Heym M52 Police Carbine

[SARGE]

Gentlemen,

 

This is a circa 1960 Heym M52 8mm Police Carbine. This postwar German bolt action police rifle was manufactured by F. W. Heym in 1960 for use by various German Police agencies. It greatly resembles the wartime Kar.98k carbine but it was newly manufactured by Heym after 1952. This particular carbine is property marked on the receiver to the Hesse Justizverwaltung indicating one of only 80 made for the Hesse Prison Police.

 

These postwar police carbines are difficult to find and are largely unknown by collectors in the US.

 

 

 

 

[Kanemono]

Beautiful rifle, a bit of an anachronism in 1960. I never knew these existed.

[Tony v]

Outstanding ! Thank you for sharing one real beauty !

 

Tony

[SARGE]

Thanks for the kudos gents. This particular rifle must have spent its days in a Justizverwaltung armory safe rather than manning a tower. It is in superb condition with all matching serial numbers.

 

F. W. Heym also made a version of this carbine in .22 caliber as a single shot trainer or a sporting rifle for sale to the public. The .22 calibers are not Police property marked so I assume they were made for sale to anyone and were not specific to law enforcement agencies.

 

These 8mm carbines were made, and property marked on the receiver, for the following agencies that I have found:

 

Polizei Rhine-Palatinate (1952)

Polizei Rhine Westphalia (1956)

Justizverwaltung Lower Saxony (1960)

Justizverwaltung Hesse (1960)

Zoll (Customs)

 

When I bought this rifle, the seller said nothing about it being one of only 80 carbines made for this agency. It is also clearly dated December of 1960 on the barrel so I know when it was manufactured. Researching these rifles I found a safety warning stating the actions were unsafe reworks of old M98 rifles but this proved to be untrue and this warning has been bantered about for years calling these guns a "Widowmaker". No one seems to know where this comment came from, except from second hand accounts in the literature. Actually, these were new firearms and Heym still makes very high dollar, and well respected, hunting rifles, shotguns and drillings. I am somewhat skeptical of this moniker but who knows?

 

Here is a photo of several of these M52 rifle variations listed above that is taken from the internet.

 

 

 

 

 

[Tony v]

Excellent collection ! Quite a few beautiful weapons. Great pictures also. Thank you

 

Tony

[RRA227]

Nice rifles. Rich A. in Pa.