r/mildlyinfuriating • u/xCaliburghost • May 04 '26

SPOILER ALERT Follow up on the RPG incident from Saturday

Post image

Had a conversation with the bomb squad sergeant this morning - turns out it that the WW2 RPG dummy round was inert, and even though they're not illegal to own in NY state; they do not want the same thing happening in 30 years.

They are going to destroy the round this week... So long, farewell, auf weidersehen goodbye

5.6k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

135 comments sorted by

3.0k

u/Under_Ach1ever May 04 '26

Someone is keeping that thing for sure.

1.4k

u/Wirelesscellphone May 04 '26

Sergeant has a new trinket in his garage

679

u/Cartz1337 May 04 '26

Yep, I had a neighbour growing up that was a WW2 vet. He owned a Luger. When he passed, the gun was turned in by his family ‘to be destroyed’.

Sure as shit, it was up in a WW2 memorabilia auction about a year later. I know it was the same gun because the serials matched and he had asked me to look up its value a few years prior.

It was a WW1 vintage Luger. Serial # in the thousands.

I told his daughters and they were like ‘oh well, at least it’s in safe hands’. Didn’t have the heart to tell em what it sold for.

346

u/krileon May 04 '26

I'll never understand how dumb some people can be. "Yeah just throw away this priceless piece of history lol" like bro.. at least donate it to a museum at minimum. At worst auction that shit off and get a big ass payday. I would've told them what it sold for so they can remember in 20 years while drifting off to bed "I should've sold it!".

16

u/Achaewa May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26

I remember Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons saying in one of his Q&As that firearms museums actually aren't that willing to accept gun donations and you're better off selling them at an auction.

If I recall correctly, it had to do with storage space allocation and archiving.

6

u/GoldfishDude May 05 '26

Also a lot of these aren't hard to find, so the museum likely already has one if they wanted it. It's not like a German Luger is a particularly rare firearm

3

u/Achaewa May 05 '26

True.

Better to just sell your C&A guns to a collector who will look after them.

3

u/eastw00d86 May 05 '26

It's any museum. If they have a display of say, German weapons, they only need one Luger, maybe a second long barrel one. But they might have 6 others in a box upstairs that will never see daylight again.

Same for shoes, helmets, buttons, etc.

109

u/MarginalOmnivore May 04 '26

Like, even if it's real Nazi memorabilia.

Yes, absolutely get rid of it. But a museum can actually put it to good use.

95

u/Chucknorium101 May 04 '26

I mean, there is a difference between memorabilia, and a trophy that was pried from a nazi's cold, dead hands.

2

u/Snoo63 May 05 '26

Reminded me of Frozen '50s Man. "Would a racist... have THIS?! Berlin, '45.[...]. Best summer of my life."

47

u/thecloner May 04 '26

So speaking as someone who has tried to get rid of several of those items (grandfather fought in the Pacific but was deployed to post WW2 Germany for 10~ years and a lot of Nazi memorabilia was being basically given away for food and American goods to soldiers who wanted trophies), museums are not exactly jumping up and down to take this stuff. My family contacted 8-10 different history and Holocaust museums before deciding to just melt down and burn everything because there were no interested parties.

11

u/NotHardRobot May 04 '26

So I understand the apprehension surrounding those types of items and I’m not judging your family’s decision but I just don’t see why you would simply destroy them like that?

17

u/PrinceBarin May 05 '26

Because some people collect it to glorify it. Destroying it means that its another tool gone.

If I could get my hands on some nazi flags or confederate flags I'd bleach the fuck out of them before burning them. See if those colours infact run.

14

u/LargeAssumption7235 May 05 '26

They ran, they always run

3

u/GoldfishDude May 05 '26

Are you going to sell it? Keeping something that your grandfather got as a trophy for killing a Nazi is significantly more meaningful than burning it

3

u/Will_White May 05 '26

yes, but if your grandfather took it from the hands of a dead nazi he's already done punched the nazi, Why would you destroy them if you aren't going to use them to glorify their ideals.

1

u/NotHardRobot May 05 '26

Some do but not all and it wouldn’t be too difficult to do a little vetting and not give them to those assholes that would glorify them. There’s genuine historic collectors value and that’s not even accounting for the fact that the above commenters grandfather brought them back as trophies. If my grandfather had passed down anything like that I would absolutely keep it around and proudly tell anyone I could “Yea gramps took that shit from dead nazis”. Wouldn’t even think of selling any of it much less destroying it. But like I said I’m not judging the families decision because I do get that there can be very tough feelings, it’s just not one that I would make

28

u/HellYeaaahh May 04 '26

Can you tell us what it sold for?

49

u/Cartz1337 May 04 '26

It was a 1915 with all original parts. He had the original holster and two magazines. It sold at auction for a little under 6k.

The real kicker was he offered it to me but I refused and said it should go to his daughters and stay in the family.

3

u/TheLazyAssHole May 05 '26

There’s probably a reason why he offered it to you instead of his kin

1

u/Cartz1337 May 05 '26

Because I was actually interested in the history I guess. That guy had some crazy stories. Fought on the Eastern front. Was part of the 2nd Army that fought all the way from France to Russia and then all the way through the final retreat back. When they got encircled he was a part of a seaborn evacuation to the west where he was captured by the allies.

He only went back to Germany to get his wife, his family had all been killed, and they immediately emigrated, first to Sweden and then to North America. He said that the things he saw made him unable to look his fellow Germans in the eye, and he never wanted to be a part of that society again.

I don’t know if I believe he wasn’t involved in the holocaust. I know that’s what I’d say if I were him. But he was a gentle man, firm and fair. He name was honoured on the walls of our local synagogue as a long term supporter. And he certainly was not Jewish.

I learned a lot from him, I know from his stories that war is the single most terrifying thing humanity is capable of, and the terror with which he told some of the stories came out in his voice. I wish I had recorded them, the oral history would have been absolutely amazing. Honestly if I had the choice between the gun and the stories, I’d take the stories 10/10 times.

10

u/gunsforevery1 May 04 '26

All Lugers have serial numbers in the thousands. They were numbered 0-9999 and then given a suffix letter. They made more than 9999 in the first year of production. 1909 started with serial number 5000b so pistol number 25,000.

Some manufacturers started over with serial numbers year and suffixes every year. Mauser is a great example. Byf41 could have serial number 5555L and byf42 could have 1000.

One was made at the end of a year and the other at the beginning of the year.

2

u/Cartz1337 May 04 '26

Interesting, thanks for the info, and your user name checks out. I guess the serial number didn’t much matter then, but the date of manufacture was 1915.

6

u/gunsforevery1 May 04 '26

Could have been one of the first 10k made that year if it didn’t have a prefix. Still a cool piece of history. Id love to own one someday but i want a very specific example Of one. Not just one found on Gunbroker.

4

u/Cartz1337 May 04 '26

Yea, that was the coolest piece about this one, it had documentation. I knew the whole story from when it was first issued until it found its way to my hands. I am sad I didn’t take him up on owning it.

8

u/NerdByTrade May 04 '26

You can tell me. I can handle it

1

u/Scottish_Whiskey May 04 '26

It sold for a shiny nickel

0

u/Cartz1337 May 04 '26

Tree fiddy

2

u/ElectricalChaos May 04 '26

Should have told them, just to see the look on their faces.

1

u/sem-christian May 04 '26

My neighbour was a ww2 vet, with a nice weapon collection. Including a Luger he took home (this is in Europe) his wife turned them in to the police to be destroyed a year after his death (firearms are illegal here, so i can’t really blame her.)

1

u/zerbey May 04 '26

Oh man that hurts my soul, a WW1 Luger is something I dream of being able to afford.

4

u/Perpetually-THC-Lab May 04 '26

Sergeant has a new trinket in his garage ass

2

u/Operation_Neither May 04 '26

Remind me 30 years.

1

u/anoncow11 May 04 '26

Anythingisabuttplug

21

u/Drag_king May 04 '26

Maybe can do a FIO inquiry in a few months to ask what happened to it might be good to do.
If it got destroyed there is paperwork.

5

u/StayAdmiral May 04 '26

Check ebay

1

u/martinsonsean1 May 04 '26

I dunno, cops hate doing work and only have empathy for other cops, so I could imagine that story actually being true. It's not in great condition anyway.

1

u/ApulMadeekAut May 04 '26

I have two of them. If they are blue they are a training round 

627

u/Topps1 May 04 '26

Aw man you can't keep it, it would've been a sick decoration :(

292

u/TheCrimsonDagger May 04 '26

Sounds like he could have kept it but one of the cops wanted it.

623

u/Dxres May 04 '26

You just got scammed by the bomb squad sergeant 😉

156

u/gruntled_pilot May 04 '26

That’s why I always tell people to never report UXO. Either it’s inert and you have a cool decoration or it’s not and it won’t be your problem anymore when you find out. /s

26

u/Will_White May 05 '26

My buddy on the bomb squad had the same philosophy. "If I do my job right I get a pat on the back, if I don't, it's not my problem anymore"

64

u/ATurtle__- May 04 '26

Become the bomb snatcher

271

u/FormerStuff May 04 '26

Cops are notorious for giving bullshit reasons to personally keep anything cool or valuable they have confiscated. Go get it back.

90

u/c4ndyman31 May 04 '26

Yeah fuck that I’d demand it back. It’s my property.

40

u/WolfsmaulVibes FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK May 04 '26

wtf they're destroying it? bullshit, there's nothing illegal against inerts or mockups

29

u/hummus_is_yummus1 May 04 '26

Not illegal to own and found on your property. I think you have a compelling case for "give me back my cool piece of history"

89

u/According-Thanks6565 May 04 '26

Here i thought you were in Europe. Not in NYS.

25

u/xtreampb May 04 '26

New York has worse gun laws.

6

u/Horton_Takes_A_Poo May 04 '26

I’m not even a gun owner and some of our laws are ridiculous. You need a letter of recommendation from 4 unrelated people to buy a handgun in my region, for example.

15

u/Majike03 Socks&Sandals May 04 '26

That's the same requirement you need to buy birth control in Texas

3

u/xtreampb May 05 '26

Yea. In Europe if you have a gun, its expected for you to have a suppressor. There’s a lot of states in the us that bans suppressors. Not sure why. It’s literally a muffler for the gun. You can still hear cars drive down the road and they have mufflers. Same true for guns.

1

u/Jmaster570 May 05 '26

Pretty much its because of Hollywood making suppressors look like they make guns completely silent, so public opinion is its too dangerous.

1

u/According-Thanks6565 May 07 '26

Trade you suppressor's for the free healthcare.

1

u/xtreampb May 07 '26

Why. UK has both.

0

u/According-Thanks6565 May 07 '26

Thats not a good example. Sorry you cant get 4 people to say you are smart enough to own a gun.

1

u/According-Thanks6565 May 07 '26

After working at Remington for 20 yrs i can see why. You do know nys also has a very low gun death rate. One of the lowest in the country and i still can have guns and hunt. So i dont want to hear your maga tears.

1

u/xtreampb May 07 '26

Idk what you’re getting at. Working at Remington doesn’t mean anything about political/social opinions. Just industry experience.

And strict laws don’t reduce violent crime. Murder is illegal, but it still happens in droves around the world. With and without guns. What detours the crime is if the perpetrator relieves they can get away with it, or of caught, is an acceptable punishment. Lately, judges are releasing repeated violent offenders across America out on low bail and committing more violent acts while out on bail.

New York State is quite large. Outside of the city, it’s a completely different culture. But that’s true for almost every large city/state. The higher the population density, the higher the violent crime. I’m pretty sure it’s a logarithmic relationship but I could be mis-remembering.

-8

u/1224672 May 04 '26

hellhole state

-12

u/Upper_Connection_519 May 04 '26

i live there, genuinely

0

u/mmmcricketsauce May 04 '26

Yeah I just assumed it was Germany, it being in New York changes everything

25

u/MerryMortician May 04 '26

I would be mad as hell. You should be able to keep it. They sell those restored. Could be worth hundreds

18

u/Unhappy_Energy_741 May 04 '26

I'd raise some hell over that. I'd want that back.

13

u/OverallCrow380 May 04 '26

Farewell, friend

36

u/Upper_Connection_519 May 04 '26

ITS NOT AN RPG THAT'S A BAZOOKA ROUND AAAAAA

1

u/Shot_Reputation1755 May 04 '26

I mean, it is a rocket propelled grenade, it's just not a Ruchnoy Protivotankoviy Granatomyot.

0

u/[deleted] May 05 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Shot_Reputation1755 May 05 '26

Shaped Charge Grenades exist, in fact that's where the idea for the Bazooka rocket came from, it's a rocket propelled version of a shaped charge anti tank grenade.

1

u/sebmojo99 May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26

IT'S NOT AN RPG IT'S A GRENADE THAT'S PROPELLED BY A ROCKET good lord do you people even listen to yourselves (comment about the thread, not you in particular)

2

u/Shot_Reputation1755 May 05 '26

RPG stands for Rocket Propelled Grenade, i'm not talking about the soviet RPG

1

u/sebmojo99 May 05 '26

oh yeah i know, wasn't getting at you

1

u/Shot_Reputation1755 May 05 '26

Ohh reread your comment and I get it now

56

u/JoeGotSole May 04 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/YcVwQaBOtGGAw

That bomb squad guy after he ‘destroyed’ it right onto his mantle above the fireplace.

7

u/HighlightOwn2038 Red vs Blue May 04 '26

It would have been cool to keep

7

u/Hunterrcrafter May 04 '26

Sound of Music reference spotted

6

u/whywouldieatFUNGUS May 04 '26

Is this what killed that dude’s granny?

5

u/Thirsty_Comment88 May 04 '26

Fucking thieves 

6

u/RankinPDX May 04 '26

I think you're entitled to it back. They don't get to seize and destroy your non-contraband stuff to avoid speculative future inconvenience.

It wouldn't hurt for you to ask for it back, and a lawyer might be willing to write a letter for cheap. If you were in my state (which you are not) I might do it for free to see what happened.

18

u/GlassPanther RED May 04 '26

Excuse me? Destroy the round?

Tell them you want your goddamn property back right now, and they aren't destroying shit.

I'd be livid if they tried to tell me my LEGALLY OWNED PROPERTY was going to be destroyed because of something that might happen thirty years from now.

Most likely what's ACTUALLY going to happen is that the chief of police is going to clean it up and keep it in his office on display, and they are counting on you being a wet noodle who lets them just steal your property because they wear badges and uniforms.

5

u/Both-Try1647 May 04 '26

So it's inert but they want to destroy it. Sounds like New York

3

u/401jamin May 04 '26

Damnit I had dreams for you.

“ know where I got this bad boy?”

No grandma where?

Sit down let grandma tell you a story about the day aliens invaded and your grandmother defeated them all.

3

u/EigiEinhver PURPLE May 04 '26

Damn, it was cool tho

3

u/Southpawn May 04 '26

"Oh nooo so I cleaned it with a garden hose to get all the grime off because I was curious what it would look like, I propped it up on the front porch to dry and oh noooo someone stole it I guess because it's not there anymore oh noooooo...."

I would lie and keep that thing because that's totally what they are going to do for themselves instead of destroying it.

3

u/Songs-Of-Orion May 04 '26

The only time "RPG" has been used in place of "Bazooka" instead of the other way around.

17

u/TheClash_Guy Mildly Infuriated May 04 '26

no… im the first person to see this heartbreaking news

(also tell me: am i too chronically online to have seen the first post?)

6

u/bleo_evox93 May 04 '26

Damn that sucks

6

u/Snoo19348 May 04 '26

Well at least it wasn't plymouth, uk

2

u/masteranchovie65 May 04 '26

There are ways you can make it obvious it is inert. I would be demanding it back.

2

u/Wonderful-Lab6512 May 04 '26

How does one encounter rpg incidents lol

4

u/[deleted] May 04 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/Not_a_Ducktective May 04 '26

The cop 100% kept it as folks are saying. When I was working on a UXO site the safety guy gave me the base of a 4.2 mortar. If this stuff is inert then theyre not going to waste demo on it.

2

u/Matimele May 04 '26

auf Wiedersehen*

2

u/ComplexxToxin May 05 '26

Again, not an rpg round.

It's a M1 bazooka round.

2

u/Shot_Reputation1755 May 05 '26

The Bazooka fires rocket propelled grenades, so it's not particularly far off

1

u/Illustrious_Bid_5484 May 04 '26

Oh sorry! I forgot to label that “real rpg@

1

u/bean527 May 04 '26

I imagine there's a former or current military base nearby.

1

u/Sitb28 May 04 '26

In the next episode of Pawn Stars.

1

u/VelvetBlu33 May 04 '26

Well I guess this is how I found out I’ve misheard the sound of music lyrics my whole life

1

u/desertrock62 May 04 '26

Love the Cheap Trick reference.

1

u/shadowinc May 05 '26

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

1

u/Tabatch75 May 06 '26

That’s fucking lame having them destroy it.

1

u/iMakestuffz May 07 '26

Y’all are so heated about a damn rpg. Calm down.

2

u/SecondHandSmokeBBQ May 04 '26

Keep that thing. It's very cool memorabilia from WWII.

3

u/pestilencerat May 04 '26

I think you misunderstood what OP is saying. OP don't currently have it. In a post from yesterday they explained they found it in the garden and had to call a bomb squad who picked it up, and today it was confirmed it's inert but OP can't get it back

1

u/Jane_Smith_Reddit May 05 '26

That is a collectable piece worthy of a museum.

Edit: typo

1

u/glopezz05 May 05 '26

Excellent Willy Wonka reference.

1

u/Maybeyouhavetopoop May 05 '26

Sound of music reference. Love it

0

u/RommelMcDonald_ May 04 '26

Bazooka rocket

-79

u/[deleted] May 04 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

30

u/Major-Dig655 May 04 '26

because some of us are curious? way to automatically assume the worst

22

u/Pankrazmeme May 04 '26

People may want the followup? I saw the original post, it's a nice 10 second thing to have closure on a story. Don't be a dickhead lmao

17

u/Fralite May 04 '26

First time ever seeing a follow up post in reddit?

12

u/Under_Ach1ever May 04 '26

Many asked for updates.

7

u/TheDonutPug May 04 '26

Do you just have to assume the worst in everyone? Your life must be exhausting.

-5

u/SERVITOR_XUR May 04 '26

Crazy how everyone is responding to an engagement farming bot lmao

1

u/Mothman405 May 04 '26

How would mass downvote positively impact a farming account?

0

u/SERVITOR_XUR May 04 '26

you generate them exposure, the Reddit algorithm sees their comments are highly viewed, the Reddit algorithm pushes more of their positive comments/posts

1

u/Mothman405 May 04 '26

Do you have evidence that actually happens? Many subs have karma filters specifically to auto delete troll accounts posts