In these days of Wal-Mart's cheapest-possible approach to everything, it's hard to believe that at one point, stores were proud of their merchandise's quality, and sold some upscale items. Some of those "department store" guns are pretty remarkable.

I came across an old Western Field .30-06 bolt action made in West Germany. After doing some research, I learned that those rifles were made by Heym using Mauser patents. (By comparison, a modern Heym rifle will run you somewhere around $2000.)

Ward's saved some money by using less-fancy walnut stocks, but the rifle's action and barrel are truly high-quality German components.

Sears has some old rifles that are made on Belgian FN mauser actions (with American barrels). They're currently selling for about $600 or so.

There's a small collector market for these rifles. If the one you saw was in good shape and priced right, you might get a real bargain.