Mike Venturino

Do you have any good MP44 magazines still? I only got one with mine. Mike Venturino

I haven't been on this forum for quite some time due to personal reasons but I received a PM from a member today and checked in to reply. I was quite pleased to see that Lewis Guns were now a part of this forum. My wife bought this Japanese one for me back in 2010. Its bipod and drum are British. It runs like a top and is very accurate - at least for an open bolt LMG. http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr169/MLV1/photobucket005.jpg I wish I could read Japanese. I had it on display at a gun show when a young Asian fellow was excitedly looking it over. I asked him to translate the markings. He looked up at me with a perplexed expression and said, "Sir, I Chinese, not Japanese." Good old foot in mouth. Anyway, glad to see that Lewis guns are on here now. Mike Venturino

dalbert: Thanks for that. In 2010 I bought a Japanese Naval Type 92 Lewis gun in the infantry configuration. It runs perfectly for the few hundred rounds I've fired through it without cleaning. I finally found a manual on the Internet so perhaps now I can figure out how to take it down for cleaning. Mike Venturino

Eagle3: I have several US steel pots. Thanks for noticing the weight loss. I'm down 60 to 65 pounds since last September depending on which scale I believe. On my way to 100, I hope. Hawkeye Joe: I bought this for a photo prop and a fair weather toy. I'll leave all that nit-picking stuff for some future owner to get the pleasure of fixing. All I expect to put into it along with gasoline is routine maintaince and repairs. Mike

This isn't a Thompson but I'd bet a Thompson rode in it at one time or another. If not I can guarantee one will soon. I brought this home today. Its a fully restored 1943 Jeep by Ford. Got the canvas top, pioneer kit, jerry can, and a bunch of parts and such with it. http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr169/MLV1/photobucket004LargeWebview.jpg

Thanks for the replies. I will not jump into a buying frenzy.

Thanks. That's great. I do have an M2 and I'm kind of anal about having spare parts for stuff. Mike V.

If you legally posess an M2 Carbine and also have a couple of M1 Carbines, is it ok to have extra M2 parts? I see them on gunbroker all the time and would like to have a few spares around. MLV

Well, I've got one of those semi-auto M1918A3 BARs on the way. It was pricey but I'm going to be 60 in a few months and not fond of waiting for something I want. Someday if or when finances allow I'll go for a F/A. If this Montana winter doesn't ease up I'm going to wind up jump starting the economy all on my own! In the last two weeks besides the BAR I've bought a German K43, an Inglis Hi Power 9mm (P35) with shoulder stock, and a Nazi marked FN P35. Next I'm eyeing one of those SVT40s! Please let there be sunshine soon! MLV

Hawkeye: Duh! Double Duh! I should have recognized what F/A meant. Actually my intent is to get a semi-auto BAR to shoot while I'm amassing the coin it would take to buy a "real" one. I've just got to heal up some from buying six subguns in 2008. Mike

What's a FA/BAR sell for? Better yet, what is an FA/BAR? Mike

But I forgot to say that I have lived in Montana for over 35 years now. MLV

I was born and raised in Mingo County and graduated from Marshall. MLV

Here's another barrel question. I have in hand a blued barrel of M1 or M1A1 configuration meaning no fins or threads near the barrel. It has a P stamped on it but the punch mark is not in the loop. Its outside of it but nearby. However, instead of a S it has an M stamp. Anybody know what that is. Thanks Mike V.

I've fired about 1000 rounds of the Romanian stuff so far from my full auto PPsh41 with nary a bobble. Its good, clean reliable ammo in my experience. MLV

While I'm playing with photos again, here's one of the STEN Mk II I bought in 2008. http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr169/MLV1/7-22-08035LargeWebview.jpg I know these things don't sell for much compared to other WW2 subguns and they look awful, but this thing actually shoots pretty good. Mike V.

Nothing new has been posted here in so long I thought to put up a photo of my carbines. Top is Winchester M1 which I found at a little Montana gun store last year still in the configuration as it was issued in 1943. A gunsmith friend and I took it down even to the pinned in parts and its all correct to the best of our knowledge. Middle is a "fake" M1A1. Its a Saginaw barreled action in a reproduction stock. I've bought so many full autos in the last year that I haven't wanted to spent money on a genuine M1A1 - yet. Bottom is an M2, actually an M1 conversion with the 1 overstamped with a 2. Its another Saginaw barreled action converted by Rock Island Arsenal. http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr169/MLV1/12-29-08068LargeWebview.jpg And that's all for now. Mike V.

I got a chance to look at the marking on that 1928A1 barrel in bright sunlight with a magnifying glass. It is indeed a P with the loop barely discernible and with a punch mark off center in its loop. Thanks for the information, PK. Mike V.

Thanks for the information, guys. That's helps a lot. I'll still post a few photos if I can get my wife stirred up enough to take them. Mike V.

Too bad about the Shiloh, Roscoe. I've owned over 25 of them but am down to two now. They still amaze me about how accurate they can be. Mike

I need to ask about a barrel also. It has a very nice blue finish. At the rear is a lightly struck S, about a third of the way around the barrel is a character that almost looks like an L and just to the side of it is a punch mark. Then again about a third of the way around the barrel is a hash mark with an O directly in front of it. The muzzle end is threaded and has a groove cut across the threads. From the looks of these marks it is possible that this barrel has been reblued, but if so it was very expertly done. Or the barrel was marked before bluing in the beginning. There is no P on it. I bought it off of gunbroker just going into the hospital as an M1 barrel and didn't get to see it until after I got out of the hospital and saw it obviously wasn't an M1 barrel but more likely a 1928A1 one. Of course by that time the inspection period had expired so I was stuck with it. I'll try to get my wife to photograph it in the near future and post the photos. I'm going to put it back on gunbroker but I'd like to know exactly what I have so I can describe it honestly. Thanks Mike

That is really neat. Someday I'd like to shoot both MG34s and MG42s. I've actually never seen either in person. Mike

This is of my Haenel made MP40, what got me started down this full auto path last year. The Luger is an S/42 made in 1938. http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr169/MLV1/5-28-08010LargeWebview.jpg Thanks Mike V.

I've been playing at posting photos again tonight so here goes. First is another one of my Thompson - M1 with same four digit serial number on upper and lower. http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr169/MLV1/6-25-08135LargeWebview.jpg And now this is a photo of Asan Beach on Guam where the 3rd Marines landed on July 21, 1944. I was also interested in going there as well as Iwo Jima because my uncle, the late James Virse of Kentucky was in the first wave that hit that beach that day. By the way this is the view the Japanese gunners had. http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr169/MLV1/IwoJima08154LargeWebview.jpg This next photo was of special interest to me as a dog lover. It is the memorial to the 25 Marine war dogs killed on Guam. http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr169/MLV1/IwoJima08165LargeWebviewLargeWebvie.jpg A Japanese pillbox/blockhouse on Guam. http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr169/MLV1/IwoJima08064LargeWebviewLargeWebvie.jpg And just for the fun of posting pictures here's my MP40, made by Haenel in 1941. Its the one that got me started on this path last year. http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr169/MLV1/5-28-08010LargeWebview.jpg That's all folks! MLV

I'll have you guys know that that very attractive foot in the photo was my wife's. She does all the photography while I stand around and give orders. I'd love to make that shindig in Ohio but it won't be this year. Just too much on my plate. Some friends are trying to get me to drive all the way to Knob Creek but I won't be able to swing that either. This business of making a living sure interferres with living. I'd love to add a M1928 or 1928A1 but its not in the cards for a while at least because I am simply broke after buying the six full autos I bought in 2008. Mike