Long gone dealers of military and useful stuff

[Bruce MacMillan]

Originally Posted by Harry Moon

I remember "3Vets" on Main street In Vancouver in the late 60's. rode my bike down to buy a bayonet for $1. Had barrels of guns and tons of webbing. Had no appreciation of what I was looking at. Passed up the Sykes fairburns for whatever was the biggest which i promptly used to split firewood.

I spent much of my allowance there as well. Came home one day with 2 helmets, 2 bayonets and 2 grenades. No one freaked out when they saw us playing.

I remember the $5 Lee-Enfields still in the cosmoline.

For radio parts there was R&P Electronics and Satellite Electronics and once in a while a trip to Boeing Surplus in Seattle.

Anyone in Winterpeg remember Sabre Industries?

[maple_leaf_eh]

The Sidney I Robinson of Winnipeg had a catalogue for various outdoor needs. I still have a badly photocopied pamphlet on fur trapping from their store on Ellice Street. The business was bought up by Cabellas (I think).

Princess Auto used to have a catalogue of assorted surplus items too. I remember seeing truck tarps and tires listed for sale. Not that I knew or cared about that stuff either.

Eaton's, Sears (Simpson Sears?) and Canadian Tire used to sell .303 Lee Enfields in their sporting goods departments. They were amongst the cheapest hunting rifles available too. I've been sorting the now-discarded long gun registry data, which was posted on the internet after some newspaper won its Access to Information case. There are plenty of guns identified as Eatonia. Some seem to be Italian Carcanos in 6.5mm. Sears' store brand was JC Higgins.

[Jes Andersen]

We had Capital Iron in Victoria, surplus dealers and ship breakers. Before they went modern, there were tables of old RCN uniforms, black and white navy caps, piles of webbing, helmets and gas masks. My favourite was the basement, where all the small bits from the ships ended up. At one time, I had a room full of old radios and other junk packed home from there. I still have a trunk somewhere with some of it. In my armoury, there are a couple of .303 Parker Hale Lee Enfields purchased from Sears in the early '70s for just over $100. I also have a 12guage JC Higgins that is still my choice for the camper and perimeter defense. Princess Auto catalogs provide many hours of entertainment and probably got me to learn to read...

3Vets. Lever Arms (are they still around?) and others were places to go in the day.

Good memories

[cletrac (RIP)]

In 1962 I went into a McLeods store and bought a sporterized 303, a box of shells, a hunting suit and a deer license all for $20. Those were the days!
Lever Arms used to have lots of stuff for a good price. I got a Martini Enfield handgun in 303 British from them. Kicks like a mule!

[Phil Waterman]

Hi All

It is not just the old surplus dealers who are disappearing, it is the small parts dealers who could make a living selling relative small quantities of parts. One of the best sources Chevy parts I've used for years is now gone Tim Tygarts Obsolete Chevy Parts is gone, bought by Jim Carters. Now I hope that Jim Carters will continue to make make both high volume and low volume parts avaliable.

Cheers Phil

[Grant Bowker]

I was aware of the purchase of Obsolete Chevy by Jim Carter, I only wish they had also accepted the Tygart practice of using the Chevrolet part numbers rather than creating their own. Mac's had started to transition from Ford numbers to their own made up system as they transitioned to part of the Ecklers group. I recently received a catalog from them that proudly proclaimed they were returning to the Ford part numbers "for ease of ordering". Ford and Chevrolet had numbering systems that worked for a long period of time to keep huge inventories straight. Why invent a new system to replace one that works? Tygart used to add an "R" to reproduction parts and also made it clear if the part was in any way not an original part.

[David Dunlop]

Bruce.

I remember Sabre well. Had a huge compound out St. James way and also a smaller storefront place. I still have one of their catalogs kicking around somewhere. Huge inventory of 19-Sets and parts related, other military signals equipment and enough aircraft spares you could nearly build your own Tiger Moth, or Harvard. Even sold Link Trainers at one time.

Rampant rumours that when they shut down some big surplus operation in the Florida area came up and cleared out their inventory. One wall of their shop use to be lined with 19-Sets stacked to the ceiling. Some on racks but many in original heavy duty cardboard boxes and some in large wooden crates, sort of double sized bren gun chests. Also had lots of cardboard boxes of 19-Set Installation kits for various vehicles.

There was also the old Princess Auto Surplus Yard in Transcona with the big quonset hut run by a chap named John. .99 cent WW2 Cdn Army Helmets. $9.95 Lee Enfields and $19.95 Jungle Carbines.


David