Real, but Cut!!

[Jersey Devil]

Well, a real, but cut, -0 top-marked op rod is better than no -0 op rod I suppose.

:>>

[RCS]

These are difficult to find either cut or un-cut but not as rare as the weld seam op rod

photo of my rev 0 marked on top was in Duff's WW2 book

[Jersey Devil]

Robert,
Do you have any weld-seam op rods in your collection?
I've heard they're super hard to find. Do you think they're harder to find then an authentic gas trap barrel?

[RCS]

I do not have a weld seam operating rod, very difficult to find but some have tried to fake them

[Jersey Devil]

Seems as though people try to fake everything. Unfortunately some do a pretty damn good job.
I'll post some pix of a -1 follower that was faked.......very bad job thankfully!! LOL

[GBA]

I think that welded seam op rods are far, far more rare than gas trap barrels. Many of us have seen multiple authentic gas trap barrels. It's not so easy to get to see a welded seam op rod.

Of course when you want to find a good barrel, it isn't easy, as I know.

[Jersey Devil]

I heard a rumor that a lucky buyer found a weld-seam op rod in a CMP service grade that he bought. Any truth to this?

[GBA]

Legend has it that Mac McCullum, who for many years saw the flow of all parts and rifles that passed through Anniston, only ever say ONE welded seam op rod. He let an other guy swap it out, and never saw another one. I have to repeat that this is legend, and not a fact to which I can attest.

I did have the privilege of meeting Mac one time, at a GCA convention in Springfield, MA. I'm glad of that, as he has gone on to our next destination. I still have an Anniston Arsenal hat that he gave me.

[Gastrapsforme]

I've heard the stories of armors finding weld seems at cmp, haven't heard the one about one making it out to a customer though. Talk about luck of the draw. But weld seems are one of the few gas trap parts that are truly rare. Between it and a numbered plug you can't get much more in rarity. Almost every other part can be found, maybe not easily, but it can be done. These are the parts you look for years for, then years trying to talk the owner out of.

[GBA]

I've heard the stories of armors finding weld seems at cmp, haven't heard the one about one making it out to a customer though. Talk about luck of the draw. But weld seems are one of the few gas trap parts that are truly rare. Between it and a numbered plug you can't get much more in rarity. Almost every other part can be found, maybe not easily, but it can be done. These are the parts you look for years for, then years trying to talk the owner out of.

Hi Kevin, I can think of at least one example. Welcome, and keep your eye out for a barrel for me.

[RCS]

Nice to have George and Kevin on this forum. I have seen three original gas trap barrels over the past years: the first was D-28286 B-1 that I installed on
receiver 23025 for a friend in KY in 1987. Second was D-28286 T-2 at a gun show in 1990 that I was suppose to buy but was sold before I could buy it (it
sold for $800.00). Last was D-28286 T-2-A that I did trade into from a guy in Carson City in 1999.

[Jersey Devil]

Nice to have George and Kevin on this forum. I have seen three original gas trap barrels over the past years: the first was D-28286 B-1 that I installed on
receiver 23025 for a friend in KY in 1987. Second was D-28286 T-2 at a gun show in 1990 that I was suppose to buy but was sold before I could buy it (it
sold for $800.00). Last was D-28286 T-2-A that I did trade into from a guy in Carson City in 1999.

It sure is nice to have those guys, and a bunch more, here on this forum.
What ever happened to the barrel D-28286 T-2-A? Did you install that on a receiver for a restoration??

[Bodyman]

Legend has it that Mac McCullum, who for many years saw the flow of all parts and rifles that passed through Anniston, only ever say ONE welded seam op rod. He let an other guy swap it out, and never saw another one. I have to repeat that this is legend, and not a fact to which I can attest.

I think I may have told you that one because that is what Mac told me personally; he found one early on and one of the guys needed it for a very early serial number so he let him have it. He thought he'd see another one eventually but never did. So there is one running around out there somewhere on an early restoration.

I would post a pic just to get you guys going but on the internet I get nervous about the fakers getting too good a look at one - suddenly we will see 20 of them.

I will say that they had one heck of a good welder ... I weld all the time and I can honestly say that I wouldn't want to do that once let alone 1500 times.

[GBA]

What I don't understand is why? There has been drawn steel tubing around for a long time, for crying out loud. Why would they have welded the early ones?

[Bodyman]

Absolutely. It just seems ridiculous to even try to make a tiny continuous weld that is smooth on both sides, especially the inside! Maybe for a mockup but not for production. Perhaps that is what they had done, and with all the thousands of details they just got caught off guard when they had to make a bunch of them. There was a lot going on all at the same time - heck, even the spring was considered to be a temporary design.

I don't know but I always scratched my head about that too.