I visited my local gunsmith today to check on my custom .338 build.  While there I marveled at some of the Class III guns he has on display and saw one that I didn't fully recognize.  Between three M-4 Greaseguns and an M-16 hung a freshly-restored STG-44.

I have never seen an STG-44 in person, much less held one.  The gunsmith allowed me to handle the gun.  April 1945 production.  Late in the war, during the desperate days of the Reich.

We both wondered if that gun saw combat and what was the fate of the people who built it.  Did they end up in the East and get taken to Siberia and put to work building AK-47s?  Did they end up in the West and live to enjoy the comfortable life of modern Germany?

I wish I could afford to own something like that, but collecting NFA guns is far to rich for my budget, barring a Powerball miracle.  I also got to check out an early FN/FAL.  Nice gun, but I'll stick with my M-1A for 7.62 Nato goodness.

I also saw lots of Troy mags along with some D&H mags.  At $30 for the D&H, I'll hold on for now.  They also had several ARs of various configurations, although I don't know how many were customer orders that had arrived and how many were store inventory for sale.

Meanwhile the barrel blank for my .338 has finally arrived.  They estimate another week to get it drilled and rifled, tapped for a muzzle brake and then parkerized and the gun assembled.  I should be able to pick it up next week some time.

I guess the supply chain is finally starting to move, because the dealer says many parts are now showing up, along with the mags and ARs he's recieved.  My barrel has been on order since late October and finally arrived this morning.

Now the gunsmith is working 12-15 hour days to try and keep up with demand for product.  So my build has to wait for bench time to be built.  And the place has got many more orders to build as well.  It's bad enough they've got one of their guys working 12-hour night shifts and their Bridgeport CNC machine is now running 24 hours per day.

And that's at an out-in-the-sticks gunsmith's shop.  The Surge (not Panic) in firearms buying shows no sign of letting up.

Good for the gunsmiths.  Good for the Nation.  Good for the public to become aware of the real meaning of the 2nd Amendment.