So they tell us. Did you know, it was the Russians that found Hitler and his mistress's body first, and the bodies were also burnt

The gunshot actually was succeessful, but it is undetermined if that killed him or if the cyanide killed him. This is because not all headshot deaths are instinanious.

I always admire the craftsmanship and the work put into a gun or other weapon, but whether or not it has killed someone is still something to ponder.

Tool or not, I'd still feel strange knowning the Walther P38 I'm holding was used to gun down a Jewish family in Auschwitz in cold blood. Hopefully you understand what I mean.

I despise guns in the hands of criminals. They use them for bad things and make them look bad. Basically, a criminal ("bad guy") used this gun for bad things. Imagine holding the TEC-DC9 Mini used by Harris during the Columbine shooting. Would you admire the craftsmanship or hate knowing what it was used for?

Personally I think the Tec-DC9 guns are pieces of crap. They weren't even full auto in the shooting. I see no advantages to an ugly gun like the Tec-DC9 or any variant of it. Uzi, Mac-10s, they have a charm to them. A legendary feel about them. But Tec 9s...they look like shit.

People love the AK47 models, but when you hold one up do you think about the thousands to millions killed in Africa from Civil wars? Or the AK47 used to represent the arm of Communism? No, you see an awesome robust weapon that will never fail you, not "the true weapon of mass destruction"

I see both depending on how long I handle the weapon. :)

Got my French Mle. 1892 revolver today, made in 1892 by St. Etienne - little pitted, but mechanically perfect, espescially for a 117-year old gun. The Mle. 1892 in 8mm Lebel revolver was France's sidearm through WW1 and in limited use in WW2. It's a swing out cylinder revolver, except the cylinder swings to the right. This is because it was designed for cavalry troopers, and in 1892 they were expected to shoot with their left hand while using their sabre with their right. Except for being a little underpowered, it worked great and was extremely reliable.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/P7080758.jpg

Also, I took the opportunity to snap a picture of my entire handgun collection. Unfortunately it didn't turn out perfectly crisp, but I'm not going back to lay them out again.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...3/P7080748.jpg

Is that semiautomatic in the bottom left corner next to the Webley a MAS / MAC mle. 1950 pistol?

Actually, its a MAS Mle. 1935S, which was the precursor to the MAC Mle. 1950. Major difference is that it's in 7.65 x 20mm Longue instead of 9mm Luger, and has a straight instead of humped grip.

Also, if you want to get really technical, the revolvers on either side of it are Enfield No.2s, not Webleys. The Enfield is of course an unashamed copy of the Webley that the British war department got successfully sued over, but when you examine them closely they're actually quite different in the details.

Beautiful collection.
All in all I wonder how much it's worth.

Well, strictly talking about the handguns, I've spent about $13,000 on it, not including accessories (holsters, spare mags, etc). In terms of actual value, significantly more. Value is difficult to peg, mainly because some of them are literally too rare to price. They made less than 1000 Webley & Scott 1910s, I'd be shocked if there were more than 500 left after the Brits lost their handguns. I paid $575 for it from a shop that didn't really know what they had, including it's original holster. I'd feel ripped off if I sold for twice that. That and my .455 1911 are probably the two most valuable. If I had to ballpark it, I'd put it at around 20K for the whole collection, more if I broke it up.

By the same token, the Enfield with the bobbed hammer I doubt would go for $200. The 1895 Nagant is not a rare gun, but it was when I bought it - they didn't make it into Canada until years after the States, when someone finally brought them in I had my order in that evening - I was literally the first. Paid $275 and got a good deal, now they sit in the case for months at $250. To get what I paid I'd probably have to throw in the $100 worth of ammo I have for it.

Im wondering what the two i circled are. BTW, do you have a pic of your vintage rifles?

Steyr 1911 Chilean Contract in 9 x 23mm Steyr and my rarest, a Webley & Scott Model 1910 in .38ACP.

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of all my long guns. It's a logistical problem - try taking a picture of 37 rifles and 2 shotguns, I don't have enough room in my house to display them all in one place.

Thought of an interesting challenge if anyone's up for it - there are 18 different calibers represented in that picture, anyone think they can name them all? To make it fair, here's a hint - first and foremost, I collect British service pistols, including foreign-made weapons.

lol Nyles you know nobody will be able to name all 18 calibers
Hitler carried a Smith & Wesson Revolver on a semi-permanent basis as well as as a child Hitler was fascinated with "Cowboys and Indians" and Revolvers had symbolism with that so it may have tied into that.

His S&W http://www.germaniainternational.com/images/image01.jpg

Christ, could he have picked an uglier gun? There are so many beautiful revolvers out their, many made by S&W, and he picks one of the ugliest ones. Not a big surprise though that Hitler would have bad taste. :eek:

Well from what I've read it is not certain how he obtained that revolver but that it was shipped to france.
It is suspected that Hitler may have taken it as a souvenir during his service in the Austro-Hungarian Army during WWI.

Interestingly enough this is the only firearm he was known to actually carry around on his person as he never actually carried his ornate Walther PP.

Well, I was planing on taking a break after my recent purchases, but I just made a deal I couldn't pass up. I met another old fellow getting rid of his collection on guns, this one is an antiques guy. He sold me a pair of Snider-Enfields, a three-band infantry rifle and a cavalry carbine, both Canadian marked, for $1000 all in. To put this in perspective, cavalry carbines usually go for about $1200, three-banders for about $800-1000. No decent pictures yet, but they'd have to be pretty beat up indeed to make this a bad deal.

1> .38 ACP
2> .455 Webley
3> 8 x 22 mm Nambu
4> 9 x 23 mm Steyr
5> 7.62 x 25 mm Tokarev
6> .45 ACP
7> 9 x 19 mm Parabellum
8> 7.65 x 20 mm Longue
9> 7.63 x 25 mm Mauser
10> 8 x 27mm SR
11> .38 Long Colt
12> 10.4mm Italian
13> 8mm Gasser
14> .455 Webley & Scott auto
15> .38 S&W
16> .380 ACP or .32 ACP
17>
18>

Nice job AdAstra, you got all but one, and juding from the fact that you got all the hard ones you're gonna kick yourself when you realise that you missed 7.62 x 38mm Nagant. It's .380 Auto, not .32 ACP - while the FN 1922 was made in both, the CZ-38 was only in .380. Incidentally .32 caliber pistols are prohibited in Canada, thank you very much Kim Campbell.

That covers it, there's actuall only 17. Mea culpa, I had .38 S&W on the list twice. I suppose if I was a real bastard I could say that the S&W Pre-Victory is in .38 S&W and the Enfields and Webley are in .38/200, but I'm not, it's just a different bullet.

!!!!crap, I was so focused on figuring out the obscure firearms in the photo that I completely overlooked the Nagant revolver.

BTW, what is the handgun on the top right?

That's a Finnish army issued CZ-38 in .380 - very unique gun, it's quite large but it's an unlocked breech .380, has a DAO trigger with an external hammer, heel mag release but no slide lock (and it's a bitch to pull out the mag when it's holding back the slide, let me tell you).

If you press the catch on the left of the frame you can lift the slide right off the frame - the barrel is hinged at the front and stays attached to the pistol and it has a captive mainspring - makes for a half second field strip. Here it is with my Finn Luger.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/P8240081.jpg

Oh, goddamnit, I might have a problem. I still don't have the Sniders, but I came across an offer I couldn't refuse on a Chamelot-Delvigne Mle. 1873. It's registered as a .45, when it's actually an 11mm antique that's exempty from registration, so it'll be a pain in the ass to sort out, but it's also about $500 under the going rate so I'll take the hassle.

Had a few guns arrive recently:

The Belgian Mauser 1889/16 carbine came after some hassles with the transfer. It's really nice, and as a bonus, it's one of the contract pieces that was made abroad after Liege fell to the Germans in 1914. This is one of the ones made in Birmingham by a factory set up by the Belgian government in exile, they also had contracts with WW Greener and Hopkins & Allen in the US.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...3/P7230793.jpg
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...3/P7230794.jpg


I also got the Sniders - I'm alot less pleased with these, the guy basically committed fraud. He told me they were Canadian marked, and they weren't. they both had several broken or missing parts. The guy had a good feedback rating, but apparently he screwed a few people over on this batch.

I ended up taking a few small parts of the action of the rifle (it was completely mismatched anyways) to get the carbine working. So now for $1000 I have a carbine with a broken butt trap and a complete fucked rifle I can hopefully sell as parts without taking too much of a loss.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...3/P7300811.jpg
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...r/P7300798.jpg

Sorry to hear about the Snider rip off.
At least the carbine is decent.

That sucks, sorry to hear that.

My dad has a couple of fully-assembled Snyder actions, but I don't believe he owns any fully-assembled 1853s. Then again, he never ceases to surprise me.

Still waiting on the Chamelot-Delvigne, thank you very much Canada Firearms Center, but I picked up a few new ones since:

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...emRandleft.jpg

This is of course a Remington-Rand (the typewriter company, not the gun company) M1911A1 pistol, made in 1945. What's neat about this, other than being another manufacturer to add to the collection, is that it was a lend / lease gun sent to Britain, mainly issued to Commando and Airborne forces before the Inglis Hi Power. You can tell from the British-style lanyard ring attached to the American loop.

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...andguns/sw.jpg

This is a British-issued Smith & Wesson Military and Police in .38 S&W. May be Canadian marked, won't know till I get it. I already have a transitional model pre-Victory (don't like that term), with the 5" barrel and smooth grips, but this is a straight Military & Police with the 6" barrel and chequered grips.

I love British firearms. I have a Lithgow Mk III* (mfd. 1918) and a Webley Mk VI revolver. Now all I need is a Holland & Holland Royal Ejector Side by Side Rifle in .470 Nitro Express. :D:rolleyes:

Very nice. My Lithgow is probably my most accurate non-sniper Lee-Enfield. Is your Webley shaved or still in .455?

Believe it or not it's still in .455 Webley. Picked it up at an auction last year. A local pawn shop closed it's doors after 47 years of business. The Webley was one of the really nice pieces that had been stashed away by the late owner. He would sell a couple of his really neat and expensive pieces every year. Along with the many Rugers, Hi-Points, Taurus,Stars, Astras and Rossis.

By the way I like Ruger revolvers so don't think I'm a snob. Well I have the tastes of a snob but not the bank account. Keeps me honest. :o

Very nice. Ever shoot it? I find them surprisingly accurate.

Nothing wrong with a Ruger revolver, they're built like tanks. If carry was legal here, and I was inclined to carry a revolver, it would probably be an SP101.

Yes I went to the local Cabelas and purchased two boxes of Hornady .455. Very expensive, but I couldn't find any of the Fiochi. I fired twelve rounds through it. Single and double action. 15 yards. All the bullets went into point of aim. Which was a challenge with the double action trigger pull. Wow.

It's a great revolver though. One of my favorites. Every time I pick it up I feel like I'm on an expedition in deepest Africa and Alan Quartermain and Tarzan have joined us as we look for the lost City of Anzibel. :)

I sadly have never shot a Webley .455, but I've always wanted to, since everyone talks about how great they were.

The closest thing I ever shot was this .22 revolver ripoff of a Webley with the same tip open design. I was only shooting two rounds through it so I didn't put my ears on. Nearly blew out my right ear drum. Now its ears all the time. :D

You talking about one of those 9-shot H&Rs? I almost bought one once on a whim.

Webley's are very accruate, quick to reload (well, the Mk.III and later with the improved ejector, the Mk.I is a little trickier) and have very light recoil. The one thing I don't like about them is the very large and wide rear sight notch, it doesn't give a great rear sight picture.

Agreed, the LCR seems like the perfect pocket/BUG. I want a 327 sp 101 also, and a redhawk, and gp 100. etc.

I'm honestly not sold on the .327 Magnum - seems like another flash in the pan cartridge like the .32 H&R Mag before it. We'll see if it stands the test of time, I honestly don't take any .32 cartridge seriously as a defensive cartridge. I like the S&W 340PD as a backup gun - light, simple, you can fire it from a coat pocket, good manstopper. Sure its a beast to shoot, but it's designed to be carried alot and shot little.

Hey, that's .327 Federal Magnum! ;).

I too think it's nothing special, and they picked a piss-poor time to invent it.

It may have been an H&R, but my memory of it is fuzzy.

I like my S&W Model 49 Bodyguard for a backup and off-duty carry. In the winter whne we're all wearing more clothes I'll strap on my Glock 26 or even the 19, but in the summer I have to go with the ankle carry option the and Model 49 is more suitable than the G26 for that carry configuration.

Some folks say that the 38 special is inadequate, but I disagree. It's taken down many a bad guy (and good guy) over the past 100 years and still will if the shooter does his or her part.

I think the 327 magnum was a solution looking for a problem by the way. But I thought the 40 S&W was going to be a flah in the pan when it was introduced in 1990. You can see how accurate that prediction was.

327 is incredibly versatile for handloaders, and you can fire 327, 32 H&R and 32acp out of it. It offers 38 spl +p power and an extra round, and nice penetration, with little recoil. It seems quite nice.

Would the .32 ACP need moon clips?

And I think the S&W Model 49 is a great gun. Better than the model 38 anyway, I prefer steel to soda can metal.

The 32 acp is actually semi-rimmed so it will work without moon clips.