Long-Gone Gun Shops of New England

Tony's Gun Shop, Old Salem Rd, Billerica, Ma. It was across the River from where McDonalds is.
TAG's In North Chelmsford originally owned By Terry Goode
 
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.
Menino chased them out. I think they were the last gun shop in Boston.
 
Menino chased them out. I think they were the last gun shop in Boston.

NES has a thread on the collusion between Menino and the state to screw with their state dealer's license to put them out of business. If Comm2A had been around back then Menino would had a colonoscopy in court over the crap he pulled.
 
at my age i should know a lot of them, but i started late in life. only one i can talk about, and LenS mentioned in his looooong list, fairground trader in brockton.

tom downey must have felt sorry for me, given my total lack of knowledge re: firearms. can't even begin to list all the wonderful things he did for me over 3 years.

RIP tom
 
NES has a thread on the collusion between Menino and the state to screw with their state dealer's license to put them out of business. If Comm2A had been around back then Menino would had a colonoscopy in court over the crap he pulled.
I had a long chat with Don a few years ago at the Holbrook gun show. He explained some of this to me. Back around 1980, I remember the guy (might have been the owner) at Bob Smith's (behind Woolworth's at that time) telling me some of the BS restrictions put on them about what they could sell by the mayor (I assume it was Mayor White back then).

at my age i should know a lot of them, but i started late in life. only one i can talk about, and LenS mentioned in his looooong list, fairground trader in brockton.

tom downey must have felt sorry for me, given my total lack of knowledge re: firearms. can't even begin to list all the wonderful things he did for me over 3 years.

RIP tom
Indeed, Tom and his Wife were stand-up people. Great to talk with regardless if you were buying something or not.

It was tragic that his health took him down. RIP!

Another one Tom's Reloading in Burlington, Ma
I remember that shop. Only stopped there a few times when I was in the area.
 
I had a long chat with Don a few years ago at the Holbrook gun show. He explained some of this to me. Back around 1980, I remember the guy (might have been the owner) at Bob Smith's (behind Woolworth's at that time) telling me some of the BS restrictions put on them about what they could sell by the mayor (I assume it was Mayor White back then).


Indeed, Tom and his Wife were stand-up people. Great to talk with regardless if you were buying something or not.

It was tragic that his health took him down. RIP!


I remember that shop. Only stopped there a few times when I was in the area.

I still have a gun from Bob Smith,s.
 
I remember Jacks Guns and Ammo in the Basement of the Tea Room on Franklin St in Quincy. I lived and worked across the street.
There was also Krauss that had a counter in the back corner of 3A Marine in Hingham across from the shipyard. I bought a Interarms Walther PPKS from him in the 90s.
I hated that gun.
Back in the late 80s and early 90s, if I wanted something specific, the Want Ad was my go too.
 
Bradberry's in Norwell. The owner had one arm and the other was a claw prosthetic (spelling?). He was a great gun smith and had that sharpe one line wit about him.
 
I remember there being a couple of Service Merchandise stores around the area.

There used to be a gun shop in Acton back in the 80's. It was across from where Kmart is now. I can't for the life of me remember what the name of it was though.
The gun shop in Acton was Nimrod's. Good place. I purchased a few guns there. Actually too the required MA firearms training there prior to getting my permit.
Service Merchandise: the one in Burlington had a real nice gun counter. I bought my first gun there, in the early 70s. A Ruger 10/22. there were at least two other long-gone gun shops in Burlington.
 
I’m wondering if anyone remembers a shop called Benton’s in western CT. It was a building with one large showroom with racks of guns on 3 sides and surplus stuff in the middle along with more used guns in racks and stacks of boxes with who knows what in them. I used to go there with my dad in the sixties. A marvelous place for a teenage kid into guns and a good place to buy a gun. My dad bought a beautiful Weatherby Mark V in 300 Win mag there. What a candy store!
 
The gun shop in Acton was Nimrod's. Good place. I purchased a few guns there. Actually too the required MA firearms training there prior to getting my permit.
Service Merchandise: the one in Burlington had a real nice gun counter. I bought my first gun there, in the early 70s. A Ruger 10/22. there were at least two other long-gone gun shops in Burlington.
I remember when Nimrods opened in Acton a group of local moonbats marched on the PD and protested him because he was "too close" to the high school. They got nowhere. Jack.
 
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.
Mike chased us around town quite a bit and finally bagged us on Dunstable Rd for speeding. Westford was a very different town back then.
Chuck was also an avid bird hunter.

Was it Barnacle Bills on 119 that some kids were planning on holding up?
 
Coleman's, Sears, MVP Sports, and Grant's had a barrel full of Garands every time we went in to drool over the Swiss Army knives. Lot of chrome parade rifles.
 
Mike chased us around town quite a bit and finally bagged us on Dunstable Rd for speeding. Westford was a very different town back then.
Chuck was also an avid bird hunter.

Was it Barnacle Bills on 119 that some kids were planning on holding up?
Mike retired from Westford PD and now lives in Pittsburgh, NH and is now on New Hampshire's Marine Patrol in the Coos County area. I still have contact with him.
 
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