Welrod MKII
 

Just came across this and found it very interesting. Would like to hear your thoughts.
http://www.armslist.com/posts/121863...--welrod-mk-ii

Welrods are well known British production silenced pistols originally produced for the SOE. Originals were made in both .32 and 9mm. The grips were basically a rubber boot around the magazine itself. They were made by BSA, (Birmingham Small Arms, the same people who produced motorcycles). They were turning bolt action, single shot and had ported barrels to aid in suppression. Originals are very rare. I've had the priviledge of firing a 9mm example in a private collection. There are no identifying marks on it. Someone made copies some years ago and these are the ones usually encountered.

I was surprised to see an assasin using one on a recent episode of "Person of Interest".

I know a guy in Denmark who has one that was airdropped during WWII, then tucked away by the Danish resistance. I have seen a few pictures and it appears to be near mint. He wants to sell it, but it's an unregistered gun and would probably be difficult to export from Denmark due to their gun laws. It's really a shame, his only other option to get rid of it would be to turn it in for destruction.

What a shame, would hate to see such a piece of history be destroyed. I came across a guy with a israili mark 5 STEN dated 1947 yesterday. Problem was his also was unregistered so I had to pass.

Me too, but I don't have any experience in export and import so I can only sit here and watch it happening. If somebody here knows how to deal with it, I'd be more than happy to share the info.

As a matter of fact, the guy has told me that they even cleaned house in some museums, sending a lot of fine, old firearms to destruction. But who can blame them, chances are that a lethal weapon like a Bergmann-Bayard 1910/21 falls in the hands of hard core street gangs or bank robbers, and you sure don't want that. :rolleyes:

I have a friend in Finland who might be able to help you/

Can anything be done with an unregistered gun in the US?

Yes, it can be donated to an acreditted museum and you get to take a hefty tax break off the average market value of the gun. This is done via a Form 10.

I have some experience in this area, if interested.

Another, albeit distasteful option, (if the gun is worthy of parting out) is to demill the gun according to ATF specs and selling off the parts. In some cases, this could mean Thousands of Dollars.

I could never in good conscience destroy something with that kind of historical value. Sure it might be tempting knowing alot of money could be made but not everything is about money.. Atleast IMO.

This is why donation is usually the best route. You get the tax break, the museum gets a nice historical firearm.
There are thousands of unregistered guns out there that are coming to light more and more as our veterans sadly pass away. Squirreling one away might sound like a good idea, until the day you have a fire, domestic dispute, are arrested for something that would warrant a home search, etc. The discovery of the gun will take your world of hurt to an entirely new level.

I can only imagine. I copied your reply and sent it to the man with the Israili mark 5 STEN .. I do not know him so not sure how he will take it. Reguardless he now knows of a couple options.

If this guy is unsure about the gun's legal status, he can get someone else to have ATF's NFA Branch do a serial number search. Many of these guns were amnesty registered prior to November, 1968 and it is not unheard of to have one turn up that is "papered".

Well worth trying, finding the papers would be a bingo for sure.