WWII War Trophies.
 

Yesterday I split my winter firewood on an adjacent farm with a neighbor hunter and fellow shooter. We split 1.5 cords of ash and maple and we chatted as we worked. My neighbor has many commercial firearms and one old pistol his deceased father's brother brought back from WWII Europe. The lad thought it might be a Luger or a "P something" that neither his father or he ever fired. I told him to bring it by for inspection and cleaning before it was fired. It has been 70+ years and it may need lube to diminish unnecessary wear. The lad concurred.

He advised he had the original holster and German belt, but no "Capture Papers" for the gun. I have know the lad for 20 years and hire him for wood cutting. He has little interest in pistols so maybe one or two of my rifles or shotguns may "go down the road" for a genuine WWII war trophy. Stay tuned.

Adam

Good luck.......for what ever it turns out to be. I wouldn't worry too much about paperwork.......from what I understand, it was common for troops to skirt it.In later days, in Nam, Makarov's and SKS's were fairly common . Guess 'capture' papers would increase the value...........
Actually, I do not ever remamber seeing a capture paper on any WW2 stuff I grew up with....
Dan

Capture papers will increase the value of a WW2 bringback, as will the holster, extra clips, etc.
IME, capture papers aren't real common.

my dad was stationed at Pearl.

when I was a kid he had a full tripod machine gun (1919?) that he managed to bring home (he was a Quartermaster). As soon as he found out that I had found its hiding place in the basement it disappeared. Later when he passed away we found some shipping paperwork that may have been for it.

Sadly...the "secret toy" that I played soldier with is long gone

Dan,

My discussions with old WWII veterans discloses the war trophy bring back policy seemed to be on a division-by-division policy. It seems soldiers could send back two rifles and two handguns in the 28th Division with approval of their Company Commander. I have seen handwritten approvals listing the soldier's name, rank, serial number and the serial numbers of the guns.

Jack is correct, "Capture Papers" add a premium to the value of collectable WWII arms.

Adam

Oh, I know they enhance value....I just mean I have never seen one. There
may be truth to individual units varying.
Dan

In my father's division, they were allowed to ship home one rifle and one pistol.
I'm sure some other stuff got smuggled home, too.

Guys.

It is a "CYQ" Spree Werke P-38 (Production began in July 1942 and only 283,000 were made) and remains here. I swapped an SKS and some ammo for the P-38.

I just ordered a WWII belt and buckle and P-38 holster for this new addition. I am sorting out my "Heap."

Adam

Sounds like you did well. Man, you got more for the SKS than I did, in 76 I traded a Chicom to a Air Force Col for of some kitchen furniture. The fact that I
offered 'no story' seemed to turn him one more.......kept the Mak...
Dan
:cool:

Dan,

The SKS was a very accurate arm and had a double muzzle brake I installed. I had acquired a 50 caliber can of Tula Ball in a prior trade and it went down the road with the SKS. I have several more SKS arms and need more P-38s.

Adam

I seem to have had one VN bring back. Even included the capture papers. It was given to me quite a few years ago. A Bulgarian AK. My father brought back a submachine gun from WWII. I saw it a couple times as a kid. Don't know what ever happened to it. Probably sold off to finance a horse purchase