone who took care to keep it working, but will probably have used 'incorrect' parts to replace damaged ones over the years, or at least damaged the weapon through hard use enough to make it cosmetically unappealing to collectors. If available 'new' from the CMP in the 80s, those Krags, Enfields and Springfields will probably be at 50% or so of their GURPS book value, i.e. $325/$400/$450 and the Garand will fetch the listed GURPS price of $510.
*Before that, the price was GURPS $30+ for an unmodified military Krag, especially if bought before WWI.
**Beginning in the mid-80s, lend-lease or military assistance weapons sent to allies in WWII and Korea to finally be re-imported to the US, which gave the CMP access to a lot of mint Springfields and Garands (the Brits didn't like them and seldom fired them).
Quote:
Originally Posted by adm
In Missouri;
I was born the last year you did not need to take a Hunter's Safety Course to get a Hunting License (1966). I graduated High School in 1984, students who were over sixteen could get Driver's Licenses, during Deer and Turkey Seasons students would have rifles or shotguns in their cars where they had hunted before or after school (with the windows down and the cars unlocked). Until the Clinton era gun laws of the 1990's, I don't remember any significant difficulties for anyone old enough to drive being able to buy rifles, shotguns, or pistols. I bought .22LR at Wal-Mart when I was thirteen, but I did not try to buy firearms.
|
Mandatory safety courses for hunters date back to 1976 in Maine.