Picture of the day

AdrianM said:
What's with the skull and crossbones poster thingy? My co-worker says the writing says "sharpshooter". Was this a propaganda photo?

Adrian
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It does say sharpshooter. Maybe a notice to other German troops to leave him alone and let him get on with it. a "do not disturb" sign?
 
fugawi said:
Plus I would add that it would make more sense to use a rifle (Finnish rifles based on the Mosin Nagant M91) that used 7.62mmx54R instead of 6.5x55mm Swedish as ammunition resupply would be much simplified.

In what I've read even the m/96 rifles left for the Finns by returning Swedish volunteers were used in rear areas and by support troops. These are most likely ammunition/familiarity/maintenance/repair issues that you don't want in an active combat area.
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Good point. In Finland, at that time, ammunition was pretty scarce, especially during the Winter War. With the Soviets being a major supplier, having a rifle with an exotic calibre would have been potentially suicidal.
 
Cocked and Locked, I can assure you my STEN is quite reliable. The only problem I have ever had with it was some reloads that didn't shove the bolt back far enough to engage the sear. Interesting when half the magazine fired off AFTER I released the trigger:eek:

Now the MkIII did have problems since they took the simplification a bit too far. It was discontinued while the war was still going on.
 
Suomi said:
Good point. In Finland, at that time, ammunition was pretty scarce, especially during the Winter War. With the Soviets being a major supplier, having a rifle with an exotic calibre would have been potentially suicidal.
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Finns would probably resupply from the dead Soviets soldiers they shot as well as their own supply chain.

Isn't there something about this with the 'D' or other letter markings on some Finn receivers. Can't quite remember the significance.
 
Just to add that the Finns used other non standard caliber rifles to arm support and rear area troops: Italian 7.35 mm fucile modello 38 "Terni' and even a few Japanese rifles.

According to the Jaeger Platoon web site the Swedish m/96 was mainly issued to Finnish troops located to northern Finland and the Kotka coastal sector during the Winter War. More use in the Continuation War during the battles for the Hanko Peninsula and the Finnish Gulf leading to the Viipurinlahti Gulf battle in July 1944.
 
Good morning Gunnutz new day new picture :) I have another great picture from fellow gunnut gaff !

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Cheers
Joe
 
jwhc said:
Good morning Gunnutz new day new picture :) I have another great picture from fellow gunnut gaff !

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Cheers
Joe
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That is an interesting photo as it seems to show a Soviet PEM scope mounted on a Mauser. Germans did that quite a lot in 44 and 45.
 
fugawi said:
Finns would probably resupply from the dead Soviets soldiers they shot as well as their own supply chain.

Isn't there something about this with the 'D' or other letter markings on some Finn receivers. Can't quite remember the significance.
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The "D" stamp on Finn refurb/capture/acquired rifles indicates that the chamber was opened up to accept the D166 heavy ball cartridge.
 
fugawi said:
Finns would probably resupply from the dead Soviets soldiers they shot as well as their own supply chain.

Isn't there something about this with the 'D' or other letter markings on some Finn receivers. Can't quite remember the significance.
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Exactly. I should have been more specific by saying "dead Soviets" being the major supplier.

As you stated, the more exotic calibres would have been used away from the front lines. They used everything they had in their arsenals. Here is a quote from Wikipedia in regard to the Modellos:

Approximately 94,500 7.35 mm Modello 1938 rifles were shipped to Finland, where they were known as Terni carbines.[5] They were primarily used by security and line-of-communications troops during the Winter War of 1939–1940, though some frontline troops were issued the weapon.[5] According to reports, the Finns disliked the rifle.[5] With its non-standard 7.35 mm caliber, it was problematic to keep frontline troops supplied with ammunition, and its non-adjustable rear sight (fixed for 300 m) made it ill-suited for use in precision shooting at the varied ranges encountered by Finnish soldiers during the conflict.[5] Soldiers also complained that the ammunition demonstrated excessive bullet dispersion on the target.[5] Whenever possible, Finnish soldiers discarded the weapon in favor of rifles acquired on the battlefield,[5] including standard models of captured Soviet-made Mosin–Nagant rifles. The latter at least had the advantage of using commonly available 7.62×54mmR ammunition. By the outbreak of the Continuation War, Finnish Army headquarters had got the message. The remaining Mod. 1938 7.35 mm rifles were issued to the Finnish Navy, as well as anti-aircraft, coastal defense, and other second-line (home front) troops.[5]
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ht tp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcano
 
jwhc said:
Good morning fellow Gunnutz new day new picture ! Another great picture from fellow gunnut gaff :)

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Cheers
Joe
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What's the deal here? Just a pile of leftover guns? Are they picking through them or running over them to destroy them with the tracked vehicle?
 
Well its a collection point of some sort. Germans look pretty relaxed so I'm thinking its early war not later. Helmet in the pile might be French. Hard to tell as the photo is so small. Possibly a Vickers Light Dragon MkII Utility Tractor? Apparently it was used by the BEF in France.

After some searching I found the photo - it shows a Vickers Utility Tractor used by the Belgium Army. Rifles and helmet are Belgian.
 
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Here's a larger pic to show more detail. German collection point. From Wikipedia - Battle of Belgium:

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Plus here's one of the Vickers Light Dragon MK II Artillery Tractor pulling a 18 pdr:

KbBI5.jpg
 
Replacing a u-joint? hahaha

I hope it was a bigger job than that...maybe the yoke got messed up or he's working on the t-case.

I liked my old jeep. Lifted high enough that you could lay under it and I actually needed to raise my body on a creeper to reach the undercarriage!
 
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