As a youngster, growing up in the seventies, my Dad went to different stores to buy ammo, guns, etc. Those that come to mind in San Antonio were Western Auto and Oshman's Sporting Goods. What stores do you remember?

Texas Stores, liquor and guns...what a combo! The original #1 Academy on Broadway. Don's Gun Shop - what a crusty old bastard, but the best gunsmith I've ever witnessed.

I remember as a kid, every time the family went to the mall, I would peel off from the rest and would spend hours in Oshman's. Eyeballing fishing and hunting stuff. Occasionally, I would have saved up enough money to buy something.

Academy on Congress Ave Max Gochman used to stand on a coke case and survey his domain, Davis Hardware Congress Ave, Gulf Mart N Lamar, these place were in Austin in the 50s and 60s when Austin was small

I forgot about Gulf Mart; we had one of those in San Antonio.

My uncle Johnny hunted and hung out with these guys in Austin - >>>Petmecky gunsmiths

I forgot about Gibsons Discount and Oshman's in Capital Plaza

My 1979 Rem 788 came from Oshman's; we had a Gbison's about 4 blocks from the house. When we moved to Goldthwaite, Western Auto was a go-to for .22 shells (member when kids could buy them and it was no big deal?).

Brownwood had the Rain-Bo Drive in. Took a college buddy there once and his eyes got a little big. Once back in Lubbock, somebody asked him about the weekend, and his quote about the Rain-Bo was 'The only place I've ever been where I could get a case of beer, and box of 44s, and this month's issue of Shaved Cooter!'

Bought my first shotgun at the age of 15 at K-Mart. Would ride my bike there and spend a lot of time in the sporting goods area. That and the original Olsens bait and fishing place.

Mac's Gun Shop in Tyler. Good folks, still in business on the 4th generation. Bought/sold/traded a number of guns there over the years. An old school gun shop that hasn't changed much in the 60+ years I've been going there.

In the 50's growing up in Dallas, went to several stores with my dad. At the top of the list was Cullum & Boren downtown, the two in Oak Cliff were Ray's Hardware and Ketcham & Killum! My first gun came from Sears, a J.C. Higgins 20 gauge single shot.

Nearly every gun my pop purchased came from Sears and Roebucks or JC Penny's gun and hunting departments. In '79 my buddy and I purchased the last two Rem 1100's at our local JC Penny's as they were closing their gun departments.

The S&W 1000 I was hunting with yesterday I originally bought from Oshmans. My Marlin 22 I purchased at Target. And my first compound Bear Magnum Hunter from Gibsons.

TG&Y or Western Auto in San Antonio always had better deals on ammo. Joske's Hardware had guns and fishing stuff too.

Don and Ben’s liquor and guns.

Western Auto. My Dad took me down and bought my very first bass reel and rod in 1962. An engraved stainless steel Pfleuger level wind, on a True Temper steel rod. Think it was twenty eight dollars

Montgomery Wards at Windsor Park Mall also sold guns and fishing supplies (San Antonio location.)

Growing up in WVa, out in the boonies, near Blacksville there was a mini mart/gas station/grocery store, that sold ammo, hunting licenses, game check station, and you could get other things under the counter.

You city boys. I’ve said I wasn’t a country boy, but I surely was a semi-feral small town kid. I’d pick up returnable bottles or ask Grandma for 50 cents, which I think was the cost of a box of 22 shorts. I’d get the 22LR if I had the extra nickels. All this ammo shopping was done at a small store run by an old black guy, in where you’d call “across the tracks”. Probably that was around 1958 or so. Prices at Western Auto for 22 ammo were too expensive for a kid funded by returnable bottles and grandma.

Cullum and Boren (Downtown Dallas)
Oshman's, Forest Lane, then Near NorthPark.
Gun and Tackel (Preston & Forest)
Ray's
Bighorn Guns (Downtown Dallas, then Garland)
B&S Guns, Garland
Hunter Bradlee
Mcleland's
Ace Hardware (Richardson, TX)

When I was a kid I about wore out the Herter's catalog! Over those early years I ordered archery equipment, hunting clothes, fishing gear, lure materials, barrels, stocks, fly-tying stuff & much-much more! As a teen in SA I got into reloading. I hung out at a little place called "O.E. Dunlap". They had bullets, powder & shot & equipment. I use to help them unload trucks full of 25lb bags of shot. They usually gave me a couple of bag that had a minor tear for my labor.

Service merchandise has them as well

Glen Slade, gulf frwy, Houston. Carter's Country was about 10 miles from home. Western Auto, Whites Home/Auto, TG&Y, Target stores, Globe, WT Grant all sold guns and ammo.

Now that was the days! I was a kid in 1962 but remember going with my Dad and him getting a 1/2 gallon of bourbon and a Browning A5 12 gauge vent rib 32" barrel. Times were good!

Cogdills in Waco was a good stop on family visits. Gibsons was the go to for ammo or Western Auto. Burnham Brothers had a store in Marble Falls for years and was the coolest place. In the display window they kept rattlesnakes for viewing entertainment. Inside, you could find just about anything you needed or wanted for hunting or fishing.

My two old local favorites were Gafford Auto Parts and Nash Hardware. We also had a Western Auto and later a Gibsons.

growing up in a relatively small town in central TX, our local hardware store (Wither's) carried an assortment of guns and ammo, sold hunting/fishing license, various outdoor supplies. Dad would go there and buy our hunting/fishing license and a couple boxes of ammo, 20 & 12 gauge towards the end of August and then back early November for his rifles (30-06, 243 & 218 Bee). If we were getting low on ammo, there was usually a hardware store in whatever town was nearby, Buttery in Llano is one I recall. We finally got a Gibson's in the late 60s which forced Western Auto and White's Auto to up their game on hunting supplies including shotguns & rifles. On rare occasion, we would make the trip to Burnham Brothers in Marble Falls or McBride's in Austin but that wasn't very often.

I bought my first own shotgun, double barrel 20 ga, at Gibsons with money I had saved all summer from working in a fruit & snow cone stand when I was about 11 years old. I still have it.

I'm from Throckmorton and we really didn't have anything in town. However, the Gibsons in Graham had an outstanding hunting department and it was always fun to load up with a bunch of friends and go see what we could find. I found Deena Davis but that's another story. Anyway, I bought a cartridge belt there 45 years ago and still use it. I would say I got my money's worth.

This is where we went.

wow reading through this thread sure brought up some fond memories! I am trying to remember the names of the mom-n-pop gun shops my granddad frequented, there weren't many out in far west Texas so he did a lot of mail order. I remember seeing a lot of Golden State and Hunters Lodge catalogs and flyers ...ironically both out of California (of all places).

Some of the retail stores I remember visiting, that had a lot of firearms/reloading supplies etc were Montgomery Wards, Sears, JC Penny, Otasco, Coast To Coast, TG&Y Gibson's and Western Auto. Kmart didn't have a large selection but I remember that when Walmart first came to Texas they had an impressive selection of firearms and reloading supplies.

One of the most "colorful" characters that I remember that owned a gun shop, was a man named Tony Valentino at Tony's H&T in Longview TX. Not sure what the H&T stood for but EVERYONE got the best "brother in law" deal from Tony (according to him anyway) LOL

There was a C&S Hardware at Belt Line and Coit in Dallas that had a gun dept in the '70s. That's where my Father bought my first gun.
In the early '80s they closed down the gun dept and sold the guns at good prices but really discounted Ammo. I picked up a bunch of .30-30, .30-06, 7mm Rem Mag and .22 lr.

Gibsons and Kmart prob had the best ammo prices round me. When Western Auto was closing I had a friend that worked at the warehouse in Temple. Gave them some large discounts I was able to by several shotguns cheap.

I bought a model 70 and an 1100 at Nix gun store in Lewisville in 1968.They had a great selection and very good prices. A buddy of mine bought a Johnny Stewart game caller that played a vinyl 45rpm record. I think the Johnny Stewart store was down by Waco if I recall correctly.

Most of the old ones are covered here, Gibsons, Montgomery Wards, Joskey's Dept. store, Oshmans, Western Auto, Sears, JC Penney. Here's one I haven't seen, Best's dept. store, Corpus had one off northside of SPID and Everhart. , right next to the Skaggs grocery store replaced by Albertsons.

Noble Firearms in Ft Worth was the first true gun store I remember visiting in the 70’s.

I bought a S&W 12 ga. Pump and a Remington 700 .270 from Furr’s grocery store in Espanola, NM I early 80’s.

Not long ago I ran across an old box of Federal Hi-Power 30-06 with a Best price tag on it. My first thought was "wow I don't remember them selling ammo!" Probably because when we lived in CC in the late 60's, I was more interested in their toy section lol

That's right, they had an incredible toy section including some of the best remote controlled cars, planes, helicopters and boats at the time. Lots of kids had their parents take them there to XMas shop toys...Great memory....

And there is still a Gibson's in Weatherford that has a great hunting section. Found some Browning apparel there I could not find anywhere else.

Cool old typical Gibson's. If you're in DFW and have not been, you need to go.

Remember another one, Woolworth dept store, also was it White's auto or hardware that sold guns?

Abilene had Mackeys sporting goods and Bible hardware.I bought a Ted Williams JC Higgins 270 at Sears in 1963, still have it, Husqvarna action and wouldn't take any thing for it.

Plan to stop in at Gibson's in Weatherford on Saturday on our way to Mineral Wells. Definitely a reminder of times gone by. I well remember Tony's in Longview. He was a character for sure.

Loggins and Lilly's in Devine, their motto was "Everything from a Rat Skin to a Ranch". I purchased my first single shot Stevens rifle there in about 1966.
Adios,
Gary

Looks like the one in Lewisville. Anybody remember the worm bar?

Boy "Nix" brings back a lot of memories. Talk about a gun store where everyone had years of knowledge.

There's still a Gibson's in Kerrville too.

As a kid, most rural gas stations had 22lr and 12 ga ammo.

I remember Mackey's, cool it is still open.

Great to know. I remember as a kid, we went to Gibson's every August as my Mom would buy me a new lunch pail. Loved my old GI Joe one....

Bought my first deer rifle in 1971 from Gibson's in Odessa. Cost me $99. I remember it well because I got a job bagging ice (age 12) to save up to buy it. My dad put a Weaver K4 on it for me since I saved the money. Still have the rig as is, and still occasionally kill pigs with it.

JG, I grew up in Midland so we were at the Midland Gibson's a lot. They used to have a great toy section too. That is cool that you still have that rig. I'm guessing it's a .243. My first had a Weaver 6 power.

I can't drive through Kerrville without stopping at Gibson's. "If they don't have it, You don't need it".
Adios,
Gary

BX/PX…

Zoe’s Sporting Goods in Fredericksburg. He had everything!

Mursch's Sporting Goods in San Antonio.

Western Auto, Gibson's and White's Auto were staples. But, the best hunting and trapping store memories are from the General Store in Ben Wheeler, TX in the 1970's.

As a kid, Muleshoe, Texas, Grandpa negotiated the price of a used single shot 22 rifle in a hardware store down to $12. Early 1950’s. That included a box of 22 shorts.

Used to get powder (for fireworks) from the old guy in Olathe. Dip out a pound into a paper sack, cig hanging from his mouth. Got a nice high standard 22LR from him when I got old enough.

My step dad and his best friend bought the last 2 Marlin 30-30's Gibson's in Odessa had on the shelf when they were closing.

In 1975 Rosen Brothers Pawn Shop in Wichita, Ks. had a fair amount of hunting stuff but a great amount of shotguns and rifles. I looked at 8 of their Model 12’s before deciding on a beautiful 16 ga.

Grew up in Canyon... in the early 70's we were lucky enough to have both a Gibson's and a Western Auto. That's where we'd stock up on shotgun shells during pheasant season. And I'm sure dad bought my first Christmas shotgun and deer rifle at one of those 2 stores when I was 12 and 14 respectively. I remember seeing barrels full of British .303 Enfields for $29 at the Gibson's, still gunked up with cosmoline.

All the cheap gun prices reminds me of my neighbor. He bought an M1 carbine out of the back of, I think, Field and Stream or Outdoor Life for $10. It was the late 50's and they were selling the carbines issued in the Korean war.

My son now has the Springfield M1903 that my grandfather bought for $1.00 out of a hardware store barrel after WWI. My uncle carved a stock for it. I put a decent trigger in it and a decent scope on it.

Tony's in Longview was well worth the drive and Discount City in Jacksonville was another good one.

My brother still has hid Remington 7400 that he bought at JC Penney's
I recall visiting Gibson's in the early '70s when my uncle worked at the sporting goods counter. Cool store

We had a Mursh (sp) Sporting Goods here in San Antonio, it was a neat place. They closed the cool old store at Bandera and 410 and took a bigger spot in a new center, they didn't last long after that. I bought a box of .22 HPs there in '84. I still have the box and refill it with new bullets when it gets low.

Nagel's in San Antonio back in the 60's was My Dad's go to for guns and ammo.

Gasman's Archery in San Antonio back in the 70's Seems like it was just South of Nagels in the Olmos basin.

'Never went in, but I remember that BIG archery target sign out on the street.

Fed Mart
Walmart
Sportsman's Warehouse
Nix Guns (Lewisville)

I drove by the old Tony's building on Thursday, it is a clothing store of some kind. I remember Tony very well and have been called Banana Nose by him more times than I can remember. I remember there being a price and some letters on most everything in the store. He used a system, BLACKSTONE is what I think it was. He could look at the letters and read them as numbers to see what he actually paid for the item. He loved to deal and bargain with his customers.

Called everyone “banana nose” or “cousin” and everyone got the special brother in law price. Seems like he used to holler out “Monjeleeta Cocklaroacha” occasionally too (not even sure that is a word lol) and serenade the customers with a song!

Always had deep respect for the man, knew he was a marine and heard he had fought on Guadalcanal.

My favorite shotgun! Was lucky enough to convince my folks to buy me that and a couple years before a Remington 552 speedmaster BDL in the great Hunt and Whittaker store in Jackson Mississippi.

I forgot all about them.

Used to be gun store on Bandera St. in San Antonio (Texas Gun's? or Don's?) , it was next to a mechanics shop on the west side. The ramrod that run it was a real hard azz, hardly anyone went in there.

Grew up in Austin. From the time I was 10 you would always find me at the hunting and fishing section of the stores in my neighborhood.

Capital Plaza had Oshmans (have two of the guns from that store still today my dads 94 3030 and my S&W 1000 Christmas gift 1977) and Wards

Always bought shotgun shells at Sears in Hancock Center.

Best Products off 290

At Highland Mall there was JC Pennys and Joshkes

I bought my first gun with my own money around 1978, I was 13 and Gibson's had a add in the paper for Mauser 8mm surplus guns for $39.99, I begged my dad to let me buy one. I'm sure my dad had to do some kind of paperwork but I paid for it out of my pocket. I choose wrong and out of a barrel full I picked an 1888 Commission rifle that was chambered in 7.9mm and could not find ammo for it. No internet back then to figure out what would actually work, so it just hung above the fireplace.

Kmart always for boxes of 22

OMG, I can't believe I forgot about C&S. I bought my Colt Python and Colt Government 1911, .45ACP. Larry Rigsby was there at that time. I paid $600 for my 6" Python. Loved that place, had reloading stuff too.

Brazoria county back in the 70's & 80's we had Wilson Sporting goods in the Brazos mall (Bought all our duck hunting stuff there). Palmers Sporting goods in Clute and Beach Bait and tackle in Surfside.

Back in the 70’s ther3 was a old Mom & Pop gas station and sporting goods store down in the Eastland area, South of there if I remember right. They were closing the b store and retiring if I remember right. I stopped in to see what they had. I bought a 20 “ skeet barrel for my 1100 Lt 20 ga. The old man said since it’s a 20 ga. How about $20 . I said sure. He also had a couple of Garcia 5000s and a black 5000C. I $20 apiece for them too. Never made a better deal in my life.