TopN

I found this photo at the Army CMA site listed on the photo side. Couldn't find any other info. Nothing showed up when I did a search on this forum. Has anyone ever seen/heard of one these attachments? Maybe just a one off? This looks, to me anyway, like a really, really bad accident about ready to happen. But, on the plus side, you can use 97rd pans without having to worry about the rear sight being blocked...

Outstanding, Thank You. So Mobile Launch Team 2, Command and Control North, Special Operations Group, Vietnam. I wonder - Helos or OVs?

From the web, Vietnam Era, don't know if any have been posted here before. M1 no butt stock - failed grip hanger bar? 2 M1's each M1 no forend - finned barrel? M1 no butt stock? M1 complete, plus a nice collection M1? Any idea what CCN or MLT-2 stood for? File name indicates man is Frank Cuddy, a Marine Pilot with SOG-V

Not for the BM59. BM59 Tricompensator (Grenade Launcher) screws onto barrel and replaces gas cylinder lock. and detachable Para model

Hello, I think I still have some new stripper clip guides at home, but I'm not there for the rest of this month. So not very helpful... As to BM59 Mag Pouches - good luck. We (in the forum) have been wondering about them for years. The Italians apparently didn't issue many Mags per person - you reloaded your rifle with 5 rd stripper clips from the top. A spare Mag could be carried in special BDU pocket. Otherwise British WWII web gear was used. Do a search of this forum for 'BM59 Mag Pouch' or 'BM59 Pouch' - my rant will show up, along with others going back to 2004. I still use M14 2 Mag canvas pouches - but only the early issue works with BM59 Mags, others use BAR or some FAL pouches.

I was reading older posts and found one where Sandman1957 mentioned Barney Fife with a Thompson. I always enjoyed watching the Andy Griffith Show, but didn't remember any Thompsons. A forum seach for Barney Fife ID'd five posts, but none had pictures. So I did a internet search and located the following: Also came across this about his 'service revolver' - looks like a listing in a auction catalog:

I found this article online today - Europe's illegal arsenal: Incredible picture of 10,000 firearms including anti-aircraft machineguns and MORTARS seized from Spanish arms gang The according to the article, the gang was buying 'defunct' weapons online and 'restoring' them to be sold on the black market throughout Europe. This is the link to the story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4313014/Anti-aircraft-machineguns-MORTARS-seized-gang.html The following picture shows 2 Thompsons (M1 & M1928) along with other weapons & cash. The article contains a number of other pictures, but I didn't see any more Thompsons. A real mixed lot of weapons. Everything from bolt action rifles to crew served, but suprisingly (to me anyway), no AK type weapons.

Possibly Italian Terni Arsenal rebuild marking. FAET stands for Fabbrica D'Armi Dell 'Esercito Di Terni. The FAET name was used from 1967-78, before that it was called FAT - Fabbrica D'Armi Di Terni. I can't make out the crown in your pic, however I've seen a crown on Italian made Bayonets from the early 1960's. Below is a BM59 Magazine Charger Guide with FAET marking.

Publicity stills of Elke Sommer (Elke Baronesse von Schletz), from 1967 movie 'Deadlier Than The Male' And a few of her with a MP43 from the same movie.

Hi Wizard, My references say barrel lengths are as follows: Mark I - III 17.7 (or 17.4) inches Mark IV 21 (or 20.9) inches Ital & TA 19.3 inches Para 18.4 (or 18.5) It sounds like you have a standard Ital/TA barrel on your Para & a 'export' Mark I-III barrel on your Standard Rifle. Springfield Inc purchased Beretta's remaining parts about 1980 & took everything - Italian Issue & export. Springfield Inc used what they had to build their BM59 rifles. They where never worried about parts being 100 percent correct - just functional & safe so they could sell Rifles. The Rubber Butt assy with folding bar was never Italian Issue - only for export IV Rifles. But most Springfield Inc BM59's have that Butt Assy because they got them from Beretta. You can't use a 17.7 (or 17.4) inch bbl with a para tricomp - the short bbl muzzle blast will blow the spring off the para tricomp - so they used the 19.3 inch Ital/TA bbl & the short export bbl they used on some of their Standard Rifles - until they ran out. Reese, who had the Springfield Inc left over parts still had some Ital bbl when they sold off their remaining stock. Hope this helps. Did you find a long range gernade sight?

Hi Al, All Springfield Inc BM59 Receivers are unfinished Beretta Forgings - some had been marked on the Heel & some not - depends where they were in production when Beretta shut down the BM59 plant. None were far enough along to be considered F/A by ATF - although you can see machining for the selector lever cut out on the front of the receiver. As to the price - I'd think about $2500 in VG condition, without the box & papers, with 1 Mag. VG used Mags were going for about $50 each - so that's $600-700 there. Does it have the Springfield Box & Manual? Add 5-10 percent if it does. A Bayonet? Add $200 Sling, Long Range Grenade Sight, Cleaning Kit, M3A1 Take-down Tool? All would add bit if present. Looks like a nice rifle Down side (to me) unmarked OpRod, and sounds like an unmarked Bolt - nothing wrong with them - I just like seeing 'BM59' stamped on everything. Good Luck

Hi Wizard, Somewhere on this site is a post about Reese putting together those 'short' para tricomps - something about unfinished, damaged(?) parts from Beretta used to make them - maybe it was on the 'old board' - not sure. I think it was in a post about BM59 parts in general, not just about the 'Shorties'. Sorry I'm not more help - TopN The Reese 'Shorty' My Original Beretta Para

Agreed! Is that the drum follower I see through the barrel?

O.K., you scared me by saying we have to use photobucket or the like. I attached the above photo the same old way. The problem with photobucket is if that account is ever closed, the pictures go away. Maybe you are out of "space" on this board? Members are only allowed to post so much directly on the board (25-30 meg?). How you don't want to view a Thompson.

Have you considered that the markings may be Cyrillic - that this Drum might be a Russian (Tzarist or Soviet) made replacement Drum? Go to a site that handles Tzarist/early Soviet weapons (Mosin-Nagants or the like) and ask if the markings 'ring any bells' TopN

I was on the IAA forum reading a older topic about Remington Kleanbore 11mm Mannlicher cartridges. http://iaaforum.org/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=14053&p=99501&hilit=werndl#p99501 A reply stated that beginning in 1926, Remington exported 11mm Mannlicher cartridges to Honduras, and the following was attached illustrating Remington's 1925-1934 shipments to the Republic of Honduras. The 1st entry under June to Sept 1934 - 8/30/34 - 50 only Thompson Machine Guns for $7000.00 ($140.00 each) plus 200,000 .45 Colt Auto rds for $3200.00 Did Remington act as Auto-Ordnance's Agent for overseas sales? Would these be M1921's or M1928's? Are the Serial Numbers known? I did a search on this board for Honduras - I only got 1 hit that had nothing to do with this.

What about the M1923 Thompson in .45 Remington Thompson? The .45 Remington Thompson is longer case W/longer loaded length than the standard .45 Auto, velocity about 1450 fps W/230 gr bullet. Similar to the later .45 Win Mag (or vice versa). I have read that the 18 rd blank magazines for M1921's will take .45 Rem cartridges - so a longer receiver is not required. What was the overall length of .45 Auto Blank (& shot shell?) cartridges? Attached is a pic of a M1923 in the Royal Danish Arsenal Museum.

A correct 1942 dated USMC marked 5 cell Pouch would have been for Reisings & not Thompsons, right? Did the Marine Corps ever order 5 cell USMC marked Thompson Pouches? Or did they just continue to order additional Reising Pouches after Thompsons were issued?

Paul, I messed up when I typed BM as a Magazine maker code - I wanted to say BR. BR NIW example below.

All the Original BM59 Magazines I've used worked well - PB, BM, & BMR marked. The only 'bad' ones I've heard about are some sold by Reese. They used black plastic followers & possibly M14 Magazine Springs (which would be a bit short in height for BM59 bodies). These Mags reportedly would not feed properly - I've never used them myself. Another BM59 Magazine maker was FAET - which is the Italian Government Terni Armory. These are probably the last ones made for the Italian Government, after Beretta & Breda stopped BM59 production & support in the mid to late 70's. I'm making an assumption (oops) that FAET made complete Mags. But only the floorplate is marked FAET, with bodies unmarked - so perhaps they just made replacement floorplates. Hope this helps, Steve

A few years ago I picked up a good (not great) camera that took close-ups, so I could post pictures on the BM59 board. Still couldn't get good close-ups. I then got a 19.95 tripod at WalMart that allowed the camera to point straight down between the legs - problems solved! I could mess with focus, lighting, whatever - the tripod made the pictures repeatable & therefore fixable.

A picture of a Marine M-3 Light Tank Crewman holding a M1928 with a 50rd drum on Guadalcanal in September 1942. From "This is Guadalcanal" by L.D. Keeney

Oops, getting old, the e-mail is topn01@sprynet.com

Andy, I have TriComps and other parts , sorry - no Magazines . You can E-Mail me at TopN01@sprynet.com Steve

It's up on Ebay.fr (France) now - http://cgi.ebay.fr/PLANCHE-TECHNIQUE-DIDAC...9-/350280425115 Steve