I've always been fascinated by guns, from the time I could walk I had 2 toy sixguns in a western style "Lone Ranger" rig.  As I got older my interests matured and the price of them did as well.  While I've got some "Cheap" guns in my collection, I've also got some not so "cheap" guns as well.  I'll post pics of a few everyday along with a brief description of them, if anyone is interested.  Oh, and don't worry about my revealing the collection, I take the security of these very personally, most of what I'm going to reveal is secured off premises in a very secure location.

Before I start showing them I guess a little more background on me is justified, as I mentioned earlier I have always had an attraction to firearms that has blossomed over the years.  My interest vary from early American "Rev War" to modern day, and while all of the Rev War stuff is gone (see Medical Bills, above) I still do truly love them.  Over the years of collecting the actual physical arms I have also tried to gain as much knowledge as I could about everything that goes boom and sends lead downrange.  I have book upon book of information in my library detailing just about every aspect of hundreds of thousands of different weapons and their variations.  If you have a question about anything you see or don't see for that matter ask it and I should be able to provide you an answer, if I can't, I'll find the answer and then we'll both know.  

A little more background on me.  I was in the Infantry in the Army and a member of the 187th Inf (Rakkassans), I also served with the 1/17 Inf (Buffaloes) in Korea as my first duty station.  I spent time in certain places where they didn't like Americans very much, you know LA, San Francisco, the Middle East and Central America (Honduras, Panama, Etc.)  I've exchanged rounds with some folks that would have liked nothing more than to see me and all my friends dead.  I am a proud US Veteran and while the US may not be proud of me, I am of it.  I served as a dedicated marksman in the units that didn't have a slot in their TO&E for a Sniper, I went to Sniper School in Korea and served in that role on the DMZ there.  I attended Airborne school right after AIT at Ft. Benning, GA and then Air Assault school at Ft. Campbell, KY when I was assigned to the 101st Airborne Div. after coming home form Korea.  Now I am a part-time gunsmith/unemployed AutoCAD draftsman-designer, I have plenty of time to tinker but no money.

My interests now center mainly on the second world war and later, but I still have quite a few Civil War period weapons and reproductions.

Everything you see here is real, I have almost zero interest in Airsoft, I say almost zero because there are pieces that interest me that I can't afford real versions of.  I don't have the airsoft version either, since they are also priced out of reach of the common working man and are basically toy guns.  (No offense intended if you are in a country that doesn't allow firearm ownership.)

Anyway here are the pictures:

I'll start off with one everyone here should know, the M1 Garand, my Garand is a middle 1943 production Springfield with a post war style rear sight instead of the WWII Lock-bar rear.  With this one I have the M-7 Grenade Launcher attachment the M-15 Grenade Launcher sight (most were never installed, like this one) and some various Rifle Grenades like we see in COD (the MkII, Pineapple Grenade in the M1a1 Grenade Adapter and the M11A3 Rifle Grenades) Also shown is the M1 Bayonet (made by American fork and Hoe) and M7 Scabbard.


And a view that everyone should also be familiar with











The next one that I am going to show is my Heckler and Koch  G-3 / HK-91 another one that most should be familiar with.  Along with it I have several magazines, an aftermarket Bipod, Scope and Mount, plus a Sound Suppressor (the Suppressor is a fake I made, it provides zero suppression in compliance with federal law)









Next up is my Civilian Version of the M-4 or the CAR-15 if you will:







And next is my M-9 Berretta, the long magazine you can see is a factory Berretta 20 rd magazine (rare)





Next is my Reach out and touch someone piece I call it "Ma Bell."  It's a Savage Model 10 Tactical in .308 Winchester with a factory installed 24" heavy barrel with target style crown.  Basically it is a copy of the Remington Model 700 which is what the Marines call an M-24 (Sniper Rifle).  This is my po-boy version of that rifle.







More to come tomorrow, I've only scratched the surface on what I have to show.

WOW !

absolutely beautiful. all in great condition, the M1 is a piece of american history, and for a sec i thought that H & K was ab STG-44. i about spit out my soda when i saw that!

-AuTo

Oooo, I like...

First let me say thank you for your service.  Next, I welcome having another gun nut on the forums!  I actually just went shooting yesterday, brought my own M1 Garand as well as my 1911 and a 1920 german luger, which is a recent aquisition.  As you can tell, I am also a particular fan of historical firearms.
Currently my collection is:
- M1 Garand (Armory Refurbished 2008, brand new stock and Kreiger barrel, all matching parts refinished)
- Swiss K31 (straight-pull bolt)
- Russian Mosin-Nagant M91/30 (1935 hex receiver)
- Thompson/Center Encore with 3 barrels
    - .204 Ruger
    - .22lr
    - .375 H&H mag (hilarious fun BTW)
- German Luger (1920 make, refinished)
- Springfield 1911

I like historical guns, but i also like shooters, not wall hangers.  None of them are "collectable" per say, but they are all a blast to take to the range.

btw, whats the caliber of the Savage Tactical?

SSG.Braxis*BK*

That is pretty sweet! i love anything military tho only 16 and not really allowed to get some of the things i like, maybe when im older.
Thank you to for making america safe for me to live in. i actually hope to go into the Army ROTC and go to airborn school and get into an airborn unit. any suggestions?

Braxxis, the Savage is a .308, and all of mine are shooters, some just don't get shot often.  I chose the .308 over say .300 magnum since the .308 is more widely available ammunition wise and I have several thousand rounds of surplus in it (Although Ma Bell only gets hand loads).  It is basically the same action as a Remington 700, but a less pricey version.  My Garand that I have shown is a CMP rifle that I got a couple of years ago from a friend that works at the CMP, South Store in Anniston, AL he hand selected it from what they had.  It is pretty much all Springfield except for the stock, which is a Boyds replacement and is a little bit fatter at the wrist than the factory stock.  I love the .375 H&H Mag. in the Thompson/Center, you are right it is heaps of fun, I don't currently have one, mine was sold to pay bills.

Wawra,  Get what you want IN WRITING from you recruiter, accept nothing less than that.  You are signing a contract and the bare minimum is all they have to provide to fill that contract.  He probably won't be able to guarantee you a specific unit, but he can guarantee schools, if you successfully complete the previous one.  He will be able to get you Airborne, Air Assault and Ranger, although there isn't that much of a need for Airborne Ranger Clerks, so it all depends on which Job Specialty or MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) you choose as to which schools you can get into.  That is if you decide to go Army, the Marines, Air force, Navy and Coast Guard are all different, but many cross train at Army run schools.  Say, if you were to go into the Artillery in the Marine Corps, you would complete boot camp at Parris Island, SC or Camp Pendleton in San Diego, CA and then go to Army Artillery school at Ft. Sill, OK.  Marines also use the Army jump school at Ft. Benning, GA where I went.  Explore career fields in all the various military services, don't just limit yourself to one or the other, just remember to do whatever it is that will make you happiest.

CAD

Absolutely brilliant - I was drooling, especially since we (in the UK) cant own anything more than a kitchen knife (so long as we keep it in the kitchen! - lol).  Cant wait for the next episode

Nice pics Cad!! I too also like the rifles with a little "history" to em!!! I belong to our local VFW and someone dropped off a M-1 and donated it too the post. (Actually just left it by the door!!!!) They are thinking about raffling it off and I hope I win it. The M-1 is the parade rifle we use for our ceremonies. We enjoy marching and firing these rifles during our parades. Being in the color guard we wanted to request some M-16's since this was the weapon most of us trained with. I have to admit though the M-1 is a nice rifle and I don't think we will be changing anytime soon. We fire these during parades and the kids just love it( some adults too!!) I,like Braxis, own a Mosin Nagant. My current rifles: 91/30 1931 Tula....91/30 1942 Izhevsk...M91 (Finnish) 1942....an SKS (still haven't fired it, bought it 4 years ago!!!!)....and finally a DPMS AR-15 which I love taking to the range!!! The Mosins are fun to fire and bring people over to see what ya got!!! Nothing like firing a nice bolt!!  What other kind of weaponry we got out there BK? Karow, I know you must have a nice stash of rifle nades cause you love em as much as I do..LOL!!!!!

Thanks for the compliments so far on the collection, but as I said I've barely scratched the surface.  Here is  the second installment, some more that many may recognize but a couple of pieces that if I didn't own them I wouldn't even know existed.

The first is an interesting little piece of hardware, designed by a French doctor working in New Orleans, LA in the 1850's but actually produced in England during the American Civil War.  This is an Italian reproduction of the Calvary Model of the LeMat Relvolver, it is a 9-shot .44 caliber revolver around a 20 Gauge shotgun barrel (the originals were .41 cal and roughly 18 Ga.).  It is a hoot to fire and the ergonomics is spot on for a pistol designed over 160 years ago.  







The next one is a bit different from my normal area of expertise.  It's a Daisy, that's right a Daisy just like the makers of the BB guns we all had as children.  This one is a real firearm though, although a .22 caliber bullet sounds like a joke, it ain't funny if you get hit by one it can and will still kill you.  It's a Daisy Model B Youth Single Shot Youth Rifle that I inherited from my Paternal Grandfather when he passed.  He bought it to rid his garden of unwanted rabbits and at 83 years old could still hit a running rabbit with a .22 using iron sights, his mind may have been gone but there was nothing wrong with his aim.







And while I'm on .22 caliber, I thought this would be a good spot for this one.  It's a Pheonix Arms HP-22, one of the best little ankle holster pistols I've ever ran across.  It reminds me of a Walther PPK (Think James Bond)







Now back to more manly man guns, how about a Shottie that "Ahnold" fans recognize, actually any modern shooter FPS fan should get this one.  It's a Franchi SPAS-12.  Just in case you have sheltered all your life, it's a 12 Ga 8 round pump/Semi-Auto shotgun made in the 1980's by the Italian firm Franchi.  The recoil on this is actually not bad since it weighs almost as much as a tank.









That's it for today, more on Monday, that is if you guys want to see them.

CAD

Note to any would be burglars.....Take a pass on this house. Unless you arrive in a Bradley. Then watch out for the mines...LOL!!!!

There are very few at the house.  Most are secured in another area.

Thanks, i plan on getting w/ a recruiter this summer and looking into the military more.

I have some extra Greek M2 non-corr in Eblocs to feed that garand..

Would you like to get rid of any of that "extra" Greek, Chief?

CAD

I am a day behind as the wife did not work yesterday so my free-time was severely limited,   .  I'm going to start off with another gun you should all be able to pick out.  The Browning M-1919A4 or A6, (it's the A6 if the bipod and shoulder stock are attached, I didn't get the shoulder stock out of the off site storage so I don't have any pics of it.)  This thing weighs a ton and it is a literal blast to fire, but even after humping the M-60 (the pig) around while I was in the Army I wouldn't want the privilege of having to be the machine gunner if this beast was still being issued.













The next one is my personal carry piece and if you see me out and about, I'll have this one on my person.  I am licensed to carry concealed in several states.  It's a Llama XID, yep a Llama, I know that is probably not your first choice in a carry weapon and from a collector's stand point it carries very little value.  That is the reason it is my carry gun.  Basically the Llama is a direct copy of the Para-Ordnance P-14 which is an absolute joy to shoot if you can afford it.  The fit and finish on the Para-O's is excellent, the Llama's not so much, so instead of taking a $800 pistol and putting a lot of holster wear on it, I took a $300 pistol put some work into it to clean up some of the problems and made a reliable carry gun out of it.  Even if I wear the finish completely off, I'm not out big money, and this Llama will shoot with the Para now in both accuracy and reliability after I did my part to it.  So here are the particulars of the Llama, it hold 15 rounds of .45 ACP (14 in the mag and one in the barrel) plus I carry 2 extra 14 round magazines with me just in case.  No I hope that I don't need that many bullets if I ever, God forbid, have to use it, but I'd rather have them and not need them as to need them and not have them.  Plus one of the stoppage drills (Double Feed) for Semi-Auto carry involves dropping the magazine to clear the chamber and inserting another.







The next one for some reason never really caught on with the military although the original owner of the company tried to generate interest.  Although a few were adopted by some Law Enforcement agencies, if you watch the assassination attempt on my Pres. Ronald Reagon, the Secret Service agent standing next to the President produces one from his jacket in milliseconds after the first shot.  The weapon never caught on but they still use his suppressor he designed for it.  It's a Mac-10 in .45 ACP.  This one is made by Masterpiece Arms and uses M-3 Grease-gun magazines, while this one is a semi-auto, I have fired the full auto version and it will empty the 32 round magazine before the first shell casing hits the ground.  It is a bullet hose and really fires too fast, maybe why it was not adopted by the military.  







Here is one that was used by the military.  It is a M-1917 American Enfield (formally named "United States Rifle, cal .30, Model of 1917", this one was made by a company called Eddystone (a subsidiary of Remington, located in Eddystone, PA), they were also made by both Winchester and Remington Arms.  There is still debate to this day about which weapon Alvin York used to make his mark on history this or the M1903 Springfield, he was issued this type rifle as were most of the troops involved in the fighting in WW1.  It is a 30.06 same as the M1 Garand, M1903 Springfield, M1918 BAR, and the M1919A4 Browning Machine Gun.  They were issued to rear echelon troops during WWII despite being the most prolific weapon of the previous war.  This one is a completely matching rifle with one exception, it has one sling swivel marked with an S that came off of an M-1903 Springfield.  The barrel is dated 2-18 and is original to the weapon, most were replaced in arsenal rebuilds between the wars.











That's it for today.  If you have any questions post them up or catch me on Teamspeak.  I'm more than happy to answer and like I said if I don't know I'll find out and we'll both learn something.  Also, just because you can afford to buy a gun doesn't mean you should carry one, the decision to carry should only be made after you have been properly trained in their use and the legal ramifications of their use.  Firearms are not toys and there is no re-spawning you should think before you have to shoot.  I don't go to areas that I wouldn't go if I was unarmed and I feel for the ones that go there because it's their job, many thanks to our boys in blue, both on and off the forum.  As well as all of the emergency services.