The trouble with this bloody hobby is that it’s just too easy to pick away at the siderails and going squirreling off into the forest. Primarily I collect Axis infantry weapons but when you have been going as long as I have then you start getting to the end of the list. Just recently I bought my first US infantry firearm, this perfect 1937 date M1903. Look upon my works ye mighty and despair.
Here’s a less common rifle. Once the China War got really going the IJN found it increasingly difficult to get small arms as all of the domestic Japanese production was going to the Army. In response they sent a mission to Europe to buy a battle rifle. They were on a budget, they found the Czechs, Germans and Swedes too expensive so they settled on an Italy Carcano rework. Note that it is visually very similar to the Type 38 long rifle and was chambered in the same round, 6.5 Arisaka.
Because I am getting to the end of the German small arms I decided to grow my US & British groups. Luckily this one came past me as it kind of fits in with both countries. This rifle, made by the Stevens subsidiary of the Savage Arms Company was intended for supply to the British through the Lend-Lease program. It’s dated 1943.
The latest addition to my Axis small arms collection and just about the last SMG I was missing. This is a 1934 manufactured Bergmann BMP-34. Not to be confused with the Steyr MP-34 here. This gun was produced under license by Walther for the Danish manufacturer Bergmann and the design later saw life as the MP-35, supplied in some number for the Waffen-SS. The low serial on this one makes me think it is either from the original company or one of the licensed copies made by Shultz & Larsen. It has the early 200mm barrel.
This rifle, a VZ24 manufactured by Brno in 1940, is a great example of a German issue G24(t). It’s fully matching down to the stock. Still has all of its dirty birds intact. The only downer is that fact that Bubba has sanded the stock lightly at some point. Shame, but since these are terrifically hard to get in Canada in any state, I am prepared to ignore this. This brings me one step closer to having a full collection of German long guns. The ones I have missing at a G29/40 Radom and a G41(m).
In 1941 the decision was made by Franco’s regime to replace the 1898 M98 Mauser in 7×57 with a variant of the German K98k in 7.92×57. This resulted in the M43 Mauser which remained in service until the late 1950’s. These got imported in bulk into Canada about ten years ago and I felt the urge to own one grow as the supply of Axis weapons started to dry up. Here’s where I have ended up, an Army marked M43, all matching and in generally excellent condition.
This M24 Mauser came to me untouched from it’s journey post-1945 and complete including matching serials, King Peter II cartouche and original sling mounts.
With the First World War over, the newly formed country of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later known as Yugoslavia) decided they wanted a standardized rifle for their front line troops. After a brief trials, they came up with an almost exact copy of Germany’s K98k rifle – the biggest difference being that the action was 1/8 inch shorter than Germany’s standard infantry rifle. The first 100,000 rifles came from FN, and the remaining examples (which were produced through WWII) were built at the Yugoslavian national armory. There were three main configurations of this rifle: two carbines and one rifle.
This example is marked BOJHOTEX.ЗАВОД – Крагујевцу (Military Technical Institute 1932-1941) on the sidewall indicating a Yugoslav arsenal origin.
Here’s an uncommon rifle I just picked up. These German contract guns were made by Fémáru Fegyver és Gépgyár, Budapest, which company possibly subcontracted some or all of the work to Danuvia Gépgyár, Budapest 1941-44. In 1940 the Mannlicher Model 35 was redesigned for the German contract. Based on German request the caliber was changed to 7.92x57mm Mauser, the bolt handle was turned down, a staggered row Mauser-type box magazine flush with the bottom of the stock was fitted and German M98-type bands and bayonet lug were used on this rifle. All steel parts, including the bolt were blued.
I haven’t been able to work out why the reference to Gewehr 98 in it’s name as it shares no dna with that rifle. Note the 2 part lower stock in the same style as the Enfield SMLE rifles.
This heavy machine gun appeared out of nowhere this last month. It’s manufactured by Breda in 1939. It all matches however the barrel has a 1938 roll date so I am assuming they dated the major parts upon manufacture and then assembled them later. It’s a dewat obviously but a nice one, with a moving bolt and a topcover that lifts to reveal the guts of the gun. A great back drop to my Carcanos!
Just when I thought I was done with Carcano’s I get a call from Sean, who has scavenged up this interesting little variant, the M91/38 Cavalry Carbine (Moschetto Modello Cavalleria).
Chambered in 6.5×52, and equipped with a permanently affixed long spike bayonet, it was intended for the use of horse cavalry units and fitted into a leather saddle scabbard.
Interestingly the setup with the bayonet is almost identical to the Japanese Type 44 Cavalry carbine. I expect that designers kept an eye on what each other were producing and stole ideas that appealed to them. The gun is manufactured by Terni. Interesting that the barrel is proofed 36-XIV, meaning it was manufactured in 1936, the 14th year of Mussolini’s rule.
My friend Andrew bought this rifle only a couple of months ago. I wondered if he was drunk, since he doesn’t collect rifles that aren’t a K98. I knew, if I was patient, I’d end up owning it. And here you go! This Carcano M91/28 (Moschetto Modello Mod. 91/28) in 6.5×52 shows stock markings indicated that it was issued to the Italian Navy. Markings on the stock and receiver, including the dirty bird, plus the blued bolt, indicate it was captured by the Germans, inspected and reissued. This completes my Carcano group as I have a 91/41 Carcano here and a 91/38 here.
Man it’s great having a picker like Andrew :)
Here is an pretty rare rifle, the Czech VZ-23 Mauser, produced by Brno. The rifle was manufactured using a German Karabiner 98AZ base, resulting in a 550mm long barrel. The newly independent Czech arms industry only made these for a short period before moving on to the improved VZ-24. Signs of German reuse in WW2 include a stamping on the receiver under the wood-line and the blued bolt.
The Luger pistol is a prohibited firearm up here north of the border, due to its barrel length of 100mm. Because I came to Canada so late I was unable to be grandfathered into the pistol license required to own one. As a substitute I own a WW1 & WW2 “cock and click” dewat as well as the long barrelled LP-08 Artillery Luger. But I always wanted the real deal. So I went the long route of sourcing a 105mm barrel from the US and then locating a Luger up here to get re-barrelled and reclassified as restricted.
This is it, a 1937 Mauser made S/42 marked Luger P-08. It came with a spare magazine, a takedown tool marked WaA63 (correct for Mauser) and a period holster from 1937.
I have always had a wee hard-on for the Enfield No1 Mk3. It was the first rifle I owned as a child and I have always wanted to own one again. A friend of mine is a nut for Enfields and owns far too many. I asked him to sell me a no-issues wartime rifle to go with the No4 & No5 I already had. He came up with this one. Battle issued, made in 1941/42 by Lithgow in Australia. Sighted for high velocity MkVII ammun ition, this rifle went into New Guinea with the Australian Forces. It was returned to Lithgow in June 1945.
This is my Beretta MAB-38A SMG, in 9mm Luger. Much like the MP34ö in production quality, this was a well regarded weapon, used by many foreign armies including the Germans and manufactured into the 50’s. This particular example is pre-war and comes with the long 40 round magazine. Funny story was that I bought the magazine from a bloke in Bulgaria, but represented as an MP38 magazine. When it arrived it was plainly not that but I didn’t send it back as I thought it likely that one day I’d have the MAB-38. Here it is! It’s an interesting weapon, notably having two triggers. The forward one fires in semi-auto, while the rear one is full automatic.
This is a pretty great find for me. This rifle came from the US and is a Type 2 TERA (Teishin Rakkasan Shyoujyu) rifle. This rifle was based on the Type 99 infantry rifle but designed to be able to be broken down into two parts for stowing prior to the Paratrooper drop. These rifles are almost never found with an unground Chrysanthemum and often the front and rear sections are mismatched. In this case the rifle is all matching. Interesting because it retains the anti-aircraft sights of the Type 99.
This rifle is one of 91,000 manufactured by the Japanese between 1911 and 1942. These were intended to be issued to cavalry troops so they could have a less cumbersome primary weapon with an integral bayonet. Prior to this the cavalry was forced to carry a separate Type 38, a Type 30 bayonet and a Type 32 saber. This rifle has two individual holes in the butt stock compartment to hold the two parts of the cleaning rod, indicating that this is a “first type” variation. Nagoya Arsenal marked, the mum has been ground upon surrender. This rifle was quite often found with Railway or other transportation troops.
Patience is what you need in this hobby. And after ten years of looking, my patience is rewarded with an MP-38 Machinenpistole. Just about as nice as can be given that I am in Canada, this is an all matching Erfurter Maschinenfabrik B. Geipel GmbH (ERMA) made example dating from 1940. An old dewat, it is what we call “cock and click” in that the action can be cocked and released with a pull on the trigger. Very hard to find compared to the MP-40 that I have here. All I need to find for this now is a better sling and a slab sided early magazine as the one in it is the later MP38u40 type.
After the fall of Belgium in 1940, the FN factory was taken over by the Germans and this pistol, the Browning Hi Power P-35, was produced under occupation. This example is WaA marked 140 as is one of the magazines. That magazine also has the serif U mark. This pistol takes 9mm Parabellum ammunition like the Luger and Walther P-38.
I have one other Mauser K98’s, here. That one is from a Czech factory and is all matching except for the lower stock. I wanted one of these rifles, mid-war, German factory and no need for the word “except” when describing it. Through a friend of a friend, this one appeared. A Sauer made 1943 K98, no issues, all there, lovely.
Although I try to stick to Axis firearms, sometimes the pickings get slim. So when I slide off the true path I have to be careful because there’s a world of pain in store for my bank account if I go full retard. I have always had a sweet spot for Enfield rifles though, my first long arm centerfire was a Number 1 Mk 3. The Number 5 always held a fascination for me. Partly because of it’s late war nature and partly because when it was issued, the vast majority of them went to the Far East, a theatre I have read a lot on. This example is one of 81,329 produced by BSA. It’s fully matching, unmucked with and never got the Ishapore redo post-war.
This is a M30 variant of the Mauser C96 semi-automatic pistol in 7.3mm calibre. The serial number of this example puts it around 1932. It has the three chinese characters on the magazine indicating it was for the Nationalist Chinese contract. The barrel is the standard 140mm length. Somewhere along the last 80 years it has acquired a commercial stock by Geha. Along with this one, I show below my 1920 regulation police rework with fixed sights and the short barrel. I would rate the condition of this one as tired, I have since cleaned it with a copper brush and it’s looking a lot better, but the ex-China ones are always beaters.
This is the Nambu Type-14 semi-automatic pistol. This pistol was produced from 1925 until 1945. This example has the digits 19.5 stamped into the frame. This is the year and month of manufacture. In this case you add 19 to 1925, the first year of the Showa Emperor. This gets you to 1944. May is the fifth month so the pistol was produced in May 1944. The manufacturer is Toriimatsu and this pistol is from the second series. 1944 was the high point in the manufacture of this pistol so the 19.5 is pretty common. These pistols a terribly ugly and have a bad reputation for shooting their owners. The ammunition, 8mm Nambu, is almost unobtainium.
The Fucile di Fanteria Mod. 1938. The standard short rifle adopted by the Italian Army in 1938. The rifle is in 7.35×51mm calibre. This one is a bit of a bush pig, rough, mismatched stock but cheap. It was manufactured by Terni in 1939. The 7.35 round was adopted to give the Italians a heavier hitting round than the prior 6.5 Carcano. The rifle was unusual for incorporating a detachable folding bayonet, seen below or here.
Next up on the wall is a sweet, all matching, G33/40 Mountain Carbine. These rifles were essentially a German copy of the vz33 but considerably lightened by scavenging metal from any place they could find on the rifle to remove. Note the hollow bolt. The rifle is also characterised by the plate that extends up the stock from the butt plate. This was intended to protect the rifle from damage due to being used as a walking stick. The rifle, in addition to being issued to Gebirgsjäger, was also issued to any light infantry such as the Fallschirmjäger. Known for their brutal kick and excessive flash due to the light weight and short barrel, these were only made between 1940 and 42. The 945 code here is the early code for Brno, later it changed to dot.
Kiwi Medals 