MG-42, MG-34, Bren, 1919

Light Infantry

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
349   0   0
I have an opportunity to acquire a few converted auto's that I would dewat to sell. Wondering about the market and value for these. All are in great shape and have been meticulously cared for in a collection for the last 30-40 years.

I don't have pics but consider them all as above average specimens.

MG-42. A True German MG, not a cobbled up Yugo.

MG-34

Bren Gun

The above come as the firearm itself, no accessories etc. (could be made available however)

1919 Browning. This is c/w with T&E, Tripod etc.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Do what you must. But the current 'guidelines' to de-paper render them as slag. It's a shame they couldn't agree to 'old spec' deactivations but that is where we are.

(there are a few grandfathered 12 whatever the f's out there. PM me.)
 
God lord man. Harvest everything you can out of the gun and sell those so others can live on, make up fake barrels, fake triggers and make a cobbled together dewat that looks good. PM me for more insight
 
I have an opportunity to acquire a few converted auto's that I would dewat to sell. Wondering about the market and value for these. All are in great shape and have been meticulously cared for in a collection for the last 30-40 years.

I don't have pics but consider them all as above average specimens.

MG-42. A True German MG, not a cobbled up Yugo.

MG-34

Bren Gun

The above come as the firearm itself, no accessories etc. (could be made available however)

1919 Browning. This is c/w with T&E, Tripod etc.

Any help would be appreciated.
If these are all 12.3 CA guns, why not try to sell them first as a CA. If no interest, then de-activate. Just one dude's, who collects CAs, opinion and maybe interest in keeping some of the stuff alive.
 
If these are all 12.3 CA guns, why not try to sell them first as a CA. If no interest, then de-activate. Just one dude's, who collects CAs, opinion and maybe interest in keeping some of the stuff alive.

I have 12(3) status as do many others who are reading this thread. I can't buy what's available for sale if I don't hear about it.

Please decide on a price for each piece and let us know. Don't dewat them just yet.

I'm still bothered that the person who bought my mint 1928A1 Thompson and Israeli UZI welded them up immediately and then sold them. That was done nearly nine years ago and he is now deceased.

They could have been sold as live pieces to any number of eligible buyers who wanted them. I tried to buy them back but his executor won't tell me anything about what happened to them.
 
I just bought a 12.3 BREN it came with a lot of accessories. So I value just the Bren gun at about $1200. This value obviously would vary on condition and manufacturer. Collector's Source sells a lot of Dewats . Go on their web site for pricing. However I do believe they are a little high if you wanted a quick sale. They list a DEWAT BREN at $3000 DEWAT 1919 at $4000 and a DEWAT MG42 at $4500.

I would love to see them stay 12.3 however if you DEWAT them it opens a whole new segment of people that can by them, display them and enjoy them .
 
Last edited:
I have seen 1919s sell for over $4k recently in deactivated form. The tripod just adds to the price another $500. Brens at a minimum sell for $1600 to $2K deactivated. If they are exceptionally clean, matching, or unique it goes up from there. But if your gunsmith makes them solid, then they are not nearly as saleable as an older #### and click example.

If the 12.3 price does not equal those, then you have to decide if you are going to take the loss when selling them, as they will eventually get deactivated. You do have to factor in whatever your gunsmith is going to charge to do any work required along with the paperwork to de-register.
 
That is a beautiful Lanchester. Actually, they are both nice pieces. If either had a place within my own current collection I would be quite interested due to the terrific condition of your 12(3) CAs.

The biggest impediment specific to future 12(3) sales among licensed individuals is the likelihood that the RCMP will insist on a lengthy (eg. Years-long) inspection of the firearm's method of conversion. Many older conversions require additional welding and/or grinding in order to comply with the RCMP's ever-changing interpretation of "not easily converted" back to fully-automatic. This requires the services of a qualified gunsmith who must supply photographic prooof that the work was done to the Lab's specifications. In other words, future 12(3) sales among individuals are liable to be an expensive and extensive undertaking, further driving down the already-deflated prices for live 12(3) firearms and discouraging further transfers for private ownership. Bummer.....
 
I recently saw a dewat MG-34 go for $6K, and there was a lineup of guys with open wallets (WW2 German re-enactors) saying "I'll take it if he doesn't".

Sad but true.

Yes it would be a shame to see them welded up, but it is what it is. My advice would be to part out what you can and sell the rest. Hell, the MG-34 leftovers would be snapped up by Star Wars fans trying to make a bigger better blaster. (No s%&$, take a dewat C96 (Han Solo's blaster) or MG-34 (Storm Trooper heavy blaster) to a Comic-Con convention and name your price, they will crawl over top of each other to get it. Not my bag at all, but I was asked to help out at a show with a buddy. An eye opening experience, let me tell you.... I spoke with one guy who bought a dewat C96 and made a latex mold of it. He sells plastic copies of it for $400 a pop.)

Brookwood
 
The biggest impediment specific to future 12(3) sales among licensed individuals is the likelihood that the RCMP will insist on a lengthy (eg. Years-long) inspection of the firearm's method of conversion. Many older conversions require additional welding and/or grinding in order to comply with the RCMP's ever-changing interpretation of "not easily converted" back to fully-automatic. This requires the services of a qualified gunsmith who must supply photographic prooof that the work was done to the Lab's specifications. In other words, future 12(3) sales among individuals are liable to be an expensive and extensive undertaking, further driving down the already-deflated prices for live 12(3) firearms and discouraging further transfers for private ownership. Bummer.....

I've bought several 12(3)'s in the last year that took only between 1 and 2 months to process. I think it depends on who you buy the firearm from and whether they are permitted to make any additional alterations (as directed by the RCMP technicians) themselves.
 
5 years to get my CA FAL from the RCMP .....5 YEARS ....all they did was open it up and saw that the safety sear was removed I had to weld one in .....5 YEARS!!!!!
complete and utter BS ....
 
5 years to get my CA FAL from the RCMP .....5 YEARS ....all they did was open it up and saw that the safety sear was removed I had to weld one in .....5 YEARS!!!!!
complete and utter BS ....

Yup. I was 3 years to the day for an extremely simple sten (stating the obvious). In what world would it be acceptable for a government employee to take 3 years to complete a 30 minute process (inspect and documentation). But we as gun owners take it up the hoop from those civilian employees we pay. And as with any abusive relationship, it gets worse until we take some sort of action. And of course those same people rely on the intimidation factor. I've called to make inquiries and before long the person on the other end of the phone was saying, "did you know we could ask for .... this....". Blatantly using their position to try and intimidate with threats.

Is it simply purposeful refusal to do your job properly, or incompetence?
Edder
Smith
Guay
 
For what it is worth--- here are some of my experiences with 12.3s and dewats.

Sale of 12.3 MP40 and MP44—sold for $7,000 in 2016.
Work required to comply with current conversion requirements $250 for each gun. (Total $500)
It took about 6 months for the transfer to get processed.



Sale of a dewat MP44 with a moving action ---$4,000. (February 2015)



Sale of a dewat MG42 with a moving action and top cover that opened---- $5,000. (Sold in 2015)
Sale of a dewat MG34 with no moving action and a top cover that was welded shut.----$3,000. (Sold in August 2017)

 
Back
Top Bottom