Some ground dug stuff.

[Bjørn]

Hi. I collect mainly German uniforms, field equipment, and some radio equipment as well as some weapons. I really don't have much interest in things that have been in the earth for some 60 years. Having said that, I have myself found a few things in my local area around german positions from the war. (Exept of course some hard to find items like my Panzerschreck and a Panzerfaust that I have) I'll post some pictures to show you some of the things that I have found myself.
First out is two bolts for the MG34 machinegun. These two bolts was found on two different places, and with a time span of 12 years. The bottom bolt is the first one I found, in the fall of 1992. The top one was found in the summer of 2004. They were both in the same condition when I found them, but I decided to clean the first one that I found, and with an amazing resault. First I had it submerged in thin oil for about two months, and after some work, i managed to clean the bolt to such extent that I was able to take it apart. I then had a friend of mine to glass-blast it. (same as sand blast, but with glass instead of sand - doesn't wear so much on the good metal) The resault is really amazing. There are of course some small holes and some pitting after the rust, but the bottom line is that the bolt is now in WORKING condition. Even the little wheels on the bolt turns with no problem. The fireing spring and the fireing pin are in exellent condition. All small parts moves and works the way they should. I have tried the bolt in my (Deactivated) MG, and it dry-fires just the way it should. If it was to be placed in a live MG, I'm sure that it will be able to fire the weapon.

[Bjørn]

Next up is some drum-magazines for the MG34/42.
I found these drum-magazines on the same place that I found the second bolt for the MG34, but 3 to four years earlier than I found the bolt. These drum magazines and the carrying frames was not found IN the ground - they was just laying on top of the ground, only covered by grass. The reason to their good contition is that they were all covered in grease when I found them. Only small parts of the grease had worn off, allowing them to rust a little bit. The grease had turned very hard over the years, and I had to cut and scrape it off with a knife, to clean them. I am still not sure wether I should restore them, with new paint or just leave them as they are. For the time being I'm just displaying them along with my MG the way they are. All the moving parts like the lids on the drum magazines, the small springs for the locking mechanism on the lids, and the henches on the transport frames work the way they should.
I could restore one of the carrying frames and three of the drums, and just keep one carrying frame with two drums the way they are - like the MG bolts that I have.. I have really not decided yet.
Anyway, enjoy the pictures. :-)
Björn