70 years in a bog? No Problem.

[subdjoe]

Spitfire redux: The WWII guns firing after 70 years buried in peat

Thanks to a "wild idea" from Lt Colonel Dave Sexton, ordnance technical officer in the Irish army, it was decided an attempt would be made to fire one of the Browning guns that had spent 70 years in the bog.

His team painstakingly cleaned the weapons and straightened pieces bent by the impact. Finally, on Tuesday we were able to stand on an old British Army range just north of Athlone for the big day.

The machine guns looked as good as new. Soil conditions were perfect for preservation. Beneath the peat there had been a layer of clay. Clay is anaerobic, it forms an airtight seal around all the parts, so there is no oxygen, which limits corrosion.

[mdwest]

neat story..
 
the US still has quite a few M2 .50 cal brownings in our inventory that were made in the 1940's.. I think the oldest one I saw when I was in Iraq a couple of years ago was built in 1943.. they just keep rebuilding them and putting them back out in the field..
 
if there was ever a gun that could stand up to being buried in peat and clay for 70 years and make it back out to the firing line.. its the 50 BMG..
 
 

[BUGEYE]

that was a great testament to the plane and the gun.

[reliquary]

Talking about a testament to the weapons...what about a testament to the designer?  Sit down some day and list the weapons that John Moses Browning had a hand developing.  OMG.  Several real classics in that list.
 
There are several of us who celebrate "John Moses Browning Day".  There is some confusion in the records as to whether he was born on Jan 21 or Jan 23, so either one is fine.  I like the 21st, since that's Stonewall's birthday, too.
 
Pick one of the days, pick your favorite Browning creation, pick your favorite beverage, lift it in toast to Father John, and let off a round...in a safe direction, of course.

[subdjoe]

Talking about a testament to the weapons...what about a testament to the designer?  Sit down some day and list the weapons that John Moses Browning had a hand developing.  OMG.  Several real classics in that list.
 
There are several of us who celebrate "John Moses Browning Day".  There is some confusion in the records as to whether he was born on Jan 21 or Jan 23, so either one is fine.  I like the 21st, since that's Stonewall's birthday, too.
 
Pick one of the days, pick your favorite Browning creation, pick your favorite beverage, lift it in toast to Father John, and let off a round...in a safe direction, of course.

You aren't thinking that through - since there is doubt, you throw in the 22nd, just in case.  Then celebrate all three.  On the 21st you lock up all your firearms and ammo, and hoist a toast to each one of his designs.  The 22nd and 23rd you take them all out for a spin, as it were.

[reliquary]

Sounds like a winner...let's even go back and start on the 19th, with Robert E. Lee's birthday. 

[mdwest]

FN built Browning Hi-Power is probably the finest "factory" pistol I have ever shot..
 
the .50 BMG... is beyond a shadow of a doubt the finest heavy machine gun I have ever fired..
 
I've owned more 1911 pistols over the years than I have fingers and toes.. absolutely love them..
 
and the list goes on and on...
 
truely the greatest mind ever in the industry..
 

[subdjoe]

Sounds like a winner...let's even go back and start on the 19th, with Robert E. Lee's birthday. 

Sounds good to me! And start it off with a bowl of Chathams Artillery Punch.

[reliquary]

+1 on the M2 and the HP, although I've locked my 1911s in the safe temporarily so they wouldn't read this.
 
How'bout the Winchester lever-actions?  The Winchester pump shotguns?  The BAR (not the deer gun)?  The A5? 
 
I feel like a kid who found a Sears Christmas catalog...