The Militaria Thread: Collecting and Identification

Soldato
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Nearly bought a Bren gun today. Bought a bayonet for the AKM instead.

Bit of a price difference there Macca: £450-550 for the Bren and £30 for the bayo? :D

The grain on your AKM is pretty darn nice. Did the oil bring it out? Doesn't that make it a bit... oily & messy?
 
Soldato
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I have a couple of 33-45 German medals.

I also have a few helmets, but with post war paint. I used to have a 98k but sold it, wish I had kept it.

I mainly collected post cards now, just because I am interested in the social history of National Socialist Germany, and I try to translate them. The posted ones are a lot more interesting. And they are relatively cheap, but you get a real sense of history from them.

I will try and get some pictures up.
 
Tea Drinker
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Bit of a price difference there Macca: £450-550 for the Bren and £30 for the bayo? :D

The grain on your AKM is pretty darn nice. Did the oil bring it out? Doesn't that make it a bit... oily & messy?

Yeah so nearly broke and bought the Bren it was 500 each or 900 for 2...... luckily I stayed strong and bought the bayonet for the AKM :p

The truoil goes tacky in an hour and was rock hard in 12 hours. Going to rub it down again tonight and one more cost.
 
Soldato
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Tonights activities. Clean up and true oil various guns Starting with 310 cadet.

oQKHZxU.jpg

Nearly bought a Bren gun today. Bought a bayonet for the AKM instead.

Yeah so nearly broke and bought the Bren it was 500 each or 900 for 2...... luckily I stayed strong and bought the bayonet for the AKM :p

The truoil goes tacky in an hour and was rock hard in 12 hours. Going to rub it down again tonight and one more cost.

I must look into that stuff - thanks! I was lucky with my Bren and bought it for £350 (with deact cert) in January. I keeping thinking about selling it on for £500 and turning the money into an SMLE and some bayonets but then I won't have a light machine gun and I'd be sad...

PQhfZ1Sl.jpg

They are heavy and magnificent beasts.
 
Tea Drinker
Don
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I must look into that stuff - thanks! I was lucky with my Bren and bought it for £350 (with deact cert) in January. I keeping thinking about selling it on for £500 and turning the money into an SMLE and some bayonets but then I won't have a light machine gun and I'd be sad...
.

Plus you'll be gutted when they are going for £1000 in a few years :)
 
Soldato
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I had one :( Was made in 1944, had the eagle stamped on to it. I sold it for like a hundred quid about 5 years ago. What a huge mistake.
 
Soldato
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Plus you'll be gutted when they are going for £1000 in a few years :)

^Very true!

My Bren is a 1943-dated Enfield Mark I receiver. Most of the other bits are Inglis parts (barrel, bipod, stock) so it was probably refurbished after the War with whatever they had lying about. It's heavy and brilliant - the action is chunky and strong as anything, and gives you the most manly 'chck-chck' sound when you rack it. :D
 
Soldato
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£450-550 seems to be the going price depending upon the dates and makers. There are lots of UK militaria groups on Facebook that feature busy buying and selling if you want to have a look. Things are usually a bit cheaper than dealer prices and it gives you a good idea of market prices.

The great thing about this stuff is, as you say, it only really goes up in value so even if you don't get a bargain today you'll still make a profit if you hang on to it long enough. :)
 
Soldato
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Mine arrived today too. :)

I'm tempted by the TT30's price (and their Uzis seem cheap) but you never know what you're getting with WWA. Annoyingly they don't list replicas as such, either: check out the sabres on pages 12 and 26 - I'm pretty sure originals would twice the price at least, yet nowhere does it say they are modern reproductions.
 
Associate
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Mine arrived today too. :)

I'm tempted by the TT30's price (and their Uzis seem cheap) but you never know what you're getting with WWA. Annoyingly they don't list replicas as such, either: check out the sabres on pages 12 and 26 - I'm pretty sure originals would twice the price at least, yet nowhere does it say they are modern reproductions.

I have recently seen they sold an SA80 to a very happy man until someone noticed it didn't look quit right. Turned out that the lower action was from an airsoft and only the upper section was genuine. :confused::eek:
 
Soldato
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I'm in the market for an SMLE now (or a Lee Enfield Number 4) - just need to find a seller. I also want more Mosin Nagants! It never ends. Anyway, got your Bren yet, Macca?

Some recent purchases to share. Y'all won't be able to I.D. all of them so don't even bother. ;)

rAwcTF7l.jpg
 
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