My New 1944 VKT M39 (Pics)

[Ben Bowyang]

Finally got my hands on her after the painfully long licencing process here in West Aust. The rifle is a C96 Trading import from the US and carries US import marks and the red dot safety mark that Australian Customs insist upon. I could have bought about three in the US for what I had to pay here but I'm happy nonetheless .

[MN Fan]

Man, that's impressive! I salute you for what you did to get it

Very nice! Thank you for posting the photos!

[Longcolt44]

That is one beautiful M39. Those round plugs just add to the character of the rifle.

[millman]

Very nice M39 Ben. Congrats on getting it all the way down under.I admire you guy's persistance. Is there anything that you all can get easy?

[desdem12]

Really nice. M39s are worth the price. Sweet stock on that one.

[Junk Yard Dog]

That's a very nice M39

[sclinesr]

[martin08]

That's a gorgeous gun, no matter what country it came from, nor where it landed. Hoping you can experience many pleasurable moments at the range this summer!

[cyknight]

[bunkysdad]

When they are that costly to acquire I am sure that the thought of collecting huge quantities sounds silly. That leaves you able to enjoy and treasure this one and hopefully you can get some good shooting time in with it. you did get a beautiful rifle. what are your restrictions on ammo? And can you load your own ammo if you want?

Ya gonna pull those pistols, or whistle Dixie?~ Josey Wales

[Ben Bowyang]

Thanks for all the comments, as you can imagine I am very pleased with it.

With regard to ammo availability, both milsurp and commercial ammo is readily available. I am currently reloading for other calibres but don't have dies as yet for 7.62x54R.

[dou44]

great looking rifle

[pacanis]

That's real pretty wood. I've got an M39 with about 5 of those circles on the stock. The furniture on yours is beautiful.

[Drago]

Awesome looking rifle, Ben. All these M39's popping up is making me want to post some pics of mine. So what is the purpose of those plugs?

What special licenses or permits do you have to have in Aust. to have firearms? I thought there was a firearms ban in effect there.

[Ben Bowyang]

Awesome looking rifle, Ben. All these M39's popping up is making me want to post some pics of mine. So what is the purpose of those plugs?

What special licenses or permits do you have to have in Aust. to have firearms? I thought there was a firearms ban in effect there.

Drago,

A National Firearms Agreement was implemented in 1996 following the Port Arthur massacre. Under the agreement certain firearms were banned totally and we ended up with this:

"State laws govern the possession and use of firearms in Australia. These laws were largely aligned under the 1996 National Agreement on Firearms. Anyone wishing to possess or use a firearm must have a Firearms Licence and, with some exceptions, be over the age of 18. Owners must have secure storage for their firearms.

Before someone can buy a firearm, he or she must obtain a Permit To Acquire. The first permit has a mandatory 28-day delay before it is first issued. In some states (e.g. Queensland, Victoria, and New South Wales), this is waived for second and subsequent firearms of the same class. For each firearm a "Genuine Reason" must be given, relating to pest control, hunting, target shooting, or collecting. Self-defense is not accepted as a reason for issuing a licence, even though it may be legal under certain circumstances to use a legally held firearm for self-defense.

Each firearm in Australia must be registered to the owner by serial number. Some states allow an owner to store or borrow another person's registered firearm of the same category.

Firearms in Australia are grouped into Categories with different levels of control. The categories are:

Category A: Rimfire rifles (not semi-automatic), shotguns (not pump-action or semi-automatic), air rifles, and paintball markers. A "Genuine Reason" must be provided for a Category A firearm.

Category B: Centrefire rifles (not semi-automatic), muzzleloading firearms made after 1 January 1901. A "Genuine Need" must be demonstrated, including why a Category A firearm would not be suitable.

Category C: Semi-automatic rimfire rifles holding 10 or fewer rounds and pump-action or semi-automatic shotguns holding 5 or fewer rounds. Category C firearms are strongly restricted: only primary producers (farmers), occupational shooters, collectors and some clay target shooters can own functional Category C firearms.

Category D: Semi-automatic centrefire rifles, pump-action or semi-automatic shotguns holding more than 5 rounds. Functional Category D firearms are restricted to government agencies and a few occupational shooters. Collectors may own deactivated Category D firearms.

Category H: Handguns including air pistols and deactivated handguns. this class is available to target shooters and farmers. To be eligible for a Category H firearm a target shooter must serve a probationary period of six months using club handguns, and a minimum number of matches yearly to retain each category of handgun.

Target shooters are limited to handguns of .38 or 9mm calibre or less and magazines may hold a maximum of 10 rounds. Participants in certain "approved" pistol competitions may acquire handguns up to .45", currently Single Action Shooting and Metallic Silhouette. IPSC shooting is not "approved" for the larger calibres, for as 9mm/.38/.357 handguns meet the IPSC rules. Category H barrels must be at least 100mm (3.94") long for revolvers, and 120mm (4.72") for semi-automatic pistols unless the pistols are clearly ISSF target pistols: magazines are restricted to 10 rounds. Handguns held as part of a collection were exempted from these limits.

Category R/E: Restricted weapons: machine guns, rocket launchers, assault rifles, flame-throwers, anti-tank guns, Howitzers, artillery, etc. can be owned by collectors in some states provided that these weapons have been permanently inoperable. They are subject to the same storage and licensing requirements as fully functioning firearms.
Certain Antique firearms can in some states be legally held without licences. In other states they are subject to the same requirements as modern firearms.

All single-shot muzzleloading firearms manufactured before 1 January 1901 are considered antique firearms. Four states require licences for antique percussion revolvers and cartridge repeating firearms, but in Queensland and Victoria a person may possess such a firearm without a license, so long as the firearm is registered.

Australia has very tight restrictions on items which are far less controlled in comparable societies such as the UK. Air pistols, elsewhere unrestricted, are as difficult to get as centrefire and rimfire handguns, and low-powered airguns are as difficult as cartridge arms to license. Airsoft guns and replica firearms are banned in most states. Suppressors (or 'silencers') which are legal in the UK and New Zealand, are extremely restricted in Australia to a few government bodies."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_politics_in_Australia

[SA1911a1]

That is a fine firearm on either side of the equator. Congrats!

So Ben,

Does the majority of your population agree with these restrictions? The rural folks must hate it.
Is there much criminal use of firearms there; robbery, murder?
How has the restrictive laws affected your violent crime rates?
Previous to the 90s laws how, if at all, restrictive was firearm ownership.

I'll bet Crocodile Dundee is pissed.

[MN Fan]

Ben, that's pretty interesting. Thank you for posting it up. So, how do you go about explaining that you need a Category B firearm instead of a Category A?

[pacanis]

I never figured Australia to be so restrictive. Interesting.

[MN Fan]

I just read the Wiki account of the Port Arthur massacre. Pretty sobering.

[Ben Bowyang]

That is a fine firearm on either side of the equator. Congrats!

So Ben,

Does the majority of your population agree with these restrictions? The rural folks must hate it.
Is there much criminal use of firearms there; robbery, murder?
How has the restrictive laws affected your violent crime rates?
Previous to the 90s laws how, if at all, restrictive was firearm ownership.

I'll bet Crocodile Dundee is pissed.

At the time of 'Agreement' surveys indicated about 85% of the population supported gun control and I believe that this probably remains the case. Only 5% of the adult population own firearms and that would have been the case before pre-agreement. Farmers and sporting shooters were vehemently opposed to the new laws which did nothing to reduce the number of guns in criminal hands.

Before 1996 the states differed on their levels of control. Fully automatic weapons were allowed in Tasmania while Western Autralia and the Northern Territory had very restictive legislation along the lines of the current national laws. The other states were less restrictive, some allowing military semi-automatic rifles, for example. Pistols were generally subject to rigid controls.

As to the affects,

"Historically, Australia has had relatively low levels of violent crime. Overall levels of homicide and suicide have remained relatively static for several decades, while the proportion of these crimes that involved firearms has consistently declined since the early 1980s. Between 1991 and 2001, the number of firearm-related deaths in Australia declined 47%.

In the year 2002–2003, over 85% of firearms used to commit murder were unregistered. In 1997–1999, more than 80% of the handguns confiscated were never legally purchased or registered in Australia. Knives are used up to three times as often as firearms in robberies. The majority of firearm-related deaths are suicides, of which many involved the use of 'hunting rifles'.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics , from 1985–2000, 78% of firearm deaths in Australia were suicides, and firearm suicides have fallen from about 22% of all suicides in 1992 to 7% of all suicides in 2005. Immediately following the Buyback there was a fall in firearm suicides which was more than offset by a 10% increase in total suicides in 1997 and 1998. There were concerted efforts in suicide prevention from this time and in subsequent years the total suicide rate resumed its decline."

The number of guns stolen has fallen dramatically from an average 4,195 per year from 1994-2000 to 1,526 in 2006–2007. This is because of a campaign by police and shooting bodies, such as the Sporting Shooters’ Association of Australia’s ‘Secure Your Gun, Secure Your Sport’ drive, to encourage secure storage of rifles and shotguns (handguns were already subject to strict storage requirements). Long guns are more often stolen opportunistically in home burglaries, but few homes have handguns and a substantial proportion of stolen handguns are taken from security firms and other businesses. Only a tiny proportion, 0.06% of licensed firearms, are stolen in a given year. Only a small proportion of those firearms are recovered. Approximately 3% of these stolen weapons are later connected to an actual crime or found in the possession of a person charged with a serious offence."



"I too strongly supported the introduction of tougher gun laws after the Port Arthur massacre.

The fact is, however, that the introduction of those laws did not result in any acceleration of the downward trend in gun homicide. They may have reduced the risk of mass shootings but we cannot be sure because no one has done the rigorous statistical work required to verify this possibility.

It is always unpleasant to acknowledge facts that are inconsistent with your own point of view. But I thought that was what distinguished science from popular prejudice."

Dr Don Weatherburn
NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research