What should be my next WWII era firearm?

[I.H.1989]

I've been slowly working on my WWII firearms collection. Right now, I own a firearm from most of the major powers of WWII.

USA - M1 Carbine, M1911
UK - Lee-Enfield, Browning Hi-Power
USSR - Mosin-Nagant
Germany - K98, P38

The only one that I don't have is Japan, so I have been looking around to see if there are any that are available in my area. I was lucky to find a gunshop that has a few for sale, but I am unsure if i want to get an Arisaka, or if i should go for an M1 Garand, or is there anyhing else that I should go after instead?

Any thought from anyone out there?

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[Aragorn243]

You need to make that decision for yourself. You are missing a lot of nations rifles. Japan, France, China and Italy being the major powers. Finland, Poland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark. Bulgaria being among the minor powers. Granted some of them remained neutral throughout the war but the Swiss K31 is an absolute must in my opinion.

Japanese and Italian rifles are still bargains despite some serious movement on the Japanese end. Poland is already expensive, Norway, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands almost impossible to get, China is cheap but try finding a decent one. Canada and Australia often get lumped in with the UK and they did you a lot of the same equipment. France and Finland are reasonable but moving up. Switzerland's days of cheap K31's are unfortunately over. They jumped to $600-$700 it seems but you still might find a bargain or two to be had in the $400 range if you are persistent and lucky.

If you want a true basic WWII collection you have to include the French, Japanese and Italian weapons as a must. I'd also push China pretty hard too because their war actually started in 1937, they fought just as hard as everyone else and are just largely forgotten by us here in the west.

[I.H.1989]

You need to make that decision for yourself. You are missing a lot of nations rifles. Japan, France, China and Italy being the major powers. Finland, Poland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark. Bulgaria being among the minor powers. Granted some of them remained neutral throughout the war but the Swiss K31 is an absolute must in my opinion.

Japanese and Italian rifles are still bargains despite some serious movement on the Japanese end. Poland is already expensive, Norway, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands almost impossible to get, China is cheap but try finding a decent one. Canada and Australia often get lumped in with the UK and they did you a lot of the same equipment. France and Finland are reasonable but moving up. Switzerland's days of cheap K31's are unfortunately over. They jumped to $600-$700 it seems but you still might find a bargain or two to be had in the $400 range if you are persistent and lucky.

If you want a true basic WWII collection you have to include the French, Japanese and Italian weapons as a must. I'd also push China pretty hard too because their war actually started in 1937, they fought just as hard as everyone else and are just largely forgotten by us here in the west.

I was focusing on the big five for the moment, but I am also open to other nations as well. I will keep in mind the French and Italians since I will probably go for them next.

[browningautorifle]

An Arisaka will be far cheaper than an M1 rifle...but you'll need them both eventually.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

I am guessing Aragorn either has you very excited to know what you are missing or perhaps ready to throw in the towel. His list reminds me of some holes in my collection and is a very sound advice. I think an M-1 Garand might be a good 1st on the list as CMP is running low and prices seem to be headed up. I have to go with Aragorn on a K-31 (big five or no) you will not regret picking one up. GP-11 ammo is still out there and they are a mechanical work of art and very accurate.

[Ronbo6]

If you are interested in some great-shooters as well, down the line, you just MIGHT want to look at the Finn-modified Mosin Nagants. Those Finn armorers really knew what they were doing.

The Finns also are historically significant in that they basically fought TWO wars with the Soviet Union (or one war with a 'time out') during the WWII timeframe.

[I.H.1989]

I was curious about M1 Garands. I've seen a couple by CAI, and I wanted to know if anyone here has had any experience with those firearms. Are they good, bad, somewhere in between?

EDIT:

Nevermind. Found out about how they have a bad reputation.

[Aragorn243]

I was just saying to my wife on Saturday at the Maryland show that I was very glad to have started when I did. Realizing that I even started a bit late. I don't envy anyone coming into this today and just starting out unless you have a money cow in the backyard.

The Garand is a gamble. CMP is running out but the previous administration is gone and there are thousands of them in South Korea that they had been holding up for years. Probably not real high on the new administrations list but we can hope. I expect some importer will bring it to their attention at some point.

Rifles I see the most of at shows are Garands and Arisakas. Everyone has them, $1000 for the Garands, $300 for the Arisakas. Nagants still around but not everywhere, $250 now, hard to believe. Carcanos next, $250 range. No4 Enfields, next, $300-$400. Very hard to find are any French with Berthiers being the most common now. Can almost forget the Lebels. MAS occasionally and still reasonable.

Best bet for bargains are private sales if you have any way to watch for them. Have to be fast with military items though, if bargain priced, they will go the first day the ad is up.

---------- Post added at 10:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:05 PM ----------

If it is imported by CAI, it's fine. If it was made by CAI, that's the problem area. They did both. They made their own receivers and these are the ones to avoid. You need to ensure it has a USGI receiver, and make sure it wasn't rewelded together after a demill. There are searchable sites that can explain what to look for better than I can.

[Eaglelord17]

Italy and Japan were both major powers in WWII, and both would be relatively easy to represent.

A Arisaka Type 38 or 99 would be a good representation for the Japanese until you expand out, or if you go with Italy the M38 Carcano would be a good candidate for representing them (though any Carcano from the M91s to the M41s would be equally as good a representative).

A Steyr M95/30 would also be a good option as it represents both Hungary and Bulgaria, both fairly large players in WWII who mostly get forgotten about.

You could also expand the Soviet side of things a fair bit as there is many models of Mosin Nagants as well as the SVT-40s, TT-33s and Nagant Revolvers. As far as I am aware these are still relatively cheap and common (for the moment).

What I do with collecting is I create a general list of what I am looking for, and if one off that list appears at a reasonable price point I buy it. Trying to get one specific rifle can often lead to you overpaying as you just want that specific item and can get tired of waiting.

[Aragorn243]

SVT-40's are around $1200-$1400 in the US, another prior administration problem I'm hoping gets corrected. Import restriction.