Daniel Murphy

Close up of the medal / ribbon bar loops.

Close up

Here is a German South West Africa colonial officers uniform I purchased many years ago. It is a private purchase uniform for an officer with the rank of Leutnant. The ribbon bar is not original to it and will be posted elsewhere. Unfortunately the dark blue piping is mothed and only a small amount remains in the seams, but I think this a rather scarce one. This type of uniform was authorized in 1896 and they were worn until 1915. Dan

Vince, Great restoration. I'm glad to see you were able to restore it back to it's former glory. Can you tell me what exactly is a Koenigliche Baurat and what their duties are? I have a WW1 officers grouping and in his records his father (Robert Heeren) is listed as being one. His father had served in the 1866 and 1870 wars and was a graduate of the Hannover Technical University. In his case the family was from Norten, Germany . Thanks Dan

Jens, Yes and the metal double belt box (not seen here) is the Patronenkasten 11. Dan

Karl, This cross is real, but was probably made in the 1920s-30s. Not one of the highest quality, it would appear to have stamped core, not cast, and a plated brass or neusilber frame. I hope this helps. It that a maker mark on the pin? Dan

Center close up #2. Looks like a Reichswehr repaint M16. Wrong shade for WW1

Center close up #1. The painter may not have been an old master, but I think he did a damn good job (except for the sword).

When the seller handed it to me (framed between two pieces of cracked plexiglass bolted together )and I turned it over, I was surprised to say the least. I suppose the plexiglass did some good over the years.

The three ribbons for suspending from the bugle have been clipped, but each was the reichs colors of Red, White and Black.

When I found this beautiful piece over 10 years ago my jaw literally dropped to the floor. It has been stored flat and out of the light ever since except for an occasional foray into the light as now. It is in the same condition now as when I purchased it. The silk is deteriorating and stained and I have never attempted to clean it out of fear of further deterioration. All decoration is painted on the silk, not embroidered as an imperial would be. This is the side I saw first and it shall be the same for the gentlemen here. Enjoy, Dan Murphy

I have seen a couple Meybauer pieces using the shallow crown well. I have a damaged "6 point star" marked badge with no other markings that has the same shallow crown well as this one , but an odd pin and I feel it is a real one. I can post it if you like. The engraving does not look like it is worded properly and is crude at best. I say original badge with fake engraving. Dan

I sure hope you nail this guy down. It reminds me of a group of items (no medals ) I have belonging to Naval Lt. Walter Kilroy Harris. He received the DSO and MC with 2 bars in WW1 while serving with Drake Battalion, 63rd (Royal Naval) Division. Dan

Gentlemen, ' I was surfing and found this item for sale and thought you would enjoy a laugh or two. " This is an obvious early example that is not made of iron as most later were. These early examples were made of a mixture of metals that do not stick to magnets. However when the black wore off they would have a golden hue therefore this practice was quickly discontinued and production then became the standard as we know most of which are multi piece construction with iron in the middle." Apparently two, two piece brass EKs were separated and the 1813 sides soldered together. Or perhaps a commemorative piece from 1913. Either way not even worth 10% of the asking price. Dan http://cgi.ebay.com/Rare-Early-Original-18...1QQcmdZViewItem

Tom, On the lock face there is a spring loaded piece that holds the cartridge in place as it is withdrawn from the belt/ feedblock and moved downward to the barrel. It also does the same when the empty case is withdrawn from the barrel and moved dowward to the ejection hole. If this spring is weak a live cartridge or case (or a number of them) can slide down the lock face and fall into the bottom of the receiver. When this happens it may cause no problem since there is ample unused room down there. However, if it gets in the way of the sear or trigger bar (which lies on the bottom of the receiver) it can cause a failure to fire. If the enemy is attacking and this happens, it could be a serious problem. Since the receiver is too deep for someone to reach in and get the offending case, tongs are needed to retrieve the case and get the gun back into action. The tong jaws are milled with a rounded inside edge so that the case can be securely gripped and removed quickly. I have fired thousands of rounds through this gun and used locks with 60-80+ year old springs, but have not had to use the tongs but a few times. The biggest problem I ever had was a broken lock. I was firing and it jammed. When I opened it the pivoting arms of the lock were attached to the recoil mechanism, but the rest was lying in the bottom of the receiver. I guess that is what happens when you have optical companies (C.P Goerz)making MG parts. I was still able to salvage the other parts from it. Dan

Good lord. Could he actually walk with all of that on? The shoulder boards are bigger than he is. And what is up with those HUGE orders hanging from the little ribbons on that spange? They are as big as the breast stars. Typical chinese warlord mentality, if I wear all this glitzy stuff everyone will know I am important. Dan

While M&C was a magnificent film, we seem to have gotten a little off track. RF, That is a beautiuful cartouche plate and in excellent condition. Could you possibly post a close up of the center arms for those like me who have never seen one before. Does anyone have an image of one being worn, print or otherwise? Dan

Before you do anything, you have to realize that this is probably incomplete, but may be still considered a live gun by the BATF. The next thing to contemplate is that the papers (if there ever were any ) are probably long lost. So under these circumstances (if you get it) your only choice is to remove the right sideplate and torch cut it in three pieces, leaving you with a dummy gun. You can then get a dummy sideplate fitted that does not allow room for the firing mechanism be inserted and to work. If you get it and don't cut it the penalty if caught is $10,000 and ten years in prison. IF, and it is a very big if, they have the original registration papers and are willing to sell it. You need to find and contact a MG dealer in your state. Only a MG dealer can do the transfer and they can help you with a lot of the red tape. A lot of red tape. Good luck. Dan

One last shot, a view through the optical sight. The reticle is pyramidal in shape with the aiming point at the top. The sight adjusts from 400m to 2000m. Yes, I had to do this without the neighbors home, but they don't bother me very often.

One shell splinter broke a large piece off of the traverse mechanism. The part that locks the gun to this cannot now be used.

On the other side there is an undamaged makers logo. The sled mount was made by Durkopp in 1917. This company also made bayonets and this logo is on the langet.

From the inside.

Very often the thin steel inserts on the side show battle damage. The other parts of the sled are much too thick and hard to show marks like this.

On each side of the sled there is a box fike this that holds one spare lock and a ruptured case extractor.

Now for the sled mount. Here you see the cartidge tongs on their holder and below should be a dog-legged shaped chanber cleaning tool. Just under the elevating mechanism are two screw-top containers for kerosene and oil. The oil lid has a brush attached for applying the oil. To the left we then have a small part container normally used for the barrel gland and to the right there is a spare barrel.