Unusual German Field Gun Action
From Sam:
I saw this artillery piece in file footage of the Norwegian campaign of World War 2 and it piqued my interest due to its method of operation.However, I could not find any information on it I’m curious as to what it is, and any information about it would be much appreciated. (Skip to 0:45 see the gun in question – Ed.)
That is a 7.5 cm leichtes Gebirgsinfanteriegeschütz 18, aka 7.5cm GebIG 18 (75mm Light Mountain Infantry Gun). It was a field gun designed to be broken down into man-portable (barely) sections for transport without vehicles or animals (it was the lightened version of the design). Design work began in 1927 at Rheinmetall, and the “18” designation was chosen to hide the state of arms development and imply that it was designed during WWI (see my post on German machine gun nomenclature for more on this).
The unusual action that is shown so well in the video is an example of innovation for innovation’s sake – it really didn’t convey any particular advantage. Basically, the whole barrel pivots up away from the breechblock to eject and load, much like a break-open shotgun. Just a different way of accomplishing the same thing as a vertically or horizontally sliding breechblock.
Viking SOS 12ga Shotgun
From Thomas:
Its a 3 inch magnum and it says made in Italy that’s all I know just wondering if you’ve seen anything like it before and if you have any information on it . thanks for your time.
Milsurp Parts Sources
Hello Forgotten Weapons, I have a sort of general question here, where are the best places to buy spare parts for old Milsurp rifles? I love Milsurp but there are often crucial pieces missing that I worry about not being able to find/buy. I see parts at gun shows and sometimes online, but I was wondering where your favorite places are to get parts for old Milsurp?
In general, my first stop for random gun parts is Numrich. They have by far the widest selection of parts, from barrels and magazines to all the little things like screws and springs. Most parts suppliers buy batches of things that become available and stock them until they run out, but Numrich is constantly buying incomplete guns and small batches of parts and maintaining a huge stock. However, they focus as much on commercial sporting guns as military ones, and they don’t always have the more military-flavored accessories or large assemblies.
If Numrich doesn’t have what I’m looking for, I will check with a couple go-to companies that focus more on military items, like Apex Gun Parts and Allegheny Arsenal. These folks don’t have the massive inventory that Numrich does, but they do have a much more focused knowledge of their stock and are much better able to address questions like finding a part to match a specific variant of a military weapon. Some other companies in this group would be Sarco, Liberty Tree Collectors, RTG Parts, and Northridge.
My third stop after those folks would be GunBroker and eBay, to see if anyone just happens to have what I need. I will also simply do a Google search for the part, because sometimes a small company I’ve never seen before will have brought in a pallet of surplus Norwegian barrel band connector springs or whatever and nothing else.
Have a question you’re curious about? Drop me a line at admin@forgottenweapons.com!
