Cool Gun Stuff/Militaria you had when young.

Status
Not open for further replies.

Brutuskend

Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2020
Messages
371
Location
Oregon
How many of you had cool gun stuff or millitaria stuff when you were a kid and lost, traded or for some other reason no longer have it and kick yourself now cuz it's worth so much $$$$

I had a pineapple grenade (dummy like ME) and a nice Ww2 german stalhelm .
(miss spelled I KNOW).

Think my Dad still.has the helmet down in Fla.
Had a nice winchester .22 pump too, it's gone now, and a .30-40 krag jorganson (sp) same story. :(
 
Last edited:
I had 2 cousins that were in WW2, one D day +1 and his brother D day+2, as pre teens we played with German helmets and NAZI pistol belts, got to handle P 38 and PPK that were brought back. Also had uncle that had a paratrooper M1 carbine he brought back, also a WW2 vet and Ranger. Sadly all was disposed by the time we realized the value of all of that.
 
Bummer!!!

I was living in KC MO back in the very early 70's and there was a BIG surplus store fairly close in one of the suburbs. They had a para folding stock .30 cal. for what NOW seems pretty cheap...
 
Last edited:
When I was a kid, I remember buying Garand and Springfield bayonets at the flea market for 10-15 bucks. We used to trade them back and forth, and throw them to see if we could stick them in palm trees. Those things are worth some serious $ now.
 
I had a control stick for some sort of aircraft and also a data book for rocket propellant. These came from a NASA guy who died in the ‘80’s and i got to explore in his storage room. I think i still have these somewhere.
 
I grew up in Jacksonville, home of Camp Lejeune. There was a landfill near my home and I played there often . I found the frame of a M3 Grease Gun and had a lot of fun playing with that. I had a lot of Mk 2 “pineapple” grenade housings . Several mortar shells with fins etc. I used them as bombs in my tree house. Lots of M1 clips! I wish I had kept that stuff. They were just toys to me at that time .
 
I picked up a Springfield 1903 and a Gewehr 98 from an auction that I worked on weekends during my senior year of high school.
Cost me my day's wage - $25.00.
They got stolen a few months later when we got broke down in the mountains of southern Oregon.
 
My dad’s pack and helmet ,USMC, probably Vietnam era are in my mom’s house....somewhere
 
At the Yuma, AZ county fair back in the late '50's you could win a crappy Nambu pistol at the coin toss. They kept them in a basket...

The surplus store guy sold WW2 USN inflatable life rafts until someone told him they had Morphine in the first aid kits.

Conelrad
 
Before the gun control act of 1968,,,
I was trying to get a rifle and bayonet from very major player in WW-II.

I had these bought up from Aldens mail-order catalogue.

  • 8mm German Mauser (gift from grandfather),,,
  • British 303
  • 6.5 Italian Carcano carbine
  • 7.7 mm Japanese
  • Some French rifle that I can't remember the name of

Not particularly valuable even today,,,
But a cool collection for a 15 year old boy to have back then.

Aarond

P.S. The only one I still have 55 years later is the Mauser.

.
 
Last edited:
6.5 Italian Carcano carbine

Mom’s “deer rifle” when I was growing up was one of those 6.5 Carcano carbines (like Oswald’s) that Dad had actually pulled from a barrel full of them at an Army/Navy surplus store. As I recall, Dad paid $8.00 for it. A few years later, after the JFK assassination, I was real proud when I would show that gun off to my high school buddies.
 
Back in the mid 60s, my Dad would drop my buddy and me off at the theatre downtown on Saturdays and come pick us up a couple of hours later.
One day the movie ended a little early so we went next door to the surplus store.
They had a big cardboard box of WW2 leather flight helmets marked Army/Air Force inside.
They had the hard rubber ear pads. Price was $1.
We each bought one and actually wore them during the winter.
I’ve still got it.
 
Both Granddads served in the Paciific in WW2.

Grandpa Ray passed shortly after I was born, but I do have a few of his letters he wrote in the Phillipines and a hand-woven bag he bought in a local village there. He was buried with honors and I have the flag from the ceremony.

Grandpa Mario gave me his medals and uniform when I was in high school because he said I was the only one of the kids that ever showed an interest in his service. He wouldnt talk much about the war. Most questions wre answered with "Hmmm, dont remember. It was hot. There were lots of mosquitoes." I dont think they give the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for swatting mosquitos.

Still have the stuff, shadowboxed. I think its pretty cool.
 
Last edited:
I had an Argentine Mauser in very good condition and a GI pistol belt and canteen. The neighbor farm kid's dad had a Japanese sword he brought back from the Pacific theater. I remember that it was as sharp as a razor.
 
Just remembered , I had a pair of flight googles that had a knob on them that you could turn to make them lighter or darker ( Polorized ?) They would always give me a headache.
When I was in the Marines I had, and got rid of all kinds of stuff I wish I still had now. Ka Bar, pilots servival knife, 8 day clock from a dakota, flight jacket... :(
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top