[DanG]

I found this video on youtube, pretty interesting...Wait till the end when one of the workers does a test fire, looks like he's still on the factory floor !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWdKCpGua_g

DanG

 

[redroth]

I found this video on youtube, pretty interesting...Wait till the end when one of the workers does a test fire, looks like he's still on the factory floor !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWdKCpGua_g

DanG

The other interesting thing is he has the gun mounted on a Vickers tripod for the test firing!

 

[Armorer]

It is interesting how many workers in the film are wearing suits and ties while doing factory work. Also notice the guy firing the machine gun has no ear protection.

 

[fjruple]

Very interesting film clip. Anybody have any idea which factory was manufacturing the BMGs? My guess its the Westinghouse plant. They work too fast to be Colt. :rofl::rofl: The fellows in the suits and the US Army officer looks like final inspection for military acceptance.

--fjruple

 

[btwiest]

Awesome, I loved it. They dress better than I do at work. I had to go down and pat my WWI Westinghouse gun after seeing that. Thanks for posting it.

 

[nirvana]

I'm amazed at the amount of filing and hand fitting.

 

[Lucky#13]

I think this is Remington, but I will be better able to answer that when I get home from SHOT. The fellow shooting the gun makes me think of the fellow from Remington pictured in Dolf's Vol I, and the gun has no rear sight, consistent with both the film and the book pic. The clothing looks familiar in my memory of that picture. If anyone has Dolf's book handy, check that out.

 

[Muscles Glasses]

I think this is Remington, but I will be better able to answer that when I get home from SHOT. The fellow shooting the gun makes me think of the fellow from Remington pictured in Dolf's Vol I, and the gun has no rear sight, consistent with both the film and the book pic. The clothing looks familiar in my memory of that picture. If anyone has Dolf's book handy, check that out.

Pg. 115 of volume one to be exact

 

[Colorado1919]

Hearing protection didn't exist then. It didn't exist in the late 1960s. 200 rounds of 45ACP and for two days after it's almost impossible to hear anything.

It is interesting how many workers in the film are wearing suits and ties while doing factory work. Also notice the guy firing the machine gun has no ear protection.

 

[Armorer]

Hearing protection didn't exist then. It didn't exist in the late 1960s. 200 rounds of 45ACP and for two days after it's almost impossible to hear anything.

Yes I know. We were issued the ear plugs in in basic training in 1964. At first I think they were a foam type and came in a small cardboard wrap. Then later they came in a clear plastic tube with a small chain attached to the lid so you wouldn't lose it. They all seemed like the same size at the time ( all flesh colored) but later they came out with color coded ones of different sizes (orange, Blue, Green) and maybe others. Much later the container changed to a more square OD colored one. In the 80s we were required to wear them on a button of the pocket of our uniform shirt just to show we had them. I have a bunch of the earlier clear plastic containers that I use to use for storing small parts, small nuts and bolts and other stuff.

As I recall they made a big point of issuing those and making sure you carried them but nobody seemed to be checking to make sure you used them on the range. I believe I have only used them once or twice since then as I much prefer the muff type hearing protectors.

 

[Colorado1919]

I'll admit there was some but I think it was in its infancy. And very few people I went shooting with had any hearing protection. We just didn't know, very few people knew. Today nobody shoots with out hearing protection. Back then it was a different thing.

 

[ohioblacksheep]

Its kind of intresting in seeing some of those old machines I have used..Not to mention, some of the old machines I still have and still use.. LOL!!! I just had to repair a flat belt the other day..LOL!!!

Lou

 

[CaptMax]

The guy shooting at the end of the film really enjoys his job, did you see the smile on his face?
Getting paid to test fire Brownings, where do I sign up for that job?
I loved the large vice the girl was using while filing, hard to find that quality stuff these days.
CaptMax

 

[Lucky#13]

Nailed It!

Finally got around to looking in Dolf's book, and watching the video again. There are more than one still images that must have been shot the same day as that video, at Remington's Bridgeport facility. The still #122 on page 108, is clearly the same area and time frame. The fellow center, in the overcoat, also appears in #125 on page 111, where Dolf's caption suggests that A.I of O., Major E.E. Chapman, may be the officer on the right. The three men in image #125 are clearly shown in the video, and you can see virtually the same moment that the still picture shows, taken from an angle just outside the film camera. I am guessing that the gentleman testfiring in the end, and pictured on page 115, is the Mr. Best who is shown on page 107. He was apparently the "works manager" at the Bridgeport plant. Very cool stuff!

 

[fjruple]

Was this the same production line that produced the 1898 Mosin Nagant for the Russians before they quite due to the October Revolution?

--fjruple

 

[Lucky#13]

Was this the same production line that produced the 1898 Mosin Nagant for the Russians before they quite due to the October Revolution?

--fjruple

I believe that would have been the N.E. Westinghouse production line, not Remington. The pics in Dolf's book that match this video are specifically credited to the Remington Historical Society and refer to known personnel at that company.

 

[fjruple]

I think I answered my own question. I did a little research and it appears that the Russian government contracted with Remington UMC for 1,500,000 rifles and bayonets in addition to 100,000,000 rounds of ammunition. The Russians also ordered 1,800,000 rifle from NE Westinghouse. It appears that Remington only produced 840,000 rifles from the contract with only 131,400 delivered to the Russians. The Russians appear to have defaulted on the contract claiming the guns of poor quality. In reality the guns were actually better manufactured than the Russian built 1891s. In reality the Russians were short of cash and did not want to pay. The Remington guns were built at the Bridgeport, CT facility.

--fjruple

 

[L999here]

...from Winchester..

The ammo contract must have been from other Co.'s as well. I have a few Winchester marked,boxer primed 7.62x54R cal. cases...a 2-element head stamp 'W' on top,'15' below,denoting being a 1915 production.

 

[Lucky#13]

I think I answered my own question. I did a little research and it appears that the Russian government contracted with Remington UMC for 1,500,000 rifles and bayonets in addition to 100,000,000 rounds of ammunition. The Russians also ordered 1,800,000 rifle from NE Westinghouse. It appears that Remington only produced 840,000 rifles from the contract with only 131,400 delivered to the Russians. The Russians appear to have defaulted on the contract claiming the guns of poor quality. In reality the guns were actually better manufactured than the Russian built 1891s. In reality the Russians were short of cash and did not want to pay. The Remington guns were built at the Bridgeport, CT facility.

--fjruple

Well I just got edjumuhcated. I didn't realize that Remington also made Mosins. Just new about the Westinghouse contract. But the 1917 Browning factory is the one in Bridgeport, so if the Mosins were made there too, it fits with the theme that both W and R facilities had the rug pulled out from them and needed something to do. Colt's lack of production capability to the rescue! :rofl: