Regular WWII era blade, not antique. Exact year is unknown, but should be 1930s or 40s, the swordmaker was a Showa era swordmaker with his name written on handle. There are some Japanese antique blades showing up from time to time, but the price is much much higher. It's unsafe to jump on antique blades unless buyer being in-domain. Regular out-of-domain buyer should just stay in non-antique area. I am out-of-domain, so I bought this one.

This type of blade is in $1000-$2500 range these days, depends on condition. Poor ones could be a few hundred. Or, some buyers have special interest in certain signatures so they could push price up a few hundred, etc. The volume is not small in general.

If it was made by a real sword maker using the traditional method it's not worthless by any means even if it is not an antique blade. The non traditional made, even if handmade, or worse the machine made that have a serial number are the ones I consider worthless at least as blades. They still have value as C&R.

Japanese NCO sword were machine made, and carry serial numbers. GI captured many Japanese swords. Occasionally, NCO sword in near mint condition shows up. For example, this one was sold yesterday at $1300 (with BP it's $1495):

http://morphyauctions.hibid.com/lot/...amurai-sword-/

I bet this one was unissued when it was captured. But its new GI owner probably tried chopping wood to test its sharpness and created a few minor nicks on blade (a guess, of course). This type of sword is popular in Hongkong, in Taiwan, in China, etc. Lots of fakes are floating around in those regions. But in the US market, most Japanese NCO sword are genuine ones, including this one. Generally speaking, Americans are not very hot on it, so its estimate was merely $400-$600, but consider its international market, that's obviously undervalued, and its realized price reflected that.

The Japanese NCO swords don't fancy me. They are not true Japanese swords. I'm Portuguese, we were the first occidentals to reach Japan. The ingenuity of the Japanese swords fascinated us in the same manner that our firearms fascinated them.

Also on youtube, the greatest of all modern inventions, is an old gentleman shooting an M48, open sighted, at 500 meters and hitting the target ten or so straight times. Search "Zrak M48" to find three separate videos of him.

In his second video, he shoots 1/2 minute groups, at 500 meters, with his Zrak scoped M48.

Please don't assume an M48 is incapable of fine accuracy.



Sieger

Probably I was just out of luck? I had two Yugo M48s in the past. One was in excellent shape, another one was probably unissued. But both performed poorly in range. Let alone 500m, their accuracy was even lower than stocked pistols at 50m. So I lost interest in them.

Say, some samples do perform well, some don't. I think that would be a fair statement. But that at least reflected one thing -- its quality is inconsistent. I am not the only one getting this feeling. One guy post a youtube.com video a few years ago, he fired a nice Yugo M48, after firing, his conclusion was "no good, no good". Obviously being another out-of-luck owner.

I had a M48 several years ago but was nothing special at the range.
The best rifle that I had was a PERSIAN Mauser, and once I tested a CARL GUSTAFS MOD.96/38 made by MAUSER OBERNDORF in 1900 absolutely fantastic.

Hi,

From my 50 years' experience of Mauser shooting and handloading, here you are.

The most accurate cartridge is the 6.5X55 Swed (not designed by Paul Mauser). Incredibly accurate! Best of the "Mauser" rounds. Shoots three to one hole at 100 yards, with open sights, all day long, as shot through a M96 Swedish Mauser.

7X57 Mauser, best of the cartridges Paul Mauser designed. Also capable of incredible accuracy and a fantastic killer of game. 100 yard open sighted groups usually average 1/2 inch or less, as shot through a Model 1908 Brazilian Mauser.

7.65X53 (Argentine Mauser), Paul Mauser's first smokeless cartridge is very similar to the modern .308 Winchester. Very accurate, but far behind the 7mm. Typical accuracy at 100 yards, open sighted, 1 1/2 inches, as shot through a Model 1909 Argentine Mauser.

7.92X57 "Mauser", designed by the German GPK for the 1888 Commission rifle, Mauser "inherited" this round. Accurate, but far behind the capability of the 7mm. Typical accuracy at 100 yards, open sighted, 1 1/2 to 2 inches, as shot through a CZ manufactured 98/29 Mauser.

All of the reported groups above were from custom developed handloads, as designed for the particular rifle I was shooting. All of the rifles had "as new" bores.

Hope this helps!

Sieger