A little advice please.

Hey there guys,
I have most of my ww2 gi kit done so I might be joining the group for some events next year that and I am 17 on Friday.
Anyway the gear i still need to collect is, M1 helmet, garand belt Oh and I forgot to mention the blanket and that's about it! well for my infantry kit that is.
Anyway I need help sourcing these items.

Hi Ben, have you tried ebay for the items you're after? There is a militaria show at Newark showground this weekend www.northernmilitaryexpo.co.uk. There may be some stuff there, but it's the first time it's been run, so I can't say how good it will be, also given the weather I don't know if you could make it or how many traders will actually turn up. Have you ever tried ebay.com ? I'm sure you could find some of what you're after on there, but be aware there may be import taxes (VAT) if anything you buy gets stopped at customs, and don't forget Parcel Farce also take a slice for collecting it.
There is also Stoneleigh Militaria Fair at the end of January, you may find some of the stuff you're after there. Have you looked at Josh Murry in the States for helmets?
www.jmurrayinc1944.com

Cheers,
Chris.

hi giben, where in s/yorks are you? iam n/derbyshire.

riz

He there,
I am form south yorks,
I Have heard of Jmurrays for years now and i Just think that they are a little too pricey. I don't mind refurbishing one for myself its just finding the shell thats the problem.

lol. yea i got the south yorks bit, but which town? lol. iam in bolsover,

riz

Giben wrote:He there,
I am form south yorks,
I Have heard of Jmurrays for years now and i Just think that they are a little too pricey. I don't mind refurbishing one for myself its just finding the shell thats the problem.

The thing is yes J Murry are expensive but you can't go wrong. The post war or dutch pots simply are the wrong shape. It's better in this hobby to spend a little more and get it right first time rather than waste your money on tat and have to buy the product anyway.

I think all on here are guilty of buying crap and haveing to spend a whole lot more a couple of months later! When I first started I went mad at SOF and I learnt!

Oh sorry i am from Doncaster lol.

Hi

I bought an M1 pot few months ago from AMS Militaria in Belgium. I believe its a WWII (it is sold as WWII) : it's front seamed, swiwel bales late type and has the shape of a WWII pot. It has remains of paint and cork, no rust but no straps. Paid 45 € euros for it (without shipping). Here's the post I wrote for it.

Pat wrote:I bought my M1 Helmet from AMS Militaria for a reasonable price (for France ! ). It needs a bit of restoration : paint and straps. Any advice to give me ?
Here are the miniatures (address below is for bigger size).



https://servimg.com/view/12394265/34



https://i.servimg.com/u/f39/12/39/42/65/spm_a024.jpg

I also got some WWII dated leggings in good shape and a WWII canteen cup and cover : the cover is 1942 dated (G & R Co.), the cup is 1944 dated (M. A. Co.) and the canteen is 1943 from Swanson.

Cheers,

Pat

samharris45 wrote:

Giben wrote:He there,
I am form south yorks,
I Have heard of Jmurrays for years now and i Just think that they are a little too pricey. I don't mind refurbishing one for myself its just finding the shell thats the problem.

The thing is yes J Murry are expensive but you can't go wrong. The post war or dutch pots simply are the wrong shape. It's better in this hobby to spend a little more and get it right first time rather than waste your money on tat and have to buy the product anyway.

I think all on here are guilty of buying crap and haveing to spend a whole lot more a couple of months later! When I first started I went mad at SOF and I learnt!

Totally agree with Sam there! You can't beat J Murray for pots. I too initially went down the route of the cheap belgian repro until i decided to go for a J Murray on seeing Sam's (i think it was yours mate?).

We all do it but from experience i would echo Sam's advice and say if you can, wait, be patient, save and go for the best.. it works out cheaper in the long term!

Same here. Got both M1 and the M1C for Murrays, and they are the dogs danglies!

Cheap original M1 front seam pots do come up on ebay.com so keep a look out- shippping works out at out $40.

If you do eventually come along to a GI44-45 event I have 14 M1 pots, so I'm sure there will be one I can lend you. As Dan says dont rush and just keep looking.

there is a great militaria fair at stoneleigh in the new year, janruary i think,get yerself down to me in bolsover and go with me. most of our guys will be there. loads of good gear, save all your christmas cash and go nuts.

riz

Thanks guys I looked on the jmurray site again earlier and I just thought wow there like new.
I might be at stonleigh thanks for the offer riz!
Does anyone reccomend belgian liners? In the past my research has fough them to be a good alternative and I even think that some of them have the little eyelet for collar pins on the front.

MANY Thanks!

We used Belgian M1 shells for a specific impression. I've seen the Belgian ww2 style liners- not bad.

I wopuld still go for ww2 liners however. The wrong liner can spoil things

Belgian liners won't fit in US-made shells. If you're going to go for a helmet, get a fixed bale. Nothing ruins an impression more than swivel bale lid. Fair enough, you can get away with it VERY late war (and there's one shot of one in use in Normandy), but on the whole FB is the way to go.

Cheers,
Ben.

Happy Birthday Ben, Have a good un and I hope you get loads of green stuff mate

Cheers,
Chris.

All good advice. Ben, you have to come on an event with the group in the New Year, your attention to detail and efforts at creating the right impression indicate to me at least you have the right stuff.

Thanks Chris, Thanks for the kind words murph I have been wondering whether or not i might fit in because of my age but i can see that it really is the knowledge that counts.

Ben, i think we discused getting the fixed bails from somwhere to attach to a later pot to make it fixed bail, can you refresh my memory on this, ive 2 pots one is a Vietnam era M1 but has 4 bullet dents in it, fine for campaign, but not good for op nep, ore pre jump, my other is of unknown origin, so would need to know if its ok, then id look at the best one to go fixed bail.

Giben wrote:Thanks Chris, Thanks for the kind words murph I have been wondering whether or not i might fit in because of my age but i can see that it really is the knowledge that counts.

dont worry about your young age, were all kids in this group, we dont take ourselves too seriously and enjoy a giggle, not only will you learn about ww2 and kit, there are specialists in the group like sam who will teach you how to light fires with the most basic of stuff, ben, a computer specialist can teach you how to get, and then remove hard-core pornography from your computer, chris who can forge most documents and small items and pass them off as genuine .mr costino can teach you how to dance, GI style.want a live firing garand see, erm scratch that one. mark, fresh from university will teach you how to survive eating nothing but baked beans and lager and how you spend all your uni grant on ww2 kit without getting caught.tex will show you it is possible to stay awake 36 hours by drinking a whole bottle of jack danniels and ten pints of lager.you will learn all about soft furnishings and how to spot a cheap DFS dinning room table at 50 yards.
so basicly if your a little bit daft and love dressing up in green,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

riz

Giben wrote:Thanks Chris, Thanks for the kind words murph I have been wondering whether or not i might fit in because of my age but i can see that it really is the knowledge that counts.

Age is nothing mate. I mean look at what Rizla just put........... His signature on the WW2 forum is 'an adult teenager' what does that tell you................

Knowlege does count for a great deal and unfortunatly that's where allot of new re-enactors fall when they get the new issue of the SOF catalog!

All you need to do is look at original pics of the unit and time period and copy what they are wearing simples!!!

rizla wrote:

Giben wrote:Thanks Chris, Thanks for the kind words murph I have been wondering whether or not i might fit in because of my age but i can see that it really is the knowledge that counts.

dont worry about your young age, were all kids in this group, we dont take ourselves too seriously and enjoy a giggle, not only will you learn about ww2 and kit, there are specialists in the group like sam who will teach you how to light fires with the most basic of stuff, ben, a computer specialist can teach you how to get, and then remove hard-core pornography from your computer, chris who can forge most documents and small items and pass them off as genuine .mr costino can teach you how to dance, GI style.want a live firing garand see, erm scratch that one. mark, fresh from university will teach you how to survive eating nothing but baked beans and lager and how you spend all your uni grant on ww2 kit without getting caught.tex will show you it is possible to stay awake 36 hours by drinking a whole bottle of jack danniels and ten pints of lager.you will learn all about soft furnishings and how to spot a cheap DFS dinning room table at 50 yards.
so basicly if your a little bit daft and love dressing up in green,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

riz

Lol! Maybe we should put this on the website as our mission statement and why people should join us!!

Nice one Riz! As everyone has said Ben the best thing to do is consider coming on an event. It must be a little daunting for you but you come across as being a 'mature' kind of person and by that I mean you are interested in finding out about the real GI's and not just looking to tote and M1 around etc. Bear in mind your age profile is far more accurate than most of us on here already.