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Has anyone been able to trace any of their C&Rs' war time origins, or know where their C&Rs performed their duty? Probably a dumb question, but I'm a History major, and I stay up late at night thinking about war stuff.. lol. I have a few C&Rs but I don't know if its even possible to find more History on them, due to the fact that SHTF so fast in those countries involved.
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"A country rescued by their arms from impending ruin, will never leave unpaid the debt of gratitude."
-George Washington
"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."
-Dwight D. Eisenhower -
Probably about the best you'll be able to do is to narrow it down by country of origin and battle theater. For example K98k's served mostly in Europe and North Africa, Arisaka's served in Asia and the Pacific - US and allied arms served in both theatres so no way to tell where they were used. -
a wartime Finnish M39 has a pretty solid combat provenance.MAGAComment
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The most detailed history I have on my C&R's would be my 1918 Luger and thats only because it has unit markings on the grip. It belonged to a Reischswehr Pioneer unit. Unfotunately its ww1 wartime markings were stamped out post war.
"I don't own them. I'm just their caretaker for a little while until they go on to the next caretaker. They aren't TOOLS.....they WERE tools but are now artifacts, implements of an earlier age that PRODUCED history and brought mankind's timeline to where it is at this moment. And as such, it is my responsibility to preserve them."Comment
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Bruce Canfield, author of several US military small arms books, wrote an essay on that subject.
Revolvers are not pistols
Calling a revolver a "pistol" is like calling a magazine a "clip", calling a shotgun a rifle, or a calling a man a woman.pistol nouna handgun whose chamber is integral with the barrel
ExitCalifornia.orgComment
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Thanks Milsurp! That was a very informative read. I guess the only real chance that we have of knowing if any of our weapons saw combat is if we have one with engravings on it, like Crotter. Sorry for the Newb question, but when I hold any of my C&Rs, I tend to wonder where they have been.."A country rescued by their arms from impending ruin, will never leave unpaid the debt of gratitude."
-George Washington
"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."
-Dwight D. EisenhowerComment
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Just double checking to make sure you have read Davidwhitewolf's most excellent thread related to this topic: Info on Marine who owned my S&W 1917 http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...d.php?t=150941Comment
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Funny article on tracing a gun's history!
The only reason I have even a little history on some of my guns is that my father owned them and I know their history during the time he had them. A 1934 Beretta he picked up in Italy just before he invaded the south of France. A WWI Izarra he picked up while in France. A Luger he bought after the war. And a bolt action 22 he got when he was 15.Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless when facing them. - Rabindranath Tagore
A mind all logic is like a knife all blade. It makes the hand bleed that uses it. - Rabindranath Tagore
Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see. - Arthur SchopenhaurComment
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Really no way to know, unless you get reliable first hand info, like from the Vet who brought it back, even then sometimes that is not 100% reliable, as it was a long time ago and memories fade. Plus, most soldiers overseas were not in front line units, so the Mauser granddad brought home may have come from a pile of captured rifles in a supply dump.
There was a pretty cool story a few years ago where a guy tracked down the M1 his dad used in the 60s (dad knew the S/N) and presented it to him. Video here
On edit: And another one, son finds the rifle dad carried in Korea: http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/09...war-rifle.html
Otherwise, you can at best narrow it down to theater, but that is about it. A bringback Mauser from Germany almost certainly was used on the western front, a Russain capture from the east.Last edited by emcon5; 12-27-2015, 10:32 AM.Comment
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Thanks guys. I read that article and it is awesome! I will be writing every year, numbers, and stamps on each of my rifles do that I can know as much as I can about my little arsenal."A country rescued by their arms from impending ruin, will never leave unpaid the debt of gratitude."
-George Washington
"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."
-Dwight D. EisenhowerComment
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