mawkie
C&R Whisperer
-Timing is everything. Opportunity is wasted if it comes knocking when you're not prepared to take advantage of it. Recently I've had to turn down a couple of great opportunities to add very cool pieces to the collection. But my world was in a state of flux at the time and I had to pass. Then a month later everything settles down and I'm ready to say "yes" to what comes knocking at my door.
-In this case is was a MDS member who gave me a second chance at a wonderful item from his collection. I had just watched a rare Estonian FN GP35 sell strong at auction and had High Powers on my mind so the timing was perfect. What he offered was an early Finnish GP35, issued to an air force officer. Matching and in great condition I jumped on the chance to add it to the herd.
-A couple of months earlier a Canadian collection of holsters came to market and while I struck out on a sweet Steyr Hahn holster I did snag a fantastic European built reproduction FN High Power holster stock. Hermann Historicia sold one of these a couple of years ago for a tidy sum so I was interested and got it stupid cheap. A good place holder until I can find (and afford) an original.
-This GP35 has a nice SA marked magazine and is in original condition, no arsenal rework or mods. Only the later army issued GP35s will have the SA property mark on the pistol so this one is correct sans that stamping. One interesting item is the wear mark in the center of the left grip panel. That came from being stored in the shoulder stock holster, where the attaching rivet rubbed.
-About 2400 High Powers went to Finland, falling in the 11,000 to 15,000 range. The only Finnish marks are those applied by Finn inspectors who were stationed at FN's factory. You'll find them on the right-side trigger guard.
-In this case is was a MDS member who gave me a second chance at a wonderful item from his collection. I had just watched a rare Estonian FN GP35 sell strong at auction and had High Powers on my mind so the timing was perfect. What he offered was an early Finnish GP35, issued to an air force officer. Matching and in great condition I jumped on the chance to add it to the herd.
-A couple of months earlier a Canadian collection of holsters came to market and while I struck out on a sweet Steyr Hahn holster I did snag a fantastic European built reproduction FN High Power holster stock. Hermann Historicia sold one of these a couple of years ago for a tidy sum so I was interested and got it stupid cheap. A good place holder until I can find (and afford) an original.
-This GP35 has a nice SA marked magazine and is in original condition, no arsenal rework or mods. Only the later army issued GP35s will have the SA property mark on the pistol so this one is correct sans that stamping. One interesting item is the wear mark in the center of the left grip panel. That came from being stored in the shoulder stock holster, where the attaching rivet rubbed.
-About 2400 High Powers went to Finland, falling in the 11,000 to 15,000 range. The only Finnish marks are those applied by Finn inspectors who were stationed at FN's factory. You'll find them on the right-side trigger guard.
