After 33 years of building a collection of Russian and Soviet weapons, and finally getting my hands on the right Nagant Revolver, I can finally state that the collection is complete. I've got Mosin, AK, SAR, SKS, Nagant, Toakrev, among others, all in pre and post Cold War build condition. I was surprised at how many corners were cut in manufacturing during WWII, just to get the weapons into the hands of soldiers...burrs, chattermarks, bit finish, etc. But, the collection now shows history from before WWII to up to the Cold War end. The weapons are all beautiful in their own way, all fire properly, and all with their issued tool kits and such. I even have books on each firearm, in Cyrillic (that I don't understand), that I find fascinating.

During th years, I've picked up a could M1 Garands, M1 Carbines, made by Inland as well as a Mattel, but am searching for the right Singer. While that search goes on, I have decided to move on to a firearm I really haven't had much experience with. The AR-15.

Now, I've shot a number of them over the years, and have passed on them in trade, because the weapon platform didn't interest me. Now that my Russian collection is as good as I'm going to be able to make it, I've now allowed myself the ability to have room for one or 5 in my collection.

I've ordered an inexpensive version to play around with and that I can upgrade parts on. I should have it next week, if shipping works as it should to my local FFL. From there, I plan on finding certain variations to collect, and certain variations within certain manufacturers.

My dad is to credit for my love of firearms. His being a Vietnam Vet that kept the house very well armed as I grew up, and teaching me to respect and appreciate them made an impression on me. I remember shooting his M1 Garand when I was in 3rd grade...learning how to hit the target. As a kid, that thing had a kick! LOL

What I've got coming, what I already plan on upgrading once I get it, is a Del-Ton Echo. I know it isn't one of the great ones, but it's a platform to learn from, and play around with, get used to working on it and learn to know what to look for. Once I tear it apart, rebuild it, learn it and fully understand it, it will likely become trade fodder as I work my up to the right ones.

I learned so much about the Russian and Soviet firearms, and now get to learn much about a different platform. That's something I like about firearms...there's so much knowledge to gain with them, since each manufacturer that has sold to civilians have so many different variations.

This ought to be fun!

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles