[Abominog]

Never heard of the place!

 

[MG34_Dan]

http://varnumcontinentals.org/our-museums/varnum-memorial-armory/

Varnum Memorial Armory
6 Main St.
East Greenwich, RI 02818
(401)884-4110

Varnum House Museum
57 Peirce St.
East. Greenwich, RI 02818
(401)884-1776

 

[frazer42]

Looks like they have a BAR and other cool stuff. Neat little set-up they have. I live in a big city so people have to go to each others houses to see stuff like that. J

 

[gulf state gaurd]

Thanks Chuck for the tip. I sent an email offerring to try to determine approx production time period and to see if they have any other 1917/1919 series that we can document for Charlie's research.

 

[gulf state gaurd]

OK, Tim at the museum got back to me already and promises some gun porn. He forgot to bring his glasses with him so he will get its serial number later.

Will update as it comes in. Oh its a Westinghouse gun. I am wondering which rear sight she has, the WW1 or the postwar for M1 ammo.

 

[Lucky#13]

If it has the first, post-WWI sight, it will look like the one below. It is still 1906 ammo, but converted to 2600 yards instead of 2800 meters. This is the same graduation set re-adopted AFTER the M1 Ball version, and was the standard for WWII. Many of these that were converted old parts had the extra marking added: M2 & '06 AMM to distinguish them from the 3400 yd M1 leaf, but that would have been much later. The ladder below is correct for the 1922 yds conversion, with the first variation of the new combo slide assembly.

 

[gulf state gaurd]

Tim from the museum is awaiting approval to post.

 

[Abominog]

I stumbled across this on ARFCOM, maybe he's the guy that was posting there. It is an awesome specimen that would look nice in front of my fireplace- that is, till the wife gets home.

 

[gulf state gaurd]

It is the same guy. Wife will let me get away with setting the gun up in the living room but she gets a little testy after 3 days:blackeye:

 

[TimJ]

Hi there, glad you like our Browning! It's got the original rear sight and the safety, too. Looking for a charging handle, if any of you could point me in the right direction for a correct one I'd be thankful.

It's the only Browning MG we have- no 1919A4 or M-2. We do have a Colt/Vickers balloon gun in 11mm, though...

Here are some pics, please let me know if you have any question. And yes, it's a dewat. We will NOT be reactivating it, and it's not for sale.

Only marking I could find ont he tripod- the data plate on the leg is long gone...

 

[nirvana]

Wow. It must have been hiding during all the rebuilds.

 

[MG34_Dan]

TimJ; Thank you for the pictures! Could you possibly post a picture of the your Browning's right side plate markings, please?

 

[kkkriverrats]

The acquisition record would be of interest.

 

[Lucky#13]

The acquisition record would be of interest.

Excellent request, my friend. Also, I would like to confirm whether or not the tripod socket has the worm gear mechanism. Can't see from the photos provided so far.

TimJ- I can donate an early style charging handle. Can't guarantee that it is WWI production, but it's the right type and will have an original blued finish. Let me know how to get it to you if desired.

Here is what the intact worm gear mechanism looks like:

 

[toolmanm203]

Tim thanks for taking the time to post the pictures and share them with us. I am sure you can tell we are all Browning junkies here so we love stuff like this. That is a wonderful piece you have and having the trigger stop (safety) is quite rare since they were deleted in 1920. I for one would love to hear the back story on this one. Russ

 

[TimJ]

Thanks for the kind replies! I'm enthusiastic about military arms and appreciate everyone sharing their expertise. Typical of gun guys!

Acquisition is still unknown. We are caring for artifacts, renovating the building, and in my case being treasurer and in our spare time. We have tons of documents and limited time.....last time we cracked open a box we found a letter signed by Jefferson and Madison....
it may have been provided to us after WWI, we have a lot of Great War stuff here.

Tripod does not have a worm gear, I'll get detailed pics of the tripod tomorrow. I'm looking at pictures on line and am wondering if the tripod itself is an -A1 with a 1917 cradle...I'll get better pics.

Lucky, on the offer of the charging handle, thank you! I will contact you as soon as I'm on a laptop and off the phone! ETA- Lucky, can you e-mail me treasurer(at)varnumcontinentals.org ? thanks.

ETA- on a laptop...the gun belongs to the National guard and we undoubtedly have the paperwork on file. The curator has been at this for a year and I have been working here for 9 months. We have cabinets full of paperwork, boxes full of stuff....it takes a loooong time to go through them properly....in our office the walls are covered with paintings, prints, papers.....last week i started looking at them, one is an original letter from George Washington. Just there, on the wall. I walked past it a hundred times and never noticed. That's what this place is like behind the scenes. Personally I love it, of course. We have lots of odd things. For instance, we have some '03 Springfields that look like the so-called "Bannerman" rifles. '17 Enfield triggers, trigger guards, Krag sights, '17 Enfield upper bands (that part with the bayonet lug), buttplates without trapdoors. Out paperwork indicates that they were issued to us by the Army.

 

[Lucky#13]

Tripod does not have a worm gear, I'll get detailed pics of the tripod tomorrow.
on the offer of the charging handle, thank you! I will contact you as soon as I'm on a laptop and off the phone!

Tim, you can call me at (541) 515-5413 or e-mail here: rollin13 @ juno . com -just remove the spaces, of course. Glad to help out on the handle.

A lot of these pods either had the worm gear removed from the socket, or possibly never installed. It was added just after production began, but it was also eliminated, and that may also have happened while production was still ongoing. History is a bit sketchy on that detail.

-Rollin

 

[TimJ]

Rollin,

e-mail sent!

I'll get better pics of the tripod tomorrow, and I have a few other things to post related to the gun. One I'm very curious about, I expect this crew will have an answer!

Thanks to everyone (and good night)

Tim


(RIP Justice Scalia. you were a great defender of our Constitution and you will be missed)

 

[ali059]

Nice tripod! Thanks for sharing

 

[Colorado1919]

TimJ welcome to the site & thank you for being able to feed my Browning addiction with your knowledge.
Jerry "Colorado1919"