Deactivated Mp40 value

Thud · October 5, 2013, 03:45 AM

What could be the value of this gun? 80% blue, no sling and not all numbers matching... Thanks.-

**Mike Irwin** · October 5, 2013, 07:16 AM

I'm going to move this to the NFA forum. They might have a better handle on it there. I've not seen a dewat MP 40 for sale for years.

Willie Lowman · October 5, 2013, 07:51 AM

pics would help.

Beretta686 · October 5, 2013, 03:39 PM

Is it a registered and papered DEWAT or a deactivated gun with the receiver cut up? That will make a huge difference.

James K · October 5, 2013, 07:14 PM

If it is a registered DEWAT (registered as "unserviceable") it can be re-activated on application to BATFE and payment of $200. For many of those guns, reactivation is a simple process involving only cutting a couple of welds and removing the barrel block. (The 1986 law banned adding guns to the NFRTR, but a registered DEWAT was already in the NFRTR and its re-activation is allowed.)

That will, needless to say, increase the value by many times.

If it is not a REGISTERED DEWAT, then it is an unregistered machinegun and illegal to own.

Jim

medalguy · October 5, 2013, 07:19 PM

Yep, that's quite a difference in value all right.

James K · October 6, 2013, 10:32 AM

Just FWIW, the term DEWAT (DEactivated WAr Trophy) is pretty specific and there were ATTD instructions for making a DEWAT. The gun did not have to be cut up and most DEWATs can't be told from a live gun from the outside.

The rule was intended to allow vets to deactivate and keep their otherwise illegal war souvenirs; after deactivation, they became legally "non-guns" and could be owned, bought and sold "like table lamps", to quote an ATTD agent.

But then large importers, like Sam Cummings, realized that there was no limit in converting guns to non-guns, so they brought thousands of STEN's, Thompsons, etc., into the country in bond, welded them, and sold them as "non-guns". Those guns, not vet bringbacks, are the bulk of legally owned machineguns today.

After a sensationalist anti-gun "slaughtered in our beds" article in the Saturday Evening Post by Ashley Halsey (later, incredibly, editor of the American Rifleman) the requirement to register DEWATs was added to the GCA '68.

Jim

October 5, 2013, 03:45 AM	#1
Thud Senior Member Join Date: December 29, 2005 Posts: 193	Deactivated Mp40 value What could be the value of this gun? 80% blue, no sling and not all numbers matching... Thanks.-

October 5, 2013, 07:16 AM	#2
Mike Irwin Staff Join Date: April 13, 2000 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 41,383	I'm going to move this to the NFA forum. They might have a better handle on it there. I've not seen a dewat MP 40 for sale for years. __________________ "The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.

October 5, 2013, 07:51 AM	#3
Willie Lowman Senior Member Join Date: March 5, 2009 Location: Uh-Hi-O Posts: 3,006	pics would help. __________________ "9mm has a very long history of being a pointy little bullet moving quickly" --Sevens

October 5, 2013, 03:39 PM	#4
Beretta686 Senior Member Join Date: May 11, 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 761	Is it a registered and papered DEWAT or a deactivated gun with the receiver cut up? That will make a huge difference. __________________ "Our contract called for 16 cases of rifles and ammunition for $10,000 dollars, not a machine gun...........That is our present to the General"-Pike Bishop “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”

October 5, 2013, 07:14 PM	#5
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	If it is a registered DEWAT (registered as "unserviceable") it can be re-activated on application to BATFE and payment of $200. For many of those guns, reactivation is a simple process involving only cutting a couple of welds and removing the barrel block. (The 1986 law banned adding guns to the NFRTR, but a registered DEWAT was already in the NFRTR and its re-activation is allowed.) That will, needless to say, increase the value by many times. If it is not a REGISTERED DEWAT, then it is an unregistered machinegun and illegal to own. Jim

October 5, 2013, 07:19 PM	#6
medalguy Senior Member Join Date: August 31, 2009 Location: New Mexico Posts: 1,033	Yep, that's quite a difference in value all right.

October 6, 2013, 10:32 AM	#7
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	Just FWIW, the term DEWAT (DEactivated WAr Trophy) is pretty specific and there were ATTD instructions for making a DEWAT. The gun did not have to be cut up and most DEWATs can't be told from a live gun from the outside. The rule was intended to allow vets to deactivate and keep their otherwise illegal war souvenirs; after deactivation, they became legally "non-guns" and could be owned, bought and sold "like table lamps", to quote an ATTD agent. But then large importers, like Sam Cummings, realized that there was no limit in converting guns to non-guns, so they brought thousands of STEN's, Thompsons, etc., into the country in bond, welded them, and sold them as "non-guns". Those guns, not vet bringbacks, are the bulk of legally owned machineguns today. After a sensationalist anti-gun "slaughtered in our beds" article in the Saturday Evening Post by Ashley Halsey (later, incredibly, editor of the American Rifleman) the requirement to register DEWATs was added to the GCA '68. Jim