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1914 Spandau MG08

Article about: They were acquired complete and not pieced together. The story I got on the MG08 is that it was a J. Curtis Earl gun that he pulled from a VFW Hall in California back in the late '60s or ear

  1. #11
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    Default Re: 1914 Spandau MG08

    They were acquired complete and not pieced together.

    The story I got on the MG08 is that it was a J. Curtis Earl gun that he pulled from a VFW Hall in California back in the late '60s or early '70s. He reactivated it and sold it to Kent Lomont. Kent had it for a while and sold it to the gentlemen I got it from in Montana. All I know for sure is that it was manufactured just prior to WWI or very early during the war. Very few of these early MG08's survived. Good Krupp steel, I guess. It's 98 years old and still runs. I doubt the same will be said about the machine gun's made today.

    I don't have any story on the LMG except I have been told that one of the LMG's on von Richthofen's Fokker Dr.1 had s/n 650a (10,650). That would put my LMG, s/n 632a (10,632) within the same manufacturing batch. That story may all be b.s., but it's what I've been told.

    What nobody noticed here was the M2 tripod that the LMG is mounted to. The Browning guys went all atwitter about the M2 tripod's base. It seems that the tripod base is from an early Canadian sled mount assembly used to transport a 1919A4 Browning during wintertime and is quite unique all by itself.

  2. #12
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    Default Re: 1914 Spandau MG08

    Quote by MG34 View Post
    They were acquired complete and not pieced together.

    The story I got on the MG08 is that it was a J. Curtis Earl gun that he pulled from a VFW Hall in California back in the late '60s or early '70s. He reactivated it and sold it to Kent Lomont. Kent had it for a while and sold it to the gentlemen I got it from in Montana. All I know for sure is that it was manufactured just prior to WWI or very early during the war. Very few of these early MG08's survived. Good Krupp steel, I guess. It's 98 years old and still runs. I doubt the same will be said about the machine gun's made today.

    I don't have any story on the LMG except I have been told that one of the LMG's on von Richthofen's Fokker Dr.1 had s/n 650a (10,650). That would put my LMG, s/n 632a (10,632) within the same manufacturing batch. That story may all be b.s., but it's what I've been told.

    What nobody noticed here was the M2 tripod that the LMG is mounted to. The Browning guys went all atwitter about the M2 tripod's base. It seems that the tripod base is from an early Canadian sled mount assembly used to transport a 1919A4 Browning during wintertime and is quite unique all by itself.
    If correct, how cool would that be!
    Certainly adds another dimension to an already great & historic gun!!

  3. #13
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    Default Re: 1914 Spandau MG08

    MG34 a stunning ac mg. I suspect you will know Matt H in the USA too. Have fun with the live shooting and in a way I am glad you are using a repro sled as the platform.
    Mark

  4. #14
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    Default Re: 1914 Spandau MG08

    Quote by MG1918 View Post
    MG34 a stunning ac mg. I suspect you will know Matt H in the USA too. Have fun with the live shooting and in a way I am glad you are using a repro sled as the platform.
    Mark
    I've traded emails with Matt in the past, but I have never met him. He's on the East Coast and I'm in Texas. There's 1300 miles of distance between us.

  5. #15
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    Default Re: 1914 Spandau MG08

    That is an awesome MG08 and 08/15 and it is also great that you got a Video of Dolf shooting your weapon.From what I've heard, he passed away no to long ago. He was a true legend to this field of collecting.
    Semper Fi
    Phil

  6. #16

    Default Re: 1914 Spandau MG08

    Very nice guns gents.
    Has your ZF12 made it to it's new home yet Mark?
    Cheers
    Digger Dave

  7. #17
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    Default Re: 1914 Spandau MG08

    Quote by AZPhil View Post
    That is an awesome MG08 and 08/15 and it is also great that you got a Video of Dolf shooting your weapon.From what I've heard, he passed away no to long ago. He was a true legend to this field of collecting.
    Semper Fi
    Phil
    Dolf is alive and kicking at 83 years of age. He moved to Las Vegas from San Antonio after his wife, Alice, passed away in March 2010. I shoot with Dolf all the time when he travels to Texas. He stayed at my house for a week during the last July 4th holiday.

    After that holiday, Dolf traveled to London and then Geneva to research an extremely rare Napoleonic era French automatic rifle field piece. There were only four known to exist when Dolf found a fifth example sitting in a San Antonio military warehouse. Nobody ever knew what it was. How it got into that warehouse is a long story.

    Dolf is one of the most intelligent and well spoken individuals I have ever known. Not only is he well versed in vintage weaponry, but he can carry on a very knowledgeable conversation on just about any subject. He speaks seven languages fluently including Mandarin Chinese and Malay. Our last two hour conversation centered on mortgage banking and the oil industry. How many people knew he was a wildcat oil driller? Dolf's life story would make an interesting movie. He is a true gentleman of the world.
    Last edited by MG34; 10-03-2012 at 11:32 PM.

  8. #18
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    Default Re: 1914 Spandau MG08

    I'm sorry you are correct Sir. What I read was that he had broken his Femor and had a staph infection. Yes he did recover,and he is definatly a living treasure. Once again, Very Sorry for that misinformation!
    Semper Fi
    Phil

  9. #19

    Default Re: 1914 Spandau MG08

    MG34 those are some great guns!
    Terrific pictures and a nice video to watch, too - incredible how little (or no) vibration there seems to be from firing the full power 8mm round - makes you feel for the lads who were tasked with carrying it around in the mud, doesn't it?

    I like the look of the LMG cooling shroud, very similar to the airborne versions.
    Looks like someone did some nifty work to create that Browning mount adaptor for you.

    These are treasures indeed.

    Thanks for posting the pics and accompanying info. for us to drool over, but also to learn from,

    Pit.

  10. #20
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    Default

    My Photobucket hosted pictures above were blown away. Here they are, but now hosted on Postimg:

    MG08:





    LMG08/15:




















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