PENDLETON — Anthony Bowman of Pendleton owns 3,379 firearms, including more than 900 Mauser rifles.

“Around 500 are K98s,” he said. “But I have every Mauser made in Germany, except I don’t have the one made for China in the 1930s.”

K98 variants were the main German rifle in both world wars.

“Over 1,900 are handguns,” Bowman said. “About 300 P38s, 60 Lugers, around 400 1911s and 300 U.S. revolvers, like 1917 and 1910.”

The 9mm semiautomatic Walther P38 was the standard German sidearm in World War II. The .45 cal. Colt M1911 armed Americans in both world wars.

“I have all U.S. military combat rifles from the Revolutionary War to the present,” Bowman said. “About 75% of my collection is from World War II.”

Besides firearms, Bowman owns all major field gear from major combatants in both world wars.

“I have a nice display of World War II uniforms in Heritage Station,” he said, referring to Heritage Station Museum, 108 S.W. Frazer Ave,, Pendleton, headquarters of the Umatilla County Historical Society.

“Not just uniforms, but gear. Helmets, mess kits, canteens and grenades. I have over 400 uniforms, including from both sides in World War II. U.S., Russian, British and German, Japanese. About 30 are U.S, six British and three German, all complete with field gear, boots and socks.”

Bowman has two half-track armored personnel carriers of World War II vintage. His collection includes mine detectors, flamethrowers and six different mortars in four calibers.

Some of Bowman’s items on display at the Pendleton Air Museum, 21 S.W. Emigrant Ave., are a U.S. 60 mm mortar and bazooka anti-tank rocket launcher, a horse gas mask, Japanese “knee mortar” with rounds, bayonet and noncommissioned officer’s Samurai sword that a Marine picked up in Saipan. His Vietnam-era M72 light anti-armor weapons system disposable rocket launcher also is on loan there.

Getting the gun collecting bugBowman keeps his collection in secure space in a large building on his property, in his house and his mom’s basement.

“The door on my 20 by 30-foot walk-in vault came from a nuclear cruiser,” he said. “I bought it at a scrap yard in Portland.”

An interest in history since youth has motivated his interest in weapons and military gear collection.

“I bought my first firearm when I was about nine years old,” he said. “I thought it was part of history and cool.”

Bowman said by age 10 he felt too old to have babysitters after school, so he mowed lawns.

“A lot of our neighbors were World War II vets,” he said. “I mowed one lawn all summer, and the owner gave me a German paratrooper helmet. Fallschirmjaeger.”

Bowman served in the U.S. Army and National Guard for 24 years, 10 months and 10 days.

“About half that time was on active duty,” he said. “I was in the active reserve for a few years, then the National Guard 10 years. I deployed a number of times. To Somalia, Iraq, Sarajevo and Panama.”

Bowman’s collecting peaked during his military service.

“The only time I got out of control was during active duty,” he said. “I bought one firearm a month, then, when I made E-5 in 22 months, I upped it to two per month. A lot was available in the early to mid-80s at Fort Knox, Campbell, Benning and Riley.”

At this point in his collecting, there is no particular item he still wants, but remains on the lookout for tempting targets of opportunity.

“Every once in a while, I run into something it would be nice to have,” he said. “I recently bought a .303 made by Savage for the U.S. I have a lot of .303s, but all British.”

Movie props and the next showBowman has provided props for a number of feature films and documentaries.

“My Panzerschreck and three or four machine guns were in ‘Alone We Fight,’” he said.

Panzerschreck was the popular name for the Raketenpanzerbuchse 54, a German 88 mm reusable anti-tank rocket launcher developed in World War II.

Bowman supplied no props for “Saving Private Ryan,” but did belong to a five-member authenticity advising team.

“A buddy of mine in England provided his German half-track,” he said. “But he caught pneumonia, so I drove it.”

Bowman presented about 80 of his weapons, including machine guns, March 10-12 at the Pendleton Gun Show at the Pendleton Convention Center. He wasn’t selling the items, but his several tables of weapons drew plenty of interested attendees.

“Joe Ford of Pendleton helps me display at events,” he said.

Next up on that list is the Old Iron Show, June 2-4, in Pendleton’s Roy Raley Park.

Anthony Bowman brought a selection of firearms Tuesday, April 11, to his M3 Autocar half-track on display across the street from the air museum in downtown Pendleton. Among these were three flare guns, — British Mk2, Japanese World War II and Austrian-German World War I models. He also displayed three semiautomatic pistols — a Soviet Tokarev TT-30, German Model P08 Luger and American Colt Model 1911 in a tanker’s holster.

The first rifle from his collection was a Civil War Tower Pattern 1861 Confederate cavalry carbine, based upon the Model 1853 Enfield percussion cap rifled musket.

“The ramrod is on a swivel, to facilitate loading on horseback,” he said. “Five thousand were made, but only 2,000 got to Cuba through the blockade. Only four are known to exist.”

He presented a bolt-action Model 1871 Mauser, which saw service in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. It carries Spanish regimental markings.

Bowman followed this with an American bolt-action Springfield M1903A3 rifle, made by Remington during World War II.

Finally, he took out of its scabbard a World War II German Sturmgewehr 44, the first mass-produced assault rifle. It was capable of select fire, that is, semi- or fully automatic mode.

“Here’s the safety,” he said, flipping a lever close to the trigger. “Safe/fire, then full or semi.”

The safety lever is separate from the full or semi-automatic fire button above it on the left side.