Originally Posted by
mg34_dan
It's a sickness I tell you. I haven't seen any water cooled belt feds yet. That said here's my purpose built RIA 1917A1. It was part of the initial September 1941 US government order to Rock Island Arsenal. Based on the serial number, it was manufactured in November 1942 and sent to the US Navy. It served with the USMC in the South Pacific and was battle damaged at least twice. It was scrapped in 1948 and ended up in a Norfolk Virginia steel scrap yard. There it was de-milled per the then current rules and regulations and
sold to an 18 year old kid. He patched up the battle scars and de-milling damage with automotive body putty and spray painted everything flat black. He kept it in his basement for over 50 years. In 1998 he sold it to a privately owned museum in Portsmouth Virginia. In 2008 the museum closed its doors and I got the weapon from them. I immediately submitted my Form 1 to BATFE to reactivate the old girl. In the meantime I began my search for the correct pieces and parts to repair all the damage. It took two years to find what was needed and the skill of six military gunsmiths to get her into "as issued" condition, after my Form 1 was approved of course. The 1940 dated RIA 1917A1 tripod took the skill of two more individuals to restore.
(No. That's not me as I'm manning the camera.)
These pictures were taken three years ago when we were trying a 7.62 NATO conversion setup in the old girl. 30-06 ammo is getting expensive and I'm preparing for the future.
Real RIA 1917A1s are extremely rare with less than 35 known to exist. That was my challenge for this repair/restoration. The only place to get information on them is from museums. I contacted museums in the US, UK, France, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. I needed close up pictures of various markings and inspection stamps. The Brits and French were particularly helpful. They seemed to care more about me doing a correct build than anyone else.
Reminds me of the story of J. Curtis Earl riding his bike home with TWO Maxim 08/15s when he was 9 years old after the local WWI veterans group threw them out.
It's hard to be a ACLU hating, philosophically Libertarian, socially liberal, fiscally conservative, scientifically grounded, agnostic, porn admiring gun owner who believes in self determination.
Chuck, we miss ya man.
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