What year of printing is considered as "1st Edition"? $500 for a first edition, where and who is paying that. From the info on some of the on-line book sellers (Amazon, Abe Books, Ebay) what ones that were on those sites, used were selling for $125-145.00. Collector Grade in their website states it first came out in 2004, so would that be 1st Edition. If so, mine has a copy write date of 2004, is in 99.5% shape as when I bought it new. Have read through it several times, no dog ears, coffee spills, fly droppings. Good grief, if it's worth $500 and the 2017 edition has more info, I'll sell it and buy a new one. Great book, love that Stg-44 Sturmgewehr.
Bought one of the ATI German made GSG Stg-44 .22 LR versions just a little over five years ago. Fun shooter, no squirrel headshot tack driver, but a fun shooter. Just shooting a replica of the real thing makes liquids run down my leg. Well made, used to get a few jams on the second/third shots of a 25 round magazine once in a while. Polished up the feed ramp took care of that and found that when loading the mag, if I'd load five, then move the follower button up and down a few times, then load five more, followed by moving the follower up and down a few times, repeating that until loaded. Seemed to seat the 22 LR's a little better in the mag, promoting smoother feeding. Would love to see the real McCoy some time, just to handle one. Better yet to be able to fire one. Now that would be something to have dreams and memory's of.
Talked a number of times to a WW2 vet in a community I served as a LEO. He was a Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne that dropped into Holland in Operation Market Garden in Sept of 44. He went through the Battle of the Bulge and some time after that he advised his platoon overran a German position. When they took the former German position, the Germans regrouped and tried to take it back. The vet said one of the guys in his squad found a Stg-44 in the former German position beside some dead Germans. He advised there were about 10-12 magazines loaded, so they took turns emptying them, firing back at the Germans with their own ammo. After they ran out of the Stg ammo, they returned to using their M1 Garands. The vet said the guy that found it, kept it and a half dozen of the empty mags, they took turns 'humping it', but with carrying their own rifles and gear it became to much of a burden. He said it was a 'heavy bastard', but "a great smooth shooter". The vet said a couple of Sherman tanks were nearby so they tossed it under the tracks so the 'Krauts' couldn't use it again. He said it's probably still buried in the mud somewhere in Western Germany where they tossed it. The vet said he was glad the "Krauts" didn't have more of the Stg's than they had as it was a formable weapon, not one they like going up against, he stated that a lot of the fire fights he was in would possibly have had a different outcome if the Germans had all been armed with the Stg's rather than the K98k's. One account from a Great American Hero---someone we all owe a debt of thanks to.
