Two Nations, which found a niche in the arms market after WWI, were the newly formed country of
Czechoslovakia
and
Belgium. Both counties had arms manufacturing centers and started to thrive as arms manufacturers. Belgium was a small country, which was involved in arms for centuries. It had ample small arms manufacturers and small workshops in the Leige area. They had been known forever as an arms maker. They produced licensed copies of Mauser rifles and Browning machine guns. By the 1920's they were selling new and surplus to
South America and China, usually at a cheaper price than their competitors. Arms were being pushed and Fabrique Nationale was becoming a large, well respected arms concern and with this, Belgium as a country, was becoming one of the larger suppliers in the world market. Still, with the popularity of FN there were other smaller makers and shops trying gain the momentum in the arms market. Belgium also had their share of Mosin Nagants and SMLE's. Some were traded, while others were sold off. In the late twenties into the early 30's some of the Mosins and SMLE's were taken and converted to other calibres. The SMLE's proved difficult to convert and actually to costly.
The Mosin and some P14's were somewhat more successful in converting to 8mm Mauser. One of the firms that converted and marketed these was the firm of Soley-Grimard et Cie, which operated out of Liege. This company was formed by two enterprising arms dealers, Captain John Ball of the Soley Armament Company of England, who had ties to BSA and sold arms mostly ex- British stock and Edgard Grimard, a Belgian arms dealer. This company sold anything surplus from small arms to aircraft.
By the 1930's the arms market was ripe for cheap arms. China was in still in turmoil. Lithuania and Poland were clashing. The Gran Chaco War was in full force in South America. Ethiopia was fighting for her life against
Italy and the Spanish Civil War was the last conflict before WWII. As these conflicts flared, many countries joined together to put limitations on selling arms to warring factions and although on paper this was agreed, many countries ignored it and sold outright. Other countries used the smaller arms dealers to sell. It was in this period that many companies flourished like Soley- Grimard.
One of the interesting arms that had shown up was the Belgian 8mm conversion. Originally believed to be set up for markets of South Americas and China, these did not sell well. Both counties were set on Mausers more than anything else.
As the Spanish Civil War rolled around, the Republicans, in desperate need for arms in the early part of the conflict, were offered these along with some 8mm converted P14's. The Republicans were purchasing arms with gold. These weapons came to light in the 1960's when Interarms brought in many surplus Mosins from Spain. Most of the Mosins were standard 7.62 Mosin 91's and 91/30's that were supplied by Stalin, later on. There were, however, some of these odd 8mm conversions mixed in. Some of these were complete rifles a few carbines and then some, which were barreled actions. In 1998 while up at Springfield Sporters, a few of the barrel actions were found that had been purchased years ago from Interarms. In talking to the owner, he stated that some of these guns were turned into sporters by Interams but,ammunition and safety became a key factor. The sporters were abandoned. This was the reason some of these just had crudely shortened barrels. A few carbines were, however, found with Mauser style front sight and modified Mosin stocks and appeared to be original carbine modifications but,cannot be proven for sure.
PM
