~The Things Military Surplus Tell Us~

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308sc

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I wanted to start this thread to gather a collection of strange things we find on some military surplus items. Mostly things that let you know the original owner/solider..was not so lucky or just interesting stuff.

I have seen blood under the butt plate of a Mauser....finish damage from blood on an AK magazine, and heard about a bullet hole in the stock of a Japanese Type 99, and lines carved on the handguard of mosin nagants (I guess the number of enemies killed.)

What have you guys seen or heard off. Pictures are a plus. I am looking forward to seeing what things you have discovered.
 
There's always the troop tags under the buttplate of some K31s, which I think are about the neatest thing in the milsurp world. Other than that, despite most of my guns being milsurps, I haven't encountered any little oddities like that.
 
There are six roughly one-inch tall tally marks on the buttstock of my K31; four with a slash through them and then another one. Always wondered what they were, can't imagine its a kill count because of the Swiss neutrality. Maybe somebody used to hunt with it?
 
This might be your own thing but it seems a bit disturbing to me. You are looking for evidence of the demise of brave men? This is what I do not understand. The historical aspect of military weapons in very interesting. The horror of war, regardless of cause, is at the cost of the lives of real people.

As an analogy, would you want the seats from a car someone perished in? The tumor that killed a nice person?

I guess I'm missing something so please explain.....
 
There is a huge differance between auto accident damage and the toll from war.
Its the differance between a junkyard and a museum.
 
Each Rifle has a story to tell the ones im interested in are the ones that tell it for you.

no disrespect but if you don't like the topic why comment?
 
The historical aspect of military weapons in very interesting. The horror of war, regardless of cause, is at the cost of the lives of real people.
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I sorta think you answered your own question here. It is more a matter of perspective as one looks at a historical object . The fact that it may bear the marks of the story of its personal history is just simply interesting history - not a sign of glorification of death and war. It could be to the viewer mean just the opposite.
 
My Finnish M 39 still has shrapneal embedded in the stock and gouges from the shell or grenade.

I fear for the soldier who carried this rifle.

I have pics and when I get a chance I'll post them.
 
I had an M-39 with blood pitting on the buttplate.
I kind of hope that the blood pitting was from just subduing some Russian, but the odds are good that it wasn't.
 
As morbid as it sounds I'd love to own guns with "history." Cabela's near me has pistols from the Civil War but I don't have $600+ for one. :(
 
I'd love to personally own the M-1 Garand that killed an SS thug who was one of the concentration camp guards. Nothing particularly evil about the feeling - more of a "never forget" kind of thing.

Dang thing's broken in already, right?
 
more of a "never forget" kind of thing.
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Quoted. It can be a morbid glee (A neo-nazi with a Mauser) or it can be the historical and honor value--knowing that particular rifle has done some evil use but honoring the fallen in that it will never again be used for the purpose it once was.

That said, I--personally--really wouldn't feel bad about owning a notched Garand, but would look for a different Mauser if I knew about them.
 
All I have found on/in any of my surplus stuff is the common tag under the K31 buttstock, and there is a soldiers name and grade stenciled in typical military fashion on the surplus canvas USGI half shelter I bought. Feel sorry for the poor bastadge that had to lug that thing around.

They arent exactly light (thick, tight weave canvas), especially when added to all the other stuff infantry guys have to hump around.Yet another reason I'm glad I was in the Navy. Aside from being allergic to getting shot at and/or blown up, I dont think 145lb, 5'4" guys like me enjoy humping 1/3 or more of their body weight around. I'm sure 50+ lbs stinks even when your 6' 180lbs, but it's gotta be a whole new level of suck at my size/weight. Kudos to the guys that hump all that weight all day, especially in hot jungles, deserts, etc, and while getting shot at. You have giant cajones and must eat rusty nail for breakfast. I was much happier to be complaining about freezing my nuggets off in my breezy, 50deg shop on the carriers.:D
 
This might be your own thing but it seems a bit disturbing to me. You are looking for evidence of the demise of brave men? This is what I do not understand. The historical aspect of military weapons in very interesting. The horror of war, regardless of cause, is at the cost of the lives of real people.

As an analogy, would you want the seats from a car someone perished in? The tumor that killed a nice person?

I guess I'm missing something so please explain.....
Click to expand...

I think it's okay. It is just a part of the reality of military arms. People do mark weapons. Blood gets on weapons. The collector is curious about the reality of it.

It is also related to collecting, because if weapons are sold with no efforts to clean them up, that becomes an issue.

After all; what should people do? Avoid all recognition of the reality of military arms and their condition?

Relax....it's ok.

/
 
I have a "frankenSKS" built from parts. The barrel/action are old, unissued Norinco stock and the trigger group was fresh-from the cosmoline, never issued, Russian.

What does that tell me? They built a lot more SKS rifles than they needed <grin>.
 
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i cherish the the funny little bend left in the trigger guard of my GrandDads 1911 where he had to bend it back out after an uncomfortably close encounter w/ a Germans helmet
 
I have a Beretta 1934 that was issued to the Italian Army in 1943, and won in a poker game by my grandfather during his navy years in the early 50's. Don't know the fate of the officer who carried it, but likely not good.

My Yugo SKS has the name "Milka" carved in the stock. Some lonely Yugo soldier's girlfriend I guess.
 
There was a story on Glocktalk a while back. The man picked up a surplus Swedish rifle (I am not very good with milsurp rifles) and traced the history of the rifle and found who was issued the rifle. He also traced the soldier to a town in Texas or Kansas. He contacted him.

I am pretty sure it was Glocktalk but it may have even been on this forum.
 
It's not a gun, but I have a WWII surplus canteen that was part of my dad's hunting kit. I recently discovered that it has the names of a bunch of various places all over the European Theater scratched into it, very faintly. Some I can barely read, all in the same handwriting. I thought that was cool. Has the correct cover and belt too.
 
That was nice. I'm gonna take my milsurps out next weekend I think. Just a day with me and my veterans, and maybe a friend or two (of the human type). I may be crazy, but I believe that mechanical objects, especially older ones, have a personality and a story to tell. I'm glad someone wrote one down.
 
I don't have photos of it, but in my gun list for my military M1 Carbine, I noted:


"Military cal .30 M1 Carbine + 15 rd magazine + 5rd magazine, sling, bayonet. Parkerized. Postal Meter SN 420xxxx. Initials "AAG" stamped in left side of stock twice. Filled-in with wood filler just below breech which looks like a bullet hole which had gone through from right to left was repaired at the arsenal, with an almost invisible split out of the stock which had been repaired. Nothing interesting under the butt-plate."

My ancient Amberg 98 Mauser had the intitials "E. W. L." hand-cut (not factory-stamped) on the orginal stock. (Since rebarreled to .30-06 and a sporter stock put on. But I still have the old stock for this rifle.)

I never got around to looking under the buttplates of my other milsurps.

I've also got a European shoulder rig for small auto that looks as if it has bloodstains on it.

All this just makes you wonder, doesn't it? And sometimes the sweetest mysteries are those which are totally unsolvable --even though there once was a real solution, lost to time.
 
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