http://www.necn.com/12/08/12/WW2-weapon-turned-in-during-gun-buy-back/landing.html?blockID=811359&feedID=11106 (http://www.necn.com/12/08/12/WW2-weapon-turned-in-during-gun-buy-back/landing.html?blockID=811359&feedID=11106)
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(NECN/NBC News: Jeff Saperstone) - Police officers in Connecticut received one very unusual weapon during a gun buy-back program last week -- the gun was from World War II and is worth over $30,000.
All sorts of guns were turned in at the gun buy-back event in Hartford last Saturday, but one weapon caught the eyes of officers.
"The chance to see a piece of history -- this ... is absolutely unbelievable," said Officer Lewis Crabtree of the Hartford Police Dept.
That's because the weapon turned in is a World War II-era assault rifle used by the Germans.
"Usually, this rifle would be issued to SS troops," said Officer John Cavanna of the Hartford Police.
Cavanna is a gun historian.
One woman turned in the weapon, unaware of how much it was worth.
"In excellent condition, this gun is rated at $30,000 to $40,000," Cavanna said.
But you might be wondering right now, how did a German soldier's weapon wind up in the hands of an American?
"You could kill a solider back then, and if the captain of your fighting unit signed off on it, you could send that gun home to your family or kid brother or cousin," Cavanna said. "Anything you wanted. Her father, who was a World War II army man, had brought this gun home from the European theater."
The gun, developed in 1944, holds a 30-round magazine and can shoot 500 rounds per minute. Cavanna said every modern assault rifle produced today is based on this design.
As soon as officers saw this weapon, they knew its value.
"This is a gun that should actually be in a museum rather than in a shredder," Crabtree said.
And that's why they will allow the owner to sell the gun.
"I give her credit for bringing it to us," Crabtree said.
A piece of World War II history -- saved.
I hope this finds a good home in a museum somewhere.
Very cool. Thanks for sharing
Jarhead.
Quote from: TheCommandTent on December 09, 2012, 11:59:03 PM
I hope this finds a good home in a museum somewhere.
+1
Im guessing its a STG.
oddly you can find lots of them in Africa.
Great story, JH. Thanks for sharing!
So did they buy it back for $35,000?
Quote from: Longdan on December 10, 2012, 12:41:01 PM
So did they buy it back for $35,000?
No...they are permitting the owner to sell it.
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on December 10, 2012, 03:01:24 AM
Im guessing its a STG.
oddly you can find lots of them in Africa.
cheap romanian knockoffs
There is a German company who makes a STG-44 semi auto copy in the original caliber.
http://www.ssd-weapon.com/BD_43_1.html
Don't think it's here in the US, however available in Canada
http://www.marstar.ca/dynamic/product.jsp?productid=74988
It this the gun that the AK47 is supposed to be designed from?
yup.
Quote from: bob48 on December 10, 2012, 05:59:55 PM
It this the gun that the AK47 is supposed to be designed from?
Supposed? Ain't no doubt about it IMHO.
Word has it that some Syrian rebels found thousands of them stockpiled somewhere.
http://www.armoryblog.com/firearms/rifles/free-syrian-army-captures-5000-stg44s/
IIRC I posted that at the dubyaG when they were found. I think I was trying to get JH hot flashes.
Quote from: Staggerwing on December 10, 2012, 06:07:14 PM
Word has it that some Syrian rebels found thousands of them stockpiled somewhere.
http://www.armoryblog.com/firearms/rifles/free-syrian-army-captures-5000-stg44s/
Hopefully the price will become more affordable. ;)
My own sad story...my uncle liberated a ppk and a luger during WWII and quietly kept them stored for many years. In the twilight of his life, he gave them to another one of my uncles (actually uncle-in-law) who - get this - turned them into the RCMP during one of their unregistered gun amnesty offers.
I still cry just a little bit when I think how those pistols probably ended up on the business end of a cutting torch...
sniff,
Jack Nastyface
Prolly in some cop's basement now Jack. Do not cry.
Quote from: Longdan on December 11, 2012, 05:59:30 PM
Prolly in some cop's basement now Jack. Do not cry.
LOL
But I'm glad they let the woman sell that WWII weapon.
So as I inventory the equipment of the unit I'm replacing here some of the items that I have to account for are weapons captured from dead insurgents or from raids on caches and such. Apparently these have turned up some interesting finds in this area. Just yesterday I inventoried a PPSh that looks completely rusted on the outside but was still functional. My counterpart here told me the most interesting weapon they have found was a .30 cal water-cooled machinegun that they traced back to a Marine unit that lost in on Guadalcanal. Unfortunately they didn't still have it but they said it was still completely functional and only needed a bag for the water.
Quote from: Airborne Rifles on December 15, 2012, 09:17:51 PM
My counterpart here told me the most interesting weapon they have found was a .30 cal water-cooled machinegun that they traced back to a Marine unit that lost in on Guadalcanal.
Holy crap. I wonder what stories it could tell.
FWIW...as I have posted before in this and other forums, I spent about a month travelling through the NW Pakistan Frontier, mostly in gov't lands (the karakorum highway) but spent some time in the FATA (fed. admin tribal areas). One town I went to - Darra (now made famous thanks to Medal of Hornor) - was basically a moderately sized gun market. Among the oddities I saw included: pen-guns (looks like metal Bic pen, fires a .22), a PPSH, a Martini-Henry, a single shot pistol of unknown origin but likely Victorian date, and crazy bolt-action rifles made to look like AK's or SKS. The barrels of these homebrew rifles were made - no shite - of tempered and machined re-bar.
Conspicuously absent from most shops at the time were any US made weapons...despite the fact that the US was supporting the Mujahdeen in the fight against the Soviet occupiers in Afghanistan. Didn't even see the "right arm of democracy", so I suppose they were sticking to Soviet / Chinese / East-bloc guns so that captured Soviet ammo could be easily re-used.
Quote from: Jack Nastyface on December 16, 2012, 10:42:30 PM
Conspicuously absent from most shops at the time were any US made weapons...despite the fact that the US was supporting the Mujahdeen in the fight against the Soviet occupiers in Afghanistan. Didn't even see the "right arm of democracy", so I suppose they were sticking to Soviet / Chinese / East-bloc guns so that captured Soviet ammo could be easily re-used.
From what I understand, the US acquired Soviet Bloc weaponry from a number of different sources, including the Israelis who captured tons of the stuff from the Arabs and then supplied those weapons to anyone fighting the Russians in Afghanistan...this was done for obvious reasons (ie. so that nothing could be traced back to the West).
and it makes ammo supply much easier.