Mil surp picture thread

Ok, you asked!

In the early 20s the U.S. government shipped boatloads of German artillery to the U.S. for testing. After they were finished with it, it was offered as centerpieces of war memorials to various towns and cities around the country. The piece my guys found is a very rare 105mm gun; similar in appearance to the usual 77mm gun. From my internet research I could only find two other of the 105s in museum collections.

The gun was put on display somewhere in the city as a war memorial and over the years it somehow migrated to a scrap yard. When WW2 kicked off someone remembered the gun sitting in the scrap yard and had it repossessed and brought back to the city. The local VFW post refurbed it and put it back on display in one of the city parks. Pictures of the gun in 1943 show it to be complete in all aspects except the sight and breechblock.

throughout the 50s and 60s it sat in the park, open to any and all to climb all over it. I saw pictures taken in the 60s with boys sitting on the barrel up by the muzzle. Pieces started to disappear from it during this time. Apparently someone got hurt on the gun in the early 70s and it was surrounded by a fence to keep people off of it. Post Vietnam someone set the wood wheels on fire and by the early 80s the gun had disappeared.

What happened to it was that it was dragged back into the weeds and dropped there behind the park. Later on a block wall was built around it and it was forgotten.

Around 2015 or so some of my guys were looking for missing park equipment and stumbled across it. I got the electric utility people to lift the gun out with a crane and transport it to the public works yard where our welder fabricated a carriage for it so we could push it inside as it no longer had wheels. As far as I know it is still sitting there along with a WW2 MB Jeep from 1945. I couldn't get the city manager to spend the money to rehab it. Since it is still U.S. government property I offered to contact the appropriate agency to get it sent back but he didn't want to do that either. I imagine it will sit in that old garage for another 30 years until someone else stumbles on it!
 
One of only 2 known 1898 Krag sniper rifles. It’s in a private collection.
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Swede 1914 carbine issued to the Swedish Air Force per the stock disk.

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Savage #4mk1* .303 'U.S. Property' lend lease rifle. A lot of these were sent to New Zealand during the war and will have NZ and a property number electro-penciled on the left side of the butt socket.
 
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British arms influence in Afghanistan
Top down
Martini-Henry .577/450 Mk III. This model was made for volunteer and providedental units. Made from 1879-1888. This one made by RSAF Enfield in 1881.

P14 in .303. Produced in the US by Winchester, Remington and Eddystone. This one made by Remington at the end of the production run 1916. These were later rechambered in .30-06 as the US Rifle Model 1917.

SMLE No. 1 Mk III made by GRI (Ishapore, India) in 1945. This is a post WWI Mk III that the Brits renamed No. 1 Mk III.

Webley pattern MkIV in 7.65mm/.32 ACP made in Pakistan. No ejector star in 6 shot cylinder.

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CD
 
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There are some nice rifles shipping from the CMP right now. I just got 3 service grades and all 3 were Springfields (2 wartime and 1 postwar) and all 3 had nice G.I. wood stocks. In fact, 2 of them even had the correct stocks with visible cartouches (SA/JLG and SA/GAW) and ordnance wheels. They each have a number of correct parts, and there were even a couple of uncut op-rods.

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Great collection, thanks for showing. I have on my list to buy; Remington 1917, Enfield Mk III in British .303, and the Enfield #5 Mk 1 (jungle carbine). Among a few others.
 
Great collection, thanks for showing. I have on my list to buy; Remington 1917, Enfield Mk III in British .303, and the Enfield #5 Mk 1 (jungle carbine). Among a few others.

If you buy a Remington P-14 instead of a 1917, you will only have to buy one caliber of ammo for all those...
 
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If you buy a Remington P-14 instead of a 1917, you will only have to buy one caliber of ammo for all those...
Thanks, I’ll look into the P-14. I may just add that to my list and get both, lol.
Right now it’s a matter of funding. I could have gotten the Remington 1917 a couple years ago for half of what it cost today.
 
Thanks, I’ll look into the P-14. I may just add that to my list and get both, lol.
Right now it’s a matter of funding. I could have gotten the Remington 1917 a couple years ago for half of what it cost today.

I have a 1917 great shooting rifle but with that said I'd love to have the P14 just to fill in the timeline. Plus owning 3 various Brit Enfields I have the .303 ammo to feed it.
 
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A co-worker's brother in law had quite an AFV and artillery collection. I was able to visit it in 2007:

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German FLAK 88

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40mm Bofers AAA gun with an M114 in the foreground

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M5 tank with live 37mm main gun

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French 25mm AT gun. He had several.

There were other vehicles and guns not pictured along with scads of class 3 small arms. The place was full of cannon rounds as well as fired casings.

The brother in law died suddenly at a relatively young age and the widow had everything auctioned off.

The Joint Forces Training base that I was assigned to from 2003-2013 had a storage area where someone was storing his AFV collection. I took some pics when I was doing my rounds of the base as staff duty officer one day.

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Pictured is Brit equipment: FV432 APC with a Peak Engineering turret; FV433 Abbott 105mm SP gun; 25 lb artillery gun.


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Same

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FV432 and T54/T55

He had numerous wheeled vehicles stored there also.
 
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Green Mountain Rifle Barrels have the correct profile and proper 1:12 twist. Just doesn't come with the FSB.

CD

I saw those. But I think I am gonna get the repro from Brownell's that has the front sight already installed. That way, I don't have to worry about drilling the pin slot and getting the sight on straight. Also, I will probably go with the 1:7 twist. It seems like the 1:12 might limit the ammo I can shoot effectively out of it.
 
I only have one milsurp, a Norinco SKS referred to as the paratrooper but we all know that is just a marketing ploy. I think it is more like the Cowboy companion model since is has the scope mount pinned to the receiver. Just don't have a scope for it. My SKS has all matching numbers (1964 manufacture date) except the fiberglass "jungle"stock. Eventually, I will be the owner of an M1 carbine, when ever my brother decides to give it to me as he has promised for years.

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My recently acquired Finn M39. It's a Belgian b-barreled 1942 model. An absolutely war-weathered beauty if I ever saw one ... oh, the stories it could tell. I have Finnish blood and this has been on my "must-have" list for several years now, so I'm thrilled.

Had it out this morning and forgot just how hard these things kick! Looking forward to the ol' "Mosin shoulder" when I take a shower tonight.

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