Fishing for Machineguns

[Story]

or, "Things that get dumped in the Night".

Five lollipops and a ball of lint to whoever can correctly indentify these sunken treasures.

A small cache of Japanese, Italian and German World War II-era weapons found dumped in a Bibb County creek is baffling to even the most veteran lawmen.

The firepower, discovered by a state road crew conducting a bridge inspection just north of Centreville late last week, is illegal to own, still in working condition and probably worth in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, said David Hyche, resident agent in charge at the Birmingham office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

http://www.al.com/birminghamnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1239696950298400.xml&coll=2

 

[DutchIndo]

Thompson sub of course, in the back is the Japanese Nambu LMG type 97 or 96 I forget. The small Mortar is the Japanese "Knee" Mortar. The Marines would mistakenly put that mortar on the knee or leg and fire it. It was a bad name as it broke many a Marines leg. The name was because of it's height. It looks as if an Old Marine or widow dumped his war trophies.

 

[matrioshka]

I have no life....

The SMG directly behind the Thompson is a Japanese Type 100. Behind that, a Browning. I think it may be a .303. The piece behind that may be a MG-15? The other SMG that is right in front, the one missing pieces, is a Beretta M38.

M

 

[DutchIndo]

I think that gun above the Beretta model 38/42 might be a Japanese Nambu type 92 AKA "woodpecker". The other appears to be weapons taken off of an AC. Japanese weapons were extremely crude even more so than the Russian.

 

[Story]

Japanese weapons were extremely crude even more so than the Russian.

Depends on when they were made - pre-WWII, they rivaled European quality. 1944 and onwards, they earned the name 'Last Ditch'.

 

[DutchIndo]

That's true my friend has a Arisaka rifle that doesn't even have a butt plate. It is almost comical but the Arisaka's receiver is one of the strongest of all the bolt rifles. That really suprised me I figured it was the Mauser. The late war Mausers had the laminated stocks due to allied bombings. These I read are stronger than the straight wood. My Yugo 48 has one no doubt left over from the war. Japanese weapons always give me the heebe jeebes especially their bayonets.

 

[carebear]

Just as a point of clarification, ATF can't say those are "illegal to own".

They can't prove in court they aren't on the registry and thus transferable as it has been documented, in court, to be incomplete and error ridden.

Not that I'm joining to claim ownership or anything.

Oh, I think the Browning is a 1919.

 

[Story]

Oh, I think the Browning is a 1919.

Upon appearances, and yet the article mentions a '20mm'. That help?

Behind that, a Browning. I think it may be a .303.

Bronze feed tray assembly.

Oops. Thought this information was in the first article - http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/04/world_war_ii_era_weapons_pulle.html

 

[carebear]

Upon appearances, and yet the article mentions a '20mm'. That help?



Bronze feed tray assembly.

Oops. Thought this information was in the first article - http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/04/world_war_ii_era_weapons_pulle.html

No, that machinegun is a .30 cal. Look at the size of the feed tray versus the 20mm round on the table.

If anything is the 20mm it's the big thing on the edge in the upper right next to the mortar. That has a pretty sizeable looking barrel on it.

Not a Lahti or a Solothurn though.

 

[Story]

No, that machinegun is a .30 cal. Look at the size of the feed tray versus the 20mm round on the table. If anything is the 20mm it's the big thing on the edge in the upper right next to the mortar. That has a pretty sizeable looking barrel on it..

Nope, that's a Japanese machinegun in an aircraft or tank mounting. I think they confused the 20mm round with fitting into that Browning design -

The Ho-5 was an enlarged version of the Ho-103 in design, which was a rough copy of the Browning .50cal. It is a shining example of what the Browning gun could have been had the US decided to make a 20mm version of it. Firing a very heavy shell (164 grams or so, vs 92 for the MG151/20) at a decent velocity and an excellent cyclic rate, it is quite arguably the best air-air weapon of the war.

http://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfields/philippines/carolina/2000/carolina-20mm.jpg

My guess is that it's a 12.7mm Ho-103 (which used the lower-powered 12.7 Vickers cartridge).
http://gunsight.jp/c/english/sight-e-3D Ho-103.htm

The AN-M2 doesn't have a bronze feedtray
http://www.thedealershowroom.com/i/kits/ANM2.jpg
or a jacket ventilated the same way
http://www.imfdb.org/images/thumb/9/95/ANM230fixed.jpg/400px-ANM230fixed.jpg
http://www.militaryimages.net/photopost/data/500/303_Browning.JPG

 

[Jedburgh OSS]

Maybe they belonged to Phil Gramm

Former US Senator from Texas who said, "I have as many guns as I need, but I don't have as many guns as I want."