The very first Sturmgewehr led the way at Morphy’s September auction, where a rare German World War II C.G. Haenel MKb.42(H) sold for $270,600, more than double its $120,000 high estimate. The Firearms & Militaria sale, held September 15–17 online and live at Morphy’s gallery in Denver, Pennsylvania, offered nearly 1,200 lots of antique and collectible arms and grossed $6.4 million. German and Japanese World War II machine guns accounted for three of its headline results.
The MKb.42(H) was a select-fire rifle built around an intermediate cartridge, the 7.92×33mm Kurz. That let a soldier carry more ammunition than a full-power rifle allowed and switch quickly between aimed fire and suppressing fire. Haenel produced somewhere between 8,000 and 12,000 of them in 1942 and 1943, and the design led on to the MP 43 and StG 44. Nearly all were sent to the Russian front, which is why so few are found in the United States. This one had a near-excellent original finish and clean, attractive wood.
A matching MG-34, bought with foresight
The sale’s other German machine gun was an amnesty-registered MG-34 with matching visible numbers, including the Bakelite butt, barrel and bolt. It sold for $150,000, exactly twice its $75,000 high estimate. It came from a collector who began buying German World War II machine guns more than 20 years ago and who had a noted machine gun dealer find and match three sets of correct barrels and bolts for it. Morphy’s cataloger has handled MG-34s for more than 40 years and has seen very few with originally matching barrels and bolts. The condition was the kind advanced German machine gun collectors look for.
A 1902 American Eagle Cartridge Counter Luger
A DWM Model 1902 American Eagle Cartridge Counter Luger sold within estimate for $116,850. Serial number 22432 was one of about 50 pistols made for the U.S. Board of Ordnance during the 1902–1903 trials, when the Army was testing self-loading handguns as replacements for its revolvers. It was once part of the Dr. Geoffrey Sturgess collection and is documented in The Borchardt & Luger Automatic Pistols by Görtz and Sturgess.
Lugers have done well at Morphy’s this year. Swiss Luger #01 brought $307,500 at the May 2026 auction. For the pistol’s full development, see our history of the Luger.
Japan’s Type 100
A Japanese Type 100, which Morphy’s calls perhaps the most sought-after Japanese machine gun model of World War II, finished above its $100,000 high estimate at $110,700. It was made at Nagoya Arsenal and came with one original magazine, a reproduction sling and a steel buttplate. Few Type 100s are listed in the National Firearms Act registry. Morphy’s notes that interest in Japanese machine guns is rising now that suitable modern ammunition can be had.
A prototype Colt 1851 Navy conversion
An important prototype (or experimental) Colt 1851 Navy conversion single-action revolver sold within estimate for $56,580. Chambered in .38 centerfire, it has a 7½-inch octagonal barrel, a brass pin front sight and the early New York City address with dashes. It is pictured on page 112 of The William M. Locke Collection by Frank Sellers, and Morphy’s describes it as almost certainly a one-of-a-kind prototype for the factory conversions of the ’51 Navy that followed. For the percussion original it started from, see our comparison of the Colt 1851 Navy and 1860 Army.
A McKay Brown round-action over/under
A David McKay Brown 12 bore over/under shotgun with accessories and case sold within estimate for $45,600. The Scottish maker has kept the Dickson round-action tradition alive. This gun had 28-inch demi-bloc barrels with a narrow, flat matted rib, and the action carried nearly full coverage of well-cut open shaded scroll. It showed limited field use: excellent bores, a tight action and an exceptional walnut and black morocco leather case.
A Havana map powder horn dated 1763
A large, untouched engraved Havana map powder horn dated July 7, 1763 brought $43,200, well past its $30,000 high estimate. The horn was previously unknown. It came out of a New Jersey family that had passed it down for several generations. Only a handful of Havana map horns are known.
Horns engraved with a plan of Havana are associated with the British siege and capture of the city from Spain in 1762, in which provincial troops from the American colonies took part. Britain returned Havana to Spain under the 1763 Treaty of Paris. This professionally engraved plan names “Moro” (Morro Castle), Shepards Battery, New Store, Reguler, Ponto, North Port and Fuza, and shows five detailed warships. Red pigment was used alongside the black. The horn measures 13½ inches across the bow and 18 inches along the curved body.
A Confederate Morse carbine
A 2nd Model Confederate Morse carbine rang up $28,800 against a $15,000 high estimate. It was made at the State Military Works in Greenville, South Carolina, and chambered for its own .50 Morse cartridge. The serial number sits on the underside of the frame ahead of the trigger guard. The 20-inch round barrel carries a small drift-adjustable front blade and a dovetailed rear sight, and the carbine is 39½ inches overall. These carbines rarely come up for public sale. For the wider picture, see our survey of Confederate firearms.
A Heym double in .470 Nitro Express
A Heym .470 Nitro Express side-by-side double rifle went past its $18,000 high estimate to $28,290. The shoe lump barrels carry a brass bead front sight on a ramp with a flip-up moon sight. The half-length rib is matted across the top, with an open vignette reading “PAUL JAEGER INC. GRAND JUNCTION, TN.” The rifle is finished in acanthus scrollwork with linework edges, in one of the classic dangerous-game chamberings.
A papered Nobuie katana
An Izumi no Kami Owari Nobuie katana with mounts and NBTHK papers, 38¼ inches long, sold within estimate for $11,070. Nobuie changed the character he signed with after the Imperial Court granted him the title “Izumi no Kami” for his craftsmanship. This blade is signed Izumi no Kami Fujiwara Nobuie with the second character. It is ubu (uncut), with a strong gunome midare hamon, and came already mounted and papered.
The takeaway from Morphy’s September auction
The World War II machine guns set the pace. The MKb.42(H) and the MG-34 each brought at least twice their high estimates, and the Type 100 also finished above its high estimate. The rare 18th- and 19th-century American pieces did the same: the Havana map horn and the Confederate Morse carbine both cleared their high estimates by wide margins. The best-documented collector pieces, the trials Luger and the Colt prototype, sold within estimate, as did the McKay Brown and the Nobuie katana.
Our preview of this sale ran in August. The full results catalog, with photography of every lot, is at Morphy Auctions. To discuss consigning to a future Firearms & Militaria auction, contact Dan Morphy at 877-968-8880 or [email protected].
All photography in this article is courtesy of Morphy Auctions.
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