One fires pellets, one shoots small balls. Air weapons are usually considered sort of proper firearms, while bb guns are kids toys.

I don't i am going to dig it up, the safety risks and i don't want problems with the police.

Dig em up, but be careful. Probe around first! See which way the gun barrels are pointing. Then dig from the opposite side of the barrel. Then if magazines are in, take them out.

You'll shoot your eye out, kid.

Seriously though, I wouldn't do it if there are possibly severe legal consequences in Germany. Might wanna get a more "professional" opinion on how safe old (but possibly loaded) guns are, especially if they've been in dirt for so long.

A firearm is much different though. The casing is a few millimeters rather than inches, and over 50 years in weathered soil will have lessed the dangers of the munitions rather than extended them. For instance the effectiveness of the primers can only go downhill. And because of the firing pin mechanism AK variants are the only guns that have worsened misfire incidents over time. (there is a floating pin in the firing mechanism rather than a solid piece as is made with most every other weapon, and certainly in German models.)


Digging is alright, but I am not sure about the laws. Just dig slowly, and hopefully you know right where the guns are, because there are plenty of things that a hard shovel strike could damage between the casing and a dented barrel.
As said, if / when you find them, barrel down, clear the chamber, remove the magazine.
----
stripper clips load magazines, and only in some rifles are the stripper clips loaded directly into the gun.

Another thing, it might be a good idea to find a cheap metal detector, so you don't have to dig fifty holes to find them.

good call

I see no reason for someone to bury guns loaded. If you're going to have to spend time digging them up in the first place, leaving them loaded doesn't cut down on the time much and does cut down on the safety a fair bit. In other words, your grandfather probably unloaded them first (not guaranteed, since he was in a hurry and would have had reason to keep them loaded while they were with him, so it may have slipped his mind, but its still probable).

I suggest wandering into your local police station and talking to them. They should know -or be able to find out- if you'd get in trouble with them for doing something . As long as you're polite/nice, I'm sure they'd be happy to help .

EDIT: Fixed a sentence.

In the case of a K98 it is a stripper "clip" and not a magazine. The magazine on the K98 is integral to the weapon and is not removable. The only part of the magazine that is removable is the stripper clip.

Rounds can be loaded into the K98 either individually through the top or via the stripper clip. The stripper clip automatically gets ejected after loading one the bolt is closed. Rounds can be manually ejected as well either by cycling the bolt or dropping the spring loaded floor plate.

A buddy of mine has a Japanese Type 38 which is slightly similar to the K98 and is loaded the same exact way.

:rofl:
THIS!

:excl: Just dig it up with with extreme caution. :excl:

Guns are cool. Do it! it will be just like call of duty and people will think that your soo badass walking around with one :intergalactic:

i wouldn't think there would be any problem with them when you dig them up, just don't shoot them before you get them cleaned and inspected. Don't shoot them at all! they are old guns where if you clean them right, you may be able to get a nice profit out of them!

If i am going to search for them i wont need a metal detector because my grandmother told me she knows where they are exactly.
she doesn't has Alzheimer and she doesn't forget things quick so i belief her on this.

I don't know how to clean guns neither does my father and i don't know where i could sell them.
like i said before gun laws are pretty tight here in the Netherlands, you will get arrested if you have a rifle in the back of your car and you dont have a weapon license and a good reason why you have a large rifle with you.
And i don't have a weapon license neither does anyone in my family i know of.

Take it to a gunsmith to get it cleaned.

As for legal troubles, contact your nearest gunsmith and be sure to specify that you intend to keep them as heirlooms. Ask to apply for a collector's license (they are hard to obtain in the Netherlands, I think). Otherwise, you could get them deactivated but I think that's a horrible thing to do to anything tool, let alone a family owned firearm. Again, I think it would be best to call a gunsmith first. If you find them.

Dig 'em up mate, but be careful. If those guns are loaded and still functional then you're screwed... or not.
And if possible, post some pics. I like guns, especially the ones from WWII era.

Very good then.

Good luck. Don't forget this is illegal to have war weapons (automatic or not), in most european countries.
Be very careful however when you dig, there is a good chance all this is very rusted and corroded. If the weapon were still armed, you might have a bad surprise (very unlikely but can be deadly).
I lived part of my childhood in Champagne in France and finding old weapons was very common. We found a box of 12.7mm in the garden of my grand dad in Tinqueux, near Reims. We found shells, unexploded, in the same place (it was a swamp before my grand dad drained it). I found a shell in the south of Reims, in 1972-73, in a place in construction. My brothers found 2 mortar shells in Les Mesneux, near Reims in the 80's. And we were not particulary looking for that. It was very common and it is still.
Once, with a metal detector, near Villedommange, I was digging, I found at 70cm deep a beautiful "poilu", perfectly well kept helmet. I dug a bit more. There was bones under, a skull. I filled all. I found remaining of Lebel gun near Rethel.

On a lighter note, in 85, I was studying geology in Lille, BSc. We had a course of geophysics. In geophysics, there is a method called the electric prospection. Basically, you put 2 electrodes in the ground, send current and measure with 2 other electrodes positionned strategically the results. It is used to find the depth of the water table, pocket of sand/gravels/peat etc... basically resistivity contrasts. But one student had an idea. His great uncle, during WW2, buried 10 crates of wines in the garden of his house in Mons en Bareuil, afraid the germans will loot it like in WW1. Wine bottles are very resistant. So we decided to define a strategy to retrieve the bottle in the park of 3 hectares. To cut the story short, we retrieved 3 crates and some spread bottles at 1.5 m depth. 2 were completly rotten and the bottle cork did not support the time. But one of the crate of Burgundy wine was still perfectly kept and the wine was outstanding.

Do you know the exact location? Or are you just guessing from your grandmother's details?

I haven't seen the potato field my self but if i would take here there she could point it out immediately.
(and i know she saw it happen from the second room window at the back side of the house)

just do it dude, and post the pics

Well, I wonder if he found his buried weapons, and if he's still alive.

He was attacked by vampire potatoes and is recovering in hospital.

Cards, flowers and other well wishes can be addressed to:

British Airways
4 Ingrams Drive
Greenwich, UK. NW9 231

You say potato, I say http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtURoWuzfpE.

Guessing he will dig until he hits http://www.ubasics.com/dighole/ due to the odds of a vegetable field being dug up every few months...