It is definitely and Afghan bring-back. I saw several FN Mauser’s when I was over there. The Bazaar owners know that GI’s could only bring back antiques---and they knew pre-1898 was the magic date. For years, Customs (not gun savvy) authorized anything that “looked” antique to be shipped home. All that “liberal freedom” came to a halt in 2009 when someone got wind of their ‘mistake’. Now cartridge-firing arms need a form-6 from the BATF, and it’s still a PITA to get approval to ship. The sanded metal is a dead give-a-way, nearly every arm I saw had a “in the white” appearance. The rumor I got for the finish stripping was that Customs would not allow anything ‘rusty” to be mailed into the U.S. (Afghan rust must be more dangerous than U.S. rust). I had a lot of “face time” with customs there, and read the regs, and lo-and-behold, there was a regulation that prohibited the shipping of rusty or dirty items. Even rocks had to be polished or sealed with lacquer before they would approve their import. Cannot remember, but I think it was a AFCENT or a CENTCOM reg, and not a customs reg.
TOM
TOM
