Building shelves tonight
I'm planning on making a run to Lowell tomorrow to pick up some assorted stuff from the cellar. This will lessen the chance of anything being damaged when the plumbers come to replace the boiler. I lived in the house for 11 years and never had a problem with it, and wouldn't you know it, just as I'm about to sell it, the float switch that would have cut off the burner if the water got low stuck shut (I assume) and the thing overheated.
The person I had hired to take care of the place and fix it up had simply walked off of the job and not told me, so the way I found out was when the appraiser came through to approve it for the buyer's mortgage. Oh well, what fun would life be if everything went smoothly?
Tonight I'm cleaning up this mess of a shop and putting up more shelves. One can't have too many shelves! I'm trying to come up with an efficient gun rack system to safely store my gun collection in such a way that it can be seen, but not be in any danger of falling over and dinging them up.
Since half of my collection are military surplus rifles, I've been looking at military surplus weapons racks, but they seem too bulky and heavy and wouldn't really work because there is a big dimensional difference between a Mosin-Nagant, a Carcano Cavalry Carbine and New England Fowler. None of these are quite the same as the current issue M16 that the racks were designed for. I guess I'll have to design my own!
In the meantime, I'll show you a few pics of some of the stuff in my collection.
This picture is a bit dark, but give me a break, it's after 1 AM here. It shows three blunderbusses. Starting from the left, there is a Spanish miqulet that has been converted to percussion. It is an original circa 1790. There are more detailed pictures of it here. In the middle is an original English gun from the Christie's auction. It has a mid 18th century British military barrel but has been restocked circa 1820. When the Brits would scrap their guns, they would sell the barrels off at public auction and it is not unusual for civilian guns to have old military barrels. On the right is a brass barreled reproduction. It is the first gun Wendy ever held, back when it belonged to Bob W. He traded it in at a local gun shop and I scooped it up at a gun show. Gotta "keep it in the family"!
This one is a demilled BREN from WW2. It has been demilled by taking a cutting torch and making three slashes through the reciever. There is a BATF approved conversion for these that will allow me to rebuild this as a semi-auto, but for now it is just a non-functioning display piece. BRENs were the standard light machine gun used by the British forces in WW2. They were used a squad automatic weapons, antiaircraft, and were also mounted on an elaborate tripod for sustained use. It is in .303 British caliber and has a quick-change barrel. Since the magazine is located on top of the reciever, the sights are offset to the left, so when you aim it, you are actually looking along the side of the weapon.
I know it looks silly wrapped in packing tape, but the way this one is demilled, it won't stay together by just assembling the chunks of reciever on the operating rod like the BREN. It is a FN-D, which is the final version of the classic BAR. By the 1950's, the BAR of WW1 and WW2 (not to mention Bonnie and Clyde) had evolved a few improvements, such as a quick change barrel. This version of it is chambered in the standard NATO .308 round and uses FN mags. It has a finned barrel. This particular rifle was used in the middle east conflicts.
Now let's go back to WW2. Here is a 1919a6 Browning machine gun posing next to a Soviet DP-28. The 1919 is a product of John Browning's mind, a design that goes back to WW1 only modernized by switching to an air cooled barrel instead of the heavy water jacket of the 1917 pattern. The 1919a6 version included a bipod, carry handle, and detachable buttstock so it could function as a squad automatic weapon and not need a tripod (and a second man to carry it). If you watch "Mail Call" on the History Channel, it's a 1919a4 that Gunny has mounted on his Jeep. For land use, these used a cloth belt (can be seen clearly in "Band of Brothers") but for aircraft use they used disintergrating metal links. Since a linker to use cloth belts is pretty expensive, most Browning enthusiasts today use metal links. This particular gun, after doing it's duty in WW2, was sent to Isreal where it was converted to use NATO .308 instead of the original chambering which was .30-06. I have all of the parts in hand to rebuild this display gun into a semi-auto, now I just need to find the time.
The gun behind the Browning, with the pan magazine on top, is a Soviet DP-28. This was chambered in 7.62 x 54R. The buttstock is shaped somewhat like a pork chop and has a built-in oil reservoir on top. It loads from the pan magazine and drops the empty cartridge right underneath it. It is a very efficient mechanism that has a unique bolt locking arrangement. As the bolt slams forward, carried by the operating rod, two wedges are driven out of the side of the bolt into machined pockets in the reciever. This one will take a bit of engineering to convert to a semi auto, but for now it is a unique display piece. The shortcoming of the design was the mainspring, which is located under the barrel where it would overheat and lose it's temper. This particular gun is a Polish parts kit assembled on a demilled Soviet reciever that is dated 1944. Under this gun is a complete gunner's tool kit in original pouch and a canvas cover for the gun.
I've got more LMGs, I just haven't had a chance to build enough shelving to display them yet. One of them is an amazing piece of German engineering, but I won't say what is yet, it's more fun to keep you guessing.
Maybe I should photograph all of my military stuff and create a "virtual museum" from our website's links page. Sounds like a good winter project!
The person I had hired to take care of the place and fix it up had simply walked off of the job and not told me, so the way I found out was when the appraiser came through to approve it for the buyer's mortgage. Oh well, what fun would life be if everything went smoothly?
Tonight I'm cleaning up this mess of a shop and putting up more shelves. One can't have too many shelves! I'm trying to come up with an efficient gun rack system to safely store my gun collection in such a way that it can be seen, but not be in any danger of falling over and dinging them up.
Since half of my collection are military surplus rifles, I've been looking at military surplus weapons racks, but they seem too bulky and heavy and wouldn't really work because there is a big dimensional difference between a Mosin-Nagant, a Carcano Cavalry Carbine and New England Fowler. None of these are quite the same as the current issue M16 that the racks were designed for. I guess I'll have to design my own!
In the meantime, I'll show you a few pics of some of the stuff in my collection.
This picture is a bit dark, but give me a break, it's after 1 AM here. It shows three blunderbusses. Starting from the left, there is a Spanish miqulet that has been converted to percussion. It is an original circa 1790. There are more detailed pictures of it here. In the middle is an original English gun from the Christie's auction. It has a mid 18th century British military barrel but has been restocked circa 1820. When the Brits would scrap their guns, they would sell the barrels off at public auction and it is not unusual for civilian guns to have old military barrels. On the right is a brass barreled reproduction. It is the first gun Wendy ever held, back when it belonged to Bob W. He traded it in at a local gun shop and I scooped it up at a gun show. Gotta "keep it in the family"!
This one is a demilled BREN from WW2. It has been demilled by taking a cutting torch and making three slashes through the reciever. There is a BATF approved conversion for these that will allow me to rebuild this as a semi-auto, but for now it is just a non-functioning display piece. BRENs were the standard light machine gun used by the British forces in WW2. They were used a squad automatic weapons, antiaircraft, and were also mounted on an elaborate tripod for sustained use. It is in .303 British caliber and has a quick-change barrel. Since the magazine is located on top of the reciever, the sights are offset to the left, so when you aim it, you are actually looking along the side of the weapon.
I know it looks silly wrapped in packing tape, but the way this one is demilled, it won't stay together by just assembling the chunks of reciever on the operating rod like the BREN. It is a FN-D, which is the final version of the classic BAR. By the 1950's, the BAR of WW1 and WW2 (not to mention Bonnie and Clyde) had evolved a few improvements, such as a quick change barrel. This version of it is chambered in the standard NATO .308 round and uses FN mags. It has a finned barrel. This particular rifle was used in the middle east conflicts.
Now let's go back to WW2. Here is a 1919a6 Browning machine gun posing next to a Soviet DP-28. The 1919 is a product of John Browning's mind, a design that goes back to WW1 only modernized by switching to an air cooled barrel instead of the heavy water jacket of the 1917 pattern. The 1919a6 version included a bipod, carry handle, and detachable buttstock so it could function as a squad automatic weapon and not need a tripod (and a second man to carry it). If you watch "Mail Call" on the History Channel, it's a 1919a4 that Gunny has mounted on his Jeep. For land use, these used a cloth belt (can be seen clearly in "Band of Brothers") but for aircraft use they used disintergrating metal links. Since a linker to use cloth belts is pretty expensive, most Browning enthusiasts today use metal links. This particular gun, after doing it's duty in WW2, was sent to Isreal where it was converted to use NATO .308 instead of the original chambering which was .30-06. I have all of the parts in hand to rebuild this display gun into a semi-auto, now I just need to find the time.
The gun behind the Browning, with the pan magazine on top, is a Soviet DP-28. This was chambered in 7.62 x 54R. The buttstock is shaped somewhat like a pork chop and has a built-in oil reservoir on top. It loads from the pan magazine and drops the empty cartridge right underneath it. It is a very efficient mechanism that has a unique bolt locking arrangement. As the bolt slams forward, carried by the operating rod, two wedges are driven out of the side of the bolt into machined pockets in the reciever. This one will take a bit of engineering to convert to a semi auto, but for now it is a unique display piece. The shortcoming of the design was the mainspring, which is located under the barrel where it would overheat and lose it's temper. This particular gun is a Polish parts kit assembled on a demilled Soviet reciever that is dated 1944. Under this gun is a complete gunner's tool kit in original pouch and a canvas cover for the gun.
I've got more LMGs, I just haven't had a chance to build enough shelving to display them yet. One of them is an amazing piece of German engineering, but I won't say what is yet, it's more fun to keep you guessing.
Maybe I should photograph all of my military stuff and create a "virtual museum" from our website's links page. Sounds like a good winter project!
posted by MVTCoPete | 4:44 AM
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