Black River Militaria CII

Just a head's up that the low hole in the stock iron takes a through rivet, flathead on one side and flathead peened on the opposite side, not a screw. The forward top screw looks pretty buggered but a careful search in a good hardware store in the plastic drawers of open trays might reveal a good replacement that can be appropriately age blended with the general condition of the iron. The bipod leg retaining bracket and screws are missing from the underside of the front end of the receiver. You can locate the machine screw holes for mounting it. It is a piece of thin sheet steel about 5/8" across, 3" plus long with semicircular bends on each end to nest the bipod legs when the legs are folded. Fun shooters with the most amazing mechanical churning sounds from the stock when firing the gun if you have your ear next to it!

Give me holler as I have three on tap all DLO sideplate and in excellent to new condition. bmg17a1@gmail.com; 802-226-7204

You can buy her anything that you think is appropriate for her and it must go to a dealer near her where she will go do the 4473 and pick it up. No big deaL.....

I'll take the M1 vehicle case.bmg17a1@gmail.com

Be patient and be ready with sufficient cash to buy the next offering if you are lucky enough to be the first to reply or if the parts you seek show up at auction.

I advise using a medium weight oil so it doesn't leak out of the reservoir too much. i just lube the rounds......

A very large quantity of .303 Aussi belts were imported into the US in the middle 1980s or thereabouts if I recall correctly. They were new and had been dipped into what appeared to me to be an anti-fungal copper sulphate solution which turned them green. These belts were quite stiff and difficult to load by hand but the new made plate loaders that became available for Vickers belts eliminated that issue. There is no way to soften them due to the treatment although shooters who have used them helped to make them esier to load by hand. There are many untreated .303 Aussi, Brit Vickers belts in the US and prices seem to be in the $150 and up range with pretty wide variations in asking prices. Always insist that the belts be free of any and all damage and confirm before buying. FWIW

The flat round brass substitute plug in the one pic of the vickers is misleading because it appears to be the same as the steam tube plug in the front endcap. The OD of this plug is larger than the standard tapered plug. The standard chain eye has a threaded shank that is soldered into the jacket. If you want to replace the ground off remains with a correct chain eye, it is fairly simple. FWIW

Corrosive salts are water soluble. Have shot corrosive ammo, some extremely corrosive such as vintage Jap 7.7, in many different belt guns for many, many years. I disassemble any multiple piece parts and soak in a pot of boiling water all parts that have been exposed to combustion gases. Some ammonia and detergent are added to the boiling water. After a few minutes at boil, they are removed and air dry very quickly. Fiber brush off the carbon when cool enough to handle, lightly oil. Barrels are placed muzzle down in boiling water and a patched cleaning rod used to pump the water up into the bore about fifteen cycles or until the barrel is too hot to touch. Patch clean and dry the bore and oil. Never had a problem with rust or corrosion.

Appears to be a welded reman done post Amnesty. First pic clearly shows on forward left side of receiver a slight but large rectangular depression that has been burnished and blued that is probably a welded and repaired cut. I have an idea of who is C.S.A. but will refrain from mentioning it until I can verify my hunch. Other Colt parts are not noted or pictured that need to be identified for a more complete inventory. Paperwork will reveal other details. FWIW

Taxed registration with draconian penalties for violation works. That is the message of NFA. The first and foremost road block consists of the political framework that fronts the effort to confiscate private firearms of any type. We know what it looks like and can't be sprung on an unsuspecting population. Many anti-gun people balk at the political practicalities that must be in place for universal confiscation. Confiscation laws are not going to happen easily as they would be tied up in court forever, short of a military coup. Gradual state registration schemes will continue to be floated and if successful might eventually lead to federal universal registration ala NFA. Once that is achieved and successfully enforced, which is the key, the path to federal confiscation will be slightly more easily traveled by those willing to risk it. We have a long, long established history of almost saturation levels of private firearms possession. The enumerated BOR merely state what are natural rights possessed by every individual and they are not dependent on a piece of paper. Too many people know that now and more will as the progressives continue to insist on misinterpreting the BOR and Constitution. FWIW

An MP38 upper will, of course, fIt any MP40 lower so the combination could happen at any time for any reason. You give no details about the whereabouts or legal status of the receiver, information that can be very useful in assessing the gun. For instance, in the US, transferable MP38s are extremely scarce so a fully registered MP38 receiver missing it's correctly marked MP38 lower, in all probability would have long ago been outfitted with one. The numbers would not match but the correct parts would be assembled. That the early receiver and later lower could have been "factory" produced at some time in '41 is not likely and even if so, there is no possible way to confirm it. No doubt the transition from the MP38 to the MP40 at the time would have created production imbalances in the supplies of parts and their use for final assembly of guns between the two models, but there's absolutely no way to verify any specific gun resulting without some kind of documentation. Where is this gun? FWIW

The discs certainly are not necessary with recreational shooting along with cleaning of corrosive deposits from the interior of the booster after shooting. With heavy use, build up of deposits of carbon on the inner face of the cap as well as in the cup from combustion, etc can eventually interfere with the forward movement of the cup which will stop the gun. With even fairly light shooting one can see deposits of carbon in the edges of the openings in the sides of the booster body and in the cup. The Vickers guns were often used in combat for long periods of sustained firing and while booster caps could be replaced, using the discs would dramatically reduce cleaning time of heavy build up of carbon on the inside of booster caps. Also, military ammo used in WWI and WWI left far more carbon and copper deposits from firing than modern ammo and was corrosive. The discs also protect the threads of the front caps from the effects of corrosive ammo which is a sure source of rust and fusing of the threads.

Patience. As with most every organization ATF is dealing with the virus complications. They'll send someone out eventually to vet you.

There are no "dog" MGs! Every one has a long, fascinating history and are marvels of engineering. When you get a chance pull out the ejector from your Costa Rican and spend a few minutes inspecting it's configuration, how it fits and imagining making that part. They are very interesting to shoot in feel, rate of fire and the amazing mechanical noises coming out of the action that is churning away right next to your ear. No oiler either......

FYI, vintage, very good condition aluminum resting bars are in the plus $250 range now so, with all due respect, I'd be very sorry to hear of anyone pursuing the destruction of one and then gluing it in as you suggest in order not to disturb a crosspin. The crosspin can carefully be drifted out and and then reassembled and lightly reflared,and if done properly no one would be the wiser. Problems occur when the resting bar hole does no align correctly with both holes in the bracket which is not uncommon. Having done dozens of these, the variations in fit are quite surprising. A repro aluminum resting bar can be assembled to the bracket so the gun is complete and if the opportunity should arise to buy a good vintage example, the repro can be removed and replaced with the vintage bar. FWIW

Bergflak was not running his parts business for quite a few months but he is back in business now with new inventory of MP40 parts. As you can see by looking at the pins in your gun, all pins are center bored about 1/8th of an inch on each end. When the pin is installed, the off side is supported and the opposite center bore is FLARED with a conical drift and is NOT peened. The other end is then flared treated the same way. There is a significant difference between flaring and peening. FWIW

Www.bergflak.com, make one or have a shop make one..... They are the same as others on the gun but just shorter.

ATF personnel roster has been cleaned out of knowledgeable individuals. For many years there have been very helpful and knowledgeable supervisors available to help out. They are gone. My interactions with ATF over the last couple years have been uniformly bad as far as being able to have a reasonable conversation with a supervisor about knotty registration or transfer problems. The new people don't know much and because they don't know much they can't help. The general trend is to pass the buck or quote the book. There is no longer a variety of people who have been working in NFA who have a basic understanding of the insane disfunction of the agency. and NFA in particular. I'm not talking about being polite but about "knowing" the history and ins and outs of the NFGA world. Plus, now any issues must be addressed to ATF/NFA by a letter. So, if you have an MG for which there is no paperwork available, at least you have the serial number and the name of the alleged registrant. The executor can write a letter to ATF requesting a copy of the form 4 for the serial number and type of MG registered to the deceased whom he represents saying that it has been misplaced and he needs a copy to effect a transfer for the estate. If ATF has a record of the serial number and the registrant they will let you know. If not they will say they have no record of it. The executor should be advised that he needs to secure the MG safely with him being the only person with access to it. He is acting as the legal representative of the deceased so he can act as a legal proxy for the MG. If ATF does not have record of the MG. that is the end of it and the executor will need to destroy the receiver of the gun. there is a protocol for destroying the receiver which he can research.Only the receiver needs to be destroyed. There are other ways to try and finagle the information from ATF but these methods require some subterfuge so I will not advise their use. While there are legal penalties for possession of an unregistered MG, ATF is totally aware of the many, many MGs in possession of individuals without paperwork and in the extremely unlikely event that ATF finds an unregistered MG, such as in an estate, they will just require that it be turned over to ATF for destruction, etc. ATF has not been known to seek prosecution of such MGs which are possessed through benign misunderstanding or ignorance of the laws. Their main concern is that unregistered MGs be under the control of someone with the legal authority to do it or be destroyed and that they do not fall into the hands of crooks, etc. FWIW

Assuming the deceased was not an FFL, the Sten MUST be properly registered on an ATF registration form in the name of the deceased and the registration paperwork needs to be found to confirm that it is properly registered to him. The executor can handle the sale to you once the registration is located. The form can be one of the following: Form 1, Form 4 or Form 5, each of which are valid for registration to an individual. If no form can be located, then serious complications arise due to the confidentiality law allowing only the registrant of record access to information about a specific registered MG. Sometimes executors who are lawyers are able to work with ATF to see if the serial number of the MG is in the registry, known as the NFRTR, and that it is in the name of the deceased. It will take time and serious effort to find out from ATF if the Sten is properly registered. Unfortunate, but that is the case with MGs for which no registration can be located. FWIW

Currently, I am offering for sale a registered selectfire version of the Armpistol. Quite entertaining on fullauto!! Google up Bushmaster as there are a variety of sites dedicated to Gwinn Arms and Bushmaster Arms and plenty of info on the Armpistol. No need to regurgitate it all here......

Have two longtime acquaintances who shot Lahti's frequently and both suffered retinal detachment. Now they take the guns to shoots and let others shoot them......

The new form 1 and 4, after reactivation, list the same manufacturer as listed on the ORIGINAL registration of the MG which should be the same ID on the registration of the registered DEWAT. The ID of the manufacturer of an MG registered prior to the end of the '68 Amnesty never changes except for provable corrections if ATF is petitioned to make the change.

Sorry, but this is incorrect. ATF defines the act of "reactivation" as a form or "manufacturing" which is the reason that the marking of the receiver is required by the person doing the reactivation. Both individuals and FFL/SOTs completing a reactivation are required to mark the receiver with their name and address. It retains is C+R status because is was registered prior to the changes in the GCA'68. i made an effort to eliminate this marking requirement manmy yeqrs ago and the ATf lawyers insisted that ti was a necessary and legal requirement. Many reactivations are not marked for various reasons. The mfg/import info does not change for a registered DEWAT that has been reactivated. The proper paper trail for reactivation is F5 to FFL07/SOTII, reactivation and marking, F2 indicating "reactivation" to ATF and return by taxed F4 to registrant. An individual should receive a registered DEWAT on an F5, submit F1 for reactivation, and when he has his approved F1 he can reactivate the MG and mark it. His F1 is his registration paperwork. Many DEWATs have changed registrants by F4 over the years before they were reactivated. Once on the F4s most never were reverted to F5s prior to reactivation. An FOIA will reveal the history of the forms used for transfers and one can find out if one's allegedly reactivated MG was properly reactivated or not with this info. ATF doesn't seem to care at all about any of this. FWIW

Receiver doesn't appear to have been "destroyed" to meet ATF requirements for rendering an unregistered MG a "non-gun" and it is not a repro receiver. Unless I'm missing something, converting an existing, complete MG receiver to a semi-auto is a no-no, so all other issues downstream of that are irrelevant.