SteyrAUG
05-22-12, 23:49
Most of us are aware of the personal museums some notable collectors such as Reed Knight, the late Bruce Stern and the like have amassed. But such things are a little simpler if you have seven figures to spend on your collection (although even then Reed has done some impressive work acquiring super rares).
But long before serious gun collecting became a rich mans hobby, I saw some remarkable collections even among blue collar shooters as a kid growing up.
Easily the most impressive was one of my Grandfathers friends who shipped back more machine guns during the war than people who consider themselves collectors today have Glocks. He was one of those fortunate few who spent part of the war in that magical location between incoming cartons of cigarettes and returning veterans with captured weapons.
I don't think a single one of his bring backs was an actual "capture gun" and only a few were battlefield pickups acquired first hand, but man did he manage to trade for some goodies which were promptly shipped home. I recall at least two Mg42s, a MG34, MP38s, MP40s, a MP41 and more Lugers, P38s, PPs, PPKs and Brooms than can be understood. He never saw a Stg45 and wasn't even aware of them during the war. And for some reason K98s were a problem to ship back (never completely understood that one).
At any rate, back in the good old days (before 1968) all one had to do to be legal was keep the guns in the basement and the bolts in the attic and you DID NOT have a functional machine gun and so long as you didn't get caught you didn't have to pay the tax. During one of the amnesties he registered some of his machine guns but several remained "unofficial" until he passed away. I have fond memories of shooting a few of them at his farm in the mid 70s.
I have no idea what became of any of them but when I was a kid he had about 50 handguns and about 25 machine guns and machine pistols. He also had quite the impressive collection of uniforms, flags, daggers and such. I remember he had about three dozen helmets, most were bought after the war when they were so common they could be bought for the price of a couple pizzas. I remember his basement being wall to wall flags and assorted other goodies hanging on the wall.
Probably next in line was a mechanic who ran his own shop and collected Thompsons. All of his were tax paid so he only had four of them that I remember (IIRC a 1921, 1928 and two M1 variants) but he also had about a dozen Garands, nearly every manufacturer of M1 carbines (he was always on the lookout for another Rockola) and about a dozen 1911s. Course those Thompsons were a lot cheaper in the early 70s and Garands, carbines and 1911s could still be grabbed pretty cheap in surplus stores. But for a guy who turned wrenches and got his hands dirty for a living, I remember it being a pretty cool collection.
Then there was the attorney, some kind of tax law guy so he wasn't exactly rich, who collected mostly WWII stuff. He had the most impressive Luger collection I've ever seen in person complete with baby Lugers and seriously rare variants. Had somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 Lugers not counting his trading stock. He got started as a kid in the 60s when Lugers were a bit more affordable. Back in 68 you could buy a common Luger for $40 or about $250 in today's dollars.
One can still build an impressive collection of C&R import marked guns on a working mans salary today. Ironically K98s were incredibly expensive back then (as more were bring backs) and Mosin Nagants were incredibly rare. But somehow it isn't quite the same as a wall full of Lugers or a rack of German belt feds.
But long before serious gun collecting became a rich mans hobby, I saw some remarkable collections even among blue collar shooters as a kid growing up.
Easily the most impressive was one of my Grandfathers friends who shipped back more machine guns during the war than people who consider themselves collectors today have Glocks. He was one of those fortunate few who spent part of the war in that magical location between incoming cartons of cigarettes and returning veterans with captured weapons.
I don't think a single one of his bring backs was an actual "capture gun" and only a few were battlefield pickups acquired first hand, but man did he manage to trade for some goodies which were promptly shipped home. I recall at least two Mg42s, a MG34, MP38s, MP40s, a MP41 and more Lugers, P38s, PPs, PPKs and Brooms than can be understood. He never saw a Stg45 and wasn't even aware of them during the war. And for some reason K98s were a problem to ship back (never completely understood that one).
At any rate, back in the good old days (before 1968) all one had to do to be legal was keep the guns in the basement and the bolts in the attic and you DID NOT have a functional machine gun and so long as you didn't get caught you didn't have to pay the tax. During one of the amnesties he registered some of his machine guns but several remained "unofficial" until he passed away. I have fond memories of shooting a few of them at his farm in the mid 70s.
I have no idea what became of any of them but when I was a kid he had about 50 handguns and about 25 machine guns and machine pistols. He also had quite the impressive collection of uniforms, flags, daggers and such. I remember he had about three dozen helmets, most were bought after the war when they were so common they could be bought for the price of a couple pizzas. I remember his basement being wall to wall flags and assorted other goodies hanging on the wall.
Probably next in line was a mechanic who ran his own shop and collected Thompsons. All of his were tax paid so he only had four of them that I remember (IIRC a 1921, 1928 and two M1 variants) but he also had about a dozen Garands, nearly every manufacturer of M1 carbines (he was always on the lookout for another Rockola) and about a dozen 1911s. Course those Thompsons were a lot cheaper in the early 70s and Garands, carbines and 1911s could still be grabbed pretty cheap in surplus stores. But for a guy who turned wrenches and got his hands dirty for a living, I remember it being a pretty cool collection.
Then there was the attorney, some kind of tax law guy so he wasn't exactly rich, who collected mostly WWII stuff. He had the most impressive Luger collection I've ever seen in person complete with baby Lugers and seriously rare variants. Had somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 Lugers not counting his trading stock. He got started as a kid in the 60s when Lugers were a bit more affordable. Back in 68 you could buy a common Luger for $40 or about $250 in today's dollars.
One can still build an impressive collection of C&R import marked guns on a working mans salary today. Ironically K98s were incredibly expensive back then (as more were bring backs) and Mosin Nagants were incredibly rare. But somehow it isn't quite the same as a wall full of Lugers or a rack of German belt feds.