Post Your WWI and WWII Firearms

[old tanker]

Here is just one which I know had at least one exciting trip in its biography:

A pre-Victory British Service Revolver, shipped to the British Purchasing Commission in May 1941.

Since it has the acceptance stamp from the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield on the frame, which was discontinued once Lend-lease started, I know it crossed the ocean in the belly of a freighter sometime before the end of 1941, at a time when it looked like the U-boats might be winning the Battle of the Atlantic. Obviously, this ship made it.

The gun later transferred into Australian service, most likely by way of resupply for the Australian divisions fighting in the Mediterranean theater, and was FTR'd at Lithgow in 1954, where it lost its original blue finish.

Your post made me dig mine out today. It likewise went through FTR at Lithgow in 1954, but is a slightly later gun as the "UNITED STATES PROPERTY" stamp on the top strap indicates it was a Lend-Lease gun. Aired it out this evening, 15 rounds at 25 yards, offhand. NEI #169a bullet over 2.0 grains of Bullseye, reputedly a duplicate of the service load. A tad high with a 6 o'clock hold but nicely centered.

 

[old tanker]

Since I had the .38-200 ammo out for the BSR, figured may as well pop off a few with the Enfield No2, Mk1** Still 25 yards, still a 6 o'clock hold. Pretty much good enough for who it's for!

 

[turnerriver]

Two bring-backs from two wars. The Broomhandle on the left was brought back from France after WW I by my wife's grandfather. He was a Captain in the Cavalry and reportedly took this from someone who didn't need it anymore. My father in law had it reblued before I came on the scene.
The one on the right came back from WW II with my father. He was billeted on a ship during the occupation in Japan and came back one day and found a line of soldiers and sailors. He asked what they were waiting for and was told someone was handing out pistols. He got in line and was handed this when he got to the front. I have the document he needed to get it back in the US. He took it to the Detroit Police Dept. where someone looked it over and told him he didn't need to register it because it didn't have a firing pin. I pestered dad regularly to get the pistol down out of his closet and show it to me, I think its presence in the house had a lot to do with my lifelong interest in firearms. One day I was looking at it and took it to dad and told him it had a firing pin. He said I must be mistaken, the police had looked it over and I said no, look here-it's right here. We subsequently found some cartridges and shot it.
Now, if I only had the .30 Browning machine gun that was on a shelf in the New England Oyster House when I was a kid...
Regards,
turnerriver

 

[TheHobbyist]

As a side note, the grips on my 1911 are not some cheesy option bought in the 80's....

They are bamboo with real mother of pearl inlay. I am told they are from theater.

 

[Cyrano]

Turnerriver: Those are a couple of nice Mausers. The big one is commonly called 'wartime commercial' and they dated from late 1914 to 1918. They're distinguished by the safety burr being solid and not bored through. They also don't have the 900 meter sight setting on the rear sight ( I wonder if the 900 meter setting was EVER used?). On the left vertical flat of the barrel extension, by the chamber there should be the proof mark: crown over crown over U. On the right side at the same place there may be a little mark; a crown over a gothic letter. If so, this is the German military acceptance mark and shows the pistol was accepted for service in the German Army in WW I as many of them were.

The other pistol is a post WW I bolo, with a SN range of probably about 400K through 700K, made from 1919 to 1927. They were made under the supervision of the Inter-Allied Control Commission established by the Treaty of Versailles. The commission required that pistols be under 8mm in caliber and have barrels not longer than 100mm, a whisker more than 4 inches.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

My only real WWII firearm is this 1943 standard Soviet Tula Mosin Nagant. One hell of a rifle for the price.

 

[Cyrano]

Oh Wow! I got a bunch of them. I'll start with 45s. I've posted this several times, the last time a couple of months ago in this forum.
Colt M 1911, dated 1918, with M 1912 holster.
Springfield Armory M 1911, dated 1917, with M 1916 holster.
Colt M 1911A1 with M3 shoulder holster.
Remington Rand M 1911A1
Ithaca M 1911A1.

How did I tell which M 1911A1 was which, since the makers' names aren't visible? I noted the position of the grip screw slots, and then went to the gun room and identified them through the grip screw slots.

 

[Cyrano]

Some more US military handguns:

S&W M 1917 with M 1917 holster.

Colt M 1917. My holster has shrunk over the years and will not close on the Colt M 1917: the New Service frame is larger than the S&W "N" frame.

Colt Commandos. Two inch barreled Commandos are scarce.

Colr M 1903. New in box; the extra magazine has't been unwrapped. Parkerized finish, marked US Property. It went to Britain as the barrel is marked in the ejection port: crown over BNP. .32 (caliber), .675 (case length). 12 tons per ■" (breech pressure).

 

[LVSteve]

You guys have had a lucky escape. I could bore you with pictures of all the subtle Enfield and Mosin variations I have in my safe, but the pictures are on another computer.

 

[Cyrano]

Here's tail-end charlie of the US military handguns, a Liberator. It's supposed to be an uncommon variation with four oil holes instead of three. I fired it a couple of rounds with very low pressure target loads, using a 175 gr bullet. Even so, the recoil was so fierce it was hard to hold onto the pistol. NOT a good idea to shoot these: those seventy year old welds have a tendency to come apart.

 

[Cyrano]

Some US rifles. My Springfield is dated 1922 so isn't really a wartime gun:

Two Remington M 1917s. The top one is original and wears a Kerr NoBuckL sling. The bottom one was rebuilt in Canada for WW II. Canada blued the rebuilds instead of parkerizing them as we did. The bolt and stock are Winchester and the barrel is Eddystone. If you look carefully between the stock and handguard, you can still see a flake of red paint from when they painted a broad red band around the stock to show the rifle was not chambered for the .303 cartridge. I could have wished they had left it alone: the serial number is 1493, but that wasn't a consideration in WWII. It wears a Canadian sling.

A Canadian Ross Mk II. The Mk IIs were reserve weapons in WW I. When Canada shifted from the Ross Mk III to the SMLE, the Mk IIs were surplus. At just about that time the US entered the war and was very short of rifles. Canada sent us a bunch of the Mk IIs for drill rifles. I don't think any ammo came with them. This one has the US Ordnance bomb and the stamping US on the pistol grip. It wears a US sling.

A Smith-Corona M 1903A3.

An M1, note the 'lockbar rear sight'. This M1 is in the configuration of a 1944 year rifle, with among other things, the old style gas cylinder plug.

Scabbard for the M1. Originally intended for mounted troops, it saw the most use as a scabbard for vehicles, notable jeeps..

 

[Cyrano]

Boy, am I using up the bandwidth!! Here are a couple of M1 carbines:

National Postal Meter, mostly post war configuration, with adjustable sight, low wood and bayonet lug, but retains the push button safety. That's a carbine bayonet underneath the rifle.

Saginaw Gear original configuration: flip rear sight, high wood, push button safety and no bayonet lug.

Close-up of the National Postal Meter receiver.

Close up of the Saginaw Gear receiver.

Carbine scabbard. This saw very little use. There was also a web holster with wire attachments to a pistol belt. This was more common but msut have been very cumbersome. I don't have one.

 

[sureshotbob]

Hear are my American WW II firearms and a Krag and 1917 Enfield.

 

[Cyrano]

You guys have had a lucky escape. I could bore you with pictures of all the subtle Enfield and Mosin variations I have in my safe, but the pictures are on another computer.

I can assure you I won't be bored, particularly with the Enfields.

 

[sureshotbob]

These are my Japanese firearms.

 

[sureshotbob]

A few WWI Lugers a DWM AND Erfurt and a Erma S27 k98.

 

[pmanton]

Those old things are way too old to be useful. Just pack em up and send to me I will dispose of them for you.

 

[Cyrano]

Switzerland was not a combatant in either World War, but they were ready to defend their country if necessary. Their service rifle in WW II was the K 31 in the 7.5 X 55 caliber, a little shorter and a little fatter than our 30-06. Here is their K 31 rifle, also a picture with the straight-pull action partly open. The cartridges came in a unique card and metal stripper mwhich was color coded to indicate the ytpe of ammo: ball, tracer, etc; the magazine held six rounds. Also shown is a front sight adjuster, possibly the most complex gadget for this one could imagine, and a cartridge belt.

 

[ladder13]

Colt 1917 Shipped to "Commander of Springfield Armory, 4 Jan 1918.


S&W 1917 Vintage 1918

Love that snub!

 

[Cyrano]

China was at war with Japan long before we were. China used a huge assortment of imported and domestic weapons. One of the most interesting was a copy of the Mauser C 96 enlarged to take the 45 ACP round made at the Shenxi provincial arsenal..

Two Shenxis, the stock is original, the leather probably not.

The lock work: the lock on top is from a Shenxi, the bottom is from an original Mauser.

Stripper clip with ten 45 ACP rounds.

Table of dates of manufacture. The dates are reckoned from the founding of the Chinese Republic in 1912. See; join the S&W forum and you'll learn to read Chinese.

Date stamping on a Shenxi. the two characters for the date are the third and fourth from the right. This one is dated 18 (1930).