Long-Gone Gun Shops of New England

They may have already been mentioned but the oldest ones I remember down my way were Carr's, Thompsons Sporting Goods and Bob's, which is now Village Sports and Service Merchandise in Swansea.
 
It was the ~ early/mid sixties. I remember my Dad taking me out to his gunsmith. I forget where it was and I remember the Man's name as Bowers Fuller or something like that. He would also take me out to RT 40, Westford I believe, a private house where the garage on the right side of the house was converted into a gun shop. He and the Owner would sit and talk a bit and I was completely taken in by the place. So much so I wanted a place just like it when I grew up. Both places are long gone.
 
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A liitle drift off thread for a moment......My thoughts are that many of the returning Vets from WWII and Korea were shooters and hunters, and would support local gun shops to a point. As they died off so did a lot of the local businesses. Add the Internet to the mix and I can't imagine how most places keep the lights on today. I do my best to support a local guy when I can, but for bulk purchases I need to spend my $$ for the best bang for the buck.
 
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Same, but rode my Schwinn Varsity from Boxford to Topsfield, Co-Op sold .22
My future BIL and I tried for woodchucks at Merideth Farm.
The Co-op had ammo, how did I not know this. My Mom had a charge account there. You'd go to the back left of the store and they had a Rolodex of Little Blue Cards. I had a Raleigh Record. I could carry 4 Gallons of Cabot's Cordovan Brown hanging from the handlebars from the Co-op back to Boxford. I did that more than once. People who didn't grow up in the sticks have no idea how important an automobile is to a teenager.
Where are you from in town? I grew up on Mill Road half way between the East Parish Farm (on Main Street) and the waterfall.

Roach's in porter Sq. Camb. on Mass. Ave. I think they packed it up in the early 2000's . . . great gunand ammo selection new and used . . .

I was in Roach's not long before they closed, around 2010. If you miss them go into Patriot Arms in Ipswich. They have a bunch of mix and match Holsters, Mags, Grips & Sights. A fair amount of them have the Orange Roach's tag on them.
 
What a great thread! Brings back lots of memories.
Chuck's Gun Shop, RT 40, Westford. The owner, Chuck Damico?, was quite a trapshooter and used to compete nationally. I got a great deal from him around 1967 on a Remington Wingmaster TC shotgun, and foolishly sold it in the 80's.

I note Alpha Arms in Milford has been mentioned a couple times. Great shop, the owner, Paul Alphonse, was also a class 3 dealer and very active.
Unfortunatey he took his life. Very tragic. I heard he had planned it and left documentation so any guns on consignment could be returned to their owners.
 
The Co-op had ammo, how did I not know this. My Mom had a charge account there. You'd go to the back left of the store and they had a Rolodex of Little Blue Cards. I had a Raleigh Record. I could carry 4 Gallons of Cabot's Cordovan Brown hanging from the handlebars from the Co-op back to Boxford. I did that more than once. People who didn't grow up in the sticks have no idea how important an automobile is to a teenager.
Where are you from in town? I grew up on Mill Road half way between the East Parish Farm (on Main Street) and the waterfall.



I was in Roach's not long before they closed, around 2010. If you miss them go into Patriot Arms in Ipswich. They have a bunch of mix and match Holsters, Mags, Grips & Sights. A fair amount of them have the Orange Roach's tag on them.
One of my favorite girlfriends in high school lived near there.
I was near the intersection of Rts 95 and 97
 
Mr Carr was a crotchety old fellow but had great hunting stories.

I don’t remember guns at SM. Loved that store.
 
I saw my first S&W model 29 44 Magnum at Herman's World of Sporting Goods. BayState West in Springfield. Around 1975 or so. My Mom Got a set of Downhill Ski's for me.
 
Reeds Fort Brookfield,MA. bought my fist gun there on my birthday the day i turned legal!!!!
Rem Express 870 with both barrels, Still kill deer and ducks with it to this day, 30+ yrs old re-parkerized once, lots of beauty marks on the walnut stock and to me still the most gorgeous gun in the safe, i'll never part with it......

Rem sure dont make 'em like this anymore!!!!
 
Franklin Reservoir Bait and Sport Shop, Mario's Sporting Goods, Luke Goodwin, and one other that I can't remember were all in business in Franklin at one time. Edgar's Sporting Goods in Woonsocket, R.I. is gone as well. Jerry's Bait and Tackle in Milford still has hunting ammo but no guns. There was a small gun shop in Medway who was at the gun shows, Jack Cody was his name if I recall . Ernie Ellery had Ernie's Guns and Equipment in Rockland. Others here have mentioned Custom Sporting Goods, Airport Sporting Goods and Herzog Custom Arms that were in Plainville. Kelly's Sporting Goods was on RT 1 in North Attleboro. I'm sure that I'm forgetting someone. King's, Mammoth Mart, The Fair, Jack and Harry's, and K-Mart all had gun departments and sold lots of hunting and fishing stuff.

These shops catered to the hunting and fishing crowd because there was a lot of local people who were hunting and fishing then. There were lots of places to go hunting and fishing, and it seemed like everybody had their own gravel pit to shoot in. Good times.
 
Romanian AK-47 M&M Sport Plymouth $350.00 circa 1992
Crate of Chinese SKS's in cosmoline and straw $75.00ea I believe it was 4 or 5 to a crate Lew Hortons Framingham
 
I don't know why I thaught of this, but I was driving through my old hometown the other day, remembering my childhood. Does anyone remember the hunting section of "MVP Sports" in Woburn, by 4-corners? I remember as a kid going in there and oohing and aaahing over the guns. I remember the guy who worked there used to watch us like hawks. if I remember, it went from "MVP Sports", to "Decalthlon" to "bye bye!"

So, what are your memories of gun shops of long ago?

Before it was "MVP" the Woburn store was Colman's Sporting Goods. Stopped in there one night on the way home for a bottle of Hoppes. In the display case was a Baby Browning with a tag of $75. Numbers matched, and Baby came home with the Hoppes and me.

Bob Colman owned a small "chain" of three or four stores. He also owned a racing sailboat named "Namloc" (Colman spelled backwards), which he kept in Edgartown. Stores were sold when Bob died, I think in the late 1980s.
 
Just remembered the gun shop next door to the Police Station in Cleary Square , Hyde park ( on Hyde Park Ave)
Closed about 2010 ish ? . . . transfers ,gunsmithing etc. . . . great little shop
 
There were so many "little guys" back then because FFL life was simple. If you wanted to get licensed and do a little gun biz, you just sent in a Form 7 and a check for the 01or 07. You would get a 5min. phone interview from ATF and the license would come in the mail. You operated out of your house or garage. You were known as "basement bandit" or a "kitchen table" dealer. You would get the state licenses from your PD for the asking and order a book of "blue cards". Ask me how I know. Jack.
 
Meriden Gun Shop in Middlefield, CT which became Cubetta's Field and stream and is now gone.

Chris' Gun Shop in New Haven, CT. Chris Dogolo moved to the suburbs and now owns Chris' Indoor Range and Gunshop in Guilford CT.

Chris is a GREAT guy. I bought my first gun from him in 1990.
 
It was the ~ early/mid sixties. I remember my Dad taking me out to his gunsmith. I forget where it was and I remember the Man's name as Bowers Fuller or something like that. He would also take me out to RT 40, Westford I believe, a private house where the garage on the right side of the house was converted into a gun shop. He and the Owner would sit and talk a bit and I was completely taken in by the place. So much so I wanted a place just like it when I grew up. Both places are long gone.

Bowers Fuller was in Tyngsborough, across the street from Lake Massacuppic.
 
What a great thread! Brings back lots of memories.
Chuck's Gun Shop, RT 40, Westford. The owner, Chuck Damico?, was quite a trapshooter and used to compete nationally. I got a great deal from him around 1967 on a Remington Wingmaster TC shotgun, and foolishly sold it in the 80's.

I note Alpha Arms in Milford has been mentioned a couple times. Great shop, the owner, Paul Alphonse, was also a class 3 dealer and very active.
Unfortunatey he took his life. Very tragic. I heard he had planned it and left documentation so any guns on consignment could be returned to their owners.
When Chuck Amico died his Nephew, Mike Jelley, bought the property, rented out the house and reopened the shop as "Yankee Sportsman" That shop is also now gone and the building has been torn down.
 
It was the ~ early/mid sixties. I remember my Dad taking me out to his gunsmith. I forget where it was and I remember the Man's name as Bowers Fuller or something like that. He would also take me out to RT 40, Westford I believe, a private house where the garage on the right side of the house was converted into a gun shop. He and the Owner would sit and talk a bit and I was completely taken in by the place. So much so I wanted a place just like it when I grew up. Both places are long gone.
That was Chuck's Gun Shop. That building was actually the original building of The Tyngsborough Sportsman's Club. That building was moved when Tyngsborough built the new clubhouse.
 
Just remembered the gun shop next door to the Police Station in Cleary Square , Hyde park ( on Hyde Park Ave)
Closed about 2010 ish ? . . . transfers ,gunsmithing etc. . . . great little shop


That was B&D Reloaders. I used to hang out there a lot. They are now M&M Reloads in New Hampshire. You can still find Don (the "D" in B&D) at gun shows around the area.
 
Romanian AK-47 M&M Sport Plymouth $350.00 circa 1992
Crate of Chinese SKS's in cosmoline and straw $75.00ea I believe it was 4 or 5 to a crate Lew Hortons Framingham

$350 in 92 is about a grand today, give or take, with inflation. Not a great or terrible price. $75 SKS's, given today's climate, were pretty good.
 
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