Re: yep, 1936, just did a search

Posted by Abner from user-2ive1jk.dialup.mindspring.com on February 10, 2000 at 14:32:55:

In Reply to: yep, 1936, just did a search posted by james on February 10, 2000 at 13:05:41:

: Yep, did a web search and it says 1936 when it came into production...and I remember a long documentary I borrowed from the library that dealt with the history of guns and don't recall any semi-autos from WWI...

About the blanks...Michaelson must be right about them pretending to be something else because we use them all the time for WWII battle re-enactments, and getting the bolt to cycle back with blanks is no big deal. You either use a blank adapter or, for the "Hollywood Look" (more authentic) tap the barrel (a junky one of course) for a set screw with a hole drilled in it. All that is needed is to build up a little gas pressure (don't try this unless you are experienced- there is a technique to doing it safely) and it acts just like the real thing.

Semi-autos were around before WWI- you may recall the famous M1911 pistol. The US Army also experimented with modified M1903s with an attachment called a Pederson(sp?) device that fired pistol ammunition and was similar in concept to a submachine gun. And don't forget the BAR, which was full-auto. Although the Thompson was not ready before the end of the war, the Germans actually had a submachine gun designed by Hugo Schmeisser called the MP-18. There were lots of interesting guns invented around that time, but if you are talking about standard military rifles, you are right, the United States was the only country at the outbreak of WWII to have a semi-auto as its standard service rifle.

Cheers,
Abner

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: : Yep, did a web search and it says 1936 when it came into production...and I remember a long documentary I borrowed from the library that dealt with the history of guns and don't recall any semi-autos from WWI...

: About the blanks...Michaelson must be right about them pretending to be something else because we use them all the time for WWII battle re-enactments, and getting the bolt to cycle back with blanks is no big deal.  You either use a blank adapter or, for the "Hollywood Look" (more authentic) tap the barrel (a junky one of course) for a set screw with a hole drilled in it. All that is needed is to build up a little gas pressure (don't try this unless you are experienced- there is a technique to doing it safely) and it acts just like the real thing.

: Semi-autos were around before WWI- you may recall the famous M1911 pistol. The US Army also experimented with modified M1903s with an attachment called a Pederson(sp?) device that fired pistol ammunition and was similar in concept to a submachine gun. And don't forget the BAR, which was full-auto. Although the Thompson was not ready before the end of the war, the Germans actually had a submachine gun designed by Hugo Schmeisser called the MP-18. There were lots of interesting guns invented around that time, but if you are talking about standard military rifles, you are right, the United States was the only country at the outbreak of WWII to have a semi-auto as its standard service rifle.

: 
: Cheers,
: Abner

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