their economies decimated by years of war, had very little in the way of commodities that could be sold for cold hard cash. They did have the tons of firearms and other surplus material that they no longer needed. Enter Sam Cummings, founder of Interarms, and other entrepreneurs like him. Deals were cut and ships were loaded. From the late 1940s until 1968 they imported the surplus weaponry from WWII and earlier and sold it here in the USA.
A primary market for these firearms was the veterans who had learned to shoot during the war. Many of the military rifles were purchased to provide cheap hunting guns. Unfortunately, many of these simply had the stocks chopped to make the gun look more like a hunting rifle. Others went to gunsmiths who stripped them for the action, which was rebarreled in a new caliber. A few articles appeared in firearms magazines dealing with the foreign firearms but most of those either questioned the quality of manufacture or told of how to convert or “sporterize” the inexpensive guns. Pistols were bought by the veterans who never got them as souvenirs while in the service.
In the 1960s some baby boomers who had grown up in the shadow of the “greatest generation” and saw all the war movies popular in the post war years started collecting these pieces of history. This period was the beginning of gun collecting as we know it today. This first generation of gun collectors had almost no reference material about the firearms they were collecting. No Standard Catalogue of Military Firearms back then! There had been a few articles published in military manuals and magazines during the war about the equipment the enemy used. These had only a small part of the information that the new collectors wanted. They pooled information with other collectors about the guns they had, and they learned about production numbers and variations. Some even traveled overseas and contacted the makers to ask for production data. Not that it was very easy to find. Much of the information about Axis weaponry had been destroyed during the war. Often makers were reluctant to discuss their participation in arming the enemies of the USA. As the knowledge base expanded, books were written and collecting clubs were formed.
End of the Line?
The end of the first era of firearm importation came with the passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968. This law banned the importation of military surplus firearms and established the “sporting use” criteria for new guns that is still applied to firearm imports today. The import ban was actually supported by much of the U.S. sporting arms industry. The publicly stated reason was concern about the quality and safety of the old military guns made in other nations under questionable conditions. In fact, they did not like the competition from lower priced firearms that were, in some cases, of better quality than the stuff they were making here.
Of course, there were already millions of foreign military firearm here. Over the next 16 years the supply dwindled but never quite ran out. A few small lots of police-issued surplus firearms were permitted in if it could be proved that they were not used by any military force. During this time, the number of collector publications and clubs expanded. More shooters got interested in the military firearms as historical items rather than as inexpensive guns to be used for hunting.
Another Golden Era Begins!
In 1984, Republican Senator Robert Dole inserted an amendment into a Trade and Tariff Act as it worked its way through congress. The “Dole Amendment” changed U.S. Code to allow the importation of firearms listed by the Secretary of the Treasury (BATF) as curios and relics. The C&R designation includes firearms 50 or more years old as well as some newer items, if they are ruled to be of interest to collectors or museums. Unfortunately, machine guns were not included in the new imports to be permitted. They did retain the sporting use criteria for handguns, which imposes size requirements that a gun must meet to be importable. Thus, original WWII Walther PPKs and other small pistols remain banned from importation. But the larger Colt 1911s, Lugers and Walther PPs qualify. The only downside to the new imports is that they must be marked by the importer under terms of the GCA 1968. These marks separate the recent import firearms from those that were here prior to 1968. This can be a factor in the price that some collectors will pay for an item. Of course, many models and variations were never imported to the U.S. before 1968 so an import stamped gun might be the only option available.
The first decade of “new” surplus imports brought us many of the firearms that today are hard to find and bring several times what they sold for when the importers had them. Swedish M1896, 96-38 and 1938 Mausers, Finnish M 27, 28, 28-30, 39 Mosin Nagants, Hakims, Rashids, FN 1949s, M-1 Garands and Carbines, German WWII 98K Mausers, G-43s, Lugers, P-38s, Makarovs, and many others are now the focus of many collections. As this is written, we have Yugoslavian Mausers and SKS, Russian 91-30, 1938, 1944 Mosin Nagants, and Turkish Mausers.
What will tomorrow bring? Since before 1968, it has been said that they must be running out of firearms to import but importers keep finding them. The firearms keep turning up in remote nations eager for U.S. dollars to support their sagging economies. Of course these foreign governments are no longer giving their stuff away at bargain prices. They have seen what old firearms sell for in America and adjust their price upwards. The era of high-quality European sources for excellent condition Mausers, Lugers and other arms is probably gone. These easy sources were harvested in the pre-1968 days and again since 1984. The fall of Russian communism opened the armories of our former adversaries, and right now there is a surplus of surplus Mosin Nagants. Another fact is that in the 1950s most nations adopted “assault weapons” capable of fully automatic function as their main military issue weapons. These will never be allowed importation for average citizens.
There is a bit of good news for those who like the select-fire designs. Since the 2004 expiration of the Clinton-era ban on many semi-automatic firearms, a new industry has been born. There are currently several small manufacturers of semi-automatic versions of select-fire weapons. In some cases only a few hundred of a model are being offered to buyers on a pre-pay basis. These firearms are not inexpensive. For instance, there are a couple of makers of semi-automatic German WWII-type MG-34 and MG-42 machine guns that are priced in the $5,000 range. These small makers and the models they offer are too numerous and ever-changing to include in this edition. I suggest that those interested in such items search the internet or look in the pages of Gun Digest Magazine.
At some point the supply of items legal for importation will slow to a trickle, then dry up. Or, an anti-gun administration will simply close the door to importing firearms for good. It could happen. Keep this in mind when you vote. Your participation might be key to your continued enjoyment of this fascinating hobby.
CLASS III (FULL-AUTO AND SELECT-FIRE) WEAPONS
In order to better understand the pricing structure of NFA weapons, it is necessary to understand the different chronological sequences of NFA weapons.
Pre-1968: The Gun Control Act of 1968 was one of the most crucial. Pursuant to NFA weapons, the 1968 Act stipulated that no more imported machine guns could be brought into the system. As a result, pre-1968 imported guns command a premium because of their original manufacture. During 1968, the NFA branch of the ATF allowed a one-month amnesty period so that returning servicemen from Vietnam could register their war trophies. It was during this period that many AK47s, PPSH41s, and MP40 machine guns were put into the system. Many more U.S. and foreign manufactured guns were also registered at this time as well. All of these guns command a premium because of their originality and registration.
Pre-1986 conversions or guns with newly manufactured receivers: Domestic production of NFA weapons continued until 1986, when the Hughes amendment to the 1986 Firearms Owners Protection Act prohibited the registration of domestic machine guns. Thus the door was closed to any further production of machine guns available to individuals. NFA weapons already registered could remain in the system and be transferred to qualified individuals. This situation drove prices higher and continues to do so. This group of weapons consists of many desirable semi-automatics that were legally converted into fully-automatic weapons. These include the AR-15 converted to M-16, HK94s converted to the MP5, the HK91s converted to the G3, and the HK93 converted to the HK33.
There is another classification of Class III guns that are not original guns but are instead referred to as “side plate guns.” A newly manufactured side