Tank salvage yard in Iraq.

[Lonesome715]

I will hopefully be out there today pulling the brakes off that truck. While I am there I will get some information off that weapon. I am getting excited about this. I told my wife I might be sending an AA gun home and her reaction was funny. By the way, I have my own forklift and operator, so this should be some what easy.

 

[EZFEED]

Cool deal, the sucker would look good in your front yard I bet....I should know...I have a 20mm in mine!

Get the info and send some detailed pics when you can, after that I will get the paperwork squared for you.

 

[Lonesome715]

Well, I had an eventful morning. Pictured below are the tools they allowed me to sign out. Giving me a set of tools like this is like putting a priest in charge of a day care. The brakes I wanted to get are a lot harder to get off then I thought. I will have to go back and pull the whole rear end then take it some where I can work on it over time. My forklift broke while moving another vehicle out of the way. So I had the operator take it to the shop. We might try again tomorrow morning. But, at least it was not a total waste. I did get the Hydroboost pulled off and I took it to DS Maintenance and cleaned it up. That will be in my baggage when I go home on R&R. Photographs of the gun I want are soon to follow.

 

[EZFEED]

Fantastic score bud!!!!

 

[Lonesome715]

I'll post some photographs of the gun I wish I could get and the one I am going to try for after lunch. I am off to the chow hall now.

 

[EZFEED]

Stay away from the tuna and noodles!!!!! LOL!

Nice set of tools by the way!

 

[Lonesome715]

Man I like the tuna and noddles.

Here is the gun I think I will try for. The other one is the one I would like to get. It would be pretty cool to tow it around to shows. The personel carrier is somehting I wish I could get home in a few boxes.

 

[EZFEED]

Very nice, yeah the ZPU-4 would be the best but hmmmm might be a little difficult to box that up LOL! Next time you go back, could you check the right side of the reciever right there by the ammo box cradle and see what the manufacture date and manufacturer is.

 

[EZFEED]

YO, I see the clamps are open, did you happen to nab that KMT from that ZPU-1?

 

[Lonesome715]

Um, what is a KMT?

 

[EZFEED]

The KMT is the 14.5mm machinegun that is in that towable mount!
I saw the fore and mid clamps open and figured you'd taken the gun from the setup.

 

[Lonesome715]

Now that I know that I think I will.

 

[EZFEED]

It'd be a good idea if you could, just divorce it out of there an then start gutting it. Pull the backplate off and dump the internals and save them somewhere. Next take the barrel out of the shroud and then take the shroud loose from the reciever. The booster on the muzzle (cone) will just unscrew off.

 

[EZFEED]

I need to know what the manufacture is too, it can be a Degtyarev manufacture, a Cugir (which is polish), etc. Lots of other licensed copies out there and I need to know who exactly and the serial number/manufacture code.

Heres a cutaway of the KMT so you can see how it strips.

 

[Lonesome715]

I think I will have to pull it to get that information. I could not locate any data plates anywhere.

 

[kcimb]

Sweet mercy this thread cannot get any better. Lonesome, if you don't mind me asking, who do you work for? Are they hiring?

 

[Lonesome715]

Um, I cannot get into that on a public forum. I do work for a private company, but what I do is sensitive in nature. I'll shoot you a PM in a little while.

 

[Lonesome715]

I am going to try and make another trip out there today. I will take some water with me to wash away the dirt and see if I can locate the information you need.

 

[EZFEED]

Sounds like a plan!

Normally it will be on the link ejection side (chute) stamped somewhere on there. If not there it'll probably be on the topcover or backplate. There are no dataplates on these types of weapons, just stampings.

If you think you can break down the mount then you could possibly start shipping that. I seem to recall that most of it is riveted together so you might have to take an angle grinder to get the big parts apart. Maybe not however....different manufacturers assemble using different methods.

Be damn sure you have the bolt fully forward and the striker popped when you attempt to remove the backplate. If you dont you will have a fairly large coil spring in tension and it will shove the backplate back at you and damage the retainer in the process. You'll know if it is, it will be hard as *$^% to take off.

 

[Lonesome715]

Well no luck getting out there today. I actually had to work all day.