This sold at RIA today

[StrangeRanger]

https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/87/3432/north-korean-m49-class-iiinfa-cr-fully-transferable-dewat

IF I'm reading the description correctly it was obviously dewatted and papered as such back before ATF required that the barrel be welded to the receiver.  Reactivating it would require a new bolt and either getting the lead plug out of the barrel or simply swapping out the barrel, at most a total of $300 or so in parts. Other than than blueing having been stripped it appears to be in pretty good condition.  It's never going to be a collector piece (no Shpagin really is) but it's definitely shooter grade.  So why did it hammer for $15K?/18K with premium?  What am I missing?

 

Edited December 11, 2022 by StrangeRanger

[johnsonlmg41]

57 minutes ago, StrangeRanger said:

https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/87/3432/north-korean-m49-class-iiinfa-cr-fully-transferable-dewat

IF I'm reading the description correctly it was obviously dewatted and papered as such back before ATF required that the barrel be welded to the receiver.  Reactivating it would require a new bolt and either getting the lead plug out of the barrel or simply swapping out the barrel, at most a total of $300 or so in parts. Other than than blueing having been stripped it appears to be in pretty good condition.  It's never going to be a collector piece (no Shpagin really is) but it's definitely shooter grade.  So why did it hammer for $15K?/18K with premium?  What am I missing?

 

Well,

it doesn't work.  Their description of lead in the barrel is meaningless.  I bid on it, but I have a mint example so I was only going to go so far.  It's not Russian, so even though it's 10x more rare, it's not Russian, thus the lower numbers....because it's always been that way.

By the time you get done fixing it (or sending it out to?) paying tax, prem. and shipping you're into the 20's and a bunch of time invested.  In the 20's you can buy a working Russian gun. That's my take.

[Rekraps]

On 12/11/2022 at 4:09 PM, StrangeRanger said:

https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/87/3432/north-korean-m49-class-iiinfa-cr-fully-transferable-dewat

IF I'm reading the description correctly it was obviously dewatted and papered as such back before ATF required that the barrel be welded to the receiver.  Reactivating it would require a new bolt and either getting the lead plug out of the barrel or simply swapping out the barrel, at most a total of $300 or so in parts. Other than than blueing having been stripped it appears to be in pretty good condition.  It's never going to be a collector piece (no Shpagin really is) but it's definitely shooter grade.  So why did it hammer for $15K?/18K with premium?  What am I missing?

 

So this was the gun that's been on the market for maybe two years now. I turned it down almost two years ago because at the time (if I remember correctly) MidWest Tactical was selling it and wanted $40K or so. 

Supposedly the gun is a diplomatic leave behind (thus the chrome plating) acquired by a police department and marked accordingly. Total tragedy. For me, no thank you. Not only not original, but all chromed up and more. Uck. I'm surprised it closed for what it did. 

[StrangeRanger]

Different gun entirely.  The chromed gun was allegedly a Russian honor guard piece that got mislaid by the honor guard on a diplomatic mission and somehow ended up in the registry(!) It was Chester County that was listing it through MWT's MachineGun Central site but they also had it listed on their own.  This gun is a DPRK piece and it is not chromed.  It was stripped of finish; what you are seeing is bare metal.  The realized price was $17,625 which leaves a lot of room to rewat it and reblue it into a decent shooter.  A replacement bolt is $100 and a barrel is under $200.  Don't have a clue what the blueing would cost but not much.

I have to agree with Johnsonlmg41 that ultimately it's not as valuable because it's not Russian but I see the end as costing $8K or more less than a Russian gun in equivalent condition.  For a shooter that is a significant plus.

Edited December 14, 2022 by StrangeRanger
grammar

[Rekraps]

Thanks for the correction. I should have looked closer. 

[Rekraps]

Now that I look at it carefully, all the metal appears to have been stripped (sling mount/buttstock plate) so perhaps the gun was being prepped for refinishing. Can't tell if the metal has been worked, but good thing about these guns is that the sheet metal is really thick so there is plenty to work with.