Strange antique gun shop email received today?

[alvin]

VC's German guns came from two sources: (1) French. French left some German guns there; (2) Soviet. Russian supplied VC many C&R that they capured in the Great Patriotic War.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by alvin

VC's German guns came from two sources...

There were many other sources besides those two. It was common to find -

Burmese BA52
Australian Owen Mk 1
Danish Madsen
French M1949
US Thompson
US 30 Carbine
Belgian FAL
UK Lee-Enfield
Japanese Type 38
Japanese Type 99
US M1917 rifle
US M1 rifle
US BAR
German MP-38 & 40
Chinese Type 36


Among many, many others. "VC" was a loose name for any forces in SE Asia which fought against imperialism, regardless whether they embraced Communism or not. The knew no borders; they fought French, British, Dutch, Japanese, Australian interests throughout the region. They imported arms from anywhere they could; captured whatever they could; and used whatever they could. After WW II, many arms were sold by the ton. I have a Dept of the Army pamphlet, "Weapons and Equipment Recognition Guide", 381-10, January 1966, listing, describing, and depicting hundreds of weapons found (and likely to be found) by US forces in Southeast Asia. Many are obscure and were obsolete even back then (like the French MAS 38).

It was a fascinating period of weapons procurement and distribution.

It is no fluke that odd pistols and rifles should be found there. Nowadays, the conflicts have moved farther West from there, but the sheer numbers of weapons bought, seized, traded, and sold pretty much guarantee that there will be desirable weapons found now and then...