Sturmgewehr 44

[guns ltd]

Nope, no Spitfires found that was told to me. Have you seen the photos of the MP44's that Syria had?
After WWII a lot of these type weapons were sold to the middle east. I have seen pictures of Panzer MKIII's and IV's that Egypt had during the late 50's and early 60's. I think their still is a lot of WWII stuff in the Middle east in long forgotten bunkers. We even found during Desert Storm a Sherman. The armored unit brought it home.

John

[Normandie]

Wow, don't need to take it like that, I just don't consider 400.000 weapons as mass production when you can think about how many have been destroyed, rusted, sold to the middle east and so on.

[lithgow]

I didn't mean to be offensive but it is strange to say that that many units doesn't qualify as 'mass produced'-the current cost of them has little to do with overall availability but a great deal with 'fashion' and the desire for Nazi made weapons-I bought an m34 Beretta pistol last year that was one of 400 purchased by Finland during WW2 but it didn't cost me $10,000...

[GIZMO8Z]

I think both of you gentlemen have a point. Stg 44s were not mass produced to the extent that so many other WWII firearms were... A lot of that certainly has to do with the fact that they emerged in the closing stages of the war. However, 400,000 units is certainly a lot!

At the same time, ANYTHING having to do with the Third Reich is in demand and is almost always ridiculously expensive. The taboo factor, I guess... Also, perhaps because the Stg44 is one of the only Wonder Weapons that is somewhat obtainable to the common collector?

Perhaps it's the forefather to all modern assault weapons?

[Martin Bull]

Also, perhaps because the Stg44 is one of the only Wonder Weapons that is somewhat obtainable to the common collector?

Maybe you're right....certainly, I've all but given up the search for a Me262 and V2 rocket.......

[pitfighter]

Ref. Mass production and the Third Reich - 400, 000 is mass produced for me, yes.
Not only that, but they were probably a few assembled after the war, for VoPo, Yugo and other armies.
It is a cool looking rifle but I think it's appeal as the first AW outweighs it's numbers, when compared to say, a marked G41W or G41M - which are far rarer, but much less glamorous.
There are many, many MP44's on the US NFA list here, so it is not as rare as many other well known automatics, it just has a special appeal.

Me with one of about 500 ex-Yugo MP44's that were sold in Canada about 20 years ago - not mine.



Pit.

[Normandie]

Nice example you're holding there!

[Dean]

That seems extraordinarily expensive for a decommissioned firearm.
Especially one as commonly encountered as the MP44 - considering it was mass produced.
They are particularly valuable in the US because of the 1968 cut off for MG's.
However, parts kits here are going for over $3500 so, maybe your price is OK.
I had my parts kit assembled around the Shoei replica receiver it is pretty cool for a non firing dummy.

The old gal at the gun "hand-in" might have had still her husbands' 1968 registration papers and if he brought it home, she might also have had his capture papers. If it was a true bring-back "Curio and relic" status, with capture and amnesty papers, it would be a little more valuable than a regular transferable - not a great deal more.
My Luger with capture papers sold for about a $1K more than an unpapered similar example - but it all depends on the market, this is not a hugely active market and it goes up and down with the economy.

Her husband could also have been an MG collector who simply owned it legally, and died.

Pit.

I believe this is the news story you're thinking of..Valuable WWII Gun at Police Buy-Back
By Annie Rose Ramos | ABC News Blogs – 16 hours ago

Just like a scene out of "Antiques Roadshow," a woman in Hartford, Conn., turned in an old rifle to her local police station's gun buy-back, only to discover the gun was worth anywhere from $20,000 to $25,000. The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, inherited the gun from her father who had brought it home with him from Europe as a memento from World War II.

The two officers conducting the gun buy-back, who are resident gun experts for the Hartford Police Department, informed the owner she was in possession of a Nazi Assault Rifle, the first of its kind, that dates back to 1944.

The gun is called a Sturmgewehr 44, literally meaning "storm rifle," and is the first "modern assault rifle ever made, eventually replaced by the AK 47 in 1947 by Russia, who copied the German design of the Sturmgewehr 44," Officer Lewis Crabtree, one of the two officers who discovered the gun, told ABC News.

"It's like finding the Babe Ruth of baseball cards," said Officer John Cavanna. "The rarity, it was made for such a very short period."

Most people, however, who aren't avid gun fans would have no idea what role this gun played in history.

"If you were to look at the gun and didn't know anything about guns, you would think it was garbage," Crabtree said.

That is essentially what the owner thought the gun was, bringing it to the station knowing full well it would be put into a smelter, melting the gun down into an iron brick.

"People turn in guns for a variety of reasons," Cavanna told ABC. "They don't have a good way to secure it, they have kids around their home, or they don't know how to use it. This is an anonymous way for someone to take an unwanted firearm and get it off the streets. We then give them a $50 or $100 gift card to Wal-Mart."

Crabtree attributes gun accidents to ignorance and carelessness. The anonymous gun buy-back program is aimed at preventing people from running into potentially dangerous situations with a gun they don't know how to use or work.

This seems to be the reason the woman who dropped off the historic rifle.

"Her father passed away. The gun was in her closet," Cavanna said. "She did not know it was a machine gun.

"If the gun had been in the closet loaded, any second you could hit the wrong level and discharge a fatal round," he said of the Sturmgewehr 44.

This German-made machine gun can fire 500 rounds in minutes, according to Cavanna, who is also a gun range master.

At the time the officers received the gun, it was in such disrepair that it was inoperable, unable to shoot a bullet even if the gun had been loaded. Cavanna said ammunition would have to be especially made for this gun.

The unnamed owner of the gun has left the valuable artifact at the police station for safe keeping.

"We did not take the gun in for the gun buy-back program," Crabtree said. "If we took it as part of the buy-back, we would have no choice but to destroy the gun. We don't want to destroy that gun."

The owner intends to sell the Sturmgewehr 44.

"It sounds like her family could use the money," Cavanna said.