View Full Version : Home Defense In The 60's
Figured you guys might like this;
Back in the day..... there was this sitcom call the Dick Van Dyke Show...
And one episode features the Petrie home under threat of a neighborhood burglar.
Rob's neighbor decides he needs to borrow a .22 rifle to defend his house.
Hilarity ensues....
http://www.hulu.com/watch/30478
A couple items of interest-
1) Apparently the MSM has always been scared of guns- even a measly .22 bolt action
2) Rob goes full metal oper8or at the 13:10 mark. :laugh: Do watch the episode sequentially all the way through though- it's worth 30 minutes of your life.
This is back in the day when we left our windows open and doors unlocked at night.
Averageman
08-02-16, 04:12
Jerry the Dentist next door likely had a M1 Carbine.
Moose-Knuckle
08-02-16, 04:28
Yup, when rumors of race riots were abound my dad in his twenties picked up an M1 Carbine.
Linebacker
08-02-16, 05:08
"Oh, Rob!".
Averageman
08-02-16, 05:13
You know I'm old enough to remember watching that show when it was relatively new and in prime time.
The idea that the Petrie's represented a typical American Family in the 1960's was some BS, but in a fun family kind of way.
It certainly avoided the realities of what was going on in the World.
Great show, used to watch reruns as a child on nick at night. I'll check it out when I get home.
I grew up in the 1950s and 60s in Mississippi. Home defense was buckshot, and buckshot was home defense. Still is.
brickboy240
08-04-16, 10:14
Home defense for my parents in the 60s was Dad's issued M1911A1 (dad was an MP in the Corps) and a Winchester Model 12 12ga with 00 buckshot.
He also kept a loaded Model 94 30-30 behind the bookcase in the family room.
No safe...no trigger locks either.
All of us kids knew about all of these guns and we never dreamed of playing with them or taking them to school.
Averageman
08-04-16, 14:23
Those guys loaded nothing but Ball Ammunition in those 1911A1's back then.
I often wondered what they would say about something with some updated performance like we have available today?
As much as I'd like to say I'd be a switched on guy who would carry a nickeled Hi Power and an M1 in a paratrooper stock with a 30 round mag.
Most likely a double barrel and/or a .357 was more than enough.
Those guys loaded nothing but Ball Ammunition in those 1911A1's back then.
I often wondered what they would say about something with some updated performance like we have available today?
All you gotta do is go on just about any other forum and ask. Most guys from that era will tell you that HP ammo isn't proven and unreliable (performance) along with. ...if it wasn't originally on the 1911 it shouldn't be now. They are the same guys who say a handgun caliber should start with a 4
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titsonritz
08-04-16, 18:19
They are the same guys who say a handgun caliber should start with a 4
...to match their waste size.
brushy bill
08-05-16, 00:59
...to match their waste size.
If you live long enough, it will probably happen to you too.
brickboy240
08-05-16, 10:05
In this part of Texas, a Winchester Model 94 30-30 loaded with 150gr soft points was a VERY popular home defense and pickup truck gun. A fixture in these parts for a very long time.
In this part of Texas, a Winchester Model 94 30-30 loaded with 150gr soft points was a VERY popular home defense and pickup truck gun. A fixture in these parts for a very long time.
Not just Texas. That's what my family espoused. Except for my renegade dad who preferred a Marlin mod 99 in .300 Savage.
Not just Texas. That's what my family espoused. Except for my renegade dad who preferred a Marlin mod 99 in .300 Savage.
"Aint it a crime......Only person who could miss with this gun is the sucker with the bread to buy it."
Internets if you catch the reference. That model and caliber is one of my unicorns esp with a Redfield
"Aint it a crime......Only person who could miss with this gun is the sucker with the bread to buy it."
Internets if you catch the reference. That model and caliber is one of my unicorns esp with a Redfield
Lol, how'd you know? It started with a weaver but ended up with a Redfield ... The one with the "TV" lens. It got its fair share of blacktail.
Ready.Fire.Aim
08-05-16, 19:44
Everybody I knew growing up that had guns kept them in a glass-door gun case in their house.
No lock on it. Children did not touch the guns, they were taught not to.
It had a deer rifle, shotgun, and .22. Also the boy's Benjamin pellet gun. Possibly a scope on the deer rifle.
All 5 boxes of the ammo was also on display.
When you went in the house you would pause in front of the guncase, admire the guns and offer a compliment. That was a good conversation icebreaker for men-folk.
Usually a .38 revolver in a bed side drawer. Cartridges next to it still in their Kleenbore box.
Gunracks in the truck rear view window.
World was more polite and civil. Consequences were harsh for crossing the line.
Lol, how'd you know? It started with a weaver but ended up with a Redfield ... The one with the "TV" lens. It got its fair share of blacktail.
If you inherited it, you are a lucky man
Funny enough, sitcoms seem pretty accurate.
https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2015/10/27/the-armed-citizen-oct-27-2015/
March 1965
J.L. Campbell, operator of Silver Falls Lodge near Silverton, Ore., was awakened by his wife who had heard noises in the main part of the lodge. Campbell, armed with a .22 revolver, surprised two burglars. He held them at gunpoint and had his wife call Harry Luckett, superintendent of Silver Falls Park. At this time, Campbell was aware that confederates of the two he had captured were outside somewhere. Shortly after Luckett arrived, one of the two burglars jumped him in an attempted escape. Campbell wounded one and recaptured both. Police took the burglars into custody and later picked up three persons who had waited outside the lodge during the events inside. (Silverton Appeal Tribune, Silverton, OR)
On a darker side, look up the movie The Town That Dreaded Sundown.
To this day, it remains unsolved. Like rural Texarkana gets preyed upon by this guy dressed up like a haint. He would kill couples parking and kill random people.
There's one part where they show people buying up all the guns and ammo and putting up heavy blankets over windows.
It actually happened but forensics weren't what they are now and nobody knows who it was.
But that one part where everybody is cleaning out the gunstores was fairly eerie. Like they were ready for the apocalypse.
Averageman
08-05-16, 20:13
My Dad was with the 101st in Berlin in the fifties and was an Armorer.
He said he had hundreds of WWII Lugers in his arms room. As Officers rotated out of the 101 and back to the States, they got a Luger as a going away present. That Man had an undying hatred of those pistols. I don't know what it was specifically, but he assured me, no matter how much I might want a Luger, they were a total piece of crap and I need to avoid them like the plague.
The man loved him some 1911's and M1 Carbines though.
wildcard600
08-05-16, 20:19
"Aint it a crime......Only person who could miss with this gun is the sucker with the bread to buy it."
Internets if you catch the reference. That model and caliber is one of my unicorns esp with a Redfield
You know Macumba?
You know Macumba?
Yeah, my grandad was a voodoo priest in Trinidad
wildcard600
08-05-16, 20:48
Yeah, my grandad was a voodoo priest in Trinidad
Good, then we got this by the ass.
If you inherited it, you are a lucky man
My older brother got it.
I'm a lucky man because of the woman I am married to.
And my Bren Ten! :cool:
All you gotta do is go on just about any other forum and ask. Most guys from that era will tell you that HP ammo isn't proven and unreliable (performance) along with. ...if it wasn't originally on the 1911 it shouldn't be now.
Hmmm.... Perhaps because the mid-70’s and earlier autos and the JHP ammo for them did not play well?
People underestimate how far hollow point ammo has been optimized and how much more we know about pistol reliability. Especially in the semiautomatic calibera.
I remember when the breakthrough of bullets optimized for autos occurred. (Jacket covering the cavity, no exposed lead to deform/snag). Took a bit for the expansion to equal the old revolver JHPs.
Polishing feed ramps was nearly always necessary to use JHPs back then.
This was not unique to 1911s, SW 39s and 59s also usually required some tuning. And 9mm was pretty anemic, nothing like now
The world changes, but those fud stories had basis in fact
Those guys loaded nothing but Ball Ammunition in those 1911A1's back then
I bought my first .45 1911 in the mid 70s as a teen. To join a Smith model 13 .357 and a M1 carbine. Traded the carbine for a Model 70 in .270 shortly after. (I was a library student of Jack O'Conner)
I don't recall seeing hollowpoint 45 for sale until the early 80s. I'm sure it was available, just not common. Nor commonly used.
There was 30 carbine HP available, though I mostly shot surplus ball and reloaded Speer plinkers.
Everybody I knew growing up that had guns kept them in a glass-door gun case in their house.
No lock on it. Children did not touch the guns, they were taught not to.
It had a deer rifle, shotgun, and .22. Also the boy's Benjamin pellet gun. Possibly a scope on the deer rifle.
All 5 boxes of the ammo was also on display.
When you went in the house you would pause in front of the guncase, admire the guns and offer a compliment. That was a good conversation icebreaker for men-folk.
Usually a .38 revolver in a bed side drawer. Cartridges next to it still in their Kleenbore box.
Gunracks in the truck rear view window.
World was more polite and civil. Consequences were harsh for crossing the line.
You just described my father's home. He had a bookcase/gun display built on one wall. That was 1971. 22/250, Musket, shotgun, pellet rifle. and you could see it all through the window when you walked up to the front door. So up until somewhere after year 2000. I forget just which year he died.
BUT... I also remember when we, at the house before that one, started locking the door at night. Someone stole a quilt/comforter off the cloths line one night. It was unheard of.
Both of these locations were either city or dense suburbs. Not some out of the way place. Just basic living, middle class.
I will never forget the reaction my mother had when that quilt was stolen though. To me as a very young child her entire demeanor changed. Only for that instant. From then on we locked the door at night, but I was so young I didn't really understand lock the door. Even then it was lock the screen door.
To this day I can take you to the very same areas of town and you will see the crime perspectives. It is relationally similar after what must be 50+ years.
I drove through a neighborhood today that used to be solid middle class. Now I see signs of distress. Now the people overall may be good but they live in a closer proximity to unfavorable conditions I suppose you could say. You would expect to see it see it stay steady or rise but....
ETA: forgot.. .38spl Colt snub in the dresser as the actual defense weapon.
Moose-Knuckle
08-06-16, 03:45
But that one part where everybody is cleaning out the gunstores was fairly eerie. Like they were ready for the apocalypse.
Yup, that is when my dad decided to pick up an M1 Carbine. Several American cities were smoldering from riots when word spread that buses full of "Freedom Riders" were heading to town everyone went to the hardware store downtown (that is where Americans use to buy guns and ammo) and cleaned them out of every rifle, shotgun, pistol and box of ammo. A detective who witnessed this went to pastors in the black community and told them this. They met the buses outside the city limits and turned them around.
Hmmm.... Perhaps because the mid-70’s and earlier autos and the JHP ammo for them did not play well?
People underestimate how far hollow point ammo has been optimized and how much more we know about pistol reliability. Especially in the semiautomatic calibera.
I remember when the breakthrough of bullets optimized for autos occurred. (Jacket covering the cavity, no exposed lead to deform/snag). Took a bit for the expansion to equal the old revolver JHPs.
Polishing feed ramps was nearly always necessary to use JHPs back then.
This was not unique to 1911s, SW 39s and 59s also usually required some tuning. And 9mm was pretty anemic, nothing like now
The world changes, but those fud stories had basis in fact
Hmmm...perhaps it's 2016 and not 70s. People can read. I like surprised they aren't still carrying muskets
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Hmmm...perhaps it's 2016 and not 70s. People can read. I like surprised they aren't still carrying muskets
The original reference was about why they carried ball back in the 60s. There was a reason, they were not ignorant as implied
That said, I fully expect this generation to be muttering about bolt carrier staking long after we've move past ar15 platforms and separate gas keys. It's human nature
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