Ersatz 1928 Colt Water Cooled Machine Gun
Here are a few pictures of my ersatz 1928 Colt WCMG. The Right Side Plate (RSP) is a fully transferrable Group Industries side plate. The Left Side Plate (LSP) and Bottom Plate (BP) are USGI. All other components are from an original 1920s manufactured Argentine contract 1928 Colt. I wish an original Colt Argentine LSP and BP were used, but I guess compromises were needed to use the Group Industries RSP. This gun was built by Craig Jordan of Tiffany Arms for Collectors Corner, now known as Ohio Ordnance Works. This is a legally registered live machine gun that is configured to shoot 30-06 Springfield ammo.
The 1928 Colt is the epitome of water cooled, rifle caliber, Brownings. They were constructed in 1928-1930 by Colt to the highest quality commercial standards. They were beautifully blued with polished brass and were literally the top of the line. They are also some of the rarest water cooled Brownings produced with less than 1000 ever made. Unlike the USGI 1917/1917A1, many 1928 Colt's survived because they were not used up in a major conflict, i.e. WWII.
The muzzle gland threads on a 1928 Colt front cap are different than that of a 1917/1917A1. 1928 Colts were factory equipped with unique flash hider assemblies instead of a simple muzzle glands as used on 1917s/1917A1s.
The water jacket on a 1928 Colt is identical to that of a 1917/1917A1 except the 1928 Colt is polished and blued and not parkerized.
The internals of the 1928 Colt were nickeled and not parkerized. Crud just wipes clean from the nickel plating. The 1928 Colt also uses a captive recoil spring assembly similar to that of an M37 Browning Tank Machine Gun. A small slot was milled into the rear of the RSP to accommodate the recoil spring rod rear positioning tit. This correctly positions the recoil spring for back plate insertion. When the back plate is inserted, the rear recoil spring rod tit is lifted ever so slightly from the RSP slot and the recoil spring assembly is now seated completely against the back plate. During firing, no recoil spring pressure is exerted on the RSP and is fully taken up by the back plate. The 1928 back plate is equipped with a flip up/down safety and "high top" wood grip panels.
All of the internal parts are marked with an "Oval R" (Colt commercial manufacture) and/or an "Oval RA" (Republic of Argentina).
The tripod is also original to the gun and is a commercial Argentine contract Colt Model M35 tripod. It was professionally restored and is absolutely beautiful with polished brass and fired blue components.
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