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The Bombatorium

The dates and initials seem to fit - the group of materials came through a cartridge collector - he purchased the group plus a large quantity of small arms from the family of a gentleman that was described as having owned a gun shop some years ago and had general interest in many things. The grenades were a big plus, it has been some time since I've seen an M34 available that wasn't a demil patch job, and I haven't come across a Beano in the wild for several years. Not sure if this was any sort of official desktop piece or a home done job, no plaque or markings.
 
As Slick said above the tin is a U.S. Model 1916 Bacon Can.

Brian
 

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    U.S. M1916 Bacon Can.jpg
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On the money. I honestly thought you were joking though - bacon was on the absolute bottom of my guess list. Thanks -
 
Slick said:
http://www.sofmilitary.co.uk/us-ww1-bacon-can-m1916-original-product,19935

I could find no reference for the tin ever being a cleaning kit. Maybe repurposed, but not as issued.
My grandmother used one to hold some of her sewing supplies. Wish I'd inherited it.

Just found this. See page 44

https://history.army.mil/html/museums/messkits/Field_Mess_Gear(upd_Jul09).pdf
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Thanks for the link as well - great info on web/misc gear that I have little or no references on.
 
Went to a militaria show on Friday, picked up some nice Japanese trinkets, plus a couple of other items. The fuzes were the best part of the lot, some are getting very hard to find. The grenades are a bit strange. The black lump is an Iraq bring-back, a Mills bomb throwing dummy cast out of aluminum. There appear to be two Arabic characters on the side, but I have not been able to get them to show up well on a picture yet. It may take actual effort -
I haven't seen a MK II body like this before, it has softer segments and a sharp and deep ledge at the top. No markings of any kind. I don't know if it is a variation, or an older fake souvenir grenade.
I took the Type 97 grenade and the 50mm mortar because they are great examples of some of the worst Japanese ordnance cleaning I've ever seen. The mortar has sections of 2-3mm thick TNT still in place on the sides, the grenade looks as though it was washed out with acetone and then left to dry without emptying it - about a half cm of crystals completely covering the inside. I'm drafting an article for a journal on handling of recovered Japanese mortars, these will illustrate a couple of points very well. The Type 97 also has a brass tube instead of copper, I don't think I've ever seen that before either.

The US 20mm is the first I've seen with this particular souvenir label - kind of interesting with the aircraft tie-in and all.

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Just back from SLICS, long trip. I traveled with a collecting buddy, we first visited an old collector on the way, who was looking to pass on some of his collection to a good home. I did well, so much that we were unable to transport home without assistance. We had a small van, but it was bottoming out anytime it his a small bump. Fortunately there we made it to SLICS and were able to find another collector from Michigan with capacity in his truck to haul some of the haul back to Michigan. I will head out well before daylight tomorrow morning to pick up the bulk of the new items, but here are some of the lighter pieces.

I have long had a shortage in small stuff, 20mm, 30mm etc and related references. This trip helped some. I lucked into a pile of Old examination reports on WWII captured ordnance, a few examples are shown. BOCN member Ordnance was just a moment or two behind, to the victor go the spoils - I should be able to post some of the 20-30-40mm tomorrow. Powder grains are for the 16-inch. How many recognize the red item? I didn't know it, not exactly ordnance, but too cool to resist.

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First, i'm always a bit conflicted when seeing your new additions, great you got them, sad i never see anything like that sort of haul!.

I think the red item is some sort of BFA/bullet trap for aircraft MG/cannon,when on the ground and loaded?,sure i've seen pics with these on ,particularly, helicopter mounted guns.
 
kahu1 said:
I think the red item is some sort of BFA/bullet trap for aircraft MG/cannon,when on the ground and loaded?,sure i've seen pics with these on ,particularly, helicopter mounted guns.
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Correct, for the mini-gun. I'd never seen it before, and like the two magazines shown, I could not resist. I picked up a couple more magazines on this trip, I'll do some mass pics when I get everything home and unpacked.
 
US-Subs said:
Correct, for the mini-gun. I'd never seen it before...
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Slightly off topic: James DeGroat of DeGroat Tactical was there for his first trip to SLICS, I believe. His company is involved with the GAU-2B/A which was installed in the A-37 in the '60s and '70s. He and I discussed that in a certain condition the mini-gun (also called M134 for you Army types) could stop rotating in a position where it COULD NOT BE SAFED and any movement of the barrel group would cause an inadvertent discharge, or accidental firing. So, the EOD team would install the bullet trap over the muzzle end, pin it in place, and let it fire. Really exciting.
 
THANK YOU SO MUCH, for the APFSDS pics, Jeff!

I was going threw the first set of pics you posted after your trip eagerly looking for the specimens you told me about. They are truly incredible and a seriously great addition to the teaching Museum. I totally had to save the photos you posted for my reference collection. THANKS BIG TIME!

Jason
 
Got down to pick up the main group of new toys, getting them unloaded and logged in. Here are some of the first pieces, lots of small stuff. I'll try and get through the 20mm and to the big stuff tomorrow.

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HAZORD said:
The WWII cartridge boards are in very nice condition!
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Yeah, I was happy to get them. The large one took a whack on one corner sometime in the past, but is very nice regardless. I've got two spots picked out where they should just fit - wall space is getting thin..... For the remainder I'm scratching my head, not enough drawer space at the moment, but if I rebuild a few shelves and go all the way to the ceiling.....
 
SG500 said:
Jeff could you post the case lengths of these please.
I think it says 45 x 305 on the French one, could you measure the other.
Thanks.
Dave
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I'll try to get to it today, but I've got 20mm in piles, 30mm on the stairs and big stuff blocking the aisles - if I forget please remind me in a couple of days.
 
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