[Milsurplus] Way off topic Nazi military items.

[Mike Morrow]

That's true about the 50 years since manufacture requirement to be a Curio and Relic firearm.  Unfortunately that does not help anyone who does not hold the "01" Dealer FFL or the "03" C&R Collector FFL that allows him to sell and purchase C&R firearms for collecting purposes.  That license is easy to get, but it does require the approval of the applicant's chief law enforcement officer (usually the county sheriff) and a modest fee.  There are also bound book acquisition and disposition logging requirements.  Thus, the fact a a firearm is a C&R is of absolutely no value to those who do not hold an 01 or 03 FFL.

Every Sauer 38H is a C&R by age alone since 1995.  
  https://www.atf.gov/firearms/curios-relics
But long before any Sauer 38H ever got 50 years old, it was explictly defined in the BATFE's C&R List as a C&R:  
  https://www.atf.gov/file/128116/download

Some confuse a C&R firearm with an Antique Firearm... an entirely different  animal.  By BATFE rules, an Antique Firearm is any firearm made in or before 1898.  Such a firearm is legally NOT a "firearm" under BATFE rules and is thus subject to no federal firearms regulation.  There is no federal control of transfers of Antique Firearms.  Not even a convicted felon is prohibited from possession of Antique Firearms.  All this can make a world of difference to a non-FFL purchaser.  It has no beneficial effect on transfering a Sauer 38H, all made between 1938 and 1945.

I held an 03 FFL for about 20 years, but I let it expire on purpose.

Mike / KK5F