Unusual find.

[Hauptgefreiter]

The official replacement is the G36. I don't know how much of them are now issued to the troops...
Could be that the G3 is now completely replaced by it. 

[bob and his dog]

i thought UK gun laws were strict?  A store can sell a fully working Machine Gun??? Is it really deactivated?  Buy it you can store it under the dining room table or under a cloth somewhere. Get rid of a chair or something to make the room.  Get a friend to store it.  This is a fantastic find.  I would just be happy to have a Mauser broomhandle pistol.

[former user]

The official replacement is the G36. I don't know how much of them are now issued to the troops...
Could be that the G3 is now completely replaced by it. 

I'm afraid there are a lot in africa nowadyays....
apart from turkey

the Maxim is disabled, as I understand

this usually involves cutting up the barrel near the breech and welding in a blocking pin
so you can still insert a shell, but can't fire it
or maybe it's different today

[fastolfrus]

Oddly enough we spotted a Thompson SMG in a charity shop a couple of months ago (Animal Welfare shop in Tywyn).
Our first thought was "who donated an SMG to the Animal Welfare ?".

Our next thought was "where could we find that much cash". Luckily it was out of our budget that weekend.

[huevans]

I am thinking of buying it, the ultimate in home defence. No seriously my wife and I considered buying it, she is very taken with it, and thought it would look really cool in our dining room. Sadly we just don't have the room. First time since moving here I have wished for a bigger house.

Don't worry. Once you buy the Maxim, it will be child's play to annex your neighbour's house and expand down the street, house by house.

[Trooper]

Well I have not entirely given up hope, its still in the shop and Christmas is coming soon, so who knows. As for deactivation, a good point I don't know how it has been done, being a M1910 weapon, it will be 100 years old next year and then could be sold in working order. I wonder if a version  of an M1910 made in 1944 counts though? I am now on visiting terms with it, going armed with a tape measure next time ha ha.

I sort of understand former user's creepy feeling, but this has never been fired in anger. I worked closely with firearms for my 31 years career so I just regard them as tools for a job. I get quite a buzz handling historic weapons though, I find it gives one a connection to the past, especially with more antique pieces, wondering where they have been and so on. My Enfield has an intriguing five notches carved into the stock which is a bit weird.   

[Galman]

Superb find, just very rare you would stumble upon something like this.  In the States you would need a class 3 license to house a working automatic machine gun, if disabled, then just the room in your house and your wallet. 
I think my Mrs would go for it, she just got finished getting her license to carry a concealed handgun and just bought herself a Glock 17 9mm....remind me not to make her angry 

[Calimero]

Why would someone’s want to carry a concealed handgun? I don’t get it… 

[former user]

never mind Your weapon enthusiasm 
this is a very personal thing - not necessarily to be understood
the potential is enough for me

some Years ago, I gave away my fully functional flintlock pistol
one slight motion with Your index and a life is gone....

the strange thing is that I am wargaming, so models, movies, books are OK, since fictional

[bc99]

Why would someone’s want to carry a concealed handgun? I don’t get it… 

Right to bear arms and all that...

Great find, wow what an interesting picture, never seen one in such pristine condition.

Thanks for the photo.

[Bako]

Why would someone’s want to carry a concealed handgun? I don’t get it… 

Those Americans and their security, don't you remember?

...they had been waiting in magazines for 35 years by then.

Prolly just my lack of connecting the dots in chrono, but surely you don't mean they had their ammunition cartridges in them for that long, and having been stored as such in the first place?

[former user]

but surely you don't mean they had their ammunition cartridges in them for that long, and having been stored as such in the first place?

Storage generally involves oiled and wrapped in oiled paper or cloth, of course without ammo!
Weapons are never stored with ammo in peace time, for security.

As to carrying arms - I am certainly not a fan of that idea, but one shouldkeep in mind the circumstances.
In certain areas of the world, I fully understand that people have the desire to protect themselves. Certainly carrying arms is always subject to escalation, but what do You do if You already are in an escalated envirinment?

[starkadder]

Last week on Sydney radio, the discussion was on strange stuff found at the back of the cupboard.

One bloke rang up to explain that he'd been in Vietnam with the Australian Army in the late 60's.

They were given some ration packs and sent on patrol. They ate them in the dark that night, unheated, and buried the tins etc on the following morning when he could look at the tins.

Ration packs are dated at time of manufacture. It was 1917.

[former user]

hardly surprising

remember the crimean war

[Bossco101]

During his National Service in the early 50's my Dad was out on the ranges in Germany in his tank. They had been issued with compo ration packs too, dated 1942!

By all accounts they were just about edible. Seems the British army doesn't like throwing stuff away either.