One collector (hoarder?) astonishing arms & militaria collection being auctioned in Australia this week.

"We were in complete disbelief when we arrived to inspect the collection," said Lee Hames, Chief Operations Officer for Lloyds Auctions.

Australia's biggest collection of historic militaria up for auction this week.

https://www.9news.com.au/natio...11-bc99-925dbca353da

Over 10,000 lots, including -

150 + WW2 Japanese Arisaka service rifles, including several rare scoped sniper variants.

15 x WW2 Japanese "knee mortars", and other Jap mortars - fully working order

15 x WW2 German MG34 machine-guns - fully working order

4 x WW1 German Mauser Tankgewehr - first anti-tank rifles

20+ WW2 Japanese Nambu pistols, including the Papa and Baby variants

30 to 40 WW2 German K98 service rifles

17+ WW2 Japanese machine-guns - Types 11, 94, 97 and others - fully working

Several WW2 German and Japanese anti-tank guns, and artillery pieces

Enough WW2 Japanese uniforms, field gear etc to equip a regiment.

Because of the quantity of lots, about 16 different auctions of the same collection were held.
The auction house could have done a better job on the lot photos and descriptions, but they were probably overwhelmed by it all.

Some links below -

https://www.lloydsonline.com.a...d=29129&pgn=1&pgs=15

https://www.lloydsonline.com.a...gn=1&pgs=15&altype=1

https://www.lloydsonline.com.a...d=29127&pgn=1&pgs=15

https://www.lloydsonline.com.a...d=29125&pgn=1&pgs=15

Some quite good bargains - about USD$700 for a Japanese Type 97 machine gun with optics.



WW1 German Granatenwefer 16 (grenade launcher) for about USD$290

venture bros wallpaper

WW2 German MG34 machine gun for about USD$950

the great gatsby wallpaper

You want something bigger? Jap Type 99 20mm cannon - USD$1000

8 ball wallpaper

That is quite the collection. So how many are you hoping to take home?

I thought guns were banned in Australia?

quote:

Originally posted by calugo:
I thought guns were banned in Australia?

No they are not.

One of the world's largest private handgun collection (2500+ I think, of high-quality, high-end & exotic pieces)) was owned by an Australian (Ron Hayes) and when he passed, it was all left to the Lithgow Small Arms Museum. His collection, some of it on display, is staggering. I remember seeing 3 or 4 Borchardts, 5 x Webley-Fosbery semi-auto revolvers and some Matebas - amongst many, many others.

Less than half his collection is covered in this book - 592 pages ! - https://www.amazon.com/Hayes-H...opedia/dp/0949749834

Are those machine guns deactivated?

Just looking over the Australian licensing classes, looks like most of that stuff is "Category R/E". I'm assuming the average bloke can't get that category of license.

What kind of license did he have to allow him to own all that, when it seems that the vast majority falls into categories that are restricted to "government agencies, occupational shooters and primary producers"?

Also, I really, really hope Ian from Forgotten Weapons can get himself to Australia and do videos on some of this stuff!!!

quote:

Are those machine guns deactivated?

Just looking over the Australian licensing classes, looks like most of that stuff is "Category R/E". I'm assuming the average bloke can't get that category of license.

No they are not deactivated. States within Australia have slightly different licensing laws - Queensland is probably the most liberal with quite a few Cat E/R licence holders. This collection is based in the state of Victoria where the collection owner was the first to get approval from the State Government for these full-auto and destructive devices - i.e. mortars, 20mm flak guns etc, he was then followed by about 150 others.

But you are right, it is quite difficult for an average bloke to acquire these. I suspect that most of the desirable & rare machine-guns and other items will be whisked overseas - maybe even to the US? - as the pool of collectors here with the right licences is too small to handle a flood of 100 + machine guns onto the market.

I personally would like to have a WW2 German Quad 20mm Flak Gun ( there is one for sale in this auction) but it would be almost impossible for me to obtain the permits to obtain one.

More information on the owner of the collection - https://rodbellarsmilitarymuseumservices.com/

Wow, I would love to have a mg34 one day.

HK Ag

Thanks for posting this, and for your insight on gun laws down there.

Highly doubt any of the machineguns, etc. will end up here. Maybe the bolt actions, semis, pistols, etc., but not the machineguns.

Between the 1934 NFA, the 1968 GCA and the 1986 import ban, those machineguns won't have a home here unless they're deactivated.

quote:

Originally posted by HK Ag:
Wow, I would love to have a mg34 one day.

HK Ag

The MG34s sold for about USD$3,000 - 4000 each. The half a dozen or so Bren guns sold for a bit less, as did all the Vickers MGs.

quote:

Originally posted by nukeandpave:
Thanks for posting this, and for your insight on gun laws down there.

Keep in mind that the entire population of Australia is only about 25 million - with about 4 million guns registered and known to the authorities - and maybe about 300,000 "grey" guns, not registered.

There are some quite big collections here. I know a few people who have 300+ handguns, with my state's record holder owning about 800.

Me, I have about 120 handguns and 30+ rifles.

quote:

Me, I have about 120 handguns and 30+ rifles.

Some people here in the U.S. ("journalists" & politicians) would call that an arsenal.

I call it a good start.

Thanks for your auction report. Some days I don't wish for more money - the day of this auction was not one of them.