Rare Sturmgewehr 44 turned in during buy-back.

[wallenba]

Wow! magine being there when this came through the door. It's a good thing some knowledgible people were there.
http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/valuable-wwii-gun-police-buy-back-022155231--abc-news-topstories.html

[wallenba]

It always rankled Kalishnikov that people say his AK 47 was a copy of that one. Had to add that, as it was stated in the article. It was not.

[willy3]

I hope they don't melt it down....:mad:

[Hang Fire]

They will destroy it, historical value be damned.

[square butte]

The article says in the last two sentences that it will NOT be destroyed.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Ammo can be gotten for this rifle via Hornady or Graf & Sons. If it could be donated to the NRA firearms museum at least it could be seen by anyone touring the museum. Or any other miltary museum.Robert

[smoked turkey]

+1 on donating it to the NRA museum so everyone can see and enjoy it. The article did say the lady who owns it plans to sell it. The police spokesman said he thought the folks could use the money. Who couldn't use $25,000!

[lathesmith]

It's been said by some that if the Nazi 6th Army group that was trapped in Stalingrad had been armed with these, the outcome of that historic battle might have been different. That seems a stretch, but it's still a tribute to the effectiveness of these in the hands of trained troops in urban combat.

lathesmith

[gew98]

It always rankled Kalishnikov that people say his AK 47 was a copy of that one. Had to add that, as it was stated in the article. It was not.

It should wrankle the late kalishnikov. The Russians captured some Mkb42's and saw the concept and immeadiately worked towards something akin to it in their own way...right down to the M43 7,62x39 cartridge. Kalishnikov came up with a different mechanism...but the german concept is what it is and the russians copied that !.

[I'll Make Mine]

Interesting -- not one of those police officers appears to have contemplated arresting the anonymous owner on Federal NFA charges (fully automatic weapon, functional or not but not demilled). There may yet be hope...

[Fishman]

Interesting -- not one of those police officers appears to have contemplated arresting the anonymous owner on Federal NFA charges (fully automatic weapon, functional or not but not demilled). There may yet be hope...

My thoughts exactly. I never expected a positive story out of a gun buyback

[garandsrus]

How can she sell the machine gun if it was not properly registered as a machine gun?

[303Guy]

Interesting -- not one of those police officers appears to have contemplated arresting the anonymous owner on Federal NFA charges (fully automatic weapon, functional or not but not demilled). There may yet be hope...It was handed in on a buy back programme. That's an amnesty for illegal firearms. It's no longer in her posession so she is safe from prosecution although she has been given the opportunity to sell it legally.
Very good of those police officers. :drinks:

[Dannix]

Wow, first rate officers indeed.

Unfortunately it sounds like since it was never registered, only special people will have the opportunity to buy it.


It was handed in on a buy back programme. That's an amnesty fot illegal firearms. It's no longer in her posession so she is safe from prosecution although she has been given the opportunity to sell it legally.
Very good of those police officers. :drinks:

[leadhead]

gew98. You refer to the late Kalishnikov... I don't think he's dead yet.
Denny

[Jeff Michel]

No tax stamp=scrap, probably no charges will be filed but they will use this as evidence to obtain a search warant to check her personal residence to look for "dangerous ordinance". The only way the STG will be saved is if the ATF can use it as a weapon in their arsenal.

[KCSO]

I confiscated a full auto gun one time and we applied to the BATF to retain the gun as a display piece. After about 6 month of paperwork we were allowed to retain the gun and it is in a display. We reatin the gun on our records and we have to account for the whereabouts of the gun each year. IF it were sent to say the NRA it is my understanding that it's ownership ???? would rest with the agency and they would have to verify it's location and safety. As to the OWNER sellng the gun I don't believe that is an option if the gun actually is full auto, the gun will have to be retained by L/E or turned over to the BATF. I'm just glad it wasn't turned in to me.

[square butte]

Something is a bit amiss here because the article states that it was not accepted into the buy back program. And that this is how it was not sent to destruction. Looks like some pretty heavy bending of legalities here. None the less - happy it was not destroyed.

[wallenba]

It should wrankle the late kalishnikov. The Russians captured some Mkb42's and saw the concept and immeadiately worked towards something akin to it in their own way...right down to the M43 7,62x39 cartridge. Kalishnikov came up with a different mechanism...but the german concept is what it is and the russians copied that !.

Dead? I think he just celebrated his 93rd birthday. I'll check into it.

[gew98]

gew98. You refer to the late Kalishnikov... I don't think he's dead yet.
Denny


I was quite sure he died not long after Eugene stoner did. I do recall within months after Stoner & Kalishnikov met stoner did pass on.

[leadhead]

Like wallenba said, he just celebrated his birthday, he's 93
Denny

[MtGun44]

AFAIK, if it was not registered before this in one of the few amnesty periods it will
be destroyed, ATF cares not one whit for history or value. POSSIBLY there is
a route to a military museum, but my guess is "too bad, you are lucky we don't put
you in jail" will be the ATF view.

Good for the officers, kind of surprised, but I think that their good efforts will be
steamrollered by the antigun pukes at ATF.

Unless they can ship it to the Mexican drug lords.

Bill

[Dannix]

He's both around and still a mover and a shaker too.
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2012/10/31/mikhail-kalashnikov-asks-putin-to-save-izhmash/
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2012/11/20/putin-supports-izhmash-izhmekh-merger-under-kalashnikov-brand/

[JIMinPHX]

I've found freshly spent cases in that caliber north of Phoenix in the desert before. I guess that maybe somebody in AZ has one of those that works.

[MtGun44]

If registered, they are perfectly legal. Mike Venturino has one. But they are rare and
therefore, very expensive.

Bill

[gew98]

If registered, they are perfectly legal. Mike Venturino has one. But they are rare and
therefore, very expensive.

Bill

While all transferable MG's are expensive , this particular rifle is not rare. About 10-12 years ago a buddy got one for $3500 - mismatch buttstock was it's only flaw. Anyhow he sold it a few years later to pay for a truck his son wrecked. He got about $7k then.
I have encountered two MP44's in the last 15 years...neither ever registered and never could be under the 1986 amendments. One family thought I was trying to scam them by advising them to cut the receiver up and I'd sell the parts 'kit' for them. I've washed my hands of people like that anymore as they'll try and cash it in and get their butts in a sling.

[Multigunner]

A friend inherited a truckload of rare automatic weapons from his father, who'd in turn inherited them from his brother who'd been a WW1 army officer who'd come out of retirement in WW2 to test and evaluate captured AXIS weaponry and some allied weapons.
There were two versions of the STG in the collection, the early version with full length gas tube and the more common version.

Theres really not much if anything carried over from the STG to the AK that wasn't already part of some previous automatic weapons designs. Medium power assault rifle cartridges had been experimented with by several countries before WW2.
The STG is probably the first really well thought out assault rifle design, certainly the first to see widespread use, and still shows up occasionally in the Middle East where many were sent by the Soviets after WW2.

[Ed in North Texas]

How can she sell the machine gun if it was not properly registered as a machine gun?

Coming back to this thread, I see several assumptions that the weapon had never been registered. I re-read the story and I don't find any indication that it had never been registered. And I see no mention of when her father died, so the inheritance could be years old (a possible problem with regard to transfer of ownership - but I didn't bother to look up whether there is a time limit on inheritance transfers, but still an NFA weapon registered before the last amnesty) or very recent.

I had a neighbor who brought one back from the war. Dewatted before he sent it home with a spot weld (on the bolt carrier I think - but it has been 20 years since I handled it that one time), he had it registered as a Dewat as soon as he returned to the US.* Sadly, it was stolen (by one of his son's druggie friends - or the druggie son - I'm positive, they were hanging around his house at the time and his 1911 disappeared at about the same time). ATF never recovered it.

Ed

* Just pointing out that at least some of the WW II troops knew about NFA registration, so the assumption that it had never been registered could be mistaken.