An Old Sten Gun Mk1*

[gew98]

(This one is deactivated now)
When I stripped the wooden furniture off low and behold there was a bullet lodged beneath the barrel.
The photo shows the entrance hole.
What a story that must have been.
Attachment 479520Attachment 479519Attachment 479518Attachment 479517

I understand that you live in a very anti firearm land and to own it it had to be 'neutered'. But why on earth would you sand the wood and pimp polish up the metal so ?. I just don't get the bubba thing be it here ( USA ) or there ( UK ).

[Saladin]

I understand that you live in a very anti firearm land and to own it it had to be 'neutered'. But why on earth would you sand the wood and pimp polish up the metal so ?. I just don't get the bubba thing be it here ( USA ) or there ( UK ).

The wood wasn't sanded, it was polished to remove the grime and the metal was rusting so that was rubbed with 1000 grade emery. I did clean it with the intention of re bluing it or having the black suncorite baked on but couldn't be bothered in the end. It just hung on the wall in my office as a display piece.
I am not a collector...I just get given things. The time I was given the rifle I did not appreciate that you leave things as they are.
If you saw the daggers, knives and bayonets on display in my office (I don't collect edged weapons either) you would understand why people have a tendancy to give you items to add to the 'collection'. That started off with me having my one khukri on display that I had been given when we pulled out of Hong Kong.
All the best
Doug

[gew98]

Doug ; As a collector sanded/polished has virtually no different effect. They change the original finish and dull original markings. A s a collector whom centers on WW1 era rifles it can kill collector value significantly !. Plus the beauty of aged wood with the "patina" only time can bestow upon it is simply gorgeous. I've known bubbas that rub stocks down with acetone and even mean green detergent type soaps...ruins it to a collector !

[Saladin]

Doug ; As a collector sanded/polished has virtually no different effect. They change the original finish and dull original markings. A s a collector whom centers on WW1 era rifles it can kill collector value significantly !. Plus the beauty of aged wood with the "patina" only time can bestow upon it is simply gorgeous. I've known bubbas that rub stocks down with acetone and even mean green detergent type soaps...ruins it to a collector !

Gew98,
You would have just loved the unopened box of K98s that I found in Berlin then!
I ended up giving them to the Schutzpolizei who sold them off down in West Germany

The two triggered Bruno LMG I did have restored at the local army workshop before it went on display in my office was another Berlin find.

As you may have gathered I am not a collector of weapons and being of the ilk I am a gun should be clean and ready for use...but I do appreciate what you say about keeping the original patina but this rifle really was in a sorry state when it turned up.

Happy collecting all the best