Tom talks about the production of the Hungarian Femaru Model 37 pistol during WW2. Hungary contracted with the Nazis to make these sidearms for the Luftwaffe pilots. Some people don't know this, but Hungary aligned with Germany and Italy during WW2. The design of this pistol is ideal: it's compact and very easy to disassemble. They're also very affordable for what it is, given that we know it went to the Luftwaffe and it has a great design.

The Hungarian Nazi Femaru: One of the More Underrated Collector Guns

The Hungarian Nazi Femaru like Rodney Dangerfield “Gets No Respect!”

Hey, guys, and welcome to another Walk-in Wednesday. You know, every week we have stuff come in, but we'd like to do a video on Wednesdays just saying, hey, look, look what came in this week. So, this week, I have a hunk, a Nazi, Hungarian Femaru. And I want to talk about this gun because I think it really gets no respect. It's one of those guns that people have underestimated in the collector community.

It just gets no respect, no respect, no respect from anyone. Now, watching Rodney Dangerfield kinds of dates me a little bit, but I have a feeling that some of you know exactly who he is.

Hungarian Nazi Femaru Deep Dive

So, this gun was, I mentioned it was in a Hungarian Femaru. Maybe you've seen them before, and they did have a Nazi contract in 1941 and 1943 that went to the Luftwaffe. I'm going to say more about that.

The Hungarians made it starting, well, the patent date is 1937. In fact, it's called the model nineteen thirty-seven. Here you, see a picture of a Hungarian Femaru, issued to the Hungarian army. They do come up in the United States for sale quite a bit, I see them on Gun Broker and they're fairly inexpensive for the make and model and the design of this gun.

I think they're a great bargain because they shoot great. Hungarian ones were made in 380 or nine-millimeter, 9mm short. They were issued, as I said, to the Hungarian Army. So, the patent date is nineteen thirty-seven, but they actually made Femaru all the way up to nineteen forty-five. At the end of the war, the Russians came in and brought in their own handguns, did away with the Femaru. So, let's take a look at what was happening in Hungary and why they would have gotten a Nazi contract.

Brief History on Wartime Hungary

After the Great Depression. All of Europe was devastated, including Germany and France, and Hungary was certainly devastated along with the rest of Europe, there of course, in Eastern Europe.  If you look at a map here, you can see how they're strategically, right in the middle of everything for war were to end the Nazi empire. But what happened was they were turning after the Great Depression.

They saw trade with Italy and Germany. Those were the two economies that were recovering most quickly. And of course, that became the axis powers. Most people don't know that Hungary actually joined the axis. The Axis League. So, they were promoting trade with Germany and Italy in particular, trying to sell goods back and forth and really chose sides by saying we side with Hitler.

Hungary’s View on Hitler during that time

They saw Hitler as a rising star and Mussolini, and so the prime minister there at that time, there were several prime ministers throughout the war period, but the prime minister at that time said, hey, we're going to join the sides of Hitler and Mussolini because they are rising stars, and I think they're really going places. So, they jumped on that bandwagon, which at the time seemed like a really good idea. So, part of the trade that they promoted was they wanted to sell these to the Nazis.

How did the Femarus Fit in with Luftwaffe?

So, in nineteen forty-one and you can see on this particular pistol, j. h. v. 41, the Nazis added the j. h. v, this was a country code, the date, which is what the Nazis wanted on it, and the biggest change was it was changed to 32 calibers 7.65. And that was because German small arms were already being made in seven-point six-five. So, they wanted to fit in with that group of guns. You can see the Nazi proofs on this gun, and thirty thousand of them were ordered all over them for the Luftwaffe. So, here's the thing, we know that all of these guns went to the Luftwaffe.

This wasn't an occupation of the factory, a lot of times we said that the factories occupied and the Nazis took over. They didn't, it was a treaty, they joined forces with Hitler and they promoted trade and they got a contract in exchange. So, they contracted for these pistols. I think the design of these pistols are remarkable.

Femaru’s long lost Cousin: 1903 Colt

In fact, it reminds me a lot like the action of a 1911 colt, but a mini colt. How about the 1903 colt? They're very similar. But I'm going to go out on a limb here and say, I think this design is actually even better. For you, colt lovers out there, I apologize, but I have a hard time taking this thing apart. Not a hard time, but it's a little complicated.

Femaru Ease of Use

Let me show you how easy it is to take the barrel out. Pull it back to the first night. There it is. OK, we're clicked on the first notch. Now watch this magic. You twist it up. Pulls out. Let's do that again. There's the barrel while you do take it to the first notch. Twist it. Pull out. There's the barrel and drop that lever. A whole gun comes apart. Isn't that cool? I think this is a beautiful design and simple enough for even me to take down easily.

Impact of Nazi’s on Femaru

So, I mentioned that the Nazis added the date and their Waffen stamp. They also added this safety lever. You can see on the original femoral does not have that safety lever. So, when the pistol is cocked, it just pops up. That's an additional safety. It also has a grip safety, which again, the cold design does not have.

Femarus are Underrated

So, I mentioned how much I like this. I hope I'm not going on and on too much, but it shoots great. It's a great little pistol and relatively inexpensive. Let me, I usually don't do pricing here, but I just want to give you a comparison so you can find the Hungarian Femoral for like four hundred dollars for fifty on gun broker. I find them all the time. Again, they were made between 1938 and 1945.

The Nazi ones, they actually sell for a lot more because they went to the Luftwaffe. And anything Nazi has a premium. So, this gun with one magazine is going to be probably a thousand dollars, maybe a little bit under. And you compare that with other guns that we know went to the Luftwaffe, Craig off we know went to the Luftwaffe and they sell between five and ten thousand dollars. There's also PPs and PPKs that we know went to the Luftwaffe, I did a video on that. How do you know whether or not it went to the Luftwaffe? There's an explanation there, by serial number.

Those guns easily sell in the twenty-five to thirty-five-hundred-dollar range. And yet this one we know for a fact that went to the Luftwaffe, and you can pick it up fairly cheaply.

Femaru the Perfect Gun for New Collectors

So, for a new collector, it's a great place to start. I think they can only go up in value and it's a great gun to shoot. They'd normally come in these holsters. These holsters are called dropping holsters. I don't know why? I just dropped mine, so maybe that's why, and you can see inside it has a model thirty-seven. It has the caliber on the back. You can see this little Luftwaffe.

That's a Luftwaffe proof, the L2, what they call the eagle L2 proof, there's a little two under there. So that's a Luftwaffe proof. It's dated 1942, gun was made in nineteen forty-one. So, thirty thousand of these went to the Luftwaffe. And if that's not cool enough, we check this out. Sometimes you'll find them in these tropical holsters, again you look at the back and you will see the date, nineteen forty-one, that was the day of the contract. There's the Luftwaffe proof on the back.

Holsters for the Hungarian Femaru and others

The ones with the tropical belt, they went to the Africa Corps. And so, they look like Africa Corps gear. This one went to the Africa core issue to a pilot in the Africa Corps. Very cool rig, and again, gets no respect. Here is one of my favorite holsters.

I put this in my safe and I just pulled it out for you to say. This is an unissued condition. You can see that it's not even creased. Look at the back of this thing, has never, has not even, I don't even want this shot it because this thing was never used, never issued, and you can see the Luftwaffe proof on the back. And it is nineteen forty-one dated.

The Hungarian Femaru a Fan Favorite for Nazi Pilots

So back to the gun. Thirty thousand of them in nineteen forty-one. They are very much loved by the pilots. I guess the pilots are like me, they're thinking, this is a great gun. And so, they came back in forty-three and they ordered sixty thousand more. Now as it turns out, only thirty thousand were made in forty-three because again the war was beginning to wind down. The Russians are coming, available men or women to put these guns together were lacking.

So, thirty thousand and forty-one, thirty thousand and forty-three, the forty-three, you'll see a picture of one here. The only change is the finish is a degraded a little bit. The forty-one has a higher polished finish, the forty-three is a little bit duller, but it works exactly the same. Again, very simple to use a nice little pistol that we know went to the Luftwaffe.

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