Unusual find.

[Trooper]

I live in a quiet little market town in Suffolk, it gets its share of tourists, so there are a few antique shops as you would expect. My favourite goes by the rather twee name of Honeycombe Antiques. The owner is a military history buff, which is a plus for me. I have made some good purchases there, such as an 1853 Enfield rifled musket, and recently a 1925 model of a Moisin Nagant infantry rifle with bayonet. So I look in from time to time to see if he has got anything else of interest. The other day I realised that he had surpassed himself. So I thought I would share it with you, as it will definitely interest fans of this forum.



Yes its a M1910 Maxim machine gun, full size, never been issued. Found still in it's greasproof wrappings in a crate in Mother Russia. The dealer he bought it form imported several to the UK all in similar condition. It is a snow cooled version with the cap on the top of the barrel. Comes with ammo crate and ammo belt. Only £585.00. I am thinking of buying it, the ultimate in home defence. No seriously my wife and I considered buying it, she is very taken with it, and thought it would look really cool in our dining room. Sadly we just don't have the room. First time since moving here I have wished for a bigger house.



Hope you guys like it.

[Svennn]

Marvellous!

I would have thought a replica would command a higher price than that.

[Hammers]

I live in a quiet little market town in Suffolk, it gets its share of tourists, so there are a few antique shops as you would expect. My favourite goes by the rather twee name of Honeycombe Antiques. The owner is a military history buff, which is a plus for me. I have made some good purchases there, such as an 1853 Enfield rifled musket, and recently a 1925 model of a Moisin Nagant infantry rifle with bayonet. So I look in from time to time to see if he has got anything else of interest. The other day I realised that he had surpassed himself. So I thought I would share it with you, as it will definitely interest fans of this forum.



Yes its a M1910 Maxim machine gun, full size, never been issued. Found still in it's greasproof wrappings in a crate in Mother Russia. The dealer he bought it form imported several to the UK all in similar condition. It is a snow cooled version with the cap on the top of the barrel. Comes with ammo crate and ammo belt. Only £585.00. I am thinking of buying it, the ultimate in home defence. No seriously my wife and I considered buying it, she is very taken with it, and thought it would look really cool in our dining room. Sadly we just don't have the room. First time since moving here I have wished for a bigger house.



Hope you guys like it.

If you don't buy it I will, the wife be damned!

[Poliorketes]

Heavens! If I knew how to bring this baby in line with german weapon law...

[Trooper]

Svenn, its no replica, its the real deal.

[Svennn]

I never doubted it, what I meant was that I thought if one had a replica to sell it would fetch more than £600 and that this would be far higher

[Hammers]

What a darling thing! It is just sooo Russian that you're supposed to cram that thing full of snow... 

[former user]

You are allowed to own such things in GB

Holy mother Russia
You could even get the ammo for that

fix it to a window and it won't stand in the way

[Ignatieff]

Fantastic!  I am gobsmacked it was never issued, for at the start of WW1 the Russian army only had 4,195 machine guns!  Could it be a later edition? 

As for having these in the UK, as long as it is deactivated (which it must be to be sold in an antique shop) you don't need a license.  My study sports a splendid MG42, discovered in the Ukraine in 2006.  Always a talking point over a glass of port!

[Onebigriver]

My Better Half won't even let me have my Wallace and Gromit toys in the front room, your Missus would let you have a bloody cannon! You're a lucky man.

[Bako]

My Better Half won't even let me have my Wallace and Gromit toys in the front room, your Missus would let you have a bloody cannon! You're a lucky man.

Find something she likes to keep there and use the leverage ... Or not, if you're like me . Damn lucky bugger he is though. You could never find something so interesting in antique shops here!

[Trooper]

former user, it can be owned in GB because it is "de-activated", and has a certificate to prove it. The dealer who imported it, did keep a couple of live ones for sale to who knows? USA probably. I don't know the dealer, only the antique shop guy, but the dealer must have some damn good contacts in Russia.

Ignatieff, I think from the markings, this version was actually made in about 1944, but the condition is as it came from the crate. My Moisin  Nagant rifle came from the same source, and all working parts were serial numbered. That was still in its grease wrappings, and had been made in 1921. Like I said, I guess the Russians just don't throw stuff away.

[former user]

then same as in germany

I read that nowadays there are specialized enterprizes that can come up with almost everything, like tanks and planes - all resurected from rivers and swamps

guess there might have been a forgotten army store somwhere

I have a rather ambivalent attitude to firearms - everything fine as long as it is in theory and on pictures, but as soon as I have the real thing in my hand, I get the creeps....

strange thing, must come from my year in the army....

[Poliorketes]

It's not unusual for an army to store weapons for very long times. When I did my tour in '89/'90 we were issued brand new G3 assault rifles with wooden stocks rather than plastic ones - they had been waiting in magazines for 35 years by then.

[former user]

It's not unusual for an army to store weapons for very long times. When I did my tour in '89/'90 we were issued brand new G3 assault rifles with wooden stocks rather than plastic ones - they had been waiting in magazines for 35 years by then.

the whole germen territorial army was issued these
I've been guarding 150 of these for a year.

they are kept wrapt and oiled and cleaned up every 2 years

maybe they've been sold out now, since this is 20 years ago  (-;