Estate Find!

[james m]

I was fortunate to purchase the three snail drums out of an estate recently. There are 1 type 1 and 2 type 2s. Most of you I expect know how scarce these are so I was amazed to turn up 3 in one place.
Jim

[GWA]

Congratulations! Is the type I made by Bing or AEG?

[JoeW]

Jim, you might check the back edge of the mag inserted into the pistol to see if it has unit markings. These were used by the post WWI German police with MP18s and they were property stamped.

[DennyB]

Who says everything has dried up?

[james m]

All three are made by B over N.
I checked Joe and there aren't any unit makings just the proper serial nos. front and rear on the drums.
I acquired a few other items out of this estate that I'll post shortly.
Jim

[walkuren]

Very nice find.

An other proof that the nice things are still there..


Cheers Ty

[IMBLITZVT]

Just wondering, did you get a good deal on them? How close to going rate did you have to pay.

I have a line on a MP18 dewat. I only give it a 25% chance of making a deal on it but I have been keeping an eye on these mags just to have a little knowledge built up.

[Wilhelm]

Oh man, what a score. Yes, were they a deal?
Wilhelm

[ValhallaMilitaria]

Who says everything has dried up?

I am always surprised to hear this statement, dried up? gruesome and sad as it is to face, vets from ww2 are dying off very quickly now and more and more of their children are selling off their bring-backs. This year was incredible for me.

[jh-ss44]

nice find for sure ! there is still a lot of stuff coming out of the wood work. my dealer friend gets offers almost every day.. he has turned down stuff , only because he does not own a money tree. most seem to be the children, who got it ,via the will. they take it, collects dust , takes up room; no clue what it is , AND hurting for cash. SELL ! ! J.H

[ValhallaMilitaria]

nice find for sure ! there is still a lot of stuff coming out of the wood work. my dealer friend gets offers almost every day.. he has turned down stuff , only because he does not own a money tree. most seem to be the children, who got it ,via the will. they take it, collects dust , takes up room; no clue what it is , AND hurting for cash. SELL ! ! J.H

This is 90% of what and where it is for me. Sometimes its sad to see such a lack of regard for the past but thats the modern world, shallow and annoying.

[Alan Smith]

On several occasions I have been at gunshows when a vet's heir walks in with a firearm and/or military items, announces that he "just inherited this stuff", then proceeds to sell it.

I ended up with a super nice 98k that came in this way from the vet's son. The vet had two (2) of the 98k's and put in his Will that each son received a rifle. One son kept his; the other son sold his.

The hell of it is that once the vet makes up his mind that he is going to "leave his war stuff to his kids/grandkids", there is usually no way to talk him out of it (no matter how sincere you are in seeking to collect/preserve the items and the vet's history). Then the vet passes and the first thing the kids/grandkids do is go unload the stuff, with you finding out after the fact that everything went to the local pawn shop or to the guy who always has the first table as you walk into the local gunshow.

[james m]

On several occasions I have been at gunshows when a vet's heir walks in with a firearm and/or military items, announces that he "just inherited this stuff", then proceeds to sell it.

I ended up with a super nice 98k that came in this way from the vet's son. The vet had two (2) of the 98k's and put in his Will that each son received a rifle. One son kept his; the other son sold his.

The hell of it is that once the vet makes up his mind that he is going to "leave his war stuff to his kids/grandkids", there is usually no way to talk him out of it (no matter how sincere you are in seeking to collect/preserve the items and the vet's history). Then the vet passes and the first thing the kids/grandkids do is go unload the stuff, with you finding out after the fact that everything went to the local pawn shop or to the guy who always has the first table as you walk into the local gunshow.

This is an unfortunate fact of life. However; when the inheritor receives these items their first order of busines is often to dump* them as quickly as possible. I have been able to capitalize on this and I'm sure many others in the hobby have done so as well. It's a matter of being in the right place at the right time!
*Dump is sometimes literal here. I just looked at a perfectly good Enfield rifle that was hauled out of the trash just weeks ago. I have a very nice percussion half stock Plains rifle I bought from a guy who found it in a dumpster. We've all heard stories of someone driving down a street on trash day and spotting a German helmet sitting there waiting to be picked up. We all have to wonder how much just gets tossed unseen.
Just imagine how easy it would be to miss one of these snail drums in the trash and many people would have no idea just how valuable they are. I have heard stories over the years of perfectly good Lugers and P38s being found after they were tossed away and don't personally know of a case of this happening.
Jim

[Johnnie]

Nice catch. No, all the goddies have not dried up.