Guns by Mail, part 1

A look at how guns were sold and the types of firearms available by mail before the 1968 GCA.

A newsletter for the modern pafisto - Military, Precision, Practical Marksmanship and Gunsmithing to support it.

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Guns by Mail

It's been claimed that the gun industry has been offering "uniquely dangerous" firearms only in recent years and that marketing has become increasingly aggressive in an effort to push more guns to more people. One prohibitionist group publically claimed that "Before the 2000s, most gun makers did not market military-style assault weapons to civilians." Let's look at what kind of firearms have been available for the past century and how they were marketed.

Gunsmith Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher patented his semi-automatic rifle design in 1883.

Model 85 Automatic Rifle patent drawings.

By the early 1900s, there were a number of semi-automatic rifles available for private citizens.

Winchester Model 1907

The Winchester Model 1907 was first released in 1907. A semiautomatic rifle chambered in 351 WSL (351 Winchester Self-Loading) feeding from 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30-round detachable magazines, it was available for civilian sales in 1907 and saw limited use in World War 1.

A number of magazine-fed semiautomatic rifles were available for sale to private citizens and police in the early 1900s along with magazine capacities of twenty rounds or more.

Remington Model 8 (patented 1900) and Winchester M1907 (1907)

Remington Model 8 with an extended magazine.

The Colt Automatic Machine Rifle Model 1919 was patented in 1918 and sold as the Colt Monitor (R80). Both versions were available for civilian sale. The U.S. military used this as the M1918 BAR in World War 2 and Korea.

Colt Monitor (R80)

Hiram Percy Maxim worked for the Columbia Automobile Company and designed the Columbia Gasoline Carriage. One of its innovations was a Maxim-designed muffler. He would later use the idea of an automobile muffler to create a firearm muffler, patented in 1909 and marketed as a "silencer". Until restricted by the National Firearm Act, sound suppressors were advertised and could be bought by mail.

Silencer ads

In many other countries, particularly in Europe, firearm suppressors were never restricted by law and are often required for hunting and shooting on some ranges.

Suppressors are required in many countries.

Prior to 1968, guns were freely sold with little restriction. Ads of the time reflected that.

Gun dealers with brick-and-mortar shops did not require Federal licensing and firearms could be mailed directly to buyers. Many sellers sold by mail direct to consumers via ads.

Guns by mail before 1968.

Note in the ad above and below that these ads also included military firearms.

Fabrique Nationale Fusil Automatique Léger (FN Light Automatic Rifle) has been issued by the militaries of over 90 countries.