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Any idea on what these have sold for in the past ?
That amount would almost pay for a collection of originals, excepting only the first 10 yrs.
RickC said
Any idea on what these have sold for in the past ?
Rick,
That has been the going price for a complete set of the Armory Publications set of catalogs for a good number of years now. I myself prefer to buy the individual reproduction catalogs sold by Cornell Publications. I have purchased all of them that I do not have an original catalog for.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert H. said
I myself prefer to buy the individual reproduction catalogs sold by Cornell Publications. I have purchased all of them that I do not have an original catalog for.
Bert
I’ve bought a couple of their Stevens repros for which there was no alternative available, but Winchester cats have been repro’d going back 50 yrs or more, & these old ones are far higher quality than Cornell’s,, which are all color-copies, not printed on a press. Can’t find them as easily as Cornell’s, but they come up often on ebay. Recently bought a 1925 of such quality it could pass for an original, if not marked “repro.”
clarence said
I’ve bought a couple of their Stevens repros for which there was no alternative available, but Winchester cats have been repro’d going back 50 yrs or more, & these old ones are far higher quality than Cornell’s,, which are all color-copies, not printed on a press. Can’t find them as easily as Cornell’s, but they come up often on ebay. Recently bought a 1925 of such quality it could pass for an original, if not marked “repro.”
Same here Clarence. I have some originals but have also acquired these off eBay.
RickC
I also have several of those older repro Winchester catalogs, and yes, they are better quality the Cornell repro catalogs. That stated, I have the catalogs for the information they contain within them, not the quality of the physical catalog.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert H. said
I also have several of those older repro Winchester catalogs, and yes, they are better quality the Cornell repro catalogs. That stated, I have the catalogs for the information they contain within them, not the quality of the physical catalog.Bert
Very true Bert. I agree 100%.
RickC
RickC said
Same here Clarence. I have some originals but have also acquired these off eBay.
RickC
Have the same 2 on the left, though I hate the Wolfe’s plastisized covers, which always curl.
The 12 volume set usually sells for around $600 but … It doesn’t hurt to make an offer. I’ve seen them go for way less. This set is comprised of 55 catalogs. It is way cheaper to have the 12 volume set than pay $15 to $18 for the individual catalogs. Do the math. There was a few companies that made reproductions and Cornell doesn’t have all of them.
One way to tell an original is that the pages are stapled together as opposed to the reproductions which are glued. You could easily spend $600 on just a few of the early originals in very good shape. I don’t have any originals after 1900 so I am assuming they may be stapled too?
I’m not really interested in the entire library. Most of the catalogs are repetitive so I usually tried to acquire ones with a change in it such as the 1910 catalog featuring the scope as Clarence knows. Of course I had to have the 1909 to reflect the change so it wasn’t cheap purchasing originals. Damn addiction.
RickC
RickC said
I’m not really interested in the entire library. Most of the catalogs are repetitive so I usually tried to acquire ones with a change in it such as the 1910 catalog featuring the scope as Clarence knows. Of course I had to have the 1909 to reflect the change so it wasn’t cheap purchasing originals. Damn addiction.RickC
How would you know without at least reading each one first? I wish I had more. It would help narrow down when changes actually occurred.
Chuck said
How would you know without at least reading each one first? I wish I had more. It would help narrow down when changes actually occurred.
Chuck – I have about 30 of the vintage catalogs. Although a rookie it’s not my first rodeo. And I have every catalog from 1950-2005. The later ones obviously have more changes with models.
RickC said
Chuck – I have about 30 of the vintage catalogs. Although a rookie it’s not my first rodeo. And I have every catalog from 1950-2005. The later ones obviously have more changes with models.
Since I mostly collect the antique guns I have no interest with most of the post 1900 catalogs. Best bet for me was the set. I really won’t spend a lot of money for the pre 1900 originals. The catalogs are for my reference only. I’ll spend my money on guns.
Rick, I got to thinking about your post. I think you missed my point. All I was saying is that it is impossible a lot of the time to know what catalog may have the “change” you are looking for. The catalogs don’t always represent the current status. Eventually the catalogs will catch up with most changes. My first experience was with the 1897 shotgun. The March 1897 catalog does not even mention the 1897 shotgun. The November 1897 catalog does. Bert will know when the gun actually started being shipped. There are quite a few questions out there that can be narrowed down by looking at the catalogs. Maybe the post 1900 catalogs are better at keeping up with the changes? Maybe that is one reason that pre 1900 there were many years where there were multiple catalogs per year?
Chuck said
Since I mostly collect the antique guns I have no interest with most of the post 1900 catalogs. Best bet for me was the set. I really won’t spend a lot of money for the pre 1900 originals. The catalogs are for my reference only. I’ll spend my money on guns.
Chuck,
I have the following original post-1900 catalogs, and none of them are stapled;
1. March 1908 No. 74
2. June 1910 No. 76
3. January 1913 No. 78
4. 1918 No. 81
5. 1925 No. 83
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Thanks Bert. My last real one is 8/1899. So the change happened after this date but before 3/1908.
Chuck said
RickC said
Chuck – I have about 30 of the vintage catalogs. Although a rookie it’s not my first rodeo. And I have every catalog from 1950-2005. The later ones obviously have more changes with models.
Since I mostly collect the antique guns I have no interest with most of the post 1900 catalogs. Best bet for me was the set. I really won’t spend a lot of money for the pre 1900 originals. The catalogs are for my reference only. I’ll spend my money on guns.
Rick, I got to thinking about your post. I think you missed my point. All I was saying is that it is impossible a lot of the time to know what catalog may have the “change” you are looking for. The catalogs don’t always represent the current status. Eventually the catalogs will catch up with most changes. My first experience was with the 1897 shotgun. The March 1897 catalog does not even mention the 1897 shotgun. The November 1897 catalog does. Bert will know when the gun actually started being shipped. There are quite a few questions out there that can be narrowed down by looking at the catalogs. Maybe the post 1900 catalogs are better at keeping up with the changes? Maybe that is one reason that pre 1900 there were many years where there were multiple catalogs per year?
Chuck I found that out the hard way when I was looking for the vintage catalog that introduced the first Winchester scope. I knew it was in the 1909-1912 range so I bought the 1909 & then the 1911. Well wouldn’t you know it was the 1910… at a significant cost.
RickC
Chuck said
Thanks Bert. My last real one is 8/1899. So the change happened after this date but before 3/1908.
Chuck,
In regards to your question about the Model 1897, the first guns were assembled and received in the warehouse in early June 1897.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Chuck said
There are quite a few questions out there that can be narrowed down by looking at the catalogs. Maybe the post 1900 catalogs are better at keeping up with the changes? Maybe that is one reason that pre 1900 there were many years where there were multiple catalogs per year?
Surest way of dating changes (without factory records) is advertising in sporting mags & papers like Shooting & Fishing, Forest & Stream, etc. If a new product was introduced after pub. of the last catalog, the quickest & cheapest method of bringing it before potential customers was an ad in a monthly or weekly pub.
Many of these periodicals are now available on-line, though searching them page by page (the only way to find the ads) requires time & patience.
There was a 12 volume set advertised in the Fall 2020 WACA mag for $500
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
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