[TheRomanhistorian]

Originally Posted by alvin

It's a little bit misunderstanding. Communist arsenal did not have steel importing channel, so they took railroad rails as raw material to make grenade and some gun parts. There was another big benefit for them doing that -- railroads were controlled by their enemies, damaging railroads could delay enemy's movement. That's a common tactic in guerrilla warfare at that time.

But warlords and nationalist arsenals did not use rails to make guns. They imported raw steel from Europe. The production volume was limited by how much steel they had.

This is not one of those 8000 made in 1920s and 1930s. If it works, it could be a little bit fun.

Thanks, Alvin. You are the expert and I am glad you were able to chime in, there were too many features which struck me as oddball about this piece and I didn't want to make a judgment until you weighed in. I almost want a second one now! I think she'll shoot quite well but I don't anticipate putting more than 10 rounds through her a year.

As you once said, I believe, these are now collectibles in their own right. I took this in to my local gun shop and several of us derived a lot of enjoyment just holding the gun and chatting about the history for a few minutes.