Editor’s Note: This article, originally published in 2016, has garnered substantial reader interest. Thus, we’ve updated it with 2024 prices adjusted for inflation. Enjoy!
The vintage ad from 1958 in Guns Magazine showcases surplus rifles at prices that seem astonishingly low by today’s standards. Let’s break down these prices adjusted for 2024 and explore the practicality and allure of these historical firearms.
One dollar in 1958 would be worth about $10.87 today in constant dollars. Let’s see how the 1958 prices look in 2024 dollars when adjusted for inflation. This conversion reflects the cumulative price increase of about 986.74% over 66 years, based on an average annual inflation rate of 3.68% .
The total price listed for the four rifles is $41.76. If you bought all four at once, they would cost $27.84. The equivalent in 2024 is $302.62.
These rifles were affordable for a reason; they were often in poor condition. Descriptions from Group A included:
- “All guns practically complete”
- “You can see light through the bore”
- “Worn, but serviceable”
- “Fantastically inaccurate”
You can understand that rifle buyers of the time were less than impressed. I recall two things when thinking about buying such a rifle during that era. First, putting a scope on these “treasures” would have cost more than the rifle, and second, finding sporting ammunition would be difficult.
The rifles were shipped COD, Railroad Express, which, in much of the country, could increase the cost by 50% or more.
In 1958, the best lever-action rifle of the time, the Savage 99, was going for $113. A new Model 94 Winchester cost $80. As late as 1965, you could buy excellent-condition Model 03A3 surplus rifles for $29.95. That was “your pick” from a barrel at the hardware store. They had much nicer peep sights, with lots of after-market stocks available. They were chambered in .30-06. I still have one that was sporterized.
The total cost of four rifles in group B, purchased separately, was $48.80. If you bought all four at once, the price was $32.50.
That would be $530.46. in 2024. Here are some excerpts from Group B above: “complete in every detail and fully functional,” tempered by “horrible condition,” “complete firing condition,” and “magnificently fair condition.”
The Mosin Nagant was selling for $9.95 in 1958, in only “fair” condition. According to the calculator, that translates to $108.16 in 2024. Mosin Nagants are fun rifles and are generally accurate. Most people can remember the last big imports of Mosin Nagants.
Live Inventory Price Checker
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Mosin-Nagant Rifles Assembly And Disassembly Guide - Assembly And Disassembly Guide For The Mosin-Nagant Rifles | Brownells.com | $ 6.99 |
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Advanced Technology MOI0300 Monte Carlo Stock Black Synthetic Mosin Nagant Rifle | BattleHawk Armory | $ 105.98 $ 70.59 |
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CHIPMUNK SCOPE BASE FOR MINI MOSIN NAGANT RIFLE | BattleHawk Armory | $ 37.99 $ 25.18 |
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Archangel Mosin-Nagant OpforA(R) Precision Rifle Stocks - Stock W/ 10rd Magazine Polymer Desert Tan | Brownells.com | $ 218.09 |
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I have seen a smattering of surplus rifles out in the woods. They tend to be used for a few years until the owner can afford something better. A next-door neighbor took a big buck a quarter mile from my brother’s house. He used a Mosin Nagant.
I have bought and sold many rifles over the years, and I have enjoyed them immensely. Rifles are a cheaper hobby than automobiles, scuba diving, or skiing. Gun values tend to keep up with inflation. They are a store of value but not a great investment.
If you are considering them as an investment, an index fund on the stock market does better, does not take up storage space, and is not as subject to theft. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was about 580 at the end of 1958. It hit 19,000 in 2016, a 32X increase.
As with most collectibles, the best reason to buy old guns is the enjoyment you get from them, seeing how they work, shooting them, and thinking of the history involved.
About Dean Weingarten;
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
One thing should be said about the above gun ad. In 1958 we could buy guns through the mail without background checks or 4473 forms or stupid FOID cards, yet crime was low. We lost the ability to buy through the mail with the 1968 GCA. That is for Those of us old enough to remember when our country was freer than it is today. Back then if you wanted to start a business all you had to do is hang a shingle. Today you have to jump through hoops of regulation just to start a samll business or improve… Read more »
@Bill, I concur, and moreover Trump and Co, and the Republican majorities in both houses of Congress owe us big time. Now, is the time to push for repeal of the National Firearms Act (NFA) and the Gun Control Act (GCA) neither of which have ever prevented or solved a crime. Both Congressional acts are just a burden on the law abiding! No Second Amendment, No Second Term!
I remember being able to walk into the local hardware store in MARYLAND, pay cash and walk out with a 357 derringer and a Remington shotgun! Yeah, I am that old and at one time Maryland actually was the “Free State”!
Shooting a 03 sporterized by my Grandad. It will be a hundred years old in 3 years. Last week shot a .38″ group with 212 Eld X’s. Ready for elk season.
I bought one of the .43/11mm rolling blocks at the Ye old Hunter store in Alexandria Va. for $13.00. It was packed in cosmoline. I tore it down and refinished the rifle to like new Condition. Ammo was $1.00 for twenty round with old primer, $2.00 reprimed. Today they cost $4.00 for one round.
It shot a 12 point buck with it in 1964 and still have the rifle.
The only mistake I made was not buying all the ammo they had.
Being a dyed in the wool gun crank of many eras it used to bother me to no end when my Father in law would tell me about $10 Mauser 98 rifles . And it still bothers me …. CRAP in fact is all I can say, because I’d about kill to be able to travel back in time to by a few dozen Krags and Springfields. Egyptian .43 caliber rolling blocks are now around $700 from what I last saw… Yeah I’d take a few of them too I reckon . Drat, I missed that boat …
And yesterday, 12 July 2024 the Dow closed at 40,000. Just think how cheap M-16s would be if all the pre-’85s were surplussed. I’m assuming the government hasn’t yet chopped them all up.
I’m not sure about pre 85s. I retired from the Army in 1982 and I do remember having to qualify by just letting the handguards lay on my right hand. If I had tried to hold the handguard I missed. There was about a quarter inch of turn between the upper and lower. A lot of them were totally ragged out. I think a lot of them came back from the ‘Nam before the pullout or the First and Twenty-fifth Divisions brought their rifles back when they returned. But then too, an upper only costs $80 to $500 although I… Read more »
Lefty @Bob, the lower receiver is the gold since you cannot legally build a new ’16 without being a manufacturer. Unless you’re a purist the other bits and bobs don’t matter for a whole lot. The only possible lower wear I was expecting might be from moving the takedown pins and the selector. I don’t know it’s history but Ser. No. 3175961 was in serviceable condition in 1974 (ROTC summer camp, I’m not a vet) except for a bent front sight post. The DI’s let you take 3 shots at a close up sight-in target, made some adjustments and sent… Read more »
In 1958 I ordered the .43 Remington Rolling block for $5.58. I still have it today. It did come with a bayonet. It was for my 13th birthday.
This ad and the comments make me long for “the good old days”.
In the late 60’s my brother in law got his first rifle, a surplus M1 Carbine. My late father in law paid $12.00 for it.
God how I remember those days. You could buy guns in many stores. I was living in S. Calif. In Pasadena there was the Golden State gun Co. they had a barrel of Winchesters M-92 dirt cheep. I don’t remember the price.
In 1961 I bought and British Enfield 303 at a department store opening for only $9.00 Pick which one you want out of the bin. (I STILL have it). It is in excellent condition and an accurate shooter. At the time I could also buy 303 Mil Surplus ammo for 4 or 5 CENTS a round.
The good days are truly gone.
In the late ’50’s – ’57, I think, I bought a .303 Enfield #1 Mk 3 through the mail for about $13,00. Pretty messy – wrapped in a waxed paper and swaddled in Cosmoline that was pretty stiff and hard to clean off. My mother went nuts when she saw it, convinced that I’d kill somebody. My dad died in ’55 when I was 10, and she’d already disposed of his 1911 by giving it to my uncle, and wasn’t about to let me indulge my gun interests while she was at work. I was fascinated by taking things apart… Read more »
My Grandpa got an Underwood M1 carbine in 1964? through some kinda DCM/NRA deal, (iirc) deelivered to his house by USPS for $19.95.
Never read one of these, but subscribed to shotgun news and they had some good deals on ammo and guns too.
Dean, according to this website you’re a little low on your up-to-date value of the dollar. https://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=100&year=1964. One of you is right.