Making a Collection Specific

Drachenblut

Drachenblut

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Hello All,

Well I have been mulling it over and I have decided my collection is widespread, and has many different rifles in it and it's time to focus. So! I am looking for opinions, the whys and why nots, availiability and other ideas!

I am basically looking to collect one of 2 things

1. An Australian Collection (WWI dated No.I MK.III and Mk.III*, A WWII No.I MK.III and Mk.III*)

2. A WWI Austrian Stutzen Collection (Stutzen from Austria, Hungary, Italy, Poland etc)

If there are other rifles etc that you can suggest, I would appreciate it! Also, I would someday like to find a Mosin Nagant M-1907 Carbine, as my great grandfather was a Ukrainian Cossack and there is a picture of him with this rifle during his service time. I think it was either just before or during WWI.

Thanks and suggestions are welcome,
Drachenblut
 
I believe the Cossacks were issued with Cossack Rifles. Same thing as a Dragoon Rifle, but serial numbers were started by KA3 (for "kazatskij vintovka, I believe: Cossack Rifle).

REALLY hard to find!

There are many good points to having a collection around a specific theme.... but you just miss out on a lot of real neat toys. I tried (many times) to get specific, and my gun rack still looks like the refuse of a dozen wars!

Good luck!
 
I have no idea why any one would want to limit themselves so much. A diverse collection really rounds out the reasons behind the production of many milsurps and gives one the ability to compare one against the other, first hand.
I tried that route once, once only, and regretted it many times. I still regret some of the pistols, like the pristine broom handle 7.63 mauser with matching stock to name one. The p38s, Webley, PPKs, Mauser sniper, G41, G43. Lee Enfields, Jazeels. What more can I say.
 
You seem to be right, I've given it some thought and perhaps limiting myself down isn't what I want to do. All the same, I'd rather have about 3 calibers to load for, rather than 20 ;) Personal preference.

The Cossacks that are referred to are Russian Cossacks, not quite the same as Ukrainian Cossacks. The rifle in the picture was also much shorter, it looked very close to the M-38 Mosin in length, as the other rifles, Dragoon and Cossack, are just under a M1891/30 in length if I remember correctly. Sadly the picture is overseas in Ukraine so I cannot post it up.
 
I guess it depends on what one means by specific. I have mostly been collecting WWII Commonwealth firearms, uniforms and equipment. However I do have a Mauser, Mosin etc. just in smaller quantity.

In my experience you can have both a focused collection, but at the same time keep your eyes peeled for pieces that, while not directly related to your focus, are too cool to pass up.

The other thing I found is that even though I started WWII Canadian, mission creep soon set in as a) I gained knowledge, and b) interesting non-Canadian pieces popped up. Thus my specific Canadian collection has become a Commonwealth collection.
 
When I started collecting firearms the first were Smith and Wesson Hand Ejector models...I soon found out there were quite few different variants, that I had not realized. I sold them off and began the long road of Springfield Armory firearms. This was even worse as the variety of models and development thereof changed over the period I was trying to focus on.
A key point here is to select your focus of the collection then buy every book you can find on the subject and study it extensively. In the meantime, as you are learning more about your collection focus you can be adding to it. Yeah there is "cool" stuff out there, just be careful though. You may buy a cool item and miss out on an excellent addition to the collection due to having spent your money in the wrong place...it has happened to me. I once bought three fair condition (40%) M1903 rifles, burned up my cash on these and missed a cherry (90%) early WW1 wartime era variation that would have been a far better investment. Thus enters the next phase...investing in firearms collecting. Buying a bunch of cool guns is an easy way of burning up a lot of cash and ending up with an accumulation of guns...not really a serious collection in most cases. By searching for the "good stuff" relating solely to your focus you will be investing your money in stuff that will hold and increase it's value over a longer period of time. Thus making you money while you are having fun either shooting them or just preserving them.
Either way you go resolve in your mind what you want to be...a collector or an accumulator. In the long run one will benefit you and your family the other will eat up your cash in a hurry.
Cheers
 
Alonzo, you put it very well. I've settled on being a collector, there are some things I will not touch, and others I want to have. I'm interested in WWI and WWII Australian arms, and WWI Austrian Arms, but only "carbine" length rifles (the SMLE counts, compared to, say, the Mosin 1891). The longest rifle in my collection is 3 ft 11.5 inches and I aim to keep it that way, with a main focus on really short carbines. Narrowing my field of interest is what I want to do so, I've settled on having a collection of 12 firearms or so, and learning them innately. I want 2 Australian Lithgows (1 WWI, 1 WWII), 2 Austrian-Hungarian WWI Stutzen Carbines (1 Budapest, 1 Steyr), and the rest of what I currently own. I do not aim to have a massive accumulation, but a few very good examples of a tool of times gone by. There are so many variations that it would be folly for me to try to obtain them all. Opinions?
 
I can't resist...

Drachenblut said:
The Cossacks that are referred to are Russian Cossacks, not quite the same as Ukrainian Cossacks. The rifle in the picture was also much shorter, it looked very close to the M-38 Mosin in length, as the other rifles, Dragoon and Cossack, are just under a M1891/30 in length if I remember correctly. Sadly the picture is overseas in Ukraine so I cannot post it up.
Click to expand...

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I find my interests are always changing somewhat and expanding into different areas. Some will always stay the same of course. I've been finding that a collection will just come together on it's own over the years. Part of the fun in my opinion is not being too disciplined in what you acquire, I enjoy having things pass through my hands, sometimes knowing full well I won't keep it, if nothing else just to study it and experience shooting it. Of course I've missed out on some things too, but who's to say I wouldn't have missed the opportunity anyway? They'll usually be another chance down the road. That's just my take on collections at the moment, but my opinion on that could evolve with time as well! It sounds like you already know what you want, so start working towards that.
 
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I tried the collector rout too, but it got to out of hand, besides my intrest is in
Russia, so now all I focus on is Russian and Soviet arms. theres so many variations and types you'll never own them all.
 
DRACHENBLUT;
Why would you want to limit yourself ?
Are you saying there are guns you do NOT like ?
Trust me, your intentions are nobel, for best results ignore them....
45 years ago I had the same thoughts, fortunately I ignored them, a very large collection resulted....
An as my wife says my hobby went bad I now have an even larger "collection" , Marstar.
So good luck and happy collecting
John
 
Thank you John for the advice. I think my main idea will be a collection in Enfields and Short Carbines of "The other guy" nations (Like Australia/Austria etc). But I won't turn something down just because.

Cheers,
Drach
 
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