I just thought I'd share my collection so far. I just bought the SVT 40 today. Don't ask what I paid for it. It was probably too much, but you hardly ever see them for sale now.
Ok I see the history in the guns (being a historical gun nut myself). But that blade has me curious. Genuine Jap? Any history that you know of and would mind sharing?
Very nice. I've been collecting military rifles too. Right now: 1903A3, Mosin Nagant m91/30, Arisaka Type 99, SMLE, 98K, M24/47, Madsen M47 (aka Columbia M58), Hakim, K31, AR15 A2, AK74.
I love the SVT40 as a collector's piece. They had one near BR for a while for which they wanted $799. I didn't have it. I used to have a M1 Carbine. Wish I still did. Traded it over twenty years ago now. I REALLY want a M1 Garand. It's also on my list.
Thanks for sharing the pictures. If you ever have time to take more close ups I'd love to see them.
I noticed you've focused on quality over quantity. I didn't do so until late in my collecting, therefore I have more wartime Mosin Nagants than anything else. At $39 - $69 apiece I just couldn't pass them up. They're like potato chips. It wasn't until I had a wall full of them that I realized I could buy fewer guns of a higher value and have a collection I could be pleased with. By then M1 Carbines were $500, and Garands were the price of two space flights. My attention was also captured by the Nepal Cache, as Candyman knows, and the rest as they say is history. I stopped buying guns lately, because I ran out of space, and keeping them all clean and rust-free is a lot of work. I recently acquired a Luger and a Winchester M94 30-30, but that's really been all I've bought in the last year. Gotta start shooting them more.