rare find during gun buy-back.

[recithree]

makes you want to go through your grandma's attic.

Link Removed

(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.

 

[Bob Bihari]

Sorry...sounds like a load of Bull-Sqeeze to me. If she really did have a non-de-milled StG-44, the BATF would be all over her..... and how the hell would she be able to sell a full-auto that had not been registered prior to 1986? If it has been de-watted (it doesn't look that way in the video), then it isn't worth anywhere near the 30K they quote in the news piece. Another point: the story about bringing home a war trophy as long as the unit commander signed off on it is also an old-wife's tale....ESPECIALLY a full-auto weapon. Maybe for a pistol, but even then, unless you were a ranking officer, they were mostly smuggled in.

When the war was over, a lot of hardware came in in duffel bags - everyone just wanted to get back home, and they weren't checked that closely. There was NEVER any provision made to allow troops to "keep their issued weapon"...period. This Police "Historian" is full of it ...the StG-44, while revolutionary for its time, shares very little with modern "assault rifles", even though it looks a lot like an AK-47, it's design is completely different.

You get stories like this all the time when the Media wants to highlight a "Gun-buyback Program"...they will sometimes throw in an Uzi, MAC, or other easily recognizable sub-gun from a drug raid to show how "successful" the program is in getting these evil weapons off the street.....They have been caught more than once "seeding" the pile of worthless junk guns with something spectacular.

The M-14 & M-16 sitting on the table with the StG are also a little suspect IMHO, especially since they are obviously filming in the Police stations' armory....(have you priced a Springfield Armory M-14 or Colt AR recently???). One case that comes to mind; just a month or two ago in Philly they put a couple of HKs from the SWAT team on the pile when they took the pictures. They later admitted it, but the Media ran with it for a few days anyway. Most of these programs are a waste of taxpayer's money, and are bogus. It's just a way to push an agenda and make the Politicians & upper-level Police Officials (same thing) look good.

Don't believe the BS ....
/rant off

 

[TlWheatley]

So if it's true, they probably bought from her for 1/2 the price.

 

[rehalfacre]

Guns could be brought back with unit commanders signature. I have one and the card of the soldier and commander from WWII. Card was signed in 1946 in Germany.

 

[Bob Bihari]

Guns could be brought back with unit commanders signature. I have one and the card of the soldier and commander from WWII. Card was signed in 1946 in Germany.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but, it's probably been smuggled in, or bought as surplus - German arms were brought into the States by the crate-full after the War, and you can still buy as many as you want at just about any gun show today. Back when I was a kid (in the '50s), they had barrels-full of Mausers (& '03 Springfields) for sale at the local hardware store. I see lots of these "bring-backs" at gun and collector shows, some even with "documentation".....no two of which even looked the same. The US Army is nothing of not consistent with it's paperwork.... and unless you can verify with an actual government-issued document (I've never seen a valid one), paperwork means nothing. A lot of paper was generated after the war to "cover" a smuggled firearm. There are even people who collect "capture papers" as a humorous sideline for fun. Just saying....
The only VALID form for enemy captured items from the European Theater was the AG USFET Form N 33 (authorization to bear and retain captured enemy equipment), but only applied to pistols (rarely), or militaria (Flags, helmets, bayonets, etc).

Not trying to get into a pissing contest, but I've been collecting firearms of all types for over fifty years, and I've heard every story there is about "Daddy or Grand-daddy brought this one home from the war", and I've learned to be very skeptical.
Believe what you want though....

 

[mmckee1952]

Bob Bihari, How would the BATF even know about this gun? They wouldn’t even know it existed. As for gun’s being brought back or shipped back, my uncle who was in Korea brought back a North Koran pistol and a bayonet in his duffel bag, so some war items do make it back, either officially or on the sly.

 

[Bob Bihari]

Bob Bihari, How would the BATF even know about this gun? They wouldn’t even know it existed. As for gun’s being brought back or shipped back, my uncle who was in Korea brought back a North Koran pistol and a bayonet in his duffel bag, so some war items do make it back, either officially or on the sly.

No1 - If it was a full-auto (which an StG-44 is), as soon as it showed up at the Police Station, you better believe the local BATF agent would be down there in a heartbeat. They have to be notified IMMEDIATELY when an FA weapon of any description shows up, and the "Old Lady" would have a lot of '"splanin' to do" . The BATF don't play games...trust me.

No2 - That was my point in the previous post - most "war trophies" are either contraband (smuggled) or bought later as surplus or a gun show & the proper story applied. It's happened in every war, even today, though it's much more difficult now. When I was in Vietnam, a favorite way to smuggle stuff (military & otherwise) was to have buddies in Repo-Supply (they sent damaged stuff state-side for repair), or even Graves Registration (they would fill body bags/coffins with stuff & mark it "Remains Un-viewable"). Of course, they had to have cohorts in the States to recover the contraband. I have a good friend who was cashiered from the service (he was a Captain) for being involved in one of these schemes. He got caught, but as he says "not right away".
Back when WWII was over and MILLIONS of troops were retuning at one time, it was quite simple to get just about anything back in a duffel bag or shipping container (there are a lot of military rifles with "duffel bag cuts" in the stock - I actually take a second look at those -at least there's a likelihood they might have been In-Theater). The American GI has always been resourceful.

I've heard a million stories - some quite humorous. Every third K98 I've been offered was "Captured at Normandy/Battle of the Bulge/Berlin///"...take your pick.... and most still had the rack marks on them from sitting in storage & not another mark on them.

My favorites are the guys who walk up & want to sell me a Mitchel's Mauser that he swears his dad brought back from Germany in WWII.....
It's sometimes difficult not to laugh in their face....

 

[shop tom]

I wonder how many guns, not as rare, but still valuable and collectible, are needlessly being shredded in ill-thought-out schemes like these idiotic buy-backs.

And when did the police sell the guns in the first place?

Duh..................

tom

 

[The_Outlaw]

Proof positive that the daughter of the WW2 veteran who handed this very valuable and historical weapon over to the cops is clearly a complete MORON and a NINCOMPOOP!

I can now say with absolute certainty that she voted for Obama twice and that she is also a lifelong DumboCrapper.

Her veteran daddy (God rest his soul) was probably rolling over within his grave when she freely handed that historical and extremely valuable weapon over to those fascists imvho.

 

[Blackthorn]

I agree with Bob Bihari that the BATF would be all over that one. There was an article a few months back about someone finding a Lewis machine gun in an old armory and they turned it in to the local police department. The BATF got involved rather quickly and was going to seize it and destroy it. The police could not keep it or return it to the finders to sell or donate for that matter as it was an undocumented FA weapon. Someone along the line got the BATF to ease up and they end up getting it donated to a museum. So I seriously doubt that they would return an undocumented FA to a civilian so they could sell it.
Plus did anyone else not the selector switch on the M-14???? Definitely not a civilian made M1A.... Not even a mention about that one. I am sure this was a publicity stunt by the local PD to draw attention to their little gun buyback program trying to show that it had some type of success. Something smells a bit fishy here.....