krukster86
Well-known member
I took a chance on an auction for a poorly photographed and not very well described late war FB Radom VIS, as the bids weren't too high, and I was looking to add a late war variant to my mid-war 3-lever example. I ended up winning and I took it home today (I found out that the seller is a gunshop 30 minutes from home). From looking at other completed sales....man, these pistols have really gone up in value! This particular one came with the original gun shop showroom floor sticker price of $1,499.99! No wonder no one was biting on it when it was on display, so the seller decided to take it to auction!
It looked a LOT better in person and in the daylight, is fully functional, and is all matching.
Upon a closer inspection, I did see that the magazine is electropencilled to match the serial number of the frame and slide, and the barrel (which is matching) has a different number code electropencilled near the muzzle.
I took a look through York's book and didn't see any examples of this specific electropencilling. The book has some "Russian Capture" examples, but they are marked/stamped in a different fashion. From looking online on other forums, there are some theories that these were pistols that were re-issued within the Soviet bloc (if so, thankfully they did not mix up the parts like RC K98k's!). Just curious if anyone has any ideas or other theories.
There are no "RC" stamps, it does not appear to be reblued in the typical RC fashion.
It looked a LOT better in person and in the daylight, is fully functional, and is all matching.
Upon a closer inspection, I did see that the magazine is electropencilled to match the serial number of the frame and slide, and the barrel (which is matching) has a different number code electropencilled near the muzzle.
I took a look through York's book and didn't see any examples of this specific electropencilling. The book has some "Russian Capture" examples, but they are marked/stamped in a different fashion. From looking online on other forums, there are some theories that these were pistols that were re-issued within the Soviet bloc (if so, thankfully they did not mix up the parts like RC K98k's!). Just curious if anyone has any ideas or other theories.
There are no "RC" stamps, it does not appear to be reblued in the typical RC fashion.
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