doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Ah, those were the days

Look at the Model 12s.

Everyone looked about 100 lbs lighter. Lots of M12 and Knick SBTs.

I picked out at least one L.C. Smith SBT and a Remington Model 31TC.

Not to many autos that I saw

Nice movie, thanks...

Not everyone wears glasses in 1951.

Ejection is near universal.

Apparently shells were plentiful even at the height of the Korean war.

The ladies had yet to adopt the silly vertical gun mount.

More tents than RV's.

Indeed, obesity less evident in 1951.

Way fewer shell vests, no synthetic fibers, shells all paper and no plastic wads.

Great hats and club patches!

Imagine what a road trip was like in 1951 with no interstate highways and tires that lasted maybe 3,000 miles. Air travel was costly and dangerous, and the train would require some kind of local transportation. Grand attendees were dedicated.

Shooting was expensive in those days too, we had a newspaper article posted at the local club from the early 50's when the sport was just getting geared up again after WW2. I used an inflation calculator that showed inflation adjusted prices in that era to be about 2.5 times what we were paying in about 2010 or so.

It's still a great participant sport with a rich history. I hope future generations can save it.

Lots and lots of pumps. 20 years later, in the neighborhood I grew up in, only one guy had a pump. By no means a wealthy neighborhood, but, mostly ex-military, who had seen way more than one re-enlistment bonus.

Autos conquered the world.

Great video, thanks for sharing it.

Best,
Ted

You mentioned that shells were plentiful. You probably noticed people weren't keeping them. The reason you don't see people keeping shells (and no shell bags) is probably because they had to buy the shells that the ATA supplied and they had to hit the ground. You weren't allowed to pick them up. The shells were marked so you knew a shooter was using their shells. This rule did change around- back and forth over the years. I knew one guy who shot at the Grand about 40 years ago. The guy next to him ran 25 straight. My buddy walked over to the guy after they were done with the round and told him how well he had shot and asked him what kind of shells he was using. The guy said, "Oh, just some of my ol' reloads". My buddy told the judge and when they checked the shells, the guy was disqualified on the spot because he wasn't using ATA's shells. (My buddy was that kind of a guy) Not many good trap shooters have ever shot automatics at trap. The Model 12 ruled the trap world for decades until single barrels trickled in. I believe Joel Etchen was the first shooter to run 100 straight in doubles trap with an Remington 870 at the Grand in 1950. Quite a feat!! I used to love going to the Grand. Thousands of guns for sale. It was an odd feeling shooting directing toward the airplanes taking off and landing there at the Dayton Airport. I always wondered what it would feel like being a passenger on a plane- going down the runway and seeing 150 shooters shooting shotguns toward your plane. That is one thing I miss over the years. I'll bet I bought 7 or 8 of my Model 21s up there. And a half dozen Superposeds. I haven't been to the Grand since they moved. Maybe one day..

The rule was you had to use shells purchased when you paid your entry fee. They had to come from the shell house on the grounds. The rule changed only once to my knowledge. The shells were not marked. In later years the companies did make special runs for the Grand.

IF you ejected the hulls, they became the property of the club. Many trap clubs had this rule, but not all. The shells were sorted by the trap boys and sold to the club members for a nominal fee.

Back in the day, the saving of shells while shooting the trap line was considered a distraction. Most shooters used their ejectors in registered competition. Not all, as can be seen by watching the movie.

As far as automatics at trap, apparently you've never heard of the Remington 1100.

Many, many, very fine trap shooters used 1100's. In fact, that reasonably priced product did more to popularize the sport than any before or since. You had to carry spare parts, but you were in the game for a couple hundred bucks.

ATA blundered badly moving to Illinois. It is indefensible and unexplainable.

Pretty neat. I have two barrels of empty paper Winchester Super Speed paper hulls that I am pretty sure came from the Grand. Mixed in are some Canuck Hulls that are printed with "Welcome to the Grand 1961 1962 and 1963". I thought I would reload them and maybe I will...someday
Thinking about our mortality, I would bet more than 95% of the people in that film including the kids are gone, and most of the guns are still just fine. Although with Trap Shooters, they have all probably been altered at least twice....