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HOW DID THEY GET HERE?

by Phillip Peterson

Most of the firearms contained in this book were made for military use in another country. Yet there are millions of these weapons in the hands of American shooters and collectors. It really would be impossible to get an accurate number. How did they get here? Well, that becomes an interesting bit of history.

Veteran Bring-backs

The big prize! Weapons have been desirable war booty throughout history. Veterans from any foreign war in which the United States has participated carted home untold numbers of firearms in their duffle bags, foot lockers or pockets. The most common would have to be handguns because of their size and ease of transportation. Rifles present a slight problem due to their length. Examples will be encountered in which the stock is “duffle cut.” This means the rifle was taken apart and the stock was cut in two pieces so they would fit in a duffle bag, foot locker or mailing carton. If the soldier was smart, he made the cut under a barrel band so the cut could be hidden when the rifle was reassembled. However he got it home, the soldier still had to carry the item with him for days or months before it could be sent home.

I do not know if there was any official regulation about war souvenir firearms during WWI. In those days, firearms were not such controversial items. Look at the numbers of WWI-vintage Maxim machine guns that exist today. Imagine a soldier trying to figure a way to bring one of those home – yet some managed to do it. Even small cannon found their way here. In many cases it would have to be an officer or person involved in logistics to arrange transport of large, heavy items that would not fit in an individual soldier’s kit. Some machine guns or cannon were brought home as unit trophies by the regiment that captured it. These were later sold off by VFW posts after the memory of the capture died off along with the aging veterans.

During WWII there were some regulations in effect that required servicemen to have “capture papers” to possess enemy equipment, including firearms. These rules were enforced only by some, not all, commanders. I have spoken to many WWII veterans who shipped or carried home single guns or a foot locker full of stuff without any official permission or documentation. Others tell stories of officers “seizing” their trophy Luger or other prize, while leaving other less desirable items alone. One has to wonder where those seized items ended up? There was a form in use that was issued to servicemen who followed the official process. Any war souvenir firearm accompanied with an original capture paper is now a highly desirable item. In fact such a paper can add 25 – 50% to the price of the gun over what it would be without it. This paper proves a link to the past.

Similar regulations were in effect during Korea and Viet Nam. After the passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968, which changed federal regulations for importation of firearms, the military authorities required service persons bringing home any captured firearms to go through an import process set forth in that law. However, since the GCA ’68 also banned the importation of military surplus firearms, and most firearms captured in a war were of course military in nature, it effectively ended the ability of veterans to bring home captured firearms. Still, some pre-1899 antique firearms along with parts, magazines and accessories from newer weapons were permitted. Some small firearms were simply brought home hidden in luggage or equipment. The first Soviet Makarov pistol I ever saw was at a gun show in 1983. It was being sold by a soldier just home from the U.S. action in Grenada. (I passed on it because the 9x18mm ammunition was unavailable.)

A few well-publicized cases of smuggling after the Grenada action and the first Gulf War have totally ended any legal way for service persons to bring or send home ANY captured firearm or even part of one. In one example, a general had sent home several full automatic AK-47s that had been disabled simply by removing the firing pin. This was a violation of federal law as the receivers of these guns were intact and they could be easily repaired. Then there were several instances where illegal firearms and explosive munitions were hidden inside military vehicles by persons involved in transporting them back to the states after the conflict. The actions of a few have ruined things for everyone.

At this time the official military policy is to destroy any captured enemy equipment that is not of use by us or our allies. This means that collectible Mauser and Enfield bolt action rifles are being blown up in Iraq. I’ve read that original cases of unissued Mausers have been destroyed along with tons of antique machine guns and other munitions. Individual soldiers are strictly forbidden from possessing any non-issue firearms, magazines or ammunition. Attempts to ship home contraband items through the Army Post Office system are prosecuted. Some soldiers have been put in federal prison for attempting to smuggle back illegal firearms.

Importation: The “Good Old Days”

After WWII there were literally tons of military firearms of every kind left lying around many nations. Barges of equipment were dumped in the oceans to get them out of the way. Some countries, their economies decimated by years of war, had very little in the way of commodities that could be sold for cold hard cash. They did have the tons of firearms and other surplus material that they no longer needed. Enter Sam Cummings, founder of Interarms, and other entrepreneurs like him. Deals were cut and ships were loaded. From the late 1940s until 1968 they imported the surplus weaponry from WWII and earlier and sold it here in the USA.

A primary market for these firearms was the veterans who had learned to shoot during the war. Many of the military rifles were purchased to provide cheap hunting guns. Unfortunately, many of these simply had the stocks chopped to make the gun look more like a hunting rifle. Others went to gunsmiths who stripped them for the action, which was rebarreled in a new caliber. A few articles appeared in firearms magazines dealing with the foreign firearms but most of those either questioned the quality of manufacture or told of how to convert or “sporterize” the inexpensive guns. Pistols were bought by the veterans who never got them as souvenirs while in the service.

In the 1960s some baby boomers who had grown up in the shadow of the “greatest generation” and saw all the war movies popular in the post war years started collecting these pieces of history. This period was the beginning of gun collecting as we know it today. This first generation of gun collectors had almost no reference material about the firearms they were collecting. No Standard Catalogue of Military Firearms back then! There had been a few articles published in military manuals and magazines during the war about the equipment the enemy used. These had only a small part of the information that the new collectors wanted. They pooled information with other collectors about the guns they had, and they learned about production numbers and variations. Some even traveled overseas and contacted the makers to ask for production data. Not that it was very easy to find. Much of the information about Axis weaponry had been destroyed during the war. Often makers were reluctant to discuss their participation in arming the enemies of the USA. As the knowledge base expanded, books were written and collecting clubs were formed.

End of the Line?

The end of the first era of firearm importation came with the passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968. This law banned the importation of military surplus firearms and established the “sporting use” criteria for new guns that is still applied to firearm imports today. The import ban was actually supported by much of the U.S. sporting arms industry. The publicly stated reason was concern about the quality and safety of the old military guns made in other nations under questionable conditions. In fact, they did not like the competition from lower priced firearms that were, in some cases, of better quality than the stuff they were making here.

Of course, there were already millions of foreign military firearm here. Over the next 16 years the supply dwindled but never quite ran out. A few small lots of police-issued surplus firearms were permitted in if it could be proved that they were not used by any military force. During this time, the number of collector publications and clubs expanded. More shooters got interested in the military firearms as historical items rather than as inexpensive guns to be used for hunting.

Another Golden Era Begins!

In 1984, Republican Senator Robert Dole inserted an amendment into a Trade and Tariff Act as it worked its way through congress. The “Dole Amendment” changed U.S. Code to allow the importation of firearms listed by the Secretary of the Treasury (BATF) as curios and relics. The C&R designation includes firearms 50 or more years old as well as some newer items, if they are ruled to be of interest to collectors or museums. Unfortunately, machine guns were not included in the new imports to be permitted. They did retain the sporting use criteria for handguns, which imposes size requirements that a gun must meet to be importable. Thus, original WWII Walther PPKs and other small pistols remain banned from importation. But the larger Colt 1911s, Lugers and Walther PPs qualify. The only downside to the new imports is that they must be marked by the importer under terms of the GCA 1968. These marks separate the recent import firearms from those that were here prior to 1968. This can be a factor in the price that some collectors will pay for an item. Of course, many models and variations were never imported to the U.S. before 1968 so an import stamped gun might be the only option available.

The first decade of “new” surplus imports brought us many of the firearms that today are hard to find and bring several times what they sold for when the importers had them. Swedish M1896, 96-38 and 1938 Mausers, Finnish M 27, 28, 28-30, 39 Mosin Nagants, Hakims, Rashids, FN 1949s, M-1 Garands and Carbines, German WWII 98K Mausers, G-43s, Lugers, P-38s, Makarovs, and many others are now the focus of many collections. As this is written, we have Yugoslavian Mausers and SKS, Russian 91-30, 1938, 1944 Mosin Nagants, and Turkish Mausers.

What will tomorrow bring? Since before 1968, it has been said that they must be running out of firearms to import but importers keep finding them. The firearms keep turning up in remote nations eager for U.S. dollars to support their sagging economies. Of course these foreign governments are no longer giving their stuff away at bargain prices. They have seen what old firearms sell for in America and adjust their price upwards. The era of high-quality European sources for excellent condition Mausers, Lugers and other arms is probably gone. These easy sources were harvested in the pre-1968 days and again since 1984. The fall of Russian communism opened the armories of our former adversaries, and right now there is a surplus of surplus Mosin Nagants. Another fact is that in the 1950s most nations adopted “assault weapons” capable of fully automatic function as their main military issue weapons. These will never be allowed importation for average citizens.

There is a bit of good news for those who like the select-fire designs. Since the 2004 expiration of the Clinton-era ban on many semi-automatic firearms, a new industry has been born. There are currently several small manufacturers of semi-automatic versions of select-fire weapons. In some cases only a few hundred of a model are being offered to buyers on a pre-pay basis. These firearms are not inexpensive. For instance, there are a couple of makers of semi-automatic German WWII-type MG-34 and MG-42 machine guns that are priced in the $5,000 range. These small makers and the models they offer are too numerous and ever-changing to include in this edition. I suggest that those interested in such items search the internet or look in the pages of Gun Digest Magazine.

At some point the supply of items legal for importation will slow to a trickle, then dry up. Or, an anti-gun administration will simply close the door to importing firearms for good. It could happen. Keep this in mind when you vote. Your participation might be key to your continued enjoyment of this fascinating hobby.