Buying Firearms (Deacts)

[Ben Evans]

Hi guys, I am going to start buying weapons, I served 23 years in the military and have always like MP's, MG's, rifles. Is there a good book out there that makes good reference to German WW2 weapons? Also are there good maker marked weapons or makers to avoid? Any info tips or good reading hints would be great if anyone has any?

[kompanie]

the collectors grade series of books are very good but each book is for a specific weapon and its variants,i have Sturmgewehr From Firepower to Striking Power also from the same series is the Mg34 book i dont have it but i know somwone who has and they say its brilliant.I also have Weapons and Fighting Tactics of the Waffen-SS which lists weapons used, with some illustrations and a brief history this book also covers all weapons so tanks and feild guns are included only part of the book is small arms so maybe not the best for just rifles ,mgs ect.

Hope this helps


Cheers Chris

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Ben, a very good basic book is "Guns of the Reich" (Firearms of the German Forces, 1939 - 1945) by George Markham. First published in 1989. It covers everything in just enough detail to get you started. From ammo through pistols, rifles, SMG's to MG's. Also some captued stuff is covered too. You can then move onto more specialised books covering just a single weapon type. You can buy it here for a tenner:

http://www.worldwartwobooks.com/prod...forces-1939-45

Always buy any examples with matching serial numbers if at all possible. No makers to avoid. Every item will be maker marked.

Cheers, Ade.

[Ben Evans]

Thanks for the reply guys, Ade so I take it that there are no fakes out there what a man could get stung on? Also are DOT marked MG34's ok, I read a thread somewhere that it is better to buy a German made one rather than a Czech one, to me they are all the same.

Grusse

[Ben Evans]

PS and I have also seen comments on the Ryton weapons,the ex Russian stock, have they been re furbed or something

[kompanie]

There’s always some one trying to part you from you money no mater what your interested in. I recently was stupid and brought a ppk which I later found out that the waffenamt was fake, when I looked again it was so obvious but I had the old collectors vision of looking for something for so long and when you think you see one you don’t take your time.but the dealer gave me a refund.There are more desirable codes for certain firearms for example a byf p38 is more desirable than a cyq p38.Russian capture can sometimes have a capture mark or have electro stencilled numbers on them. Good clean waffenamt marks is what your looking for as ade said matching no.s is nice but the been there done that items can be (but not always) miss mached.If your bothered about items being "re blued" then that’s some thing to look out for (the markings look kind of filled in and soft and the blueing looks very good).Try to stick to old spec (pre 95) deacts.Milweb.co.uk has a lot of items on it even if you just check it for the average price.As soon as I 've finished moving I get some pics of my stuff up.Im sure Ade will add some more as he is a walking library of knowledge

Cheers Chris

[Ben Evans]

Thanks Chris

[Adrian Stevenson]

Hi Ben, outright fakes exist of the MP38. Made in the Czech Republic I am informed. Of course, there are various replicas but these would only fool a real novice.

As Chris has mentioned, guns with tampered markings with are more of a danger. I have seen a perfectly good MG42 ruined with the addition of fantasy SS markings (SS Runes in a diamond) added to every major part Always look for good clear markings and original blued finish.

Russian captures: some like these, while others do not. I personally do not mind them for what they are, legitimate peices of history. The Russians only got them one way But they have been reworked postwar. I think they tell an interesting story. What I am not keen on are people taking these and trying to reverse engineer them back to their "original" spec. ie taking off the varnish and blackned finish and trying to make them an even more forced match number wise. To me that just makes them "messed with".

Regarding different makers being worth more: again this depends on how serious you are. If you just want one example of a particular weapon, I would not worry about this. But if you are out to collect different makers them this would come into play.

Finding good examples of unmessed with German arms in the UK is not that easy.

Cheers, Ade.

[Ben Evans]

Again, many thanks mate