Constanza on Auction Arms

[Thor]

Rare, but pricey courtesy of Kyrie!http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=1448386

[BILL]

$300 does seem a bit pricey but I have read that they go from $350 to $400. Hard to believe, but I have a copy and it is full of very detailed information.

[Frank]

Yes it is pricey!! I paid $180 for mine and I believe someone on the Fourm said he got one at a gun show for something like $60. The going price is more in the $325 range, as Bill suggests. Tis a nice book, albeit hard to find the data quickly.

[Kyrie]

Hi Folks,


Yup - these are hard to find. I paid about $350 for my copy and was happy to get it at any price. It's possible to luck out and get a copy for less, but that requires the seller's not knowing what he has


Best regards,


Kyrie

[Russ]

I wish it was the spy book. i've been looking for that book for quite a wile. IF anyone has an extra copy i will buy it.


thanks russ

Ralph Shattuck has one on his new list #241 for $350.00 I think and he states he only has the one left.

[Hugh]

I bought one on ebay a few months ago for $250.

[David Jackson]

Hey gang; the man's name is Costanzo, with an "o" not an "a".

I have a copy of the spy book; not that expensive but very hard to find; then I looked for another one for a friend; it took months but in the end I did find one.

Some experts figure that if the information is accurate there must have been a spy on every streetcorner!

Would love to hear from anyone who knows if Mr. Costanzo is still around and would share his insights with us.

[Marvin]

David,


I have heard that he is still alive, but not very active. I wish he, or someone, would reprint the book like Buxton did on the P.38 books. I have also heard that he will not reprint the book and this is a real shame that it is not available to the gun folks at a decent price. They would sell like "hotcakes" if reprinted and allow this great information to be read by many more people.


Marvin

[Johnny Peppers]

It is strange about books that are out of print. As long as they are out of print there is a demand for them and the price goes up, but several books have been reprinted that did not sell well. One was the Wilson/Sutherland Colt book. It had gotten into the $650 range before it was reprinted. After the book was reprinted it did not sell well at all. Sort of like the new Lugers put out by Mauser.

[Marvin]

Johnny,


You are correct about the books selling and not selling as reprints. Another is the 3 vol set of P.38 books by Buxton. The full set was selling in the $1,000-1,200 range and the reprints came along at approx. $69 per vol. Now, I have seen the reprints selling (or the asking price) at $150 per vol. Go figure the market, but I feel that Costanzo's book would be a big hit if reprinted in a limited quantity.


Marvin

[BILL]

What is Sam's spy book? I have never seen or heard of it.

[Thor]

I actually have a copy, it is just a listing of Luger serials that were supposed to be used in espionage! CRAZY

[BILL]

So that is the 'spy' book. I wonder how Sam would know what guns were used in espionage? I would think that a good spy would need a very concealable gun (and, unless it was a baby, it wouldn't be a Luger). Maybe it adds to the 'mystique' of the "cold, blue barrel of the German Luger slowly appearing on a foggy London night.."

Hey, Bill, don't scare me like that!!I'm downstairs here all by myself; it's VERY foggy outside and VERY, VERY quiet. I better quit; I'm scaring myself even more than you did.