Ivan

In Germany IIRC the mod is basically fixing the selector to SEMI only. Still fires from open bolt . Barrels , bolts and FCG parts are the regulated bits in Europe.

What skills do you have or what craftsmen do you have available ? Like others have said, this would require LOTS of work, submitting prototype to the BATmen and a long wait. BFOG requires unique blanks or a backward operating mechanism to satisfy the Federales. If you can't afford the 30 -50 Grand to buy a Transferable BAR then why not a Semi Auto Only BAR ? That will set you back about 6-7 Big Ones. Ohio Ordnance perfected the semi design decades ago, it works very well. A quick trigger finger will imitate the Slow Rate setting easily. Why limit yourself to Blanks Only ?

Good to see this post from you Doug ! For those not familiar, Doug is probably the world's leading expert on Lewis Pan repair and maintenance. Ivan has learned much from Doug. Usually, if the catch spring is not broken a good cleaning followed by a bit of compressed air will get the pans to move. Adjusting them per Doug's instructions requires a bit of patience but will get your pans in order. Have brought a few pans that seemed hopeless back to function with this advice.

Great pics !

A lot of work to repair an available part. That said, if you have access to a good welder or are a good welder fix it for that " get by" spare. I would reweld with TIG or perhaps gas braze. Clean it up and fit. Heat to cherry, drop in some dirty oil. cool then drop in melted lead bath for anneal. Never repaired a Reising connector this way but fixed a broken Lewis ejector. Seems to work OK.

The Election for NRA Board of Directors is now ! If you are a voting member then you will have received a Ballot in March issue of AMERICAN RIFLEMAN , issue with Clint Eastwood/Josey Wales on the cover. Those members who have been disgusted by the actions of Little Wayne and his crew of grifters these last 2 decades have a chance to change things with our Organization. Every Officer and many of the Board members of the NRA have been complicit in the corruption. Either by benefitting directly or through silence. The way to change this is by Bullet Voting. Vote for these 4 NRA members and no more. You can vote for up to 25 on the ballot. But by only voting for the 4 reformers we can make sure they get on the Board. Jeff Knox Phil Journey Dennis Fusaro Rocky Marshall Perhaps if these 4 are on the Board they can convince some of the others to "get their mind right" and fix the NRA. Deadline for votes : April 28.

The NRA had to spend $$ on Little Wayne's wardrobe and Lawyers ! Voting Members of NRA can change this !

With loading tool in place the pan should turn freely. No clicking sounds or binding. When loaded and tool in place the rounds should drop out as the pan is turned slowly. If you have ever seen Slo Mo footage of a Lewis firing the pan bounces around a lot and this helps with the feed. The Lewis was a great flexible aircraft gun. It will work if held side way or up side down. One common problem is the catch spring breaks. Two types, early was a flat spring, later was a round wire tension spring. Both are a major chore to replace. Out of round pans can be an issue. Use caution when adjusting. Be careful adjusting the locating pins ! They can break. Best to use a tool. You can fabricate one out of round stock. Cannot remember exact I.D. of hole needed. Just big enough to fit over pin without excess slop. Deep enough that it goes to bottom of pin. Built up grease , dirt and other crap probably the biggest cause of problems. A good soak of solvent then blowing out with air usually works. If you are in need of some extra Lewis .303 pans at a good price please contact via a PM.

"The Lewis gun was the opposite end of the spectrum from the Chauchat. It was reliable, controllable and deadly accurate - and because of its virtues still in use through WWII " Yes. But you forgot to mention the LEWIS is a Light Machine Gun that weighs about 28 pounds ! The Sho- Sho is a Machine Rifle that weighs in under 20 pounds. A Machine Rifle is a different beast than a LMG. Remember every Chauchat on the range today is OVER 100 years old. For a 1915 rush job the Chauchat was OK. When the guns were new from the factory they would work. Usually. Biggest problem was the magazines. As long as the mags were properly loaded and the piece was reasonably clean it would work. Just do not fire more than 300 rounds in a short time. Yes, they are very clumsy and uncomfortable to shoot. The only other thing close to it in 1915 was the Madsen LMG. But that is another story. I have shot every one of the Machine Rifles and LMGs from the Great War. Back to OP. Your blank only Faux Sho looks pretty good. Am sure it can be tweaked to satisfy those at Neuville.

Hmm. IMHO running "inexpensive" Third World manufactured ammo in Expensive Class 3 F/A weapons is not a good idea. In other words do not run crap ammo through your nice Lewis gun and expect good results. Can lead to some expensive repairs. If you would not drink the water in that country probably best not to use ammo made there. If you can find it the Greek HXP ammo is great, reloadable brass. South African .303 from the 1980s was on the market, good stuff, Berdan brass. Of course modern Privi Partizan is the Cat's Meow. Had a small lot of Canadian 1942 & 1943 dated stuff. Boxer primed, good brass. Ran good 10 years ago . Took some out last year, had 2 dud primers out of about 100 rounds fired. Guess the primers are getting old ! Would avoid any surplus .303 made before 1960. Some British made Radway Green ammo was on the market made in the mid '60s for Vickers and BRENs. Seemed to be OK. Need more info on the Turk made .303 listed on the same site as your link. Bottom line. At this point for .303 either get into reloading or be prepared to shell out the $$ for newer ammo.

Wow ! Good work on the First Aid Doug. You do what you can. Sometimes saving a few $$ costs more in the long run. Like the guy who shoots Turk Surplus 8mm in a Transferable MG34, the ammo is cheap. The repair bill not so much........

Little Wayne actually may have gotten off easy. $5.4 million judgement against him. He grifted way more than that from the NRA. No jail time. He got a 17 MILLION golden parachute from NRA when he resigned. Looks like the NRA is paying his legal bills too. So, he pays his $5.4 million, that leaves him with 11.6 MILLION to retire on. Did you see his public farewell note in the last issue of AMERICAN RIFLEMAN ? Like nothing happened.

When you seek free LEGAL advice on the internet you sometimes get what you pay for. From fartsalot "You might be able to get some items from gun broker where the seller will ship to you from their living room, And a forum member get the parts you need and re ship them to you. " Unless the guy in his living room has State Dept approval and paperwork and the Forum member also both of them could face some SERIOUS issues with the Feds. International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Johnson lmg is correct. Any sort of part or weapon related accessory (with very few exceptions) can ONLY be exported by someone with appropriate USA State Department license. The license fee starts at $2200 annual and goes up from there IIRC. Yes, Canada is a foreign country too. Regulations in other countries vary, but here in Good Old USA you need the Feds permission first and they want a cut of the action. FAFO. When you seek free LEGAL advice on the internet you sometimes get what you pay for. I am not a lawyer .

Wow. Alan Cors collection, aka The Tank Farm. Have seen these tanks up close and even rode a couple. A fantastic collection.Mr. Cors has the land, infrastructure and staff there. Guess he is getting out of the game ? The M3 Lee tank named Lulubelle from movie SAHARA ?

Seems a bit pricey on the starting bid. For shooter use the Banana Bandit .45 Uzi mag conversion sounds even more cost effective !

Thumbs Up ! Great idea. For the price of a single OEM 20 round magazine you can use available and less expensive mags. Made in USA, so what's with metric dimensions ? The King's thumb not good enough for you ?🙂😜

Hi Point ! The Cadillac of Ghetto Blasters ! Actually Ivan bought a lightly used .380 Hi Point pistol a couple years ago w/ 2 magazines CHEAP , $90 out the door. It was impulse buy, wanted to check out the latest from Hi Point. Clean and light lube then took it to the range. Ran 200 rounds through it, mostly handloads. The piece worked perfectly ! Awful trigger, heavy and clunky. Would NEVER carry it w/ one up the spout, condition 3 only. Accurate enough once you got use to the trigger. Have had it out a few times since and it ALWAYS works. I keep it in an old KIMBER box.

Any interest in a reprint/copy of this ? I'll sign up.

I shot one of the Goldman tube guns many years ago. It ate up 9mm Para like salted peanuts. Although a Southpaw it worked OK for me. IMHO the Owen was one of the best old school mill and lathe machined SMGs ever. The other is a UD42 . Always thought them weird and not handy until I actually fired one. The top mount mag isn't as bad as thought !

I like your put down Maine-iac ! Sums it up. That said I have used some Pro Mags in a few different pistols. 1911 both .45 and 9mm, Browning Hi Power and a Ruger .22. The .45 mag and one of the Browning Hi Power mags worked OK. One other Hi Power mag did not. The 1911 in 9mm and the Ruger mag were shite. Inconsistent manufacture and cheesy follower and springs my guess. Bought them cheap, traded off at Fun Show cheap. Guess I lucked out on the two that worked ! Almost forgot ! Purchased a couple Pro Mag .45 cal Uzi mags to convert for Reising use w/ 3D printed sleeve. Both VERY difficult to load without a loading tool past a dozen rounds, neither hold the advertised 22 rounds, one holds 20 the other holds 21. This after disassembly and cleaning. Both worked OK when sleeve was adjusted properly. That said , I have Zero experience with the drums they make. Have not heard anything good about them nor anything horrible. From viewing the pics on the website it looks as though the "40 round drum" will fit both a 1928 and M1 style Thompson. Thats a plus (maybe) for M1/M1A Tommy Gun owners Whether or not they move fast enough to keep up with a F/A ( or fast semi fire) remains a question. For a 1928 Style Thompson , yes, spend a few extra $$ and get the Taiwan drum. If I had a M1/M1A chopper I'd just buy more 30 round stick mags and be a Happy Boy !

Couple of nice looking pieces. Guess you have found out the Lewis is a smooth shooting LMG.

The good old "UNITED STATES OF AMERICAN " ? Nice repro boxes, original typo ?

Here is a pic of a Reising/MP40 from COMBAT!

Aww c'mon, U-571 was a pretty good action movie. It's Hollywood ! Re-writing history is what they do. Back to original OP. You may have seen Reising guns on TV and in movies and not even realized it ! COMBAT ! used Reisings modified to look like MP 40s. Used only as props, I do not ever recall seeing one fired. GO FOR BROKE ! a movie about the 442nd RCT in Italy also used the same Reising props. There was a made for TV movie about Claude Dallas , a poacher and possum sheriff killer who eluded the Law for over a year in Idaho. In one scene a cop is shown with a Reising and does shoot it a little.

Try to shim the problem mag to tighten it in the magazine well.