Dieselpunk + Steampunk Culture
Greetings all, folks online know me as Redfezwriter, but the rest of the world calls me Kev. A Boston lad, writer, movie lover, voracious reader of all things historical (especially World War II,…Continue
Started this discussion. Last reply by Jake Holman Jr. Oct 29, 2009.
I guess this is an informal 411 on Jake Holman (aka Kev from Boston.) I am an unabashed lover of history (three history tomes for every non-fiction book.) Plop down a book on the Middle East and I will devour it. Have an interesting hardcover on an obscure facet of the Abrahamic faiths, I will read it in a night. And dare drop a book on World War II at my feet I will read it so thoroughly I will leave the pages smoking from my frenzied consumption.
It's been said I am one part Steve McQueen from Sand Pebbles and another part Lee Marvin from the Dirty Dozen. Passionate Red Sox fan, tireless defender of the Bay State and a man that's never seen a cup of coffee or pint of beer that he didn't love.
Oh, and, I am actually a veteran newspaper journalist (reformed,) freelance writer and finder of a newly rekindled love for the art of pulpy action stories (think Robert E. Howard meets Alan Moore.)
~ I am either a writer with drinking problems or a drinker with writing problems~
Brendan Behan
Posted on May 23, 2012 at 2:00pm 0 Comments 1 Favorite
Magazines come in two basic types, single or double stack, meaning rounds are stacked in a single row or slightly staggered, doubling capacity and creating wider magazine. This is model has been standared for pistols, submachine guns and rifles for 70+ years, with the occasional "stick magazine" aberration.
In…
Continue Posted on May 16, 2012 at 2:00pm 0 Comments 1 Favorite
Despite have a long distinguished firearms heritage, Italian smallarms makers during World War II seemed to have floundered in attempts to make the next great advance in weapons designs. They came close quite often, but inevitably fell short when finding that right next generation weapon. And while other weapons makers…
Posted on May 9, 2012 at 2:00pm 0 Comments 1 Favorite
If you're a gun geek like me, something small, the littlest thing about a weapon can excite you. Sometimes its the method of operation, other times its the inventive way they solve weight or size issues.
For me the Argentinian Halcon M-1943 has a great stock. Yes, you heard me right, this pretty mundane SMG has…
Continue Posted on May 2, 2012 at 2:00pm 1 Comment 1 Favorite
Since starting Weapons of War I've profiled a number of World War II anti-tank or anti-material rifles, usually beasts of weight, size and power. Not truly anti-tank calibers by the late war, more effective against soft-skinned vehicles or lightly,…
© 2012 Created by Tome Wilson.
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A fellow member, Tome Wilson, suggested you may be of help in my quest for information on the Colt Vickers 11 mm aircraft machine gun, model 1918. There is precious little online that relates to its air use. What I can find is more about the .303 or the ground-use application or converting the 11 mm for ground-use.
I'm in Canada and recently acquired a deactivated Colt Vickers and it's a little out of my league as I collect flintlock and cap and ball pistols. I don't even know what half the parts are, who used this gun and on what planes. About now you may be wondering why I bought this gun...well it's a Colt, it has history, it may have come off of a WW1 fighter plane like a Sopwith Camel or a Spad XIII, the price was right and you can't help but admire the enginerring that went into it.
Every site I visit gives me a snippet of information but the next one contradicts the previous findings. Many are well meaining but unsuppored opinions. Do you know where I can find schematics to identify the parts? Are the brass gears (on the left side) part of the Constantinesco sychronizing gear? Who used the gun? I know the RAF used the Vickers .303 and I've learned the 11 mm was needed for incenduary reasons but there is no refernce to them using the Colt to meet the 11 mm need. The French used the 11 mm but here again I can find no direct evidence that they used the Colt Vickers 11 mm. The only info I can find about use by the U.S. concerns a maverick balloon buster ace who had his ground crew mount one on his plane but it seemed like an exception.
I shouldn't have gone into all this detail and I guess it's to demonstrate the everending list of dead ends I've encountered for two weeks. I'm looking for any information about this gun as well as the history as it directly relates to its use as an air weapon.
Thanks, Doug
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