Hey Gus!

USMC-EOD

USMC-EOD

Active member
Hey Gus,

I was wondering if you would mind posting a picture of your WWI ordnance collection in this section? You've got some fantastic pieces, and I would love to see some of your newer items since the last time you posted them.

Perhaps you could show some individual items and go into detail concerning things like fuzes, ordnance type-by-function, periods or time frames used, and even Front/location in which specific ordnance items saw the most use.

How's it going with the trench gun build?

Bryan.
 
Hey Bryan,
You make it sound like I know what I am doing, but OK, I will start with a photo of most of my bangy things,
Mar2011001.jpg

This has been what has taken up my time for the past couple of days, I visited a friend in Montana, who has one of the few original running WWI tanks. It is a 1918 vintage M1917 Special Tractor, a copy of the French Renault two man tank. He had a French made one with battle damage, but it is now at the Liberty Museum in Kansas City.
tank014.jpg

I think this may be the tank that Joe first trained in, it is 100% complete with a fully functional 37mm cannon and a full rack of over 200 rounds of ammo.
Here is one of my latest additions to my collection, the grenade body came to me via a very generous friend on the West Coast, I picked up the fuse assembly off gunbroaker a few months ago. The body is a WWI vintage MKI grenade, and the fuse is a WWI vintage MKII model. The MKI fuse was an over engineered design that was a failure due to the need to twist the spoon handle when throwing to arm the grenade. The MKII fuse used what was to become the standard mechanism used todate on American and many other grenades.
grenades021.jpg

I will add more when I get a little time.
Best
Gus
 
There is also a nice video at the museum of the Renault in action on the Montana ranch. Are you one of doughboys in the video Gus? :-k
 
I missed out on that event. I have some more photos of the tank that I will post later, they are on Maggie's camera. Starting the engine was quite a process, the duck tail had to be lowered, the engine compartment opened and the engine primed, then it usually took one pull on the crank to start, but when Hayes would forget to turn on the gas, it required priming the fuel pump and then the cylinders and cranking some more. Once the engine starts, the duck tail has to be raised and secured, the engine compartment closed and it is ready to go. I can also be started from the inside, using a choke (the choke could be used from the out side too, and may have been easier), I do not think Hayes has ever started it from the inside, as it is probably an elbow banger to do so, as well as being counter clockwise in rotation, which would take a bit of getting used to.
 
Here are a few more photos of the tank, first Hayes with the primer can, and me starting the engine.
tank129.jpg

A shot of the right side
tank042.jpg

Hayes brought a few of his trench shields to show the progression of armor, he did not have anthing to prop up the tall shield, so I pulled out a Turked Gew 98 to use as a prop, and more people were interestied in the cheap Mauser than were interested in the rather rare trench shield
tank062.jpg

Best
Gsu
 
This is one beautiful Mauser indeed Gus :D Is that an original German sling on it? I need one of these!

Out of curiosity, is that camouflage on the Tractor Tank original or was it repainted post-war?
Who made these Renault copy cats in the US?
What was it armed with and where is it?
 
Very cool Gus.

You certainly get around. I remember seeing this tank on one of R. Lee Ermy's shows, with a focus on the history of U.S. armor. Pretty neat! Did he let you shoot it?

Like I said, if you get the time this winter, give us some in-depth info on individual pieces from time to time. You have a few fairly rare and uncommon ordnance items there. There was such a variety and limited production run on some of these early ordnance items, that it would be interesting to hear more about them.

Bryan.
 
That is an amazing collection. That is amazing that such history actually works and survived all of these years. Thanks for posting.
 
Hey Ron,
The paint is not original, this tank was used in movies for several decades, and had been repainted several time, it had a jJapanese scheme on it when Hayes acquired it, there were even metal plates welded over the AMSCO markings on the tread. The Paint scheme was taken from an original camo helmet that Hayes had in his collection.
There were three manufacturers who assembled these tanks, this one was assembled by the Van Dorn company, Best (or was it Holt) was another, but I can not remember the third. Best and holt later became the Caterpiller company.
This one is located in Missoula Montana.

Bryan,This is indeed the tank that R. Lee Ermy had on the show, I did not get to shoot it, but I did get to start it several times (I have had a lot of practise with my 22 Cat and WWII jeeps).
I will get some information put together for the different grenades and post them soon, we are getting ready to harvest corn, and I have a show coming up in a week that I have not started preparing for yet.

Best (or is it Holt) wishes
Gus
 
Getting back to Bryan's request, I will post a few photos of some of the more interesting grenades that I have, at the moment, they are stored away, and I will have to post based on the photos that I have already on hand.
The first is the Italian Benaglia rifle grenade. My example is missing much of the internal parts, but it does have the firing pin and firing weight.
Italianriflegrenade001.jpg

This shows the grenade broken down, in the upper right corner is the nose of the grenade where the primer is located, just to the left is the firing pin and weight, it is contained in a tube attached to the end of the nose, and extends the full length of the grenade body, there is a coil spring that keeps the weight and firing pin away from the primer, the firing pin is held in the weight with the back of the pin protruding out the bottom of the weight, the tip of the pin can not make contact with the primer until it is fired from the rifle (with a blank) and the inertia of the weight pushes the pin up when it hits the back of the grenade. A small leaf spring holds the firing pin in the ready position, until it lands, and the weight and pin fly forward, striking the primer, setting off 60 grams of black powder. The range on this grenade was from 50 to 80 meters.
Italianriflegrenade004.jpg

Here is the grenade assembled, this is a design of projectile that was used for large caliber spigot morters as well, but the Italian forces in WWI.
 
Here is one of my favorite grenades, it is the Russian M1912 "lantern" grenade
greeneggsandham068.jpg

greeneggsandham071.jpg

It is a very complex grenade, that is armed by pulling the key shaped tab (visible in the first photo in the lower center of the grenade body) and pulling the firing pin back (housed in the tube that runs the length of the grenade body) and then engaged in the claw of the lever in the handle. There was a wire bale that was placed on the handle that held the lever down until the grenade was thrown, and it was supposed to be pulled off as the grenade left the hand, but I suspect that they were removed before throwing, and the lever was simply held.
greeneggsandham029.jpg

This photo shows two grenades, one with the primer and fuse train removed and one with it in place, a detonator was placed in the hole in the top of the grenade, and the fuse train was inserted, and held in place with a wire bail at the tip of the spring loaded firing pin. When the grenade was thrown, the lever was released and the pin struck the primes starting the fuse burning, which set of a detonator that caused the 613 grams of Dynomite or aluminol (Dynomite with aluminum powder) to explode. The fuse was a 5 second delay.
greeneggsandham024.jpg

In the body of the grenade, there are four plates like the one shown, they are fragmentation plates, and the size of the fragments are ¼ vershok in size (the vershok is an obsolete Russian unit of measure, and is about 44.5mm)
One interesting feature of this grenade is that the body must have been soldered shut around the explosive charge, there is little danger of detonation by heating Dynomite, but I am sure that the workers suffered from terrible headaches from the fumes.
 
Here is a fairly rare grenade, it is a Turkish Infantry # 2 grenade, it has a cast iron body (although some examples have alloy bodies) and a brass fuse assembly, the fuse was lit with a match or punk (a cigar would also work) I believe that the body was filled with black powder, but can not confirm that.
grenades014.jpg

I lucked out of this grenade, AGM had sold one a few months before I bought this one for an astronomical price, but this one was very resonable. The fuse body is a reproduction that I had made, using the dimentions of an original in the Imperial War Museum.
 
Here is another couple of grenades, the top is the Austrian Zeitzünder grenade, and the bottom is the Italian Carbone grenade
grenades018.jpg

Both grenades are similar in design, being made of cast iron, externally segmented and having wire handles. The Austrian grenade was filled with 70 grams of Dynamon, an ammonium-nitrate explosive, and had a 7 to 8 second fuse that was lit with a match or punk.
The Italian Carbone grenade was filled with 75 grams of Cheddite made of of potassium chlorate 70%, paraffin 7% and vaseline 3% , the fuse was hand lit like the Zeitzünder .

By the way, Bryna, the thench gun build has been slow due to the farm work, I hope to get more done in the winter.

Best
Gsu
 
Dare I say that photo from Gus shouldn't be considered "Big Bang Theory," it is more like "Gang Bang Theory." (Gus likes soph·o·mor·ic humor)
 
Peter_Suciu said:
Dare I say that photo from Gus shouldn't be considered "Big Bang Theory," it is more like "Gang Bang Theory." (Gus likes soph·o·mor·ic humor)
Click to expand...
No, you are wrong, I am better at second grade humour, I know the best knock knock joke.
Best
gsu
 
Gus,

Give me a call. I think I found a place that has one of those original inert fuzes for your Mk-1 grenade.

Bryan.
 
Here is a new addition to my grenade collection, a fairly nice Wurfgranate 1915 that was fired by the M1916 Granatenwurfer.
grenades025.jpg


Best
Gsu
 
Hey Gus

I thought I'd query the ordinance guru and figure out if I got these ID'd right:

scaled.php

scaled.php


French WW1 F-1?

scaled.php

scaled.php


French WW1 F-1?

scaled.php

scaled.php


US Mark2 Practice

scaled.php


US WWI vintage MKI grenade?

Thanks in advance

Keith
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top