Hauptmann

Hi Gordon, Many thanks for you help on this. And yes, I'm always keeping my eyes peeled for any of the miniatures, ribbon bars, button hole ribbon devices, etc. In fact I'm assuming the smaller device I got with my neck Order is for a button hole ribbon but is missing the ribbon itself. At least that's my guess. Is that book specifically on the Merit Crosses or on West German awards in general or what? Are they still available and for roughly how much? I'd be thrilled if I could just get a decent reference on the Merit Cross series from the medal on up with pics that good. In English would be ideal but at this point anything would be an improvement over what I have. But that's a great pic and much appreciated!!!! Hoping one of these days to be able to find the rest of what I need as well as more of the accessories, the medal and dream of dreams some of the higher classes with the breast stars... although those are definitely not cheap! Mucho thanks my friend! Dan

At this point if I returned it I'd be out the shipping both ways which is overseas to England and I got it so cheap I'm guessing it's better to just hang onto it and perhaps down the road it'll come in handy. Many thanks to Red for calling this one... and also to Gordon for some behind the scenes help. Sigh... back to the hunt. Dan

And here's the rest of the case:

Hi all, Okay, here are the pics of the case I got. Agreed it's definitely not for the neck Order. So I'm once again back on the hunt for one for that. Looks pretty much identical to my 2nd class case... but appears the base was taken out and replaced with this one: Black flocking covering what appears to be two pieces of hard stock cardboard... leaving a section at the top for a ribbon the width of a neck Order ribbon, and the cutout for the award itself... which in this case is just off from an IC 2nd... definitely nothing bigger than that. Here's the interior of the case itself: It's got a small strip of cardstock material in a matching color to the rest of the interior base... not sure what it's purpose is.

Just for reference... here's the type I'm eventually shooting for: Dan

Hi all, Well, good news! I've finally managed to purchase a case for the neck Order. Picked it up for a song just this afternoon in fact. I'm hoping eventually to be able to find one of the wider more squared off presentation cases for it as that's my preference but for now this will certainly do the trick. Now I'm on the hunt for a case for my 1st class and still trying to locate the suspension loop for the neck Order. But I'm thrilled to finally be moving in the right direction on these again. As soon as the case arrives I'll pop in the old girl and take some new pics. Dan

Pics are Zsolt's and used with his very kind permission. Many thanks my friend! Dan

Hi all, My latest addition to my presentation sets... this one being of the arms of service of the Hungarian military:

Hoping to have it in about a week or so as it's on it's way from Hungary. Can't wait to see it in person. Again many thanks to Zsolt for providing yet another beautiful addition to my Hungarian collection. Dan

Hi all, Here's my latest acquisition... a presentation set of badges representing the different branches of service of the Hungarian military (the pics are Zsolt's and used with his kind permission... mucho thanks my friend! ):

The photos from the Olympic Arms site: With standard grips: With standard grips and flash suppressor: And with the wood grips and flash suppressor: It comes in the case with gun lock and key, manual, etc. Needless to say I love it. It's very light weight, a natural pointer like the Luger and I cannot wait to take her up and run some rounds through her. I only wish Olympic Arms had moved quicker as far as shipping and I hope they're better at the rest of the customer service. I'll have to see when I order the other accessories. One of these days I'll have to try to locate and purchase one of the originals for comparison. Dan

In the case (included) with the wood grips:

Hi all, Though not military just wanted to share my latest. Kim and I went to our towns annual gun show a few weeks ago and although I saw a Bersa we liked (.22 for plinking and she likes Bersa's) I decided to come home that night and research it before we jumped. She'd offered to get it for me but again I wanted to make sure about it. While checking them out I accidently came across a reference to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_Wolverine That's just a brief article as there's a good bit more info out on the web on these. Anyhow I checked out the Olympic Arms site: http://www.olyarms.com/index.php?page=shop...t&Itemid=37 and fell in love. I think it's got a great space age design even now. As you can see they've added the vent rib and also offer in their accessories an additional site and a holster (will have to go for those at some point) and wood grips and flash suppressor (which I ordered with mine). Anyhow I went to my local gun store which happens to be right next to one of the places I work and ordered it that Monday right after the gun show (although they didn't actually put the order in till Tuesday). I have to say that according to the owner of the gun shop all his suppliers he deals with ship via UPS or a similar carrier and either overnight or two day everything. Olympic Arms apparently told him when he ordered it that it would go right out. We waited. Nothing for several days. Finally he called and they said they only ship on Fridays so it would go out then... via USPS ie: the U.S. Snail! Arrrrrrgh! More waiting... pace, pace, pace. Then he called again only to find out they'd still not shipped it but it was going out early this week. Yet more waiting. Sigh. Well, here it is Saturday and it finally arrived. So I ran over, did the paperwork for transfer, they ran the check and it's now all mine.

Hi Charles, Many thanks for popping in to the rescue... on these and on the book you sent over. I deeply appreciate all the hard work that went into that and hope to chat with you about it in the next day or two. I know it will be a big help to me in learning all I need to know. Dan

Hi Gordon, My sincere and deep condolences my friend. Hope everyone is doing okay. Many thanks for jumping in on this one. You and Charles both tend to give much more informed answers on these although Charles kindly sent over some info to me which I received today which will help a great deal. So much to learn and so little time these days... not to mention brain power. I feel like I've been running on fumes for months. But I'm off for the next two days to hoping that will help. Dan

Hi all, Though not for the panzerschreck I just spotted this and it reminded me of this thread. Thought it might be of interest: http://cgi.ebay.com/Israeli-BLAST-SHIELD-u...tem380008490213 Dan

Hi Miguel, Thanks for letting me know on the group and for the pic. I "may" be intro'd but the problem is I don't think I currently have anything left to trade. I've pretty much gotten rid of all my extras, things I was not in particular need of, etc. I'll try to get the time to look back through and see if I still have anything like that but can't promise that I do. Please send me a PM with any specific wants and if possible a price for the group if you just want to sell it outright. Perhaps we can work something out. As far as telling you more about them I think Charles or Gordon could do a much better job on that. I've still got alot to learn myself and I'd be afraid of putting my foot in my mouth. I can say that the second one from the left is the police medal in silver which is the same as mine that I pictured right above it. The one to the right of that is I believe called the Fatherland medal and looks to be the one in bronze. The other medals I leave to the others as they're two I don't have. They both look to be 10 year awards but with the difference in ribbon I'm guessing for different branches of the military or difference organizations or? Dan

Well, trying... if that doesn't work perhaps cloning? Many thanks for the title of the award my friend. I was at a loss on that one. Can't wait till they arrive... hopefully sometime next week. Keeping my fingers tightly crossed! Dan

M63 Panzer Colonel tunic and pants (pants not shown). The badge on the right is the Sports Badge in Silver and the ribbon bar is Two Meritorious Service Medals, 2 Gold Service to the Nation Medals and 25,20,15,10 year service medals. Photos are Charles (Hunyadi) and used with permission. Dan

Hi all, Here's my latest additional to my West German collection... from Torsten: I used to see these when I was a teen looking through the old Replica Arms catalogs out of Virginia. Was one of the many items of military insignia they used to sell. I've still got the catalogs too! Always wanted one... but always kind of imagined they were bigger... around the size of the many Luftwaffe clasps or the Army Close Combat clasps, etc. But it's actually a good deal smaller... but very well made with alot of detail. A very nice piece and I'm happy I've finally been able to add one to my collection. Dan

And now my silver: So now all I need is the Bronze for the full set. Dan

My Hungarian Police medal in gold which I've had for a while now:

Hi all, A few more pieces to add. On the first three I'm awaiting their arrival from Hungary: I don't know the name for this first one but Charles says there were only around 9,900 awarded and in it's nice case to boot: A cased Order of Labor in silver which means I now have all three grades cased: And a cased Bronze Fire Prevention Department Medal in what Charles says is an early case: I'll be sure to add better pics/scans of these when they arrive and will also add them to the other appropriate threads. Also these three pics are the seller's (Lajos Jakab - aka Qajszi on Ebay) and used with his permission.

Hi David, Many thanks! I'd seen S&L's page before when I was looking for a suspension for my Federal Merit Order as well as cases for that and my first class FMO. Sadly they don't seem to list their gov't and military awards or parts for them in their catalog. But agreed... a nice set and I can't wait till it arrives... hopefully early to mid week this week. Dan

Nice one there Charles!!!! Another good find in Hungary!!!! Keep up the great work my friend. Dan