[bradb]

Hi,
I just received my m2 tripod from oow today and wanted to know what the experts could tell me about the markings.

On to is a circle with the following inside it: 502 on the top, 1966 on bottom left, and SM (WS maybe?) on bottom right.
Below the circle is 1005-650-7052.
Below that is DPA with an arrow pointing up from the P.
Below that is 334.

Is the 1966 when it was made or rebuilt? I thought these were supposed to be ww2 made according to the oow website.

Thanks for the help

 

[jdmcomp]

It appears that the 1005-650-7052 is a federal stock number. I do not know exactly when this system started but it was after WW2. It could have been stamped on later or at a depot repair but I doubt that. I too have one of these and have not looked yet. The condition was somewhat less then I expected from conversation with OOW. I will strip off the paint, what little there is, and repaint. On the other hand the 1917 tripod is being used as shipped.

 

[bradb]

Well I did some reading on another thread here (about painting an m2 tripod), and it appears these are not ww2 vintage markings. So I called OOW and they said all of the ones they have in stock have the same markings as this. OOW is basically misleading customers when they are advertising ww2 tripods and then shipping ones that have fsn #'s (1949 or later) and British markings. Am a little disappointed as I wanted a ww2 manufactured one, but overall it is a fairly nice tripod.
Am I wrong in feeling misled?

 

[brian]

nope not all. i was expecting a ww2 pod also. hell if i wanted a non usgi pod, i would have just settled on an issy....
i'm still displeased.

 

[master22nl]

not ww2 dated

bradb and brian, you both are rigth, for all the time they are selling those supposed ww2 tripods, I have gotten a lot of complains from people who said my tripods were way too expencive.
I was selling ( by auction ) WW2 dated tripods, and got nummerous people telling me that I was too expencive and that OOW had the same for less money.
they way they do bussenis looks like fraude to me, iff they were a dutch compagnie advertising this way and selling this way via the internet, they proberly had numberous law suites going on overhere, but they are in the USA, and you guy's need to do what ever you think what would be neccesary
john from holland

 

[Armorer]

I believe these may have been arsenal rebuild WWII tripods. The FSN 1005-650-7052 replaced an older stock number system in 1949 but by 1975 had been replaced with the National Stock Number which would have had another set of two numbers which would have changed the number to 1005-00-650-7052. The thing is, after the M60 machinegun was adopted (about 1957) the model number of the tripod was changed to M122. The tripod was the same but the pintle was modified by adding an adapter and of course the stock numbers were also changed. The NSN of the M2 with pintle and T&E would have been 1005-00-322-9718. The M2 tripod itself w/o T&E and pintle would have been 1005-00-650-7052. The M122 carried NSN 1005-00-710-5599. The part number of the M122 was 7790723. Each componenet part down to the last screw and washer also had a separate part number and NSN. Part numbers seem to be used as a cross reference and I believe at one time they were called "drawing numbers". When replacement parts were ordered they were always ordered by FSN/NSN. In recent years NATO countries have been using a system similar to our NSN and these are sometimes called NATO stock numbers. If an item is made in a country outside the US the two digits after the first four would reflect the country of origin. For example 00 or 01 USA, 12 West Germany, 99 UK etc. The 1005 number is the Federal Supply Classification and indicates it is a weapon or weapon part (up to 30MM).

 

[slowfire]

what does the "head" look like? if it has rounded edges to them, it is a US WW2 M2 tripod. The US gave, sold loaned/leased thousand upon thousand of M2 tripods to just about every country. As far as I know we were the only country to make those tripods, so if it does have a rounded "head" they are WW2 era tripods. M122s have a more cornered edge to them.

 

[bradb]

Slowfire, the head is rounded.

 

[southbysouthwest]

....they way they do bussenis looks like fraude to me,...

Slow down there a little until you know what is going on. OOW is not doing anything wrong and is one of the most respected firms in the business that will bend over backwards to please a customer. The tripods OOW is selling are indeed WWII era units but they may have been rebuilt over the years and will show the arsenal rebuilt stamps on them.

 

[pfarber]

I have an original M122.

go here: http://www.42gpw.com/tripod.html

OOW is committing fraud if they are KNOWINGLY selling M-122's as WWII M-2. They are different, and they are quite easy to tell apart.

Wasn't Sportsman Guide trying to sell M-2's with a piss poor data plate that I found on IMA-USAs web site?

I got laughed at another board about making damn sure of the provenance of WWII trailers. But you ALWAYS buy the gun/trailer/tripod, not the sellers story.

 

[Dano]

I got one from OOW in November and it was marked Evans Products CO.
I think that is WWII m2 tripod.

Dano

 

[master22nl]

to DANO

hy Dano, well I think you are ne of the lucky people who indeed got an original ww2 tripod, but the problem is the proberly have run out of those, as far as I can remember you could make a choice of the kind of tripod you wanted to buy, ww2 ore post ww2 with ore without a tagplate.
My only guess is that they are selling whatever they have left, but again, they need to make this very clear to ANY custumor who wants to buy one, and need to tell what they are buying. ( now)

 

[mit31]

I hate to post on an old thread, but it seems appropriate.

Just got my tri/pintle/T&E set from OOW and its all the same as above.. NSN circle stamp, broad arrow and DPA. T&E is dated 1967 with broad arrow DPA, pintle is unmarked. See photos below.

Did anyone call OOW to ***** about this or is this a take it or leave it deal? Was this tripod built without provisions for a data plate, or did someone fill in the screw holes at some point? Is the T&E correct for wwii?

 

[cpobr]

My M2/M122 tripod has only the # 2805 0710 stamped on the head. The legs have stake holes. Is this foreign, other than Israeli?

 

[Mouse]

I hate to post on an old thread, but it seems appropriate.

Just got my tri/pintle/T&E set from OOW and its all the same as above.. NSN circle stamp, broad arrow and DPA. T&E is dated 1967 with broad arrow DPA, pintle is unmarked. See photos below.

Did anyone call OOW to ***** about this or is this a take it or leave it deal? Was this tripod built without provisions for a data plate, or did someone fill in the screw holes at some point? Is the T&E correct for wwii?

I'm not sure what you want to ***** about, but did you contact Coles? Gary Cole and his sidekick Dan are good people, if you aren't happy you should give them a chance before posting here.

I'm no tripod Guru but I'll tell you what I know.
I don't believe that all WWII tripods had a data plate, I think some of them had the info stamped right into the tripod head, (I'm not 100% certain on this). More than likely ANY tripod that you find has gone through a least a couple rebuilds/refurbs in which they may have been remarked or restamped. During that process whoever was performing the refurbing would probably remove the data plate (since it wasn't important) and stamp their info into it. This doesn't even take into consideration use by who knows how many foreign governments. Most of these pods are Israeli returns and they modified them with steak holes in the feet also.

If you look at the welds on the legs it certainly looks like a WWII production piece, and the broad arrow is likely English or Australian (?). If it's English I would say definately it's WWII, the T&E I have no idea.

Before you get to upset remember that an original un-modified WWII M-2 tripod in good shape is probably $600.00 to start and an old style T&E (if you can find one) is probably another $200.00+.
If you bought one of their current offerings and got a broadarrow stamped tripod you aren't hurt.
If you want to get an original un-messed with WWII pod with a data plate in tact you won't find one for 325.00 unless the seller has no idea what he has.

 

[Dan @ Angola Armory]

John,
The tripod in question came from Ohio Ordinance, not Cole Distributing. Ours are correct, I rebuilt them, Gary is a taskmaster for correctness as you know.
Dan

 

[mit31]

Yes, it was from OOW, and not Coles.

All the questions in my first post were valid, but not in the right order

What I should have said was: "Is the tripod and T&E shown WWII USGI? If not, has anyone bitched about it." But if I was OOW I would have mentioned that they may or may not have US markings and may have foreign build marks.

That said, no I was not looking for a holy grail by any means. I had been planning on getting one of Dan's great data plates to put on it, until it showed up without fittings for one.

Tripod... not a huge deal. Would be interested to know when the data plates were/were not used, but that is not a huge thing.

Pintle... is a pintle. Nothing to bark at there.

T&E... very interested in knowing if it is or will pass for a WWII one. This is my first 1919, first tripod setup, etc. I bought it strictly for live-firing, but may rent it for film work from time to time, and would like to be able to say it is a WWII rig (unless you read the markings which no one will care about).

I've a lot of experience in small arms, but none with belt feds. Thanks for the info guys.

-Tim

 

[Mouse]

John,
The tripod in question came from Ohio Ordinance, not Cole Distributing. Ours are correct, I rebuilt them, Gary is a taskmaster for correctness as you know.
Dan

Dan,
My apoligies as usual you are exactly correct.
I guess I forget that sometimes someone other than Coles sells tripods & parts. Hope I didn't cause you any grief.

I don't know where to find T&E info, the only pics I have see of the original various types are in Dolfs Books V. 3. These are some older versions and the one in the middle is a British mod.
I have the newly republished US mount book but I haven't had the chance to dig into it for the T&E's yet.

 

[Superreverb]

Not to hijack, but the T&E on the right in the above photo is the one that I found at a flea market earlier this year.

Any specific info about it in the book?

 

[Mouse]

Not to hijack, but the T&E on the right in the above photo is the one that I found at a flea market earlier this year.

Any specific info about it in the book?

I believe it's an earlier model.