Monarch 1136: A Complete Guide to the Industry’s Favourite Two-Line Price Gun
In retail, the tools that matter most are rarely the most visible to customers, and the humble price gun is the perfect example. It prices thousands of items a day, sits in the hand through an entire shift, and is dropped, knocked, and reloaded constantly, yet its quality is invisible unless you know what to look for. The Monarch 1136 is the price gun the industry keeps returning to, a two-line labelling tool that has held its position as the best-loved model in its category for years. This guide explains what the Monarch 1136 is, how its print options work, why its durability matters, the labels and ink it uses, and how to buy it.
What the Monarch 1136 Is
The Monarch 1136 is a hand-held, two-line price gun manufactured by Monarch, now part of the Avery Dennison family, and it is the model that defines the two-line label gun category in retail.
The essential idea is simple: a mechanical labelling tool that prints two lines of information, such as a price and a date, directly onto an adhesive label as it is dispensed. The 1136 prints eight characters on each line, which gives it room for the combinations retailers actually need: a price on one line, a date or code on the other.
Two-line capability is what separates this tool from single-line guns. It lets a store mark a regular price and a sale price, a price and a sell-by date, or an item code and a description, all in a single pass. For grocery, deli, bakery, and general retail applications, that second line is the difference between a label that only prices and a label that also dates, codes, and identifies.
The Print Options and Band Layouts
The Monarch 1136 is not one configuration but a family of print options, and choosing the right one is the most important buying decision. The same gun is ordered in different band layouts, each suited to a different labelling job.
The most popular is the 01 layout, which offers eight numeric positions over seven, with an identification band in the final position of the bottom line. It is the general-purpose workhorse for standard retail pricing. The 02 layout is built for date and price combinations, with a top line that can mark a date and a bottom line that prints a combined date and price, and it includes a rare identification band on the top line.
The 03 layout adds alpha-numeric capability to the top line, meaning letters as well as numbers can be printed, which suits item descriptions and codes. The 04 layout is designed for date and time combinations, recommended when a time stamp needs to change only a few times a day or less. The 06 layout is a standard configuration whose cent characters use underline dashes instead of a decimal point, and the 09 layout is similar with smaller, raised cent characters.
In total, the gun can be ordered to print just numeric or alpha-numeric characters across as many as sixteen positions, which is what makes it adaptable across pricing, dating, coding, and identification applications rather than locked into a single use.
Why Durability Defines This Tool
A price gun lives a hard life, and the Monarch 1136’s reputation rests on surviving it, which is worth understanding in detail.
These are plastic tools, and they get dropped. The 1136’s design accounts for that reality in specific ways. The print head is restricted to its designated path, which keeps the print reliable even after knocks that would knock other guns out of alignment. The label roll cavity is almost fully enclosed, protecting the paper labels from dust, moisture, and the elements, which matters as much for the labels as for the mechanism.
There is also the practical durability of the design. The gun is described as not feeling overly heavy in the hand, which matters over a full shift of continuous labelling, and it holds larger label rolls than competing brands, which means fewer interruptions to reload. The “open view” design allows the user to open the mechanism itself for fast, simple label changes, which reduces the wear that comes from wrestling a reluctant gun.
These details are not glamorous, but they are the difference between a tool that is a daily pleasure and one that is a daily frustration, and they are why the model has remained a top seller year after year.
The Labels and Ink It Uses
A price gun is only half the system; the consumables complete it, and using the right ones matters.
The Monarch 1136 uses horizontally dispensed labels sized specifically for the gun, and the label range is extensive. Beyond plain white, the compatible labels come in fluorescent red, green, pink, and orange, plus yellow, light blue, and clearance yellow, and in purpose-printed versions for bakery, deli, produce, grocery, and meat, along with “best by,” “use by,” and “sell by” dating labels, sale-price labels, and “regular price / our price” variants.
The ink roller is the other consumable, and the 1130 series ink roller is the matching part. Changing it is designed to be simple, and doing so on schedule is what keeps the print crisp rather than faded. The practical advice for any buyer is to order labels and ink alongside the gun, because a price gun without its consumables is a paperweight, and the label format must match the gun’s band layout.
The Repair and Longevity Story
One of the quiet advantages of the Monarch 1136 is what happens when it eventually needs service, and it is a point most buyers overlook.
The model benefits from a well-established repair infrastructure. The Price Gun Store, which sells the 1136, also offers a label gun repair service, which matters because a price gun that can be serviced and returned to duty is a different economic proposition from one that is disposable. A tool with fast, available repair is effectively a long-term asset rather than a consumable.
This is part of why the 1136 has lasted as long as it has. Retailers buy it once, use it hard, and have a path to keep it running, which changes the lifetime cost calculation considerably compared with cheaper guns that are replaced rather than repaired.
Buying the Monarch 1136: What to Know
For anyone ready to buy, a few details complete the picture.
The Monarch 1136 is sold by The Price Gun Store, operated by B&B Supply, at $98.95 at the time of writing, in new condition. Compatible Monarch 1136 labels are listed at $36.50 per roll, with the extensive colour and format range described above, and the 1130 series ink roller is listed at $5.95. The gun is ordered by band layout, which must be selected to match the intended labelling job, and the store stocks custom layout options in addition to the standard configurations for dating and coding applications.
The buying sequence that makes sense is therefore simple: determine the labelling job, select the matching band layout, and order the labels and ink alongside the gun so the system is complete from day one. The store also offers custom label printing and a price-match service, which rounds out the purchase options.
How the Monarch 1136 Compares
It is worth situating the 1136 among the alternatives, because the choice of a price gun depends on what you actually need it to do.
The 1136 is a two-line gun, and that is its defining characteristic. For businesses that only need a price, a single-line gun may be simpler and cheaper. For businesses that need two lines, a price and a date, a price and a code, a description and a price, the 1136 is the category benchmark, and its combination of durability, label capacity, and repairability is what keeps it there.
For anything beyond hand-held labelling, such as high-volume or automated printing, a hand-held gun is the wrong tool entirely, and a tabletop or electronic labeller would be the appropriate step up. The 1136’s place is the busy retail counter, the deli case, and the stockroom, where it has to be fast, reliable, and uncomplaining, and that is exactly what it is.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Monarch 1136 is the two-line price gun that earned its place through durability, thoughtful design, and the flexibility of its print options rather than through any single feature. Its band layouts cover pricing, dating, coding, and identification, its open-view design and enclosed label cavity make it easy to load and hard to knock out of service, and its repairability turns it into a long-term asset rather than a disposable tool. For a retailer, the buying decision is a matter of matching the band layout to the labelling job and ordering the labels and ink that complete the system. For anyone in the market, the Monarch 1136 remains the standard by which two-line price guns are measured, and The Price Gun Store’s combination of the gun, the labels, the ink, and the repair service makes it a practical one-stop source.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the Monarch 1136 used for?
The Monarch 1136 is a two-line hand-held price gun used for pricing, dating, coding, and identifying products in retail, grocery, deli, and bakery settings.
2. How many characters does the Monarch 1136 print per line?
It prints eight characters on each of two lines, with configurations available for numeric or alpha-numeric printing across up to sixteen positions.
3. What band layouts are available for the Monarch 1136?
Common layouts include the 01 numeric layout, the 02 date and price layout, the 03 alpha-numeric layout, the 04 date and time layout, and the 06 and 09 layouts with different cent formats.
4. What labels does the Monarch 1136 use?
It uses horizontally dispensed Monarch 1136 labels, available in white and multiple colours, plus bakery, deli, produce, grocery, meat, dating, and sale-price formats.
5. How much does the Monarch 1136 cost?
At The Price Gun Store, the Monarch 1136 is listed at $98.95, with labels at $36.50 and the ink roller at $5.95 at the time of writing.
6. Can the Monarch 1136 be repaired?
Yes, the model benefits from an established repair service, offered by The Price Gun Store, which extends its useful life considerably.
