This has been sitting unloved in my closet for a few years, I forgot to put it up here when I first got it. It’s the holster for the German 1934 model flare pistol, here. This example is made primarily from a material called prestoff, which is a kind of treated, pressed paper pulp. The only leather on it is the parts that were likely to be flexed repeatedly. It’s well stamped but illegible.
A fairly simple bit of kit this, it’s a canvas action cover for the Enfield No4 Rifle. This particular example was manufactured in Canada by The Dominion Regalia Company of Toronto.
Nice simple item here. This is the ammunition box that was carried inside vehicles mounted with an MG34 or MG42, like the SdKfz 250/251 Halftracks. This is a nice early one dated 1939 and manufactured by Franke & Co GMBH, Machinenwerke in Leipzig.
A few years ago I picked up a Haenel manufactured MP41 Machine Pistol. These are pretty rare because they only made about 20,000 of them before Erma forced them to stop due to a copyright issue on the MP40 design. This is the magazine loader, also made by Haenel, for the MP41. Even more rare that the gun I would expect.
I have this illness where I just have to fire my collectible firearms, even just once. The Type-14 was no exception, however, these are notorious for snapping their firing pins.
So in an effort to avoid the gnashing of teeth and the inevitable mocking by Andrew, I found a guy in the US who made these pins. Terribly long winding path to get them into Canada and a long afternoon under a bedsheet attempting to not lose the springs involved in disassembly of the Nambu. A few rounds out the end, most of which misfired due to the age of the ammo. Here are the pins, dull eh?
The Type 14 Nambu I hooked a couple of years ago came missing its cleaning rod. You can find these around if you look hard enough. Boring, but it helps me finish off the “rig”.
In order to fit my MG34 onto the dreibein I just obtained, I needed the adapter. These are quite expensive for what they are so in the meantime I hooked a shabby ground dug one that I could use for display while I find a not-stupidly-priced example.
Something I have been looking for for ages, this is the Anti Aircraft Tripod or Dreibein that was used to convert the MG34 for light flak use. usually the wooden reinforcements are long gone but this one still has them as well as being unit marked for the 56th Searchlight Company, 273rd Army Flak Battalion. This makes my MG34 much easier to display and complements the Lafette I found for my MG42. Although this is likely a searchlight tripod it fits the MG perfectly.
Often missing, and hard to find when you want one. This is a numbered dust cover for the Arisaka Type 38 rifle. These were supplied with early series Type-38’s but deleted later on, although you will see the receivers still machined for them right to the end of the war.
Missing from my Panzerschreck rebuild was the adjustable front sight. Luckily Bergflak, a fellow on the internet here, had made some up to fit his own Panzerschreck. I got him to send me one and here we go.
Here is a mid/late war phosphated anti-aircraft sight ring for the MG34 machinegun. The gun was placed on the drelfuss tripod mount and this sight attached. The sight is unmarked.
This fairly humble set of bits and pieces are the components that would make up the spare parts and maintenance package placed in the butt cavity of the Walther K43 Main Battle Rifle. You can see below the manual, oiler bottle, firing pin, firing pin extension, extractor, extractor retaining pin and extractor spring. Do not ask me how an infantryman, under fire and in the middle of a -20 snow storm could be expected to make use of these parts. The frequent failure of the K43 under use must have made the users of it loathe the Walther company.
Here is a second manual for the K43 semi-automatic rifle. This one is in perfect condition so I won’t be rolling this up and stuffing it in the butt compartment. I have a rougher one that I will use for that here.
This butt plate is designed to fit a German K43 semi-automatic main battle rifle. I got it from a bloke down in the States because I am restoring a K43 from a shooter to as close to original as I can get. The butt plate is the earlier ribbed type which is a little early for my rifle but it will do nicely. It’s clearly original but is missing the small dent on the hinge plate where the Landser would press a bullet into to assist with opening the door.
This is the small oil bottle and firing pin/firing pin extender usually found in the butt pocket of a K43 semi-automatic rifle. The K43 was notorious for being over-pressured and snapping the firing pin under heavy use. It was an indication that the design was not quite ready for primetime. That would have been worked out over time, something the Germans just didn’t have to spare. This oiler is the bakelite late-war type.
In the middle of a reassembling of my K43 shooter, I found this K43 manual designed to be rolled up and placed in the butt cavity (ooh err) along with the oiler and spare firing pin parts. These are hard to find in good condition because they just were not made to last. This one has suffered from exposure to gun oil, but it’s all there where it counts.
This little item is terrifically tough to find. It’s the adapter for the MP-18/I designed to allow the 32 round drum magazine (snail drums) to fit. Not quite WW2 but since I have a trommel drum and I am looking for an MP-18, it’s a case of hook it when you see it. The MP18 was originally designed with a 20 round box magazine however the Army procurement organization insisted that the weapon be made compatible with the TM08 trommels which were common due to their issue for the LP08 pistol. This required this spacer adapter to be slid onto the snail drum to prevent it being pushed to far into the receiver of the MP18.
This is an original paper transfer used on the head of a Panzerfaust round to provide basic instructions on use in the field. Many users of this weapon were untrained levies of youth and older men, so it was felt that providing these instructions on each individual tube would assist in getting a consistent result from the firing of what could be an alarming (to the user) weapon.
The big problem with owning machineguns, functional or not, is how do you display them.They weigh about 30 pounds and personally I don’t trust them to stay on a wall hanger. A few weeks ago I found a Lafette for the MG42. This one is original 1941 manufacture but used postwar by the Austrian Bundesheer. It has all original pads as well as the correct range card still attached. Looks lovely. Of course the feet will do terrible things to my hardwood floors so I still have to solve for that.
This is a cleaning and spares kit for the Steyr MP-34 machine pistol. It contains the usual suspects including the large return spring. You can see my example of the MP34ö here.
This little leaflet, interspersing rhymes about attacking tanks with a bloody Panzerfaust, was produced in 1944. Instructions fail to include bending over and kissings ones arschloch auf wiedersehn.
A fairly boring little piece of equipment, this is the speed loader for an MP-40 machine pistol magazine. This one is marked fxo41 and MP38u40.
This is the bag attached to a German MG34 machinegun in order to catch the spent brass. This seems to be an obsession of peacetime armies.
These are a pair of spare glass windows for a Panzerschreck. There was a metal box attached to the rear of the shield that held these two pieces. Additionally an additional glass was provided with each RPzB-54 rocket.
Kiwi Medals 