Welcome back! For our next installment of Andrew’s Remembering the Past series, we have a J. C. Higgins model 88 Sears Roebuck and Company Model 25. Both of these firearms were marketed, not manufactured, by Sears Roebuck and Co. Take a step back in time with Andrew as he talks about the interesting history of how these firearms came to be and who actually manufactured them and others from Sears Roebuck and Co.
VIDEO HERE (15:27 minutes)
I had a friend with a Sears bolt action .410 shotgun. I shot it once, was amazed by the pattern, and wished I had one. It was branded J.C. Higgins, which I had never heard of, until he explained it to me.
ReplyDeleteI have a 1970 sears 12 ga. Made by Winchester. Used it for every thing ducks deer trap. Adjustable chock. Retired getting kinda wore out. Go duck hunting go school with black blue shoulder. I was a terrible shot
ReplyDeleteWe can easily trace the fall of many retail giants in our lifetimes. Be it Montgomery Wards, K-Mart, Sears, or even Sports Authority: They did not like their Yucky Middle Class Customers. Monkey Wards was first, but the others quickly followed in abandoning the folks who made them great in order to chase people who would never set foot in their doors to begin with. Wards decided to dump middle-class America to compete with Circuit City for high dollar margin Appliances. Sears followed Ward's disaster, dumping toys, boats, and guns so they could go after Levis and Eve Arden cosmetics bucks. K-Mart went all PC and tossed out sporting goods in favour of who knows what. A side note: In 1983, K-Mart bought almost 50% of Remington's annual production; by 1999, K-Mart had quit selling guns.
ReplyDeleteWe used to say that one should go home with the one who brung you to the party. When MBA Suits started running the retail giants, the ran them in to the ground. Middle class America doesn't stage boycotts and protests, we just quit shopping at the stores that no longer represent our values.
You can send that post to Target.
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DeleteOur local K-Marts in south Texas were different stores than that described. Dad bought a K-Mart 'Blue Light Special' Marlin 336 carbine for $40 (!!). A Ruger 10/22 carbine for $70, regular price. The store didn't a full gun counter, but there was plenty of firearms on a wall rack, along with scopes, knives and a few gun cases. A Western knife wood glass case with displayed models - it was pretty cool !
DeleteI have a pump action Mossberg (I think that was Monkey Wards Revelation) that has been around for a long time.
My dad had a JC Higgins single shot .410 "boy's gun" from the 1920's or 1930's with a black painted stock. It was a little butt heavy, but I like that in a shotgun. I used it to shoot my first rounds of trap. Did pretty well with it, too, considering how lame .410's are.
ReplyDeleteAlways liked that gun.
I’ve bought Western Auto and Sears guns based upon reliability. They all worked as designed and were always priced fairly. I knew who the manufacturer was and have had good experience with them. I do not own a firearm that I don’t shoot the shit out of. If they don’t prove to be reliable, I get rid of them. Still own a few Ranger and JC Higgins guns. Eod1sg Ret
ReplyDeleteCool post. I collect all of the store branded guns . Hidden gems really. To each his own.
ReplyDeleteYeah, those mostly same suits went from store to store and destroyed all of them, but not before they all got their "golden parachutes" from everyone of them. Side note, I just bought a Western Auto "Revolution" brand .22 revolver from my local toy store. Nice piece manufactured by Hi-Standard and sold as their Sentinel line.
ReplyDeleteNever owned one of their guns but had a JC Higgins bicycle. I loved that bike.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in elementary school, I had to wait for Mom to get out of work (school teacher). I would walk to the nearby Sears store just to look around. Near the center of the store was the 'gun counter', really just a carousel of approximately six - seven rifles or shotguns propped up. One of them was a Browning SXS 20 gauge shotgun for $109. Non engraved, plain blue but I thought it was beautiful. There was also a Ted Williams 30-30 lever action rifle but I don't recall the price.
ReplyDeleteUnder this platform in an unlocked cabinet door was the ammunition. All fully accessible to all, no cable locks or anything to keep a customer from accessing them. To my knowledge, there was never any shooting or robbery incidents.
This was back in the early 1970's - another country now long gone.
Sears also sold Ted Williams guns. My grandfather had a mail order, magazine fed 22LR bolt action that was built for Sears by Winchester. I inherited that 22 and it is very accurate.
ReplyDeleteOne of my best scores when I used to scrounge at my local public range was ten little boxes and the big one they came in from a brick of Ted Williams 22LR ammunition.
DeleteOne man's trash is another man's treasure.
Had a monkey wards 22 auto that was very accurate. Would always shot one bullet then you had to work the action. Took it apart and cleaned some gunk out of the receiver over the bolt and it worked again. Must have been oiled and shot it’s whole life. After that cleaning it would shoot an entire tube with out issue. Was a good gun, wish I still had it.
ReplyDeleteStill killing birds with a Higgins double barrel 12 ga.
ReplyDeleteHave a Heddon split bamboo fly rod that my Grandfather bought from Sears.
ReplyDeleteStill has the canvas slip cover, extra tip & aluminum tube case.
I use it occasionally, although with a lighter line than the original #8 it calls for.
Obviously handmade, & about 70 YO by now.
They don't make them like that anymore, for any price.
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My contribution to this thread of Golden Chain Store Oldie Ghost Guns is a Western Field bolt action box magazine fed 12 gauge shotgun, aka: Marlin Model 55.
ReplyDeleteLate to comment, I bought a K-Mart Marlin lever action 30-30 from a friend and also have a JC Higgins M20 pump in 12 GA from Sears. Still have both as I very rarely sell firearms. Unsure of Dad bought the Ruger 10/22 or the Remington Nylon 66 from one of those stores or where they were purchased.
ReplyDeleteBought a ton of Craftsman tools and liked how I could go to the mall at 8 PM if I needed another one or to replace the rare tool that I broke.