The Annual "Best find of the Year" Thread

[ottsixx]

my coolest find k98k kriegsmarine.

I ended up coming across this really cool bnz 1941 in a flat butt plated blonde laminated w/red glue stock and I think every piece of metal has either a WaA635 or WaA77 waffenamt on it and the stock is just so cool looking like a red and blonde zebra, Ive looked at a lot of k98s but never seen one quite like this one.

 

[Doubledeuceguy]

You can't just describe a rifle that sounds as cool as that, POST SOME PICS!!!

 

[BATANGUENO]

My year was very good because of a change in the law here this year in Belgium.
(Nothing is free here anymore,everything must registrated due to a shooting accident in Liege)
I have restorating a 33/40 who was in a very bad shape (code 945 from 1940 )
and got two new Belgian Army rifles an Albini Braendlin 1867 an a silex nr 1.
And in the beginning of the year i bought an RC S/147 k.

 

[mrfarb]

My year was very good because of a change in the law here this year in Belgium.
(Nothing is free here anymore,everything must registrated due to a shooting accident in Liege)
I have restorating a 33/40 who was in a very bad shape (code 945 from 1940 )
and got two new Belgian Army rifles an Albini Braendlin 1867 an a silex nr 1.
And in the beginning of the year i bought an RC S/147 k.

What's the serial of your S/147 K?

 

[met]

What's the serial of your S/147 K?

So how bout side by side photo of those consecutive sn rifles?

 

[George R.]

My best finds and one purchase.

The US collection which does not have much..... 1940 Garand with original stock and barrel and mostly original SA parts.

WW1-WW2 German collection................ My first broomhandle all matching WW1 Austrian marked at that, for the best reissued in 1930 to DR2 Austrian Cavalry

For the Winchester lever gun collection.............Model 1894 25-35WCF in full rifle trim with special order sights, untouched.

Best purchase C96 Red 9 police issue type 1 markings early

This was really a slow year for me. GR

 

[BATANGUENO]

What's the serial of your S/147 K?

the serial number is 6403 (the pics are showed in an earlier discussion about this capture S/147 K's)
The guy i bought it from... taught this rifle was not German at all...... because there was no stamp on top of the receiver

 

[shortfal]

found a MP44

Have been looking for a MP44 for a while. Found a vet bringback late summer that was in the range of what I felt good spending.
1945 Steyr assembled gun. Bare receiver, laminated stock, original mag with it, along with original 1946 paperwork. Sat in the vets closet for 60plus years. Family claimed that the vet took it off a German soldier he had shot. I changed out the welded barrel and it got shot for the first time since '45. It's a great shooter, functions 100% and shoots accurately to point of aim.

Pete

 

[shortfal]

trying for a few pics

I think I have this picture thing figured out
Pete

 

[grimlin13]

Well my best find for 2013 wasn`t firearm or bayonet related. I found a little flag. Got it from a picker, who bought it from the vet that captured it and brought it back. There were other items, but I missed them. I did get the story on the flag, the name of the vet and a couple of pictures of him.
I got the flag for a total of $50. Found one just like it ( althought in mint condition) for $340 on a dealer website.
The Vets name is Paul Oulette (91 years old), he was in the 309th Squadron of the 15th Air Force. Mr Oulette served in North Africa, Sicily and Italy during WW II as a mechanic and gunner on a B-24 Liberator.
The story behind the flag is: Mr Oulette was in Bizerte, Tunisia. He had entered a Wehrmacht Office building (what he called it)to look around. He saw the flag hanging on a wall behind a desk. Fearing that the flag was "booby trapped", Mr Oulette turned the desk on it`s side to get behind as a shield, found a long stick or pole of some kind (again Mr Oulette`s words) and pulled the flag off the wall, tearing it in the process.
Here are pictures of the flag, the grouping, and Mr Oulette. I used the pickers photos of the grouping and the flag. Haven`t had the time to take pictures of the flag myself.
Mr Oulette is knealing in front of a plane that he was in when lt landed without the front landing gear being locked down and is the guy on the left in the second pic.

 

[Luft1]

I guess I would have to say that my most exciting find of 2013 was finally being able to get a live FG42 after almost 20 years of "wishing." The details and its history are outlined here: http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?9698-FG-42-Countdown. I don't think I can say it was the best, simply because I am still stunned by the cost and I keep wanting to get back some of the items I had to use for the exchange, but it certainly got the heart rate on the rise and fulfilled a life long dream!

Really enjoy looking at some of the other listings here, very neat and wonderful stuff!

 

[Surplus Fan]

Didn't know it until today, but the 1904 Erfurt Gew.98 referenced in the thread below turned out to be my best find of the year.

http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?11358-1904-Erfurt-Gew-98

 

[RazorBurn]

My AX 41 I found earlier last year was my best find of 2013. I had a lot of nice finds last year. This is my first and only K98k to date, and I feel fortunate for it to find a home with me. Link to a thread of it with pictures.

http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread...-of-my-AX-41-K98k-Mauser-With-Varnish-Removed

 

[DWM1915]

Not very glamorous but I've really enjoyed this rifle this year

http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?9382-GEW-98-with-postwar-refurb-questions&highlight=EWB

it's like a walking piece of German history passing through WWI service, an EWB property stamp from the post-war, then brought back into military service in the 1930's and to the US as a GI bring back after the war (it's duffel cut). The various stamps and depot marks have kept me busy and taught me a lot about how to read a gun's history in service. Interestingly I recently picked up "The K98K Rifle" from the Propoganda Series and on page 55 there is a photograph of a German NCO demonstrating loading the K98 to a group of recruits, if you look carefully at the picture he is using a GEW 98 straightbolt with EWB stamped in the stock! I was always curious if these guns were really used or just put up in the arsenal as spares but apparently, at least as late as 1940, they were still being used.

thanks, Nick

 

[plymouthmauser]

2013 was my best year collecting. Very hard to pick a winner...

1. 1917 M1911; with two mags for $700.
2. cyq P38 rig
3. Matching 1943 no-date Savage Enfield
4. 1917 Erfurt Luger rig; Erfurt mags nonmatching; unit marked to the machine gun platoon, 10th company, 122nd Landwehr (Wurtemburg) Infantry
5. CMP I.B.M. M1 carbine, service grade, 2/44
6. Matching Kar88, 1893 Erfurt, unit marked to a Bavarian Chevalier regiment
7. CMP field grade 8/44 Springfield M1 Garand in a Danish stock and finished as a Danish clone
8. Matching 1892 M89 Danish Krag-Jorgensen with M15 sling
9. M91 Mosin-Nagant, Westinghouse receiver, Finn capture and refurbished, original Finn shimmed stock
10. 1/2 paid, matching 1939 147 K98k.

If I had to make a favorite pick, it would be the M89 Dane. This is a bucket list gun - my Danish grandfather carried one from 1929-1933. My avatar is his induction day photo. If I had to make a cost pick, it would be the 1917 M1911 and 2 mags for $700.

T

 

[don w]

Love that Winchester

My best finds and one purchase.

The US collection which does not have much..... 1940 Garand with original stock and barrel and mostly original SA parts.

WW1-WW2 German collection................ My first broomhandle all matching WW1 Austrian marked at that, for the best reissued in 1930 to DR2 Austrian Cavalry

For the Winchester lever gun collection.............Model 1894 25-35WCF in full rifle trim with special order sights, untouched.

Best purchase C96 Red 9 police issue type 1 markings early

This was really a slow year for me. GR

Fantastic finds GR.
I love that Winchester. You never find them un-boinked like that. Congrats!

 

[George R.]

Thanks Don, did not know you were into Wins. Congratulations on your SAR membership, I have mine also and recently The Mayflower Society, that took a lot work. Best Regards GR

Fantastic finds GR.
I love that Winchester. You never find them un-boinked like that. Congrats!

 

[zacker]

It would be the Mauser DSM 34 I posted

 

[Dave Roberts]

I have owned an LSR with Matching Mount Ser#93080 for about 4 or 5 yrs . I was able to buy the Consecutive Serial Numbered LSR 93081 and a Mount Ser#93181 . This would be the Years best for Me . As a few here are aware this Consecutive Set has moved on to the Collection of a Friend and fellow Collector . Best Regards

 

[Bigdibbs88]

Some outstanding finds by members last year. The bar is set high for next