Infern0
Banned
oi....5.56. fancy a trip to NZ?
i think it would be worth your time *cough*
i think it would be worth your time *cough*
Two heavy machine guns owned by a Masterton gun collector are going under the hammer in Wellington this week.
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The World War I British Vickers machine gun and Czechoslovakian machine gun were the pride and joy of Masterton electrician Allan Nattrass, who died in a car crash near Solway Park in September.
His partner and fellow keen shooter, Denise Wise, said she had to sell the collection of more than 75 guns to settle his estate. She could not keep them because she did not have the appropriate E-class licence, governing military-style semi-automatic rifles or shotguns.
She bought the Vickers, which is expected to fetch more than $3000 in the auction, in Britain in 1987.
It was one of the most prized weapons in Mr Nattrass' collection but because of the tight security required as a condition of his licence, he never had it on display and did not tell people about it. The collection was locked away and their home fitted with alarms.
His interest in guns began when he was 13 when his father would tell him about how he used to go hunting to keep his family fed during the 1930s Depression.
She said there was a lot of interest in the collection, to be auctioned on Thursday, and she was keen to see the weapons kept in New Zealand.
Dunbar Sloane auctioneer Bettina Frith said machine guns rarely came up for sale and few people could buy them: "You have to be dedicated to own something like this."
As dangerous as they were, Miss Frith said, they were "wonderful pieces of technology and machinery".
"They're perfectly safe in the right hands."
The collection included a variety of rifles, which had attracted a lot of interest from hunters.
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