[brian]

so i received an m2 from oow. the metal is in great shape, the paint not so much...big deal.
took it to work and bead blasted it. the thing cleaned up super. i'm looking to spray paint it for now.
i should have looked for olive drab paint first though would a matte black look to far out of line? i found a matte green that might almost be there.

and can anybody decode these markings?

 

[rugman59]

Home depot,Lowes,fred meyer/krogers sell decent camo paint.Nice flat finish.Sorry ,but I dont know squat about markings.


Good luck!

 

[brian]

i've been to lowes, homedepo and wally world.
lowes got nothing.
homedepo and wally mart, both had "camo" spray paint, in black and tan but not olive.... not that i was entirely surpised about that.

 

[xkss62]

Ace hardware has a pretty good OD. Only store I have found it at.

 

[47lincsled]

spray paint

Try one of the bigger auto parts places, NAPA, Parts plus, they usually have a good choice of paints and at least around here they usually have some of the camo colors. When I painted my Half-track i couldn't afford $50 a gallon paint so I took a good paint sample to home depot and they custom made a couple gallons of thier cheap paint, match was perfect, and it's out door paint so it seems to weather well.

 

[ironcreations]

try at napa, I use Krylon Camouflage OD green, parts number 4293 Olive. it is close, and about $5.00 or so a can, I also use a self etching primer, it makes the paint stick better. It is a Dupli-color part number DAP 1690 self-etching primer. it might be about $10.00 a can. other than that it could be parkerized.

 

[47lincsled]

tri pod finishing

If it's still in the White from bead blasting try Birchwood casey Cold blue, I've used this on my 1919, it's not really parkerizing but it looks good and with a light coat of oil is very durable, you can usually get the small bottles at Wal Mart for about $5, and that was plenty to do my gun.

 

[Rory]

ah one of my other loves.... spray paint.

look for
belton molotow
or
montana gold

these are two of the best spray paints that you will ever use. one is from germany the other from spain. these are both mainly used for ummm well graffiti. however they have some of the best color pallets that you could imagine. their camo colors are amazing.

rory

 

[Dan @ Angola Armory]

The markings are non-standard, not USGI manfacture's marks. I do not think they are Isreali either. I assume these are on the head from the bolt heads shown. Is that correct? Can you take a better pic of the circular marking? I bet we can figure this out.
Dan

 

[Armorer]

Just for information purposes the following information on OD paint:

RAPCO Parts sells shades 33070 Early WWII lusterless, Shade 319 Late WWII lusterless, Shade 23070 Semi-Gloss WWII OD, Shade 34087 Lusterless Khaki OD, and Shade 24087 Semi Gloss OD (post war). They are on line at RAPCO Parts. I have never dealt with them.

OD paint can also be had from BLP Mobile Paint 4775 Hamilton Blvd Theodore, AL 36590 in a shade close to 24087 (they call it 123-49 Olive Drab) and shade 34087 is available in 12 oz spray cans from Aervoe Pacific Company, Inc. Gardenrville, NV 89410. I have never dealt directly with these companies but their paints have been available locally.

In addition KRYLON shade 8143 OD is a Dark flat OD but not quite as dark as HS Cammo Model 00324 OD. These paint shades are availavle from Gander Mountain and hardware stores.

 

[brian]

The markings are non-standard, not USGI manfacture's marks. I do not think they are Isreali either. I assume these are on the head from the bolt heads shown. Is that correct? Can you take a better pic of the circular marking? I bet we can figure this out.
Dan

so this is NOT a usgi pod?

looks like a phone call will be in order.
it was advertised as one, and listed as one on the bill of sale.

yes it is on the head.

 

[Armorer]

There is a series of numbers on the tripod head (11 digits) I can't quite make them out. It look like 1005-650 (or 630) 7052 (or 7032). This looks a lot like the old Federal Stock Number used by the military from 1949 to 1975 but the number seems wrong. It should be something like 1005-322-9718 for an M2 tripod.

The problem is the above FSN covers the complete assembly (ie tripod, pintle and T&E assy) The tripod, pintle and T&E would each have their own FSN. Could you determine the exact number?

This may even have been made overseas for the U.S. government or it may have been made to the U.S. specs for a country using our weapons. Maybe somebody like FN in Belgium. There seems to be a seal . Can more details be found on this.

 

[brian]

your first guess of: 1005-650 (or 630) 7052 is about as close as i can see in person.

 

[afghanvet]

Hobby stores

Any hobby store like Michaels that sells model cars should have the OD green. Sometimes you can only find it in the little cans. I just sprayed a pod from IC and it suits me.

 

[brian]

i'am quite familar with model paint, and that thought had crossed my mind. but i'm not sure how well it would hold up.

 

[OldSoldier]

I have a tripod for sale that has the same markings. The 1005-650-7052 is present. There also is a broad arrow above the DPA which makes me believe these are of British Commonwealth origin, perhaps Canada, Britain, or Australia. I can’t decipher the roundel.

 

[Cosantoir]

I have a tripod for sale that has the same markings. The 1005-650-7052 is present. There also is a broad arrow above the DPA which makes me believe these are of British Commonwealth origin, perhaps Canada, Britain, or Australia. I can’t decipher the roundel.

Converting the FSN 1005-650-7052 to NSN format 1005-00-650-7052 and doing a Google search, it pulls up "Mount, 30 M2" from a couple of sites. Can't confirm it, but I suspect the FSN 1005-650-7052 refers to the "tripod leg assembly" that everyone is calling the "tripod", as compared to FSN 1005-322-9718 for the "mount, tripod, machine gun: caliber .30, M2, W/E" that is the assembly of tripod, pintle and T&E.

The broad arrow is most likely British. Other Commonwealth members also used the broad arrow mark, but usually with a national identifier of some sort, like the pair of Ds on either side of the arrow for Australian gear, or encircling the arrow with a C for Canada.

The "DPA" could be for the British "Defence Procurement Agency". Can't make out anything besides "1986" on the roundel, but I know the British still had a lot of WW 2 ordnance in storage at that time, so while it doesn't confirm that this tripod was in British service, it supports that as a possibility.

 

[JD45]

Brownell's offers several military colors of paints intended for firearms, incluning their Alumahyde (may be used on metals other than aluminium). Some of these colors are intended to replicate the colors of military firearm finishes.

 

[brian]

were they originally painted, or were they parked?

 

[Armorer]

I tried to post this a while ago and it looked like a go but my post disapeared.
Anyway to answer the question which has been asked several times on this site, it appears they were supposed to be parked. Someone looked up the original military specifications and it said park. Tripods may have been painted in the field even though they were not supposed to be. Or maybe it was allowed at some point during the war. Of course the M1917A1 had painted legs and most British Vickers had painted tripods and even the guns themselves.

I was in the reserves from the 1960' to the 1990s and never saw a painted M2 or M3 tripod. Some may have come back from overseas painted and were refurbished in a depot where they would have been parked. Of course other armies receiving our aid could do whatever they wanted with those tripods and obviously many if not most were painted.