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Unread 05-08-2007, 02:00 AM   #6
Imperial Arms
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Malta, EU
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Sorry Minigun, I made a mistake regarding the magazine - it has a thin metal bottom and it is suppose to have a serial number. Sometime we collectors have a blackout! I reckon that the value of your M1925 pistol with a mismatched magazine is about $1,200-$1,400.

I have seen your type of Olympia pistol advertised in catalogs before 1934, and it was also used by the German team in the 1932 Olympic Games held in LA, therefore, I guess the correct model would be a M1925.

The M1936 Olympia rapid-fire pistol which first appeared in the 1936 Berlin Olympic games had round barrels, and sometime around mid to late 1937 the Walther firm introduced the Sport and Funfkampf model having a 'butterfly' frame weight and barrel weight. This model was marketed until about 1941, and I assume production was stopped shortly after the start of WWII. The Olympia 'Jaeger' model with a short barrel was marketed by Walther as the "firearm of choice for hunters". It is to long to explain how the Olympia Jaeger received its name, but Warren Buxton in his upcoming book on the subject of Olympia target pistols and the Model 1-9 pistols will give an excellent explanation to the readers. I am contributing plenty of information and images to his book regarding the Olympia pistols. I hope that this his book will generate new interest for collectors who wish to gain knowledge on the very popular sport of target shooting in Germany and Europe during the 1930's. If you take a look at past German culture, you will observe that target/sport shooting was a very professional and social sport in Germany. Why only collect pistols of war? What about those prestigious sport pistols such as the Walther Olympia pistols or the Anschutz M210 Free Pistol - those were the the cream of the crop of German sporting firearms having the highest level of workmanship and craftmanship - a piece of art with elegance and style.

In fact, the Olympia 'Jaeger' model is probably more desirable than the Sport models even though their value is still slightly less. An ordinary hunter could not afford a 'Jaeger' model because it was expensive - it was a pistol for the aristocratic hunters.

Minigun, I do not own a Mauser HSv in caliber 9 mm because they are extremely rare and very expensive. I have only examined three HSv test pistols in my hand, and an HSv pistol in very fine condition would probably fetch $40k-$45k. Quite shocking when a commercial HSc is worth about $600-$1,200!!

Happy hunting,
Albert
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