Is this real life, or is this just fantasy?

Demilitarized vehicle weapons and static display accessories
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G.R.Bates
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Is this real life, or is this just fantasy?

Post by G.R.Bates » Sat Dec 02, 2017 8:51 am

Hey gang,
Im trying to figure out if these actually existed as possibly a field mod or if its just a fantasy piece someone created for fun. Id like to replicate it but cannot find any other information about it aside from this one picture i saved ages ago. Any help would be appriciated. Greg
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*43 Cushman Model 34
*42 Cushman Model 39
*42 WC-51
Former owner of CCKW's and Jeeps:
*43 GPW
*43 MB
*42 CCKW-353 closed cab script grill
*43 CCKW-353 open cab


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Austringer
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Re: Is this real life, or is this just fantasy?

Post by Austringer » Sat Dec 02, 2017 9:18 am

This one is a recreation but based on pictures of similar field made units in Europe.
Jason Green
Atlanta, Ga

STILL NOT associated with the Georgia MVPA 15 years and counting as long as that one guy is president of the club....

1963 Willys M151 (under resto)
1969 M706E1
1983 M106A2

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Re: Is this real life, or is this just fantasy?

Post by GI. » Sat Dec 02, 2017 9:28 am

Look at M-23 thread below, signsup has a pic. of the one he made, it's in frt. of his jeep on a trailer, it was from a pic. he found of one in ww-2.
it's very nice. i'm sure signsup would be glad to post some more pic.s of it.
67 M-151A1

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Chuck Lutz
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Re: Is this real life, or is this just fantasy?

Post by Chuck Lutz » Sat Dec 02, 2017 9:34 am

Mike Wright brought his trailered MG to the Convention I think and it was a hit.
Chuck Lutz

GPW 17963 4/24/42 Chester, PA. USA 20113473 (USA est./Tom W.)
Bantam T3-C 1947

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lt.luke
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Re: Is this real life, or is this just fantasy?

Post by lt.luke » Sun Dec 03, 2017 9:28 am

Chuck Lutz wrote:
Sat Dec 02, 2017 9:34 am
Mike Wright brought his trailered MG to the Convention I think and it was a hit.
Mike’s uses scrap jeep and 1/4T trailer parts. This one looks based on a 105 carriage?

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Austringer
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Re: Is this real life, or is this just fantasy?

Post by Austringer » Sun Dec 03, 2017 5:36 pm

Way to small to be made of 105mm carriage parts
Jason Green
Atlanta, Ga

STILL NOT associated with the Georgia MVPA 15 years and counting as long as that one guy is president of the club....

1963 Willys M151 (under resto)
1969 M706E1
1983 M106A2

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lt.luke
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Re: Is this real life, or is this just fantasy?

Post by lt.luke » Sun Dec 03, 2017 5:50 pm

Austringer wrote:
Sun Dec 03, 2017 5:36 pm
Way to small to be made of 105mm carriage parts
Yeah, I agree. And doesn’t really look like .37 AT gun parts?

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signsup
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Re: Is this real life, or is this just fantasy?

Post by signsup » Mon Dec 04, 2017 5:59 pm

Grab your
machine gun hand cart.jpg
machine gun hand cart.jpg (60.03 KiB) Viewed 539 times
selves a cup of hot cocoa, gentlemen, it's gonna be a long story. The photo in the OP, is, indeed, my rig. A fellow member of our MVPA affiliate makes the .50 M2 replicas from scratch and makes them available to club members only. Made from demilled barrels, they are pretty authentic, I am told. I had it originally mounted on my GPW, but even with the "c" mount with the support legs, it was a lot of weight swinging around my head, so I decided to gun down to the .30 M1919 on the GPW.
So now I got a M2 getting lonely.
I cam across a photo from a US Army unit in WWII firing a M2 on a wheeled trailer that could have been a hand cart or a captured German rig as it had very narrow tires on whre wheels. I will post the original photo. I decided to make my rig.
As some of you now know, I am blind.
Visually impared is the legal term, but it's white cane and sunglasses blind. I restored the GPW, but will never be able to drive it. So, welding is out of the question and I had to make this rig up from scratch with no welding involved. I can drill hotes.
I acquired a toasty Tx trailer for the lunette eye, casting, combat wheels. The frame and body were absolutely gone. So I used the cut down T3 frame from leaf spring mount to leaf spring mount and bolted on a front and rear crossmember. The plates are 1/4 steel, the wheels are combat and NDT tires. The handbrake is off the T3 as well. The plates were drilled and hinges were attached with button head socket cap screws. (look them up, FastNAll sells them in various sizes). After bolting them up, fill the allen socket with JB Weld and sand them smooth and they look like rivets. At least to me they do!

The firing swing out legs are square steel with a riding lawn mower lunette eye bolted into one end. I used some shock mounts and two original shock absorbers from my GPW project. You will notice that one is a front shock and one is a rear, but no one else notices. The steel plate bolts the two swing arms together for travel and the ammo box mounts on it for looks only, but kids love to sit on it and "fire" the gun. Two barrel covers filled with PVC pipes are stapped to the legs. Camper leveling legs are on the rear of the legs to elecate the rig for figing. Two corener handles off an old jeep and a short plate that swings up for travel and down for firing to protect the privates privates and a coule of gootman loops for strapping things down. It's over engineered, I know, but it looks pretty neat by itself and looks outstanding when towed behind the jeep.
machine gun cart 1.jpg
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machine gun cart 2.jpg
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Robert Brough
Winston, GA
2018 MVPA Honor Service Award
President, GA MVPA

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signsup
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Re: Is this real life, or is this just fantasy?

Post by signsup » Tue Dec 05, 2017 9:20 am

So, now, heres the rest of the story...

In 2015, we decided to take our GPW and machine gun trailer out to the MVPA National Convention in Topeka, KS. We own property in Leavenworth, so it was an easy trip to make, once we got to KS from Atlanta. We displayed our jeep and trailer and we were directed where to park it and disconnnect the battery. It was the afternoon prior to the "official" show, so we set up our display and left for the day.
Upon returning the next day, walking around the trade show, we decided to walk by the display area and there was the line of jeeps and our machine gun trailer, and, lo and behold, next to us was this other rendition of a machine gun trailer. We later learned, and met, Mike Reid who created his version of the trailer from the exact same two photos that he found on the internet, the same place we found our photos. We had never talked, posted photos, or knew each other was making one of these. They just showed up side by side at the convention. Two brothers from another Mother!

Mikes, is a more faithful reproduction of the field mod gun trailer in the photograph and mine is more of a "prototype" trailer with the adjustable deflection plates, swing down lower plate, hand brake, swing legs, etc. But both are neat little items for those events or displays or parades where you might need a little more fire power than what is on the jeep.

The only problem I have with mine is that when I display it with my jeep, it gets more attention than the jeep. I keep threatening to just bring the trailer behind my civilian car and get just as much attention.

Here they are, side by side in Topeka . . .
100_4596.JPG
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Robert Brough
Winston, GA
2018 MVPA Honor Service Award
President, GA MVPA

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G.R.Bates
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Re: Is this real life, or is this just fantasy?

Post by G.R.Bates » Wed Dec 06, 2017 6:15 pm

those are both fantastic trailers. thank you so much for posting the story and the photos. i am going to attempt to build one probably more along the lines of the one in the original photos. i am loving the one with the swivel legs but i am going to see what i can do with the ideas in my head.
*43 Cushman Model 34
*42 Cushman Model 39
*42 WC-51
Former owner of CCKW's and Jeeps:
*43 GPW
*43 MB
*42 CCKW-353 closed cab script grill
*43 CCKW-353 open cab


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