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how to figure out an NSN?

peecook

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i have a m109a3 and need to order a new window frame. i took 2 different windows off and searched for a part number, search SS, and searched yahoo with no luck. I also looked in my two technical manuals, no dice. Can anyone explain how to figure out a number like this or do I call one of the surplus guys and ask for one?

Also would be hapy to get one from someone if they have one lying around. :lol:
 

Recovry4x4

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Are you looking for one from the van body or a side window frame of windshiled frame? The 20P or 34P will list part numbers and in the back of the same manual is a cross for NSNs. This is from the 361-20P for the van windows
 

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The picture from above is out of the technical manual. "Straight" technical manuals (TM) are the "how-to" repair manuals. The manuals end in -10 (user manual), -20(unit level repair), -30 (general support repair--it's a higher level) and -40 (depot level repair). Some manuals cover multiple levels so you can do -34 or -14 which are the more common of the multi-level manuals. Maintenance is now 2 level maintenance meaning it is either fixed in the unit or sent to a higher level for repair. Not sure yet how this will affect the numbering of future TM's.

If the TM has a "P" after the -20, -30, or -40 (-20P, -30P, or -40P) it is a parts manual and provides a wealth of information on ordering parts. How to use parts manuals can be confusing since parts covered in the 20P are not always listed in the 30P or 40P and vice versa. Using the example above lets say you want the item #19 in the diagram. Some of the newer manuals (such as the HMMWV manuals) have the NSN's and other information on the page after the picture. Older manuals have an information page immediately following the picture but it won't have the NSN. In older manuals you must got to the back of the -20P or -30P or -40P to find the NSN. The listing is usually in 3 forms in the back of the manual: by NSN, by figure and item, and by part number. I tend to use the figure and item as the easiest. Using the picture above you would go to the back of the -20P shown and find the section in "figure" sequence. Then find the figure number for the above which is figure 187 (figure number is at bottom center of page. Then find item #9. The NSN will be llisted next to the item number.

You can then do a google search for the NSN to see what you find or you can try the part number which is also listed in the parts manuals. Some databases can cross reference civilian manufacturing numbers to the NSN and vice versa. Get the civilian number, and in some cases you can order the part direct from the manufacturer.

Hope that helps.
 

Sarge

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WOW! Flashback!!!!
When I saw the title of this thread I immediately thought about an issue of PS magazine that I read 30 years ago.
So then I open the thread and Cranetruck (Bjorn) has posted a picture that has been in my noggin all these years.
I was forced to use the federal supply system for 25 years, some may say that I fought against it. Many times I lost, a few times I won. One incredible loss was in the DMZ between Saudi Arabia and Iraq. We had used up our yearly issue of 100,000 rounds of 7.62 ammo in one month. So now our M60's were about to fall silent. The supply wienies refused to give us more ammo until our next fiscal year began. (1 October) I even shouted on the SATCOM at a full-bull supply type at the pentagon. All I got was a refusal and an ass-chewing. "We have met the enemy and he is us." Someone here will point out the cartoon character who said that. So what does a good Senior NCO do? Takes a convoy down south and steals 200,000 rounds from another unit? Who me? I'll deny that until my deathbed.
Boy, I sure go off on a tangent easily. I'm supposed to be talking about FSN's. Or NSN's, whichever you choose.
The first four numbers are easy, i.e. 2320-
The first four are the FSC (Federal Stock Class) 2320 means something like "Vehicle, Wheeled, Motorized"
You can look up all of the FSC codes on-line, or you can ask me, I have them all. (Not memorized, are you kidding?)
The next two number are interesting, as the PS page points out, prior to 30 Sep 1974, the 5th and 6th NSN numbers did not even exist. So listen, young Grasshopper, you are about to learn something. If those two digits are absent from the part you are holding in your hot little hands, that part was actually MANUFACTURED prior to 30 Sep 1974. If those two digits are 00, then your part was manufactured after 30 Sep 1974, BUT, it was an item that the military had in the federal supply system prior to 30 Sep 1974.
You will find many items manufactured today that still have a 00 in those two positions. Good examples are nuts, bolts and even some parts like air filters and tons of M35A2 stuff.
If those two digits are 01, then your item entered the federal supply system after 30 Sep 1974. Logically then, it was also manufactured after Sep 1974. You may argue this point, especially if you think that your 01 marked item was in the federal system before Oct 1974, but you would be wrong. It could be extremely similar to a 00 marked item, however something has changed, a minor specification, even something as simple as the rockwell hardening of a bolt qualifies for a new FSN.
Several months ago I ordered a lovely set of data plates for my 1973 Gama Goat. One of them is not going on the Goat. It is the one that shows the FSN of the Goat as 2320-00- whatever. Why not? I'm not a bolt Nazi, but it bothers me because my 1973 Goat would not have a 00 or a 01 in the FSN. Simply because the Goat was made before Sep 1974.
Whew! Almost finished!
What if the part in your hands has a number other than 00 or 01? It's foreign.
I collect some German vehicles used by the US military. The FSN 5th and 6th digits are 12.
That goes for the entire vehicle, 2320-12-164-1613, and for all of it's component parts. The Germans use exactly the same numbering (NSN) system that we do.
Anybody wonder why 30 Sep 1974 was the changeover date?
Well, 1 October 1974 was the first day of the new fiscal year, a big deal in the military. The day when major changes can be introduced.
That's it, I'm done , I'll shut up now.
-Sarge
P.S. Almost forgot, what are the last seven numbers? Easy. That is the part number.
 

Bozor1000

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I work supply for the Department of Veterans Affairs and I was also a Supply guy in the Navy. The first four numbers are the FSC code. The last nine numbers are the NIIN (National Item Identification Numbers.) The total numbers for a NSN is always 13. 13 digits no more no less. 2320 is the FSC code for vehicles. 00 and 01 are American made components. Those are the 5th and 6th numbers.
 
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