I think we’re in similar places. But -and I ought to know, sorry - were they actually used for training either the regular army or the Waffen SS? If not, it’s not a “military trainer”. It’s a relic from a very perverted version of the Boy Scouts.
I will shut up soon, but I have never liked the small sub-set of militaria/gun collectors who seem to like Nazi stuff because it’s Nazi.
There are undoubtedly German things from 1933-45 that are of huge historical interest, both because of their use in the war, and because they broke new ground and hugely influenced post-war developments (anything from the MP43 through the MG42 to the V2 rocket, Me262, or the type XXI submarine).
But the idea that a thing (say a Luger, in countries where they may be owned) is more desirable/valuable if it has a swastika or a totenkopf or whatever on it is just, well, sorry, but, actually sick. That Luger may have been used to shoot kneeling Jews in the back of the head.
I think based on this Haenel ad the 33 ‘senior’ was still designed with youngsters in mind:
https://www.waffencenter-gotha.de/sh...aft:::168.html
(It is a 33 senior featured, not the junior model, and note the youths are in uniform clothing) that’s not your say it was never used by adults as a trainer, I just don’t know.
It’s fair to say I like this rifle despite its connection to said youths not because of it.
It’s a sensitive area, but having taken mine apart and seen how it actually works I’m really keen to explain the mechanism in a video, as it is a genius design.
Cheers,
Matt
Last edited by ptdunk; 11-09-2021 at 11:05 PM.