My SvT-40 Its a non-rearsenaled non-imported rifle from what i can tell. The bolt hasnt been reblued or anything that the tell tale re-arsenaled guns have had done. Anyways, i dont have a bayonet for it but here it is.
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So I started postimg in my thread but I will continue in this thread with Steve. I will share parts of my collection.
I evaluated, researched and gave prices to a WWII vets family along with a friend of mine a couple of years ago. The vet had passed away a few years before we were contacted by the family. Unfortunately we never got to meet him. He had a collection of over 40 years. I didn’t charge anything for my months of research on his items. The family wasn’t attached to the collection and just wanted to sell it to people who would appreciate it. We made an agreement with the family we wouldn’t charge anything for the evaluating the collection if they agreed to let either one of us get first pick at any items that we may want to buy. They had the right to say no, counter offer or get a second opinion on the price that either one of us offered. It was a agreement that worked out to benefit us all. We grew to have a good trusting relationship with the family. We all had valued time spent together swapping stories or just explaining how nice his collection really was and what a great eye he had.
The vet had outstanding taste and had done a good job educating himself on WWI & WWII items. He had an eye for the rare and unique items that he purchased. I was able to purchase a good number of items from his collection. Some items I feel like I paid a little more than I should have. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to buy some rare items that had been in one person’s possession for decades.
Two of the items that I was able to purchase are all original matching parts and pristine German Lugers. Both have very minimal honest holster wear. They have been well taken of. Both bores are bright and shiny with excellent rifling. The top Luger is a military contract P08 made by Mauser in 1940. It saw use in WWII. It has the proper inspectors Waffen proofmarks. The bottom Luger is also military contract. It is a WWI Imperial luger. It was made by DWM in 1917. It saw use in WWI. Both Lugers came complete with the original holsters, loading tool and two original magazines. I was very fortunate to be able to pick both of these Lugers up out of his collection. Serious deep pocket Luger collectors have picked up most of the pristine and rare Lugers. The price of all Lugers is still on the rise as the supply has dried up.
Everything in my collection is not import marked. It was all WWI & WWII bring backs by US Serviceman.
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This is another pristine Luger from the vet’s collection. It is a all matching parts Swiss Bern P08 Luger from 1929 and made by Waffenfabrik Bern. This Luger is extremely rare as less than 18,000 were made by Waffenbrick for the Swiss Army. These Swiss Waffenfabrik Bern’s comprise less than 2% of all Lugers produced. All the parts are stamped with the Swiss cross on them. With the Luger was the original magazine and holster dated to the Luger.
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One last set that I will post today. This Mauser HSC is very rare because it is factory engraved. It was made in 1945 during the short time that the French controlled the Mauser plant. The US troops originally captured the Mauser plant. The US troops didn’t stop the invasion of Germany. The US troops passed the plants possession off to the French. The French finally destroyed the plant in early 1946. Only a limited number of HSC were made by the French. The French used the Mauser machines and the German workers during the short time between the end of 1945 and the beginning of 1946. The Colt US military 1917 revolver with holster is in excellent shape considering it was used in WWI and WWII. The holster is also the proper original US issued holster.
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geeze… man y our lugers are amazing… hell everything you’ve posted so far is amazing. i cannot believe the quality of the guns you have shown us… i sure wish i hadthe funds and oppertunity to purchase the stuff you have had to. i look forward to seeing more stuff of what you post and others. hopefully we can get more folks posting in here thier c&r guns.
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I have a Walther P38 and Walther PP in my collection that have the rarer plum colored frame. There are differing theories on why they came out plum colored . The most credible reasons are the firearm factories were being bombed day and night towards the end of the war. The guns were being made in out of the way places without the normal salt bluing tanks. If the bluing gets to hot or has impurities in the tank then you get the plum or red color. There aren’t as many of these because it primarily only happened towards the end of the war.
The bone handled and factory hand engraved Mauser HSC does have the proper WWII Greman Army acceptance proof marks and German factory proof marks. It was one of the last group of Mauser HSC that was made before the Mauser plant was captured by the American forces then passed on to the French. I have one factory engraved HSC during the German occupation and one HSC during the French occupation of the Mauser Factory.
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Some more items that I have been able to add to my collection is a pristine Colt Commando from WWII including the WWII holster in excellent condition. I also have a WWII Nazi Army proof marked Walther PPK. What makes this one special other than being a Nazi marked PPK is that it is in the rare satin Verchromt finish and in excellent condition. Not many were given the finish as it turned out it wasn’t as durable as the Germans hoped that it would be. Of the ones that were given the Verchromt finish not many survived in good condition.
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holy cow Greg. honestly your collection so far his just dumbfounded me. Its stuff I love to look at but i dont think i’d ever be able to own. I like to have stuff that is historical but not museum quality… your stuff is museum quality to me. love the walthers and the Colt. very amazing stuff you have there
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Steve I didn’t own the really higher end stuff until the last 2 or 3 years. I have been collecting for over 30 years. In the past I never really focused specifically on military handguns. I have a good number of nice military rifles. There aren’t any collectable grade WWI & WWII handguns available anymore without paying a mint for them. The long guns are starting to go up in price but nothing like the handguns. Most of the handguns are selling for 3 to 5 times as much as the long guns. There are still very nice long guns out there at an affordable price because there are still so many on the market. The handguns were produced in significantlly less numbers than the rifles. You may run across someone who just wants to get rid of some old guns but there aren’t very many people anymore like that. You can buy some beat up handguns for a cheaper price but even the beat up ones are going for more now than they ever have before. I realized that the handguns were a very good investment as their prices are steadily going up.
For years I have maxed out my 401k before taxes and put money away in a Roth IRA. Buying these pieces of history is one way that I diversify my investments. Some people buy silver and gold, I buy collectable old hardware. There aren’t many investments out there that you can use as one of your hobbies and can really enjoy owning them. This is a big bonus for me to be able to do both. One day when I have kicked the bucket my son can sell some off or he can keep them as he sees fit.
Today I will show a set that I got from evaluating the WWII vets collection. The first is another 1944 Colt 1911A1. It is all matching Colt parts with the original issued 1944 holster. The second 1911 Colt has a very interesting story to go along with it. This 1911 was made in 1918. It saw combat in both WWI & WWII. This 1911 was the vets own issued sidearm during WWII. Since he was an Officer he could purchase the sidearm from the Army and bring it back home as his personal properly. Sometime after he was back at home he sent his 1911 frame off to Colt. He requested them to hand engrave a Government Model slide and fit it to his 1911 frame. I am sure that he didn’t want the original slide engraved so he could preserve the historical value of this 1911. The sad part for me is that we weren’t able to locate where he put the original slide. His family remembers that he did keep the original slide. Maybe one day the family will run across it. The cool thing is that I didn’t even have to ask, they promised if they ever did find it they would make sure that I got it to have his complete sidearm back together.
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well you’ve got me on the time spent collecting by well over 20 years. i’ve only been collecting for about 10 or so years now so that helps to explain how long it takes to get to the good stuff. I have a few of each, i never really buy more than one of each model of gun, so if i have one mosin nagant, then thats all the mosin nagants i need, unless theres a variant like a pu sniper, then i need one of those and a standard 91/30. I’m not so crazy on the nagants that i need each and every variation of those as i know there are quite a few.
I do see what you mean about the prices going up quite a bit on the handguns versus the long guns. hell even long guns are skyrocketing in price these days. I can see how buying historical hardware can be a good diversification as well. I would say i do that too but on a much smaller scale rotfl. It is a lot of fun though to be able to enjoy the hobby as well as have it as an investment. Unfortjunately i have no kids, so what i do have will have to go to whomever i choose when i go in my will. it is quite sad. but it is how the cards have played out in my life thus far.
thats an awesome story aobu tthat 1911 and the slide. I hope they find it and get it to you eventually.
here’s another C&R gun of mine. its my nagant revollver. everyone should have one they’re just too cool as they are one of the few revolvers that if you threaded the barrel you could put a silencer on it cause of how the cylinder seals to the barrel when fireing.
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That Nagant looks to be in pristine condition. Were you able to get the holster and lanyard with it when you bought it? I always want to complete the package as it would be issued to a soldier. If you notice all my handguns have the accouterments to go with them. On the collector level that really helps with the overall price. Unfortunately the many of the accouterments from WWI & WWII are getting harder to find. The prices on them are also quickly going up. I have been collecting hardware for 30 years but not all of it is collectable stuff. I love the modern hardware also.
thanks it is pretty nice. i do have the holster cleaning rod, and i think the lanyayrd too. it shoots nicely too. I agree with you, i like to have the accouterments too. i like making the “whole package” on my gi stuff, that way its like it would have been if they would have walked up to it and picked it up to use right now just like back then. I really dont have anything from WWI except my 1917 Eddystone rifle.
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Two more items in my collection is a pristine German military FN Hi-power with the rare tangent rear sight made in 1941. It is the complete package and totally unmolested. It has the correct and matching Waffenamt acceptance stamp on the magazines and holster.
The second item is a complete package with a little honest holster wear. It is a Swiss military Husqvarna 1907. It was issued to the 1st Artillery Regiment and it was made in 1931. The Swiss military obtained liscence under FN Browning to produce these based on the 1903 pocket hammerless. It is still in the original 9mm long caliber.
A WWI Colt 1911. It was made in 1915 and has the original 1915 Boyt military flap holster. This 1911 has on the slide “Model 1911 of US Navy” instead of the more common Model 1911 of US Army. In the first years of production the Navy received significantly less 1911’s than the Army. Only 15,000 of these Navy 1911 were produced between 1912 and 1915. After 1915 all of the 1911 produced were marked as Model 1911 US Army. She is a beautiful and rare old lady.
This P08 is acollector grade pristine Mauser (BYF) 1941 “Black Widow” Luger P08. This luger did come out of a large Luger collection. The owner has passed away and his collection is being sold by his surviving family.
It will occupy a place in my collection until the day that I am no longer above ground and breathing O2. After that it will be up to my son if he keeps or sells it off to another collector. I really am thankful to be able to find and own so many pieces of history.
