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Average trooper would only have a rifle.
No need, no authorization, no room for a handgun.
Anybody who has been a grunt would get that.

I believe the 00 prefix denotes a rebuild and taken out of active service. School rifle.

I enlisted in Little Rock to avoid the draft in 1966.

Bunch of us were sittng around waiting-I believe we had already crossed the line, but don't recall.
4 or 5 guys were in the back-the only...

There will be lots and lots of civilians running about doing what they dam well please.
There will be no apparant order or reason for this.
It's their world too, and they have the right to behave...

I got a couple originals off ebay, but it was a few years ago.
Think I paid a hundred bucks or more.
They went on nice rifles.

Don't use Neets foot, or any conditioner like we used on ball gloves and such.
It will hasten deterioration.
I think Pecards is going to color it some.
There is another good product called "Hide...

VN Vets not keeping contact was pretty much the norm for several of the excellent reasons posted.

A lot of units have associations with websites that often help guy link up.

"Together We served...

$1200 is pretty cheap for a matching K98 these days.

In recent times I have noticed the rise of the "patina freak."

These folks seem to think crud and gunk and corrosion is a good thing.
...

Christmas 1968.
Guy on left is former WW2 Luftwaffe.
Still living.

I have a duffle cut T99.

In 55 years accumulating this stuff I have run into the bucket story many times, but only involving Jap rifles.

I have seen pics of piles of Mausers without bolts and...

Wierdest I ever saw was at the BX at Bien Hoa in 1969.
By then that place was like a little city-they had a modern air conditioned movie theater and a nice shopping center with a decent...

Very well put.

We used pinches of C-4 to heat stuff.
I had to check the ones my "Yards put out when we stopped at night. They often robbed it out of their own claymores.
It takes a good sized impact to set it...

Sometimes I ask what is their excuse for failing to man up and do their own time.
It was an obligation til they ended the draft.
If called, they could keep us 6 years, though usually it was 2...

There is no hard and fast rule concerning grinding of Mums.
It was done at various times and places and signifies nothing in terms of where it was acquired.
Probably more pieces acquired in the...

I'm 67 years old.
I got my 1st T99 and bayonet when I was 14. Still got it.

Owned several of most types over the years.
Got maybe 50 today. Including an outstanding sporter.
Been reading all...

Best question is why mess with it?
I'm too old and survived too many stupid events that I don't need anymore.
Tie it to a tree-that just proves it didn't let go -that time.
Compulsively shoot...

I was issued a brand new M2 in 1968 by 5h SFG.
At that particular time everybody coming into group got one.
They were in a flat box dry wrapped in a thick envelope. There was a tube inside the...

They had about a zillion C96 Mausers from China.
They refurbed a lot in 9mm and they look brand new.
They also sold junkers cheap.

I was outside just after dark and looked up and saw this marvelously detailed glowing orb in the dark sky. You really appreciate the little things like that.

I could almost make out the plates on...

If you are going to handle it much, get a repop sling.

Well meaning good friend broke mine fooling with it.
That old leather is just for lookin' at.

Nice job and documentation.
$500 bucks was a small fortune in those days and I bet on DMs.

1st one of these I have seen anybody bothered with.

Lots of Lugers P38s and even a few T 14s. Saw a 1934 Mauser the other day.

Might just be an improvement with this.

NEVER!
A trike to me is too much like a tractor-which I love in their own context. I have several.

I see a lot of them everyday and do not badmouth anybody who wants one.
Just not for me.
...

My dad was wounded this day at Eindhoven, a few days after jumping in with the 506th.
He was repaired and reissued in time for Bastogne and finished out the war in Austria.
They were gearing up for...