The classic Bannerman surplus catalog is really neat

[Witchywoman]

Did not know where to put this but I just bought a reissue of the famous Bannerman catalog. The guy who had like the first surplus store chain in the 1800's and a crazy castle to store anything not in their store on an island in New York that's still standing.

Its crazy to see how the layout more than a hundred years ago is just like any gun advertisements seen in a Century arms or J&G sales ad of the early to mid 2000's. Its a very cool book. I wish i could go back in time with a wad of cash and buy much of this. It reminds me of a book my grandmother had that detailed all the guns Sears Roebuck used to sell in their catalogs and the prices at that time. Its a pretty cool book that I think any collector should have.

[Greatguns]

Now that would be a fun book to browse through.

[echo1]

You'd need silver certificate notes to be period correct. Those old catalogs tear me up. The old Guns & Ammo rag used to have a surplus outfit on the first 2 pages. I remember seein P51s for $1500 bucks, jeeps in crate for $50. Bob Love out of Livermore Kali picked up a couple P51s and some spares post Korea, was instrumental in jump starting his P51 collecting. PAX

[Phosphorus32]

Definitely an interesting catalog and the history of Bannerman’s is fascinating too! I need to pick up one of these.

If your primary collecting interests are very early 20th century and earlier guns the post-WWI surplus era represented in this catalog would have been your golden age.

I wish I could at least go back to when I was a young teen in the early 1970s and visit the surplus stores I used to frequent with a few hundred dollars, instead of the $5-10 I typically had in my pocket. WWII and Korean War Ike jackets, wool and khaki “dress” shirts; Vietnam-era ODG fatigues, M65 field jackets, and field gear; original WWII through Vietnam SSIs, rank insignia, brass collar buttons; M1 helmets; etc. were plentiful and dirt cheap compared to today’s militaria prices.

[echo1]

It was in the '50s & '60s when I first started going to the Army/Navy stores. There used to be several huge ones from San Jose to Oakland & the City. They were kinda like museums. The owners were ex GI, quartermasters most likely, and had a collection type theme with their displays. One fella, Jack from Jack & Hazels Milsups, was actually a pirate/privateer sort during WWII. The big store in San Jose had a lot of Army Air Corps,  Luftwaffe, & SS items, ball turrets, Norden sights. It was about the coolest one. Everybody had the pickle barrels full of rifles. When the Alaskan pipeline started and was hiring, I picked up complete AF artic gear for $35 bucks. PAX

[Witchywoman]

Yeah guys the history is really amazing. In the front  of this book it tells a story about the founder of Navy Arms, Val Forgett and Bill Edwards from Guns magazine (did not know their names until now) around 1958 going to the island. There were two live 16 inch naval shells sitting on the docks that they personally deactivated on the spot!!!! It tells of how they wept when they saw a pile of Gatling guns that some thieves had tore up to get the brass scrap off the guns. There was stuff still everywhere. Crates of civil war era canteens and belts. 100's of thousands of boxes of ammunition of all types (some rotting some in good shape), boxes of helmets, rifle actions. What an adventure that must have been to clean up what was left.

I do have an old french Chassepot sword bayonet (at some point I need to buy an old french rifle to go with it before they are all gone, Tiger has them)from around 1874 that is listed in this catalog. I am 90% certain that it probably sat in his store at some point. I have seen pictures of swords an bayonets piled onto shelves in pictures. It makes you wonder how many of these rifles and pistols still exist out there today. Bannerman btw is also responsible for the Mosin Nagant's you see converted to 30.06, (I think mostly the Remington made ones and some I have seen in pictures have a Bannerman stamp ) Apparently he was doing conversions decades before Century Arms did them.


On a side note. In the late 80s I went with my older brother to a gunshow in Missoula Montana when I was a child. The tables had piles of Lugers and Mausers dirt cheap, full general officer Heer and SS uniforms that go for thousands now. The place was a treasure trove of German WW2 gear and guns. I felt like i was in some German arms depot in 1944. Of course there was stuff from all eras there, even Vietnam, lots of vets selling bring backs, etc. I have never seen a gun show since with that amount of historical inventory and wish I had been old enough to buy things.

Some photos below of the Bannerman store and another page of more modern rifles. A Teddy Roosevelt era Krag for a little over $10. Geeze!!! I wish the catalog showed what Bannerman had in stock in the 40's (maybe there is some other book for that) but the book does not go that far. It does have full Maxim and Potato digger machine guns for sale though. must of been nice to collect before 1934 and 68!!! lol

[echo1]

You made me cry Ww, PAX

[Witchywoman]

Check out this video of when they cleaned up the place in the 50's and 60's. Ordinance all over the place. Some guys even wearing British Zulu war era helmets they got out of the booty. Geeze

[echo1]

Too boss!!!!  PAX