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Old March 10, 2021, 09:48 PM   #1
TXAZ
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1880’s cost of (cartridge) ammo?

Any ideas where to look on what common pistol and rifle ammo costs in the 1880’s?
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Old March 10, 2021, 10:03 PM   #2
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Find an old Sears or Bannerman catalog.
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Old March 11, 2021, 02:02 AM   #3
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Adjusted for inflation I would bet it cost more then than it does today.
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Old March 11, 2021, 04:34 AM   #4
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44-40 and .45 Colt ran about 2 cents per round. Before you ask, a glass of whiskey(they didn't have shots back then)was about a quarter.
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Old March 11, 2021, 08:46 AM   #5
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I read one source that said a round of .45 Colt cost same as a drink of whiskey. A penniless cowboy would trade the barkeep a round of .45 for a drink of whiskey, thus the origins of the term, a shot of whiskey. Don't know if it's fact but I found it interesting.
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Old March 11, 2021, 10:17 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jdc606 View Post
I read one source that said a round of .45 Colt cost same as a drink of whiskey. A penniless cowboy would trade the barkeep a round of .45 for a drink of whiskey, thus the origins of the term, a shot of whiskey. Don't know if it's fact but I found it interesting.
Another Hollyweird fable.
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Old March 11, 2021, 12:57 PM   #7
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1901 is the oldest I have.
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Old March 11, 2021, 03:16 PM   #8
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My grandfather born in 1903 told me that they used to buy ammo by however many rounds you needed. Not the whole box. If you needed 5 rounds of 30 30 or 7 rounds of 12 gauge shells, that is what you bought. They sold them individually. I though that was kind of funny. But he did tell me that a whole box of 22's were about .25 cents. He didn't specify what year he was buying at this price. Probably after the depression is my guess.
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Old March 11, 2021, 05:31 PM   #9
Jim Watson
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Heck, they were doing that up into the 1960s here.
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Old March 12, 2021, 11:04 AM   #10
Mike Irwin
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Somewhere I have images of some old advertisements. Not sure if any are from that far back, though. But, adjusted for inflation, ammo prices at the time were likely along the lines of what we're paying right now.
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Old March 12, 2021, 02:05 PM   #11
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"...A penniless cowboy would..." Be highly unlikely to own any firearm never mind a Colt. An SAA ran about $17.50 in 1873. A cowboy got about $30 or so and found(he got fed) per month. The ranchers rarely allowed firearms in the bunk house. Most of 'em didn't own a horse either.
Discussed here in 2012.
https://thefiringline.com/forums/arc...?t-480020.html
"...box of 22's were about .25 cents...." That 2 bits could be a day's pay
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Old March 12, 2021, 05:10 PM   #12
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In the mid to late 1950s, .22 LR were $0.50 + .02 tax per box of 50.

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Old March 12, 2021, 05:49 PM   #13
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When I was young, the local 66 gas station sold ammo.
22 shorts were 25 cents a box, the owner had a lot of them. 22 long rifle for 60 cents a box.
And he would sell rifle ammo by the round. I swear, he had at least one box of everything, including Weatherby Magnums.
Highway 66 in Selah, Washington. Lots of good memories.
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Old March 12, 2021, 06:32 PM   #14
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From 1888 Colt catalog:

.22 short, $5 per thousand.
.38-40, $19 per k. Primed cases $10 per k; bullets, $5 per k.
.44-40, $19 per k. Primed cases $10 per k; bullets, $6 per k.
.45 Colt, $22 per k. Primed cases $10.50; bullets, $7.
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Old March 13, 2021, 02:22 PM   #15
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$5 or $7 was a great deal of money in 1888. Be a week's pay for some. $19 could be a month's pay.
Rummage around here.
https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/p...ages/1880-1889
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Old March 13, 2021, 05:45 PM   #16
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Which makes you wonder just how "deadly" the gunslingers were?
Unless you could afford $10 a week for ammo, you weren't going to get very good.
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Old March 13, 2021, 05:54 PM   #17
Jim Watson
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It warn't like the picture shows.
Most of the gunslingers were backshooters at close range or with a rifle.

But there were exceptions.
One all the way back in the 18th century was the Englishman who anticipated being challenged to a set duel. Must have been a disagreeable chap.
But he would "culp his dozen wafers every morning before breakfast."
A wafer was a sticker used to close an envelope when you couldn't melt wax for a seal and would be a tough target. And a dozen with a pair of flintlocks would require dedication to practice.

Last edited by Jim Watson; March 13, 2021 at 06:00 PM.
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Old March 14, 2021, 08:49 PM   #18
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Winchester's 1875 catalog doesn't seem to be much different than the 1888.

$20 for 1,000, $1 for a box of 50, .2 cents per cartridge.

$1 a box was expensive since most folks made less than a $1 a day wages?

Should be close to about $60 a box today at a minimum wage or even a tad more, maybe $75 to $80 a box.

Currently 44-40 is selling for over $120 a box for hunting grade ammo. Not sure who the idiots are that are buying it, but buying it they are.
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Old March 14, 2021, 09:25 PM   #19
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Considering 1000 rounds of 45 colt were about the same cost of a colt revolver, we at Uruguay (South America) are very close to that proportions today. A box of 50 magtech 45 colt is about 75 bucks here, so a revolver could be 1500. And that is almost the cost of a Uberti in such caliber (Really 1450 dollars here).
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Old March 14, 2021, 09:27 PM   #20
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We use to pay here at least the double you pay there in the states.
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Old March 15, 2021, 06:19 AM   #21
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According to one inflation calculator I came across, $1 in 1875 is the equivalent purchasing power of $23.75 today.
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Old March 16, 2021, 10:06 AM   #22
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Assuming 3% per year inflation, $1 in 1875 is equivalent to $75 today.

I read it somewhere that ammunition was pretty expensive back then. Cowboys shooting guns in air going through town as seen in movies happened very rarely.

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Old March 16, 2021, 10:40 AM   #23
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I supposed that the increase was about 75 times as well.

A revolver back in those years was 16 to 20 dollars, which makes 1200 to 1500 today. It is not a high price for an original handmade revolver today. Consider that hand crafting is the most important part of the cost of any device and in those years all guns were made almost totally by hand and rudimentary tools.
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Old March 16, 2021, 10:53 AM   #24
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"Assuming 3% per year inflation, $1 in 1875 is equivalent to $75 today."

You can't really assume that. For a significant portion of that time the US was on the gold standard, which tended to keep overall inflation in check except in times of overall financial stress (such as the panic of 1893). Once things stabilized prices tended to go back down to where they were before the panic, and there were also periods of significant deinflation.

Here's the website that I used...

https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inf.../1875?amount=1
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Old March 16, 2021, 11:51 AM   #25
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Uncle Sam paid $20 for the 1860 Army, the same amount for the 1873 Peacemaker, and the same for the M1911.
Even as technology advanced, the cost of making a gun didn't really change until you start adding inflation.
In the 1880s you could buy a Peacemaker for a $20 gold piece, and you still can, today.
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