MG34NZ

DWM gun 4472 was made mid-late 1915, which means 90% of the 08s you see were made later in the war.

Nice Chris, I have one that is 209 higher than your gun 4681 Love the early guns.

Andrew

Nice VERY nice, scarce as hens teeth here and priced accordingly.

The 1916 Gun has a serial Number the same as a gun on the Canadian register of war trophy's, I can only Guess the Canadian gun is a Spandau gun as the Spandau serial number range was prefixed every 10,000 guns unlike the unbroken DWM serial number range so in theory there would be a number of guns with the same serial number if the prefix was not recorded. One day I will try and research the NZ trophy register and see weather the guns have any interesting details recorded.Both guns are NZ war trophy guns, once upon a time there were plenty of MG08 over here but time has taken its toll n them and today complete guns are quite scarce.

I honestly think that story or no story these are incredible pieces of history, And a good many of them would have seen considerable use against allied troops in the field and would have been captured in some serious combat. Both of my guns exhibit scars from battle. 1915 gun had a bullet through the base of the receiver box and water jacket "in the field deactivation" the 1916 gun has a shrapnel slice through the water jacket

Dont have an 08/15, maybe some day. The 08/15 feed block in the 1916 gun is a WWII NZ Home Guard .303 conversion done out of desperation due to a lack of available armaments a number of 08's and 08/15's were converted to .303 for the Home Guard to use in case of Japanese invasion. The threat of invasion was a very real prospect for the local population at the time and the stress was only relieved when the U.S Marines arrived in 1942.

I definitely love them ! Would be happy to get a few more if the opportunity arises.

Captured by 1st Battalion Otago Infantry which was my Grandfathers Regiment ;-)

Wow, that's quite an armory!

What period is the lemon squeezer from? I've always wanted a WWI period one, but the time to find those has come and gone. I was lucky enough to find a complete WWI Aussie uniform back in the 1980s.

Chip

Hi Chip, The Squeezer is WWII Vintage, I had a mint WWI example as well and it was on loan to a local guy who had a small museum years ago before I built my gun room....well he died and that was the end of my lemon squeezer....trustees would not return it...you live and learn.

this is a DWM 1916, another restoration,most parts were in place except for what had been removed to complete another gun at some stage of its life,annoying parts missing like springs and detents for sight. Currently has an 08/15 feed block as I don't have an 08 feed block for it yet. Armor is a recent addition I was very fortunate to pick up.

Cheers

Andrew

OK as per request here are better pics of the MG08's

First up is DWM 1915, this has been restored over the last year and a half,it had been chrome plated and many parts had been discarded even though I was assured it was absolutely complete. Still need a barrel (and a sled)

Wow... Nice!!

And it is indeed a bit of everything!! Very nice indeed!!

Can we see some close ups of your MG08 in the MG thread? :-)

Yes a bit of everything, I guess first and foremost would be Maxims and Imperial German then Grenades and then it filters down to whatever takes my fancy. I do like items associated with New Zealand history, quite a few of the items in the collection were NZ war trophy's which are just that bit more special.

Will try and oblige with pics of the 08's later today ;-)

Looking for an rough old sled or parts for restoration CHEAP is the order of the day!

http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com

Try here,look for cenotaph database for starters and you will also find a link to Service Files which can be obtained from the records office at Trentham Military Camp.

"tidy the gun room day" sounds like a pretty nice day indeed!!!!!

Here you go Chris,I collect a bit of everything ;-)

Hi,

thanks,

I have a bunch more since then, must get around to photographing it.

Lets see some of your goodies :-)

Well it just so happens that today is "tidy the gun room day" so it may be respectable enough to get some pictures later... ;-)

Regards

Andrew

Chris that's a superb looking collection!

MG34NZ