[Adam Helmer]

This past week I had the opportunity to handle seriously historic WWII arms.

First, my neighbor has an 8X57MM rifle his dad obtained on June 6, 1944 in Normandy from a Kraut that no longer needed it. Last evening he brought it by and told me the story of how his dad, a tanker, picked it out of a foxhole with 3 other rifles and deceased former users. The rifle is a Model 1924 Belgian 8mm with a crest and crown on the receiver and Serbian or Iranian script on the left side of the reciever. The bolt is bent down with a further bend down like it was meant for a scope. The ball of the bolt has a flat and checkered bottom. I can only assume this was a German seizure in May 1940 when they overran Belgium.

Second, my relative bought a Finnish Suomi 9mm sub gun with the [SA] Army property marks. The 1938 date makes it a sure participant in the Winter War of November 30, 1939 to March 13, 1940 when 4 million Finns opposed 150 million Soviets. The gun cost $5,500.00 and uses stick mags or a drum. It sounds, at a distance, like a chain saw runing in the woods. I can only hope it dropped a few, or many, "IVANS."

Adam