Helman 9mm

[z90HD]

Good Day everyone and Merry Christmas, I was at a buddies house yesterday and he was telling me his sister has a german gun for sale in 9mm. I asked what it was,he wasnt sure so he called her.. He put her on speaker phone and she read off the gun "germany" and "Helman".. Its semi auto. I cannot find anything on the internet about it, so I was wondering if any of you long term gun gurus have ever seen or heard of one? She's wanting 250 for it and says there is not a scratch on it. Its just to heavy for her to carry it. Thanks

[Guest sL1k]

Bet its a helwan its Egyptian made.

[JoeJ615]

this might help, apparently it's an egyptian clone of the beretta 951 

 

http://www.nevadashooters.com/showthread.php?t=32444

Edited December 24, 2012 by JoeJ615

[z90HD]

I thought the same thing, that it was a helwan. The lady was sure it's stamped "german" and "helman".. I guess I'll just have to wait to see it. It wont happent till Feb so I guess in the mean time i'll just keep checking the web for some info. Thanks

[GlockSpock]

I am wondering if it is a Walther P1 type firearm.

 

I've found that Helman is referenced here:

 

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=320251061

 

From what I gather, a Walther P1 would be in that general price range, I believe.

 

Also wonder what the chances of it being a Frankengun, being a German/Egyptian child?

 

Try to get a photo up if you can!

[z90HD]

Update. Turns out its a Helwan with Egytian writing on it. Im not sure yet if its import marked. Im still waiting on pictures and it would help if this was not out of state.. I did some research on the helwan and it seems to be a decent collectable. According to the current owner she says it in excellent or better conditon and is asking $250 obo and shipped for free. What do you all think? I wont have any pics till later in the week.

[buck1032]

I bought one in the late 80's for $80, but the guy did throw in two 50 round boxes of bullets and a extra magazine. The $250 asking price seems a bit high unless it is in 100% condition. If its not 100% I would think in the $190 range.

[1gewehr]

There are three variations of the Egyptian Helwan.  All will likely have the Arabic writing on the slide. 

First are the ones actually made by Beretta at their plant in Italy.  They will have 'Made In Italy' on the frame.  These are first-rate quality, and are identical to the pistols Beretta sold commercially.

Second are the ones made in Egypt while Beretta was still running the production there.  The finishing will be thinner and final machining less polished.  But these are still good pistols.

Finally, we have the guns made after the Beretta techs left the plant.  These are hit or miss.  Parts may be hand-fitted and not fully interchangeable.  There are usually obvious machining marks and may be burrs (unless the gun has some wear).  Heat-treating of the locking block and slide may not be correct, so look for cracks on those parts.  These are the guns that give the Helwan a bad name.  Generally, the lower the serial number, the better chance that the quality is good.

In the 1980's a bunch were made for commercial sale and imported by Navy Arms.  The quality of these guns varies greatly.  Some are obviously 'parts guns' made from whatever spare parts they had laying around.  Others are of pretty good quality.

 

Generally, if the pistol looks like a quality product, it will be fine.  But do check the locking block and the slide for cracks and wear in the locking areas.

 

Because the bad ones give it a bad name, the Helwan usually sells for $200-$250 these days.  Magazines can be hard to find and expensive, so if it comes with spares that would be nice.

[z90HD]

Thanks or the info.. I've decided to pass on this one. It's it Fla and It would be too hard to really get a good opinion from the current owner about the internal condition. I will however have to keep the last post in mind as I run across the Helwan's pretty often in the pawn shops.

[Moped]

I haven't seen one in years!  I had on back in the late 80's.  It think I paid about $100 for it and another $15 for an extra mag.  It was a pretty decent gun and shot well. It was a fairly decent carry pistol, has it was thinner than most large autos at the time.  I traded it off for something else, but I can't remember what it was.