20,000 Thousand Guns

Recently, at a flea market, I came across a couple of books that took me back to my youth. I actually have my original copy of the book seen above, though it's a little the worse for wear for having been pawed over by a youthful gun enthusiast. This one is in much better shape, with cover still attached. Hy Hunter claimed to have the world's largest gun collection and the great majority of it was for sale through this catalog and his retail gun store in Burbank. The book is almost 300 pages so there was a lot to occupy my youthful mind. And that it did!

This was Hy Hunter's store at 3031 West Burbank Blvd. in Burbank, California. In addition to the huge Winchester rifle, the bold claims painted on the building are probably no exaggeration. There was nothing like this place before or since. It certainly occupied my thoughts for huge portions of my waking hours. After what seemed like eons my father agreed to take me to see it. In fact it turned into a family affair with my mom and sister, plus neighbor Terry Ellington, also going along. In the days before the freeway system was completed it probably took an hour and a half to get there from our home in Redondo Beach. Once there, there were no disappointments. Entering the store, there were racks of long arms lining every wall, glass display cases of handguns and overhead, covering the entire ceiling, a collection of pistols said to have

been taken from criminals over a period of years by Scotland Yard. There were even a large number of military machine guns for sale, though the chambers of these weapons had been welded up in compliance with Federal regulations. It didn't matter though, they were there and I saw them - along with everything else. It was a great experience and an interest I've held to this day. Of course I lobbied mightily for the purchase of a gun, one of the Scotland Yard collection priced at $12.95. My dad said it was too much, though I suspect he was also afraid I might have taken it to school and threatened someone with it. Looking back, maybe he was right...on both counts. Later, I would lobby incessantly for a return trip and eventually we did go there once (or perhaps twice) more. But for the most part it was Hy Hunter's catalog of the "world's largest gun collection" that fed my interest and educated me. By the early '60s, when I finally had access to a car, Hy Hunter's store was out of business. Years later, sometime in 1970s, his name surfaced briefly in the news in connection with some shady dealings unrelated to the gun trade. And that's the last I heard of Hy Hunter.

In the back of the store was a museum like display area with several cases of exotic antique weapons. If I remember correctly there was an admission charge to view the historic stuff. I could not believe what I was seeing! It was like heaven. There was also a display of old photographs, mostly from the nineteenth century Old West. In my youthful naivete I had the notion that photographs (and indeed, most modern conveniences) were invented shortly before I was born. Imagine my surprise to find out that pictures of famous old western characters and locales actually existed! Eventually I would discover the astounding fact that photos of my parents as kids actually existed. It was the beginning of my interest in old photography that has continued to this day.

Read it and weep! This page of the catalog features Colt Single Action Peacemakers (with a couple of Remingtons thrown in). Colt had stopped production of the venerable old cowboy classic in 1940 to concentrate on war production and by the mid '50s they were already becoming desirable collector's pieces. Items number 7 and 9 claim to be fancy factory engraved guns at $250 bucks each. The price today would be in the tens of thousands! More common examples could be had for under $100.00. The popularity of this classic old revolver would prompt Hy Hunter to become engaged in marketing replicas under the name Great Western Arms. And in 1956, responding to demand, Colt would resume production of this old favorite.

A page of antique guns offered for sale in Hy Hunter's catalog. To my young mind the most notable here was the Colt Walker model (no. 424) at an astounding $3,000.00. In the late '50s you could have bought a new automobile for considerably less. As it happens, this gun would have proved an excellent investment as examples now bring a quarter of a million dollars or more and one collector recently paid a record $920,000.00 for a prime example. But it would have also been wise to be cautious. Then, as now, trickery was afoot in the old gun game and counterfeiting of high dollar items was even then something to look out for.

Hy Hunter, on the left, talks guns with WW2's most decorated soldier, Audie Murphy. By the mid 1950s the Congressional Medal of Honor recipient was enjoying a career as a movie actor and Hy Hunter had become involved in providing faithful replicas of that icon of the Old West, the Colt Peacemaker.

This book is one I didn't have as a youngster. Don't think I was even aware of it until many years later. I bought this copy recently and it features the collection that was on display for many years at Harrah's Casino in Reno. I had heard of this fantastic collection but it was many years before I was able to see it in person. The book has a good deal of erroneous information and the collection itself was not of the highest standard but to see it, or even have owned this book, would have been a huge thrill for a young gun nut.