A Wish List of Favorite Firearms

metallicman ^ | 22NOV18 | editorial staff

[vannrox]

Ah… Guns. As an American, I have a distinct interest in firearms. After all, what’s the point in having a Right given to you by God if you don’t exercise it? Here, I’d like to share my thoughts on some of my dream weapons; my favorite firearms. No, I’m not talking about a “Phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range” that the Terminator was looking for. But rather some firearms that I have wanted for some time, but regrettably will probably never purchase.

So here’s my dream / wish list.

MP-40

Let me start with one of my long time yearnings…

The MP 40 (Maschinenpistole 40) was a submachine gun chambered for the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge. It was developed in Nazi Germany and used extensively by the Axis powers during the Second World War.

As I was growing up, all of the many, many war movies had actors fighting the Germans who utilized this weapon. They would burst into the room, spraying lead back and forth, back and forth, and the evil Nazi warriors would crumple to the ground. Yikes.

The MP-40 was designed in 1938 by Heinrich Vollmer with

[FLT-bird]

Not counting ones I have. Here is what is left on my wish list for the next few years:
Roth-Sauer
Bergmann #3 model 1896
Glisenti model 1910
Papa Nambu
Rast Gasser
Steyr Hahn
Savage model 1907 (French military contract)
Beretta model 1915
Mauser C96 (war model with the imperial stamps)
Artillery Luger
Webley IV .455 revolver
Smith & Wesson Victory model .45 revolver
Remington Rand
Femaru w/waffenamt stamps so either a 41 or 43
Walther PPK w/waffenamt stamps
Astra 400 within the Nazi contract serial range
Browning hi power tangent site w/waffenamt stamps
Mab D w/waffenamt stamps
CZ-38 w/waffenamt stamps
Mauser 1914 w/ imperial army acceptance stamp
Mauser 1934 w/kriegsmarine stamp
SACM 1935 w/waffenamt stamps

After those, I’ll move on to rifles and will want an Arisaka7.7mm w/full mum, .303 Lee-Enfield, 7.92 Mauser w/waffenamt stamp, M1 Garand (wartime serial range).

It’ll take me a few years to buy all those. That looks like a lot but believe it or not, I already have a pretty large WWI and WWII collection in addition to several modern guns.

[Dusty Road]

Military weapons never really caught my attention, I’d had all of those I wanted to see by the time I got out of the ARMY in 72. With that said I do have a couple of AR’s, one in 5.56 and the other in 7.62 both made by DPMS. My interest has always been hunting and I’ve collected many fine rifles and shotguns but the one that’s always been on my list was a want that started as a child. Reading Robert Ruarks African adventures and later other authors with Capstick considered one of the best. They planted a seed that has never grown. The legendary Holland and Holland 470 Nitro Express. As a child I dreamed of hunting Africa with the trusty H&H slung over the shoulder, hunting the biggest and meanest Africa has to offer.

[Dutch Boy]

My forearm short wish list would be:

1903 Springfield
Sound suppressed MP5
PSG-1
Burnside carbine

[Candor7]

I’ll take a .45 cal Thompson submachine gun with 5 drum magazines and three spare barrels any day.

My wish list is very simple with only that on it!

[ExGeeEye]

Colt M1911A1 with the curved mainspring housing, preferably retired Army (acceptable substitute, Rock Island Arsenal new copy with the straight housing).

That’s it. For now.

Later, of course, Phased Plasma Rifle in 40W range (doesn’t sound impressive, but if he wanted it, it must be deadly).

[harpu]

We hold; a S&W 686,.357, a Glock 47/Gen5, 9mm, and a Beretta M9A3, 9mm.

We're comfortable with our 2nd Amendment solution and wife and I are both certified and get ample range practice annually.

[redfreedom]

My list is quite short:

An M1A because that’s the closest I’ll ever get to a M14 which was my service rifle.

A Brown Bess because I’m a black powder enthusiast.

[Celerity]

From the Femaro down, you are a difficult man to please. :)

[Celerity]

” As a child I dreamed of hunting Africa with the trusty H&H slung over the shoulder, hunting the biggest and meanest Africa has to offer.”

Mugabe ?

[JudgemAll]

Get a hammer forged LrB or the Gulla/Rockolla types then, not the piece of crap cast iron skillet Springfield Armory (they are traitors to the 2A a yways)

[aomagrat]

All I want for Christmas is a BAR.

[Migraine]

I searched for years for a nice, clean Beretta Bobcat 21A; found it and enjoy having it.

Now, I’d like to have a Colt Python in .38 Special

[FLT-bird]

Dammit! I forgot to include a Dreyse model 1907.

Hey, I figured I was being quite reasonable not to include a Baby Nambu or a Kongsberg. Those each will run you a good $5000-$6000. The most expensive ones on my list can be bought for a max of $3000 for even the most expensive ones (the Roth Sauer, the Bergmann 1896 and the Browning High Power depending on its condition). :^)

That list I provided will be over $20,000. Its going to take some years before my allowance for toys covers it.

[redfreedom]

Thanks for the tip. I found a web page discussing the Rockola M14F and it sounds impressive. The price is roughly double that of a Springfield. But if I did decide to go for it, I think I’d do the 14F.

https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2014/11/10/rockola-m14f/

[FLT-bird]

Your wish list is probably more expensive than mine.

Hell, if price were no object, I’d have added a Thompson submachine gun, a Colt Peacemaker, an Stg. 44, a Colt Walker, an original LeMat Revolver (unlike the reproduction I have now), a Kentucky Long Rifle oh and what the hell, why not a Borchhardt?

[Mouton]

“All I want for Christmas is a BAR.”

Ironic I was shooting next to a guy at the range a few years back. Noticed what he was shooting so I inquired: is that a BAR or a copy. The guy clearly in his 80s said, no bud, it is a real one. I asked is it auto capable. Yup he said. I asked how was it that he happened to come by it. His comment was funny: took it with me when I left the Corps. He said they called and told me to bring it back and I told them come and get it when you want. He added they never did so here it is waiting for their visit!! I suggested he be careful whom he shared that history with as there are those out there who have nothing to do but make the life of 2A guys impossible. His final comment was, well, that can go two ways!!

[Big Red Badger]

,,a BAR,a BAR!
When You Absolutely,
Positively,,,
Want to wrench Your Back.

[Candor7]

Some available here, not too bad in price.

https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-for-sale-online/rifles/thompson-semi-auto-subguns/thompson-semi-auto-subguns.c374_p1_o6.cfm

[niteowl77]

I'm in my "de-acquisition" years now, so I just have an interest in shooting some guns, but no interest in buying them.

I have been fortunate enough to be able to fire Garands, M1 Carbines, 98Ks and a slew of handguns from WWII (alas, a few of the latter that were in my care slipped through my hands... never to return), but the "exotica" eluded me. In the last few years, I have been able to scratch the itch occasionally.

The M1A1 Thompson was one gun I particularly wanted to try, being that three different uncles used them- two carried the Thompson as their primary combat weapon and a third would grab one to herd German POWs or when he thought he might need to spray the bushes one-handed while clinging to a 6x6.

(The latter is part of a long story that cast its shadow for many years. When I was about five or six, I asked him if he had "shot" anyone in the war. He just deadpanned, "No, but I got shot AT a lot." )

The first M1A1 "Tommy Gun" I finally fired was pretty ratty, but it worked flawlessly and I could see someone liking it for close work in a tight spot.

Since then, I have also had the chance to fire a BAR, and concluded that a person would need to practice some to be a really good BAR man (one of my uncles qualified as an expert on the BAR... and subsequently did his best to never let anyone know about it). Ugly as sin and twice as heavy, it remains the most "entertaining" firearm I have ever shot.