must haves for a wwii gun collection

[mg357]

Dear Smith and Wesson Forum. I am thinking about a starting a wwii American small arms collection. Like a lot of my fellow gun collectors i don't have a lot of money, so what are some absolute must have's for a wwii gun collection? sincerely and respectfully mg357 a proud member of the Smith and Wesson Forum.

 

[walnutred]

No WW2 US firearms are inexpensive any more. Probably the cheapest to find is the S&W Victory. Next I'd guess the 03 Springfield, M1 Carbine, M1 Garand, 1911A1, Johnson, in that order price wise.

 

[Faulkner]

I've still not found the right M1911 for my collection.

Do have;

M1 rifle
M1 carbine
M1903 Remington
Victory S&W

Also have a Lee Enfield No4 MKI, and a Colt M1903 officers pistol.

 

[wbraswell]

A 1903A3 should be in there. You might as well include a 1917 S&W and Colt. They were made during WWI, but still many served in WWII.

 

[feralmerril]

mg357, it will cost you a fortune to get a nice collection. Maybe this is sacereligious to some, but you might consider to assemble a collection of replica non fireing examples. I dont know what models are available but I do know a few are. That would look nice on a wall and should be relatively cheap.

 

[leswad]

Trench or Riot shotgun

 

[zoom6zoom]

Browning 1919.

 

[David LaPell]

M1 Garand
M1 Carbine
1911 Govt Model (be prepared to shell out big bucks here)
Smith & Wesson Victory or pre-Victory
Smith 1917
Colt 1917
Johnson
M1903 Springfield
Liberator pistol
12 gauge riot gun along the lines of Winchester 97, Ithaca 37, Winchester Model 12 etc.

 

[deenb]

WWII collection

In addition to those already listed, add a Colt Commando.

 

[fiasconva]

If I had to start my collection my first acquistion would be a garand. Then maybe an M1 carbine. Both are getting harder and harder to find.

 

[reddogge]

We forgot the .38 Colt Commando.

If you are not too hung up on combat weapons you can get into WW2 .22 training rifles:
Model of 1922MI Springfield
Springfield M2
Riesing Model 65
Remington 513T
Winchester 75T
Mossberg 44US
Mossberg 42M-B
Stevens 416-2-T

And the .22 handguns:
High Standard U.S.A. H-D Military
High Standard Model B-US
Colt Service Model Ace
Colt Woodsman Match Target
H&R 999 Sportsman

 

[charlie sherrill]

May as well include anything used during WWI because most of it was still in use at the beginning of WWI. Faulkner, your stuff looks like it came out of one of my safes....I better go check.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

I suspect that a Thompson Machine Gun is also required for the "complete" collection. I have found the other belligerent nation's weapons to be more economically priced starting with the Mosin-Nagant, Mauser and Enfield. Too many 1903s were sporterized. I would like a non-sporterized 1903 in very good condition (like Faulkners).

 

[Class III]

Don't forget these:

Thompson M1/M1A or a SA copy with a 16" Bbl. Auto Ord or Kahr. Don't throw your money away on one of the Volunteer Arms copies unless you find one of the early ones that fires from an open bolt.

M3/M3A1 "Grease Gun" or SA copy. Valkyrie Firearms

M1918 BAR - Don't know who is making a SA copy, but I have seen them.

M1/M2 Flamethrower Yeah, I know... But they are legal to own with no prohibitive paperwork as they are an unrestricted item . I've actually seen a couple over the last thirty plus years of hitting the gun shows.

Class III

Edit: Looks like Rick beat me to the Thompson.

 

[sheepdawg]

Little Boy, Fat Man, Bockscar and the Enola Gay.

 

[Gutpile Charlie]

Like others have said, none are cheap anymore, but you just start acquiring them....and someday....you have a rather respectable collection.

I would try to find them in this order: (unless you find a screaming deal somewhere!)

M1 Garand
M1 Carbine
1911 GM
M1903
M1903 A3
M1917
Victory Model Colt


After that...the sky's the limit.

 

[jeffsmith]

.50 Cal "Ma Deuce"

 

[Stonecove]

You need to have a German Luger!

 

[walnutred]

Many years ago a friend decided he didn't have the space or money for a WW2 firearms collection so he started collecting WW2 ammo. If he had done a little more research before he started the project he would likely have collected the firearms instead. Last I asked he had over 150 different examples of WW2 production 9x19 ammo alone.

 

[jeed]

Johnson Model of 1941 - I would guess a lot of people aren't sure what a Johnson is. They only made about 5000 of them. Only a few hundred were ever used by the U.S. military, and only by the Marines. The Johnson was adopted by the Dutch but only a few made it there before the East Indies fell to the Japanese.

30-06, 10 round rotary fixed magazine. It could be loaded by 5 round '03 stripper clips or "topped off" with single rounds. Recoil operated, it has a pretty good kick.

It competed against the M1 Garand after the Garand had been adopted. Needless to say, it didn't win, but it's a really cool rifle.

The one I REALLY want is the Johnson Light Machine Gun!