Jump to content

Colt Potato Digger Ammo Box Question


Recommended Posts

Greetings, everyone. I had the amazing luck recently of finding an ammunition box for the Model 1895 machine gun at an army-navy store for a mere $19.99. I was walking to the register with a Marine Corps M1941 pack set and M1942 bandage pouch when I saw this just sitting there on a stack of M19A1 ammo boxes. Naturally, I couldn't just leave it there. So, it came home with me. It is what I understand to be the early kind without the carrying handle on the end.

 

post-258340-0-47291200-1545928297_thumb.jpg

post-258340-0-50414500-1545928299_thumb.jpg

post-258340-0-28290500-1545928301_thumb.jpg

post-258340-0-92034100-1545928302_thumb.jpg

post-258340-0-89788300-1545928304_thumb.jpg

post-258340-0-72392200-1545928307_thumb.jpg

 

As you can see, the box is in remarkable condition its age. It has, however, suffered some damage to the lip along each edge of the sliding lid. I would like to restore the functionality of the lid by splicing in some appropriate wood and trimming it to size. If anyone knows what kind of wood this box is made of, it would be greatly appreciated. I suspect it is pine, and that would be convenient as I have some scrap old growth pine to hand. But, I would like additional opinions as to whether that is the case or it is some other kind of wood.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am not talking about splicing in wood to patch the chunk missing from top edge of the vertical piece of the box. That I am leaving as-is. What I am intending to repair is the lip along each edge of the lid itself, which runs in slots cut in the inside of the vertical pieces. The repair would involve carving out wood along each edge, gluing in an oversize piece of stock in the carved-out area, and trimming it down by various means until the stock is of the proper dimensions to slide into the slots, thus duplicating the now broken-off lips which used to be along each edge of the lid.

Edited by Big Al
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw that Digger in your post! Congrats to you, Got Uzi! Unfortunately, I am not interested in selling the box. I rather like it, and it is in a way my excuse to get a Digger of my own someday.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Big Al,

If every $20.00 part that you have accumulated so far will necessitate buying a machine gun to go with it, you will probably have the largest MG collection in the world some day.

 

M3bobby,

I like your idea of using the box as a pattern to make some repro's to knock around.

 

Jim C

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Big Al,

If every $20.00 part that you have accumulated so far will necessitate buying a machine gun to go with it, you will probably have the largest MG collection in the world some day.

 

Jim C

 

Only half-joking, Jim. That's what I say about buying bayonets and cartridge belts.

 

Rather than repair it, could you not leave as is but have a number of reproductions copied from it. Id imagine there would be a market for a good quality repro. I know Id rather use a repro and keep an original safe.

 

That is an interesting idea, m3bobby. I will give that some serious consideration.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alrighty. After much thought, I decided that a reproduction is perfectly within my capabilities. As a first step, I drew up the box's components in CAD. This is just an initial draft. I will dimension and label it further.

post-258340-0-57583300-1546661966_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alrighty! The drawings and quantity take-off for materials are finished. I will be going to a local lumber yard today to select a wood. I will probably go with yellow pine, unless anyone knows different.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I went to two lumber yards close by me and they did not have suitable material. I will keep looking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I went to two lumber yards close by me and they did not have suitable material. I will keep looking.

Got any sawmills nearby? That's what I do probably about 90% of the time for my projects (unless it's for plywood of course) because they have just about every type of wood, and it's way cheaper than Home Depot or other lumber yards even with the extra couple bucks for them to plane it for me. Not that pine is expensive haha.

 

Andrew

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for the suggestion, Andrew. That will be my next move.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im waiting to know pricing.

Find me a nice Marlin box and I'll swap ya a Colt box.

 

A couple years ago a guy repro'd some marlin boxes and IIRC they were around $150? I believe he sold them all, but I think they were Marlin pattern?

 

Looks to me like they are poplar, not pine? Menards would have everything including the 2x4 for the end piece I think. Home depot, doubtful, but possible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The height at which it sits in the tripod to feed the gun (higher on the colt if put into a marlin tripod bracket), and the slots are narrower where it mounts to the tripod. I am sure there are others I haven't taken much notice of, but those are the obvious when trying to put a Colt box onto a Marlin tripod......they don't really fit. I'd guess (since I don't have a colt tripod here) that the marlin boxes fit on the colt tripods, but sit low? HTH

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Im waiting to know pricing.

Find me a nice Marlin box and I'll swap ya a Colt box.

 

A couple years ago a guy repro'd some marlin boxes and IIRC they were around $150? I believe he sold them all, but I think they were Marlin pattern?

 

Looks to me like they are poplar, not pine? Menards would have everything including the 2x4 for the end piece I think. Home depot, doubtful, but possible.

If you could remember that man's name and his contact info, I would be interested in talking with him to get some pointers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That was a great help! Thank you! Poking around the board, I found the original thread where discussion of the Pennsylvanian's repro boxes first started. In it, it was mentioned that the material was, "...ash or other suitable material.", and mention was also made of white oak. I will price it both in ash and white oak, and explore other options with the sawyer once I settle on one.

 

This seemed appropriate to include.

Edited by Big Al
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Glad you were able to find it. For the record I've never seen one in oak, but I've not seen more than a dozen in person and only have a couple here. What I've seen is a light colored wood, little grain, pretty soft. Could be ash or poplar? Seems too soft and light for ash, but density and grain is regional for all wood species. I assume they were made locally in the northeast near the plant somewhere so that will narrow down the wood. Best of luck in your project!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It wouldnt be a bad thing if repos were made out of oak or another hard wood. Would help with the durability that plauged the original ones. It would also be nice so down the road someone wouldnt try to pass off a repo as an original. Look at the trouble there is now of trying to tell the difference between an original Thompson parts tin and the repos Gordon made.....just a thought
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The boxes will be marked internally to show that they are reproductions. The markings will consist of my name, the year of manufacture, and possibly some other information (as yet undetermined), burned into the insides of the pieces before assembly. As for the durability of the originals, the connection detail between the major pieces seems to be just 4d finish nails into the end grain. I am going to supplement that connection detail with some glue, and possibly a biscuit-type connection detail (which would be invisible from the outside) for added strength if I can figure out how to do that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...