Old German Firearms and Stuff I was given by my pops.

[testlab]

Hello,

Today I went to my grandfathers house after he past away and when me and my fathers was looking in the basement of his house we found many old firearms and clothing from Germany. Im not German but I believe my grandfather just saved all these items when he was in war as captain of heavy artillery. there is much more things but I don't know if I should mention here like real deal heavy military artillery, I just have to find out the right legal channels to get rid of the other stuff.

I have one of those German pistols in good shape but I don't know how to identify its worth and also the worth of other things like German helmets, pictures, award metals and full German suites, even the helmet with the spike on the top and of course US arms.

I always wondered why I was not allowed down stairs when I was young but now im 34 and haven't been at his house for over 10 years till yesterday snooping around

Anyways since my father does not like firearms WOW yes I know!!! he had me take over them so I can research them and sell them.

I will be uploading more pictures tomorrow night except the once that are real deal class 3 Arms

Here is one of them which is nice and clean and the mag is a beauty which I never ever seen this type.

Here is one Item of 24 pics.












Please let me know I can get them appraised and or really sell them. I appreciate it.

[wellcraft]

i sold my german luger w/holster a couple of years ago for 1500 to a collector in lancaster, pa. first thing to check is to make sure all numbers match which will increase the value of the gun. check gunbroker or guns america to see what others are asking. guns with some original finish, no rust or pitting, WWII era and matching numbers usually bring the most money.

[Berks_Iraq_Vet]

Nice. Very nice.

[Lycanthrope]

That Luger may fetch some nice coin.

PLEASE research the laws around Class III firearms as soon as possible so you don't inadvertently break any laws.


Lycannicepistolthrope

[Sam1911]

I will be uploading more pictures tomorrow night except the once that are real deal class 3 Arms

To second and add to what Lycanthrope said, the MOST important thing you guys should be looking for right now are the registration papers your Grandfather should have obtained and saved for each gun you think might be a "Class 3" (actually, call them "NFA" or "Title II" firearms) weapon.

Check filing cabinets, safe deposit boxes, etc. Turn his effects upside down and sift through them like a fortune depends on it, until you find those forms.

If he registered those guns (during the very short 1968 amnesty period, most likely) then they are worth A LOT of money. (Several tens of thousands of dollars each.)

If he did not, they are worth 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine, each.

If you simply cannot find paperwork on them, you could have an attorney contact the BATFE and request a records search to see if they happen to have those registration papers. They might. Now, they've lost a lot of crap over the years, so the fact that they don't still have a copy doesn't mean your Grand dad didn't register them, but if you can't find the paperwork in his things they might be able to help. Might cost you some cash to have your attorney look into it, but considering their possible value, probably worth it.



If not, you DON'T want those in your possession and you'll need to have your attorney contact the BATFE for proper disposal. Don't be tempted to mess around with unregistered NFA Firearms. Serious bad stuff to be found with. A life-destroying "whoopsie."

[bortle]

The worst thing you can do is advertise on an internet forum that you have class III stuff without the paperwork. It's not like it's monitored or anything.
The Luger is really cool though. Some of that stuff is worth big money. Research a lot before you sell anything. There's no hurry. Once you sell it it's gone forever.
I'd go to my grave with that Luger if it was mine.

[Hodgie]

The worst thing you can do is advertise on an internet forum that you have class III stuff without the paperwork. It's not like it's monitored or anything.
The Luger is really cool though. Some of that stuff is worth big money. Research a lot before you sell anything. There's no hurry. Once you sell it it's gone forever.
I'd go to my grave with that Luger if it was mine.

Me too.

I did speak to the OP via pm earlier today, I let him know if he needed any help to give me a shout. I have been dealing with Military arms and surplus epically German items as well as selling on gunbroker for several years. I would hate to see him give it away to a FFL who purchases estate collections for pennies on the dollars. Seeing it sold sucks and not having the money to buy sucks even more but I would rather see him get what it's worth as well as true collectors get the items who will properly care and pass on these items.

[NathanB]

So here's an interesting question if his grandpa owned these since the 40s how would the aff regulate them

[Hodgie]

So here's an interesting question if his grandpa owned these since the 40s how would the aff regulate them

I believe in 1968 all NFA weapons had to be registered as NFA making them full transferable in the future. Any weapon that was not would be considered illegal. If I was ever left these types of unregistered treasures I would 1st set up a trust then contact a Class III dealer, lawyer and lastly the local ATF branch too see how about getting these registered then transferred into my trust.

I know for a fact this has come up many times, the last we a 80 plus year old lady in NJ a year or so ago who brought in a SGT-44 to a Newark Gun buy back. She was stopped by a Local Police office who advised her to seriously not turn that in to be destroyed because it could be worth upwards of $30k. Now I do not know if it was registered or sitting somewhere in a box forgotten by time but there was no indication of the rifle being seized and destroyed and she wasnt arrested.

[wanneroo]

The WW2 vets now passing away(thousands a month) were typically at the time the younger, fitter soldiers that were in the front line, so I expect the next 5-10 years there will be some interesting collections of these vets that come out of the closet for the first time.

Anything you are not sure of the legal status of, find a legit firearms attorney to represent and assist you. Anything else I would keep in the family. Once sold it will never be replaced. I have my great grandfathers WW1 coat and will eventually have some dog tags of Japs he zapped at Guadalcanal in WW2 and other mementos of his 35 year, tri war service(WW1, WW2 and Korea). Would have had his 1903 Springfield and M1 Garand and Carbine but those got stolen.