2012 Militaria Fair, Perth, Western Australia.

Well it was on again this past weekend.

There was the usual real guns and military items, as well as Denix replicas, Japanese made replicas, deactivated guns, and hand made replicas.

Of interest to me, were the hand made guns by the talented Dave Taylor.
This is the man who turned up a few years ago with his range of sub machine guns he made down south of Perth.
Last year there were some hand made machine guns, but all I was told is that they were hand made.

Well this past weekend, Dave Taylor turns up with his sub machine guns, assault rifles, and some of those machine guns and more.
I chatted with Dave for a while, and he has full police approval to build these guns, as long as they don't actually work.
Most of the guns and parts are hand built, but some of the parts that he can actually source, he will. Not exactly sure what all those parts are, but the pictures show the final results.

He also had some guns on display which were hand made by a friend. These included the unfinished guns in the last two photos.

Hi Dan
the last few pics say it all.i will send you pics of my new project bits before it is reborn ....the MG42 barrel shroud in particular you will see what i mean,
majority of his reps are being made from real demilled parts ..all the parts for reps on display .easy to source overseas..particularily USA ...seems must be easy to get the bits into W.A ....not quite so the eastern states ...however if he has original parts and CNC etc quite possible ...just the photos tell the story ...any arsenal marks on any parts ...particularily MG 42 etc ?? ..excellent work
what price was he after for particular reps ...MG 42 ...etc etc does he sell onthe spot or to order
cheers

Great work - yes, it looks like barrel receiver and internals are the forbidden parts.

These are terrific dummies - really nice.

I like the Mp28 - need one of those in my collection.

Pit.
*I have an MP34, MP35, and MP40.

Those unfinished guns are from the friend who was displaying some of his own talents.
I'm not sure which others were his, but I know that the sub machine guns and assault rifles were made by Dave, plus some of the machine guns.

Nevertheless, even though some of the components came from real guns, or maybe some might have been reproduction items, these replicas were absolutely fantastic to see.

I think I heard Dave telling someone that his replicas take a month to build, so I'm guessing the prices would reflect that. As far as I know, they were only available on order, and none were for sale on the day.

yes they are excellent repros....even with the real demilled parts it would be a great challenge making the dummy receivers and putting it all together.....and in metal ...works of art. Machining, etc is a skill ...would love to get over there one year to see the workmanship...no doubt on par with the gun smiths of old by the pics

We need prices, lol.
And shipping information.

Pit.

Won't be as pricey as the ones that I have here in HK...

Don't think I can bring all these back to Sydney legally

Jim, I don't think you'll be too successful bringing anything like that into the country.
You could try with the right forms though.

No Mate...I mean to drive down to Perth and getting these "Taylor-made" guns back to Sydney - hopefully without authority intervention ...

Yes, that would be easy. Transporting over the borders isn't too much of a problem.
Trucking companies running East/West all day long.

Have it on the boot will do - and hey we're not supposed to make these public ...

All these replicas are out of question in Sydney / Melbourne Arms Fairs since many of us are Californian-wannabes reckons banning guns making the society more safe and civilised ...

I somehow don't think it's as bad as it used to be Jim.
It's still hard to get hold of good replicas in some states, but I'm constantly hearing of people who are using the B709 form and they are allowed. Probably depends on the individual who is wanting the gun, and the individual who is signing off on the form, and the individual who is letting them in.

It takes a lot of time and effort, but doable. But even then you risk losing your import if the Customs official makes the wrong determination on the model gun.

Ozguns wrote:

I somehow don't think it's as bad as it used to be Jim.
It's still hard to get hold of good replicas in some states, but I'm constantly hearing of people who are using the B709 form and they are allowed. Probably depends on the individual who is wanting the gun, and the individual who is signing off on the form, and the individual who is letting them in.

Maybe the situation have improved since I left...apart from replica collections it seems other aspects of shooting aren't as strict as I thought (i.e. the use of .45 pistols not limited to metallic sihouette anymore / practical shotguns permitted in WA / the theme for Collector's Licence have been laxed)...but all these unfortunately still not really happening in NSW

Good to know though there're now 3 good gun shops (2 new) near my home in South Syd so I don't have to drive up West anymore when I want to get something gun-related in the future...

josh676 wrote:

It takes a lot of time and effort, but doable. But even then you risk losing your import if the Customs official makes the wrong determination on the model gun.

If I still lives Down Under then I think I'll focus on my Collector's Licence getting the real deal instead (good to know sometimes there'll be the Collector Club Shoots)...of course all depends on what I can get

I'm working on my collectors license, after 2 years when I can collect modern hand guns I want a collection themed on German Handguns, the Glock, H&K etc, I believe collectors are exempt from length restrictions. Glock 27 mm.

Yeah Josh...all the calibre restriction / mag capacity / barrel length will be put aside since you're a legitimate collector (as long as it is semi-auto / revolver)...do you know anybody who can collector Cat R (full-auto / select-fire) Weapons as well?

jim wrote:

Yeah Josh...all the calibre restriction / mag capacity / barrel length will be put aside since you're a legitimate collector (as long as it is semi-auto / revolver)...do you know anybody who can collector Cat R (full-auto / select-fire) Weapons as well?

I think Cat R is fine, but permanently inoperable, you see plenty of bren guns etc around.

"Permanently Inoperable" is ambiguous in a way...do they have to be weld solid? Any detailed deactivation guidelines like what we have in the UK and HK?

jim wrote:

"Permanently Inoperable" is ambiguous in a way...do they have to be weld solid? Any detailed deactivation guidelines like what we have in the UK and HK?

Welded shut, no working trigger or cocking handle, or sectionalized, and they wonder why we would prefer imitations! Why pay thousands for 3 kilo's of steel...

Does anyone have a Dave Taylor replica they can show pics of please?

Any close up pics of the M60 or AK?

I have a couple more photos of each of the guns, but no close ups of particular parts of them.