Is this a C&R handgun?

[James K]

Sometimes, the C&R designation takes an odd turn. Collectors petitioned for the German Makarov to be placed on the C&R list when a very small number were smuggled out of East Germany and became available to advanced (spelled "rich") collectors, who paid huge sums for them. But then the Berlin Wall came down, the DDR collapsed, and there were suddenly tons of East German Makarovs on the market, all C&R. Since there was no provision for removing guns from the C&R list, they stayed. (And the collectors took a huge hit, just like folks who invested with Madoff.)

Jim

 

[Tamara]

Heh.

I remember a guy coming into my favorite shop back in... '87? with a Mak and a CZ-75. You'd have thought he had just strolled in with the Holy Grail and a piece of the True Cross from the way we all gathered 'round ooh-ing and aah-ing. He'd paid eight bills for the Mak, IIRC, back when a new Glock was three-and-change.

 

[gyvel]

The law states if a gun is 50+ years old and manufactured after 1897, then it is a relic

ATF regs state that a C&R is any firearm made 50 years before "today's" date. However, you got the second part wrong: It's 1/1/1899.

Commemoratives don't automatically go on the "less-than-50-years-old" list either. As was stated, someone has to petition ATF to have them placed there.

Interestingly enough, the Modele d'Ordnance 1892 Lebel revolver, which was the star of this thread, can fall into either category: Antique OR C&R; Dates of manufacture were stamped on the barrels and there were plenty that were made before 1899, making them bona fide antiques under ATF regs. The rest, obviously, are C&R's.