Stumbling into a good condition German Mauser with it's markings intact is what spurred my interest in C&R rifles. It's an RC, but the swastikas and eagles weren't obliterated and piqued my interest in the history behind it. As I learned more, my interest grew and encompassed many of the other weapons of the period. I have bought other German Mausers since then and while it is nice to know there is little chance of them loosing value, that is not why I bought them, nor why I will probably buy others sometime in the future. Once a friend pointed out that my rifle might have been used to kill Americans. It was a sobering idea I had never thought about before, but it didn't make me hate or fear it. It is a tool. A tool with a link to history.
On the flip side of that would be captured weapons used by enemy soldiers on the front lines. Here's a pic of a Waffen-SS trooper carrying a M1 Carbine during the Battle of the Bulge:
[Broken External Image]
And here's another of a Wehrmacht soldier on the Eastern Front, with a captured Russian SVT-40:
So the issue of who used what weapons and for what purposes, is not always so clear-cut.
No REAL reason except I have always liked bolt guns. Also, my ammo expense is usually lower on a bolt gun than a semi-auto.....bolt slows me down. ;-)
Wait wait wait wait wait...
Are you saying the M1 Carbine is a NAZI GUN?!?!
Everyone needs to get rid of their M1 Carbines now!
I guess it's a little different if it's "just" history and being part of it: three great-grandfathers and two of my great-grandmothers were killed by Nazis, my grandmother was taken to a German household as slave and done unspeakables to - she was 11. I was born in Voronezh - a 400-year-old city that has no old buildings, the city of 1,000,000 was completely leveled by heavy artillery. Growing up, EVERYBODY over the age of 50 was a veteran - I don't need to "learn" the history - it was told to me first hand.
Being a first generation immigrant - WWII is not just a piece of history on the other side of the pond, it's not a cool story in the book, it's a not an awesome blockbuster on a big screen - it is still very real to me. Nazi were/are/and will be taboo for me. I don't want to rub my world view onto everybody and I learned a lot of new stuff, and I'm ready to learn more. However, Nazi's evil is not a matter of "opinion" - it's a matter of fact.
No, front line line troops did not participate in mass murder of civilians - but it doesn't mean they showed mercy or any compassion to them: Nazis were inherently racist to the extreme - if you don't understand it, open the history book and read it till you will. For every combatant killed - they killed two civilians.
I don't have a problem with a weapon - you are right, it's just a tool. However, I do have a problem with the Nazis and their ideology. By carrying the swastika - the weapon becomes symbol of that ideology. And maybe some of you need to see that swastika so you can learn about the horrors that are attached to it - and I do see a great value in it; but for me there is no need for that lesson.
For me seeing a Nazi collectibles in private home is no different than seeing a white robe with red cross - and when you ask about it the best they can come up with is "Well, not ALL clan members were n****-haters". Yeah, it's a part of history, but once you learned it, do you really want to be associated with it?
Being a first generation immigrant - WWII is not just a piece of history on the other side of the pond, it's not a cool story in the book, it's a not an awesome blockbuster on a big screen - it is still very real to me. Nazi were/are/and will be taboo for me. I don't want to rub my world view onto everybody and I learned a lot of new stuff, and I'm ready to learn more. However, Nazi's evil is not a matter of "opinion" - it's a matter of fact.
No, front line line troops did not participate in mass murder of civilians - but it doesn't mean they showed mercy or any compassion to them: Nazis were inherently racist to the extreme - if you don't understand it, open the history book and read it till you will. For every combatant killed - they killed two civilians.
I don't have a problem with a weapon - you are right, it's just a tool. However, I do have a problem with the Nazis and their ideology. By carrying the swastika - the weapon becomes symbol of that ideology. And maybe some of you need to see that swastika so you can learn about the horrors that are attached to it - and I do see a great value in it; but for me there is no need for that lesson.
For me seeing a Nazi collectibles in private home is no different than seeing a white robe with red cross - and when you ask about it the best they can come up with is "Well, not ALL clan members were n****-haters". Yeah, it's a part of history, but once you learned it, do you really want to be associated with it?
I know that feeling, but you need to try an M1 Garand.
Do me a favor, and go look up both calibers for the Arisaka, and look how they are called, thats my reason for refering to them as Jap. Still don't like them or the pistols either. Both look like some of the worst junk in the world.
^^^^ stereotype
Got excited for a few minutes. My bro-in-law says "hey I got this old military rifle I need to get rid of. Got nothing in it. Did a guy a favor. Think it's a Mauser. Gonna try to sell it." I'm thinking....cool....might add one to the stable.
He brings out a sporterized Argentine 91. Chopped barrel, chopped stock, markings almost all gone, bolt cocking piece brazed up.....bore looked OK. Could read just enough of the markings to see it was made in Germany.
Oh well. Did a little research for him to help find a starting point and wished him luck.
He brings out a sporterized Argentine 91. Chopped barrel, chopped stock, markings almost all gone, bolt cocking piece brazed up.....bore looked OK. Could read just enough of the markings to see it was made in Germany.
Oh well. Did a little research for him to help find a starting point and wished him luck.
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