The Best gun trade i've ever made. (and iam not a gun
trader)
This took place a good number of years ago in the Republic of Vietnam. (1972) I was a crewchief/doorgunner on a Uh-1 H Huey. We flew all over III and IV corp. areas. On this particular morning we flew nearly an hour north, north/east of our general area. On setting down the pilots went in to meet with the advisers and i was tying down the blade. i happen to notice a South Vietnamese solider standing at a distance shouldering an AK. (they generally didn't carry AKs, usually M 16s or M1 carbines) He approached me, and pointing to my shoulder holstered arm; said; ' Smith and Wesson number one!' and i said; 'aua number one! A little while he approaches closer and says it again; and i again say; ' aua number one!' In another moment he approaches closer and says, ' You trade me?' Nearly in disbelief of what he said, i said, 'Sure" So he hands me the AK and i lift the Smith and Wesson out of it's holster (a model 10) and hand it to him. He went away elated and i was standing holding the milled AK in nearly disbelief. theres other parts to this story; but this truly was the best gun trade ive ever made.

Were you able to bring it back and get it registered?
Jim

Pics!!!!!

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That was a terrible trade. 10 dorrah too buku. 5 dorrah each.

Or atleast change out the fire control group to make it a semi-shot?

Wouldn't matter. On the AK the receiver is considered the machine gun. It requires a 3rd hole drilled into the receiver for a 3rd axis pin. Once that hole is drilled you have a machine gun. Doesn't matter what parts are inside, doesn't even matter if you have a barrel or any other parts. All that matters is that 3rd hole in the receiver.

Of course this is post Vietnam era law

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I'm waiting for someone to say, he took advantage of (stole the rifle from) a Vietnamese man and should take it back and offer more money. It may be reported as stolen, you know.

Seriously though, to the OP,
Thank you for risking your life to protect mine.
I hope to someday repay you - l won't be able to.

__________________
Jeb

Thanks Arick for clarifying that for me. I was under the assumption it was a simple swap. I thought I remembered somewhere FCG's that supposedly made your AK full auto. I had one years ago but never warmed up to a single shot AK.

A few years ago I was selling off some stuff around the house and one item was my old Kent four string banjo I played as a kid. I had a guy call and ask if I 'Was interested in guns' to which I played off but said 'well kind of' Anyway we met and he produces a nearly new Taurus 605. I have never owned a snub or 'J' frame sized gun but it felt pretty good in my hand so we talked about it and he said he was interested in learning the banjo so we talked a bit and I already knew the Kent was worth only a $100 maybe so I had some extra cash in my pocket to 'throw in'. Anyway so I asked him 'Well what are you thinking' to which he shook my hand and said 'I am satisfied with this as a trade as is' - SO I gave him one more opportunity and said 'Ok so you are OK with this deal?' to which he said yes and that my banjo was the nicest he had seen so far. I said OK and we parted ways. He gave me his original receipt for the Taurus which showed he paid $389 for it. It is an absolute tackdriver with a fit and finish rivaling any Smith & Wesson. My plan was to basically trade the banjo for almost ANY gun providing it wasn't completely junk but I never expected something like this.

I too was in 4 Corp, and Chi Com Ak's were used to meet 15 0r 20 dollar poker raises. Some guys had more than one in their wall lockers. Now, SKS's were legal to bring home-a somewhat different story. After the spring of 1970 'Incursion" of Cambodia, the Rangers down the road from us brought out 3 duece & a halfs of SKS's, IIRC. They wanted 60 bucks a piece for them, their neighbors, and were on the way to Saigon to sell them to the clerks for 180 buck a wack. Them Rangers are a trading bunch!!

I just want to clarify, I was never in Vietnam, I'm only 29 years old. Furthermore, I have never served my country, due to the missing of my right big toe. Its one of my few regrets in my short life.

Where'd you find a single shot? You mean semi auto?

There have been a bunch of gizmos over the years but all were basically like the slidefire. It was just a really fast semi auto. Basically bump fire

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No I mean single shot. It was a jamamatic, I think I did get it to fire 8 rounds one time before it jammed. It was in a 556 caliber and wasn't a SAR. Should have went with the round it was designed for.

Saiga
Arsenal
Norinco
Yugo M85

Those are the ones I can think of the top of my head. Problem with 556 AKs is that mags are proprietary. There is no standard like for 7.62 or 5.45. So one mag may fit and not work while another mag may work. Some 223 mags were converted from 5.45 mags

If you had a Saiga that's a whole different issue as they are imported as sporters and use a specific mag to feed. To use a standard mag required a bullet guide modification

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Yeah it was a WASR-3 if I remember I traded it for a Winchester model 63 and a Marlin 39as and $100 to boot. I think I made a pretty good deal. And I tried 5 or 6 different mags with no difference. I have a M-14 bush rifle now that can do everything a ak can but better!

No Jim; fully automatic wasn't an option to bring back as a war trophy. I did bring back an SKS

Best trade I made.......... I did have to add some cash though. Hooray, no more poly bottom feeders! Bob

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Some AKs definitely made it back...but no one will talk about them

As far as I'm concerned, anyone who did time over there for our country deserves an AK and a lot more. Thanks for your service.

October 1968, Danang, RVN: I just came out of the field, and was processing to return to CONUS. I'm carrying almost a brand new AK47 that I removed from a Victor Charlie who was outgunned by an M60, when I was approached by a Seabee, who asked me if I wanted to trade it. I had planned on shipping it home in pieces, but since I wanted a career in law enforcement, and since he offered a pallet of beer, I traded. Within 15 minutes of consummating the deal, he arrived at my hooch with the beer on a fork lift. After he dropped it off, I had more friends that I could count, and without a doubt, I was the most popular grunt on the base.

Semper Fi!

Now that there was a trade.

I'm not sure but I think some guys brought AKs home that had
been DEWATed by Povost Marshall and given papers. I think they
we're welded up solid. Could be wrong that was a long time ago.
My story along these lines, we pulled into what had been a USMC
artillery base. While inspecting which bunker we were going to
claim we found a stack of NVA helmets that Marines had stashed.
All in good shape except one that had shrapnel holes and some
left over protein on insides. A few days later me and a buddy
caught a ride on Slick to HQ to get mail and some parts. We
took the Helmets to sell to the Remington Raiders. As soon as
we got into Co. area a clerk wanted to buy one. He went through
whole stack and bought the ragged one. We got a jeep from
motor pool to go after parts. Jeep had M-60 on it, we threw the
rest of the helmets in the ditch and antiqued them with the M60.
Price was adjusted accordingly. Sold like hot cakes.

Not really a trade, but I bought an Enfield .303 and a Remington 1903A3 in perfect condition for $120.00 each at an auction.

The best trade I ever made was in 1972 when I bought a brand new 20-gauge Browning Superposed Lightning at the Yong-Song PX in Seoul, S. Korea for $197. At the time, suggested price was $600.

Browning Superposed Lightning, 26.5-inch barrels, choked IC/M.






Thanks for looking. I've bagged a lot of birds with this fine bird gun that I call "Jewel."

God bless,
Birdgun

I made two great deals. In 1974 in Thailand, I ordered a Winchester M290 semi-auto 22 LR (pressed checkering). It was shipped home to Wisconsin. After I got home, the Post Office refunded my money to me because the rifle was "lost in the mail" . I learned "Never argue with the government" in the AF. Ten years later sold the rifle for $175.

Second deal was at a Gun Show in Minneapolis about 1983. I traded a Colt Trooper Mk 3 (22 LR with 8" barrel, $200), a Ruger Single Six 22 LR with 22 mag cylinder ($89), and $106 for a S&W M52-2. In the mid-1990's I sold the M52-2 for $850.

__________________
S&WHF 366

Traded a Glock 17 for a first year Model 57. That was a good one...

__________________
Even older, even crankier....

Had a pump shotgun that I cut the barrel nown to 18.5 inches. Ran into this airman from the local air force base who just loved that shotgun. It was a Mossburg I think. He offered to trade me a very nice Ruger stainless steel Mini 14 for it. I thought he was nuts but I was for sure not crazy so I jumped on that trade. He went away happy and I for sure did.

Give the guy a break, this was in a war zone, during a real shooting war. First I've seen him on this forum, welcome aboard(if so).
Steve

I got a new gun for my wife; best trade I ever made.