Well, my latest obsession is the German GEW 88 rifle. I don't know why but somehow I've ended up with 9 of them. Is that bad?? Anyway, they were made by the Imperial German Army from 1890 to 1895. A number of government arsenals manufactured them: Spandau, Amberg, Danzig, and Erfurt. Germany also contracted with a commercial company "Loewe Berlin" to produce them. The Austrian arsenal Steyr was allowed to produce them as part of a settlement with the Germans over a patent infringement on their "Mannlicher" magazine design. I've restored six now. The other three are coming along good so far and are in various stages of restoration. Don't know why I need so many but I really enjoy working on these things. After all, they are a piece of history and worthy of preserving. They were used by Germany in WWI and after becoming obsolete were sold to countries like Turkey, China and Ecuador. They ended up being replace by the amazing Mauser 98 rifle of WWII fame.

When I get a chance I'll post some pictures of them before restoration and after. It will make you cry to see the condition they were in.

I'm so excited!!! My wife bought us a cool new camera. She got a Nikon D90. It's awesome. We've only had it since yesterday and between us we've taken almost 400 pictures. Thanks for our new toy Babe!

My Mosin Nagant Rifles

Hi Gang. One of the things I wanted to do with my blog is brag a little about my toys. I thought that I'd get started with my Russian Mosin Nagant rifle collection.

I really like my M91. It was made in 1916 by Czarist Russia. I'll never know for sure but it could have been used during the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution which resulted in the overthrow of Czar Nichollas II and the rise of communism.

I also have a nice M91/30 which was made by Communist Russia in 1941. There's even a "Hammer and Cycle" stamped on the receiver! This M91/30 is basically a modified version of the M91 which was simplified for ease of construction.

The shorter of the bunch is my M44. This one was made in Hungary in 1953 and is a copy of the Russian M44. Basically it's a shortened version of the M91/30 with a side folding bayonet. It was created in response to the need for a shorter rifle for the troops.

Finally, there is my M39. I love this rifle. This rifle was made in Finland using rifles they captured during from Russia when Finland declared independance in 1917. Guess they decided to make a break for it while Russina was in the middle of a revolution. Anyway, they took a bunch of old M91 rifles, rebuilt and improved them. The one I have still has the crest of Czar Nichollas which was partially removed by Finland.

M91 (Top) M44 (2nd) M91/30 (3rd) M39 (Bottom)

Well, I guess that's enough for tonight. I've got to work tomorrow and it's getting late. I'll blog again soon about more of my toys in the next few days.

Later Gang!

I want to be on your blog!!!!!!

Here Faith... Stop screaming you are on daddy's blog!!!!

Something Old and Something New.

Okay since this is my first blog I thought that I would start by showing a couple of my "toys", which range from very old to very new. I will be posting more pictures of my "toys" and discussing them in detail in the future. This will make my wife happy (wife here tired of hearing about the crazy things). Every man has to have his "toys".

Anyway I am totally obsessed with new projects my GEW-88 which I have like nine of. All are in various stages of restoration. So for tonight I am going to keep it short and start restoring. Pictures and discussion to come.

1st Blog and It's from the guest blogger

Okay so let me be the first to Welcome my husband to the wonderful world of blogging. This is going to be a great place for him to talk about his toys...

I have placed his first picture for him and it's one of him and his dad in Florida!!! I love seeing two of my favorite guys hanging out together. Frankie's daddy is the coolest!!!!!! I guess you could say that's where Frankie gets it...

Hi mom!!! I will be sending you the link to this blog as well!!!! His momma is going to be proud.