Long-Gone Gun Shops of New England

[atilla]

oh yeah, i remember hembrows. he disappeared before i was licensed, never got over there.

 

[chris_1001]

Alpha in Milford.

Tucked away in the back, basement level of a strip mall. I remember talking cars with the guy (he had a few ferrari's). I heard rumor he closed due to a self inflicted headshot.

His store was awesome

Yikes, he was a class 3 if I remember right. Bought a Mini 14 from him in the late 90's. Interesting shop, lots of stuff all over the place and hanging from the ceiling.

 

[FSTC]

ARMCO Somewhere South of the Pike. I remember all the really badass looking stuff hanging from the ceiling.
One of my friends during high school drove us all down there. Talk about a bunch of ('Lifetime" FID) kids in a evil, killy candy store!

 

[Harleynut]

Got my first gun at Scott's Surplus Moody St Waltham. (Remington 121 22 pump) I was 12 and my mom asked our neighbor to drive me up and that was good even though I had the $35.00 cash he had to be there they were fussy and wouldn't sell to a 12 year old.
Roaches Sporting good in Cambridge was great and I was sad to hear they recently went out of business. Charlie was a great guy and took good care of me back in the mid 70's.

 

[Mark from MA]

Armco was in boyleston. He got busted by the Feds I think for importing or something.

I bought my first gun at The Fair in Worcester.

Bought a lot of guns at some log cabin place in northboro. Trading post or something. That place is long gone.

 

[FSTC]

Armco was in boyleston. He got busted by the Feds I think for importing or something.

.

Seemed like a longer ride. Of course we were rollin' in a early 80's VW diesel Rabbit so everything was far away, and the ride was always slow.

 

[greencobra]

There was ADCO on Montvale Ave. in Woburn

 

[dwarven1]

There was a gun shop on Rte 30 in Southborough near the resevoir some years ago....Southboro Arms I think (can't remember for sure though). Even your local hardware stores had guns back in the '60s and '70s.

"Bay State Arms" Bob Vanni

Yup, the son sold everything off after the owner died. Got a nice CZ75 there some years back.

My dad co-signed for my first credit card to Lew Hortens when they were a shop.

Hah. Try to get credit out of Lew Horton's Distributing nowadays.

Frank and Tiny's Tyngsboro (Due to Tiny's death)

Thought his son took it over?

Armco was in boyleston. He got busted by the Feds I think for importing or something.

Selling full-auto, I think.

Bought a lot of guns at some log cabin place in northboro. Trading post or something. That place is long gone.

Yeah, it's a cigar bar and used computer shop now. I bought some stuff from them; thought they were OK to deal with. Not sure why they closed, though.

 

[Bill Katt]

That was "Nimrods". The owner was Jim Slattery. He sold it and the guy that bought it moved the shop to Boxboro, Then went out of business.

"Barnicle Bill's" in Littleton

Thanks, I knew it had an odd name but I just couldn't remember it.

 

[WBspectrum]

Neverfield's in West Boylston and Underwoods in Nortboro on Rt 20

 

[Len-2A Training]

Got my first gun at Scott's Surplus Moody St Waltham. (Remington 121 22 pump) I was 12 and my mom asked our neighbor to drive me up and that was good even though I had the $35.00 cash he had to be there they were fussy and wouldn't sell to a 12 year old.

Yup, went to a lot of Marv Rich's auctions (Scott Surplus). Bought a Dan Wesson revolver from him, Sold my Father's WWII stuff that he had wanted to throw out. IIRC he got ~$600 from the auction.

Bought a lot of guns at some log cabin place in northboro. Trading post or something. That place is long gone.

I remember stopping in there when returning from off-site meetings at DEC. I think it became a restaurant after they closed.

 

[basscatfrank]

I own a Ted Williams bolt action .22 that my father bought at Sears. I have a Mossberg 500 from Lechmere that was my
16th birthday present. I have a Savage 12 ga side by side that I bought at Kmart and a S&W 1000 12 gauge that I purchased in 1978 at Ivanhoe's. I remember a small hardware store in Davis Sq that had a glass case with revolvers in it. This was back in the 60's. I used to stop there on my way home from school just to look at them. I used to buy all my ammo at Roach's. I still have a few boxes of pheasant load in the attic.

 

[Mark from MA]

Neverfield's in West Boylston and Underwoods in Nortboro on Rt 20

Dad used to take me to those two places when I was a kid. I couldn't remember the names.

 

[drgrant]

The one's that have gone while I've been licensed....

Hembrows
Village Gun Shop
McElhineys
Roaches (if its not closed yet it will be soon)
Boston Gun Range (Not sure if they did firearms retail there, but I imagine they did)
B&D Reloaders
K&R Target Sports
Bobs Tactical ( Or whatever they call it now- Doesn't count though really, as it just closed and reopened about 48 times, so it was never truly closed!, and its obviously open now).
In NH- Eric Manna distributing

There are a couple of others I'm forgetting off the top of my head, I'm almost sure of it.

The good thing is that it seems for every one dealer that shuts down these days 2 new ones open up.

-Mike

 

[center442]

That reminds me . . .

Western Auto had long guns and ammo back in the 1970s.

I only wish that I knew then what I know now about old battle-iron! Woolworth's in Downtown Boston in the late 1970s had barrels filled with M1 Carbines (I think they were $99), lots of other mil-surp guns for dirt money. They had ammo. I think they had handguns but not certain of that. It was right beside the escalator on the top floor.

There was also Bob Smith's a few doors down from Woolworth's. Mostly hunting guns/supplies.

I remember Sears catalogs with tons of long guns in them, as well as their stores.

That brought back some memories. I can recall Western Auto selling guns and ammo, along with a local Woolworth's. I dimly recall seeing long guns on a rack in a nearby Sears. In New Bedford, Mcgee's Photo had two stores, one in the center of the city and one in the North end. Both sold handguns, long guns, and accessories. My first rifle and pistol came from them.

I still have both of those guns.

 

[samandglove1]

Herman's was in Shopper's World. Thanks for reminding me. It was right next to the Jordan Marsh flying saucer building (that had the best blueberry muffins in the world).

Armco imported a lot of high end Chinese AK's IIRC, but he got jammed up after that.

Tiny's wife (who was super nice) sold all of their inventory to a shop from NH and closed their doors about a year ago.

 

[1903Collector]

I bought my first handgun at Bob's in westport and my first rifle, a 10/22 at Thompsons in Seekonk many moons ago!

 

[Iron Horse Gunn]

American Arms in Wareham,MA. a big S&W dealer. Ammo from Sears in Quincy center. There was a gun shop in Pembroke on RT 53 near RT 139 whose name escapes me. All from the late '60's.

 

[Lone Wolf McQuade]

My Dad purchased my Browning Sweet 16 at Corcorans in Stoughton way back during their closing sale. Think they continue to make Paratroopers jump boots.

 

[TBalls]

I didn't realize that Herman's was a big enough chain to be up here, too... had them in Jersey.

My first 10/22 came from a Service Merchandise - did they have stores up here too?

I'm pretty sure there was a Service Merchandise in Natick -- same location that was Golfer's Warehouse, and is now a Gold's Gym (I think).

 

[breslau]

Bought my first .22 at JC Penny, Eastfield Mall in Springfield. Reed's Fort in Brookfield and The Shooting Shop in Palmer are long gone.

 

[Passthemacs]

I remember that! Even sports authority used to have some rifles and shotguns now only air soft n bb


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Len-2A Training]

I'm pretty sure there was a Service Merchandise in Natick -- same location that was Golfer's Warehouse, and is now a Gold's Gym (I think).

Yes there was, I used to shop there.

 

[hankster]

Hmm. I think I used to know the people who ran/run that. A husband and wife.

The husband and wife shop was Hembrow's . Chick and Mary , they now live in Maine.

 

[PixelPusher]

I worked at County Stores (hardware store) in Milford NH as a kid in the early '80s. At the time they had a case with rifles and pistols.

They still sell ammo and bb/pellet guns, but no more firearms.

 

[hminsky]

I remember in the late 60's or early 70's walking through the Sears (can't remember if it was the one
near Kenmore Square, or the one in Porter Square), and seeing bins of shotgun shells.

 

[Garys]

I didn't realize that Herman's was a big enough chain to be up here, too... had them in Jersey.

My first 10/22 came from a Service Merchandise - did they have stores up here too?

Yes they did. Had one on the Brockton/Stoughton line. I'd forgotten about them.

My first 10/22 came K Mart in 1976.

 

[NeverMiss]

The husband and wife shop was Hembrow's . Chick and Mary , they now live in Maine.

Oh yeah, yup. That was them!

- - - Updated - - -

I remember that! Even sports authority used to have some rifles and shotguns now only air soft n bb


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Sports Authority in Salem, NH had long guns just the other day.

 

[Knob Creek]

McGee's sporting goods in New Bedford. Great place for Hunting & Fishing.

 

[Trauma]

Ivanhoe when it was a retail store, and Lew Horton's in Framingham.

Ahhh, Lew Horton's! I got my first EVER gun from them, a crossman 10 pump air rifle, ohh man!