I just stumbled across an interesting site that archives the earliest issues of Guns magazine, at jeffersonian.therealgunguys.com/ … .html#1956
Guns was the first of the general circulation gun magazines in the US, starting in 1955, and the earlier issues contain a cartridge collector column. These provide some interesting information and pictures, and are well worth a look. It takes a while to download these.
VERY good resource and I spent far to much time reading various pieces on my 1st visit! Interesting that the first magazine listed had a shotgun shell as the featured cartridge. Imagine that! (1 I don’t have either)
I have several of the late 50’s issues of Guns in hard copy, including #1 (which has virtually no advertising). They are still fascinating to read, not in the least because of the ads for milsurp guns and ammo, and the ridiculously low prices from Ye Old Hunter, Klein’s, Hudson, and a host of other mail-order merchants of death. I guess the prices weren’t so cheap if you account for inflation, as about everything now is about 10X (or more) what it was in the mid-50s. Still, I’d like to return to those pre-GCA 1968 days long enough to buy up a boxcar-load of Lugers, P38s, and broomhandle Mausers for $25 each.