Airgun prices in 1939!

[gromit]

Hello

Whilst flicking through the Army & Navy Stores Catalogue for 1939 (as you do on a Bank Holiday Monday) I came across the section on airguns. For those not familiar with the old Army & Navy Stores they sold just about everything from groceries to cars, much of which was available by mail order via the catalogue.

The prices are as follows:

BSA No 1 Air Rifle .177 bore …………………………… 80/-
BSA No 2 Air Rifle .22 bore ………………………….…. 90/-
BSA New Model Breakdown Action .177 bore…..50/-
Diana Mod.429 Air Rifle ………………………………….. 50/-
Diana Mod.426 Air Rifle …………………………………...37/6
Diana Mod.22 Air Rifle …………………………………....25/-
Diana Mod.20 Air Rifle ………………………………….... 17/6
Diana Mod.15 Air Rifle ………………………………….... 13/6
Diana Mod.1 Air Rifle …………………………………….... 6/6
Webley Service Air Rifle.177, .22 or .25 ……………95/-
Webley Junior Air Pistol ……………………………….…. 21/-
Webley Mark 1 Air Pistol ……………………………….… 32/6
Webley Senior Air Pistol …………………………………. 45/-

I wonder what the best investment was out of this little lot?

Cheers, Gromit

[gromit]

Check out http://www.measuringworth.com/index.html for conversions of old prices to the present day.

Looking at the Retail Price Index conversion on the site the Diana Mod 1 would sell for the equivalent of about 14 quid and at the other end of the scale the Webley Service sold for a smidge under the 200 quid mark by the same measure.

Cheers, Gromit

[Lakey]

These were annual wages in 1939

Farm Worker - 90 pounds per year

Skilled Engineer - 148 pounds per year

Battle of Britain Pilot - started at 340 pounds a year

Average weekly skilled factory worker on a production line brought home around 2.50-3.00 pounds a week

Now bear in mind that there were twenty shillings to the pound. That would mean that a BSA No2 bore Air Rifle at 90 shillings (or 4.50 pounds) would be nearly two weeks wages for a skilled factory worker.
Equivalent price today somewhere around 500-600 quid (or even more !!!)

Expensive bits of kit then - so that is why there are relatively high numbers still around as people looked after them and cherished them as the very expensive precision guns that they were.

Lakey

[gromit]

Hi

Also selling in the same catalogue were sporting rifles. To set the air rifles in context with them the BSA No.6 Lee-Enfield .303 charger loading rifle sold for 9/5/-. The military Lee-Enfield, of course, would soon be doing it's part in the war effort.

Give or take twice the cost of the BSA No 2 Air Rifle.

Cheers, gromit