1919 concern.

[pitfighter]

An estate buy, deceased owner -

Looking through the usual worthless detritus of a human life - objects once held sacred and dear - looked after for years only to be tossed, items holding sentimental value to only the recently passed, family photos, broken childrens' toys, I noticed a familiar if dusty looking barrel in the shadows.

"Yes, one of dad's old things..."

A little excitement, as this was revealed...



Then a little concern as I read the side plate...



I opened the top cover and recognized the Israeli 7.62mm internals, replacing what the side-plate said should have been there - I was still a little worried.

I examined further - I did cycle the action and determined it was semi-auto, but what a strange engraving to have - great fun if you get pulled over.

I looked underneath the action, and finally pretty well hidden...



Then closer...



A sigh of relief and a trip to my favorite gun store - and it's now mine.

I thought I would post this here, as it's a copy of a 1919A4 which in it's original state is a curio and relic - this is not a C&R of course, as it's a modern rifle by way of the modern receiver parts - not to mention the new internals.

But, should anyone run across one and be concerned, I guess this was something Allied did to make the guns more appealing to re-enactors and collectors.

Unfortunately we live in an era of misinformation and fear, so I thought I'd just let people know that there are perfectly legal semi-autos out there, marked up as machine guns with the legal semi auto engraving quite well hidden.

Pit.

[joefrank64k]

Nice pickup, PF! It sure looks clean.

[pitfighter]

Thank you, it looks unfired - (it will not remain that way, lol)
The last 1919A4 I had worked a lot.

Congratulations on your pick-up! I look forward to pics, Joe!
(You will have to get a nice late war Bayonet to go with it.)

[GMG]

A lot of builders want period correct engraving on the RH side plate. And add the "semi" elsewhere.

[Grendl]

You should have worked for J Peterman. Great writing.

[pitfighter]

A lot of builders want period correct engraving on the RH side plate. And add the "semi" elsewhere.

Yes - I know that now

[Bobby Ricigliano]

You Sir seem to be cornering the market on awesome stuff. A beltfed semi auto 1919 or MG42 have been earmarked as my 'Retiring / Leaving California For Good' gift to self. Only 11 years away

[stevie]

My AA was the same.... Dixson plates also marked on the inner side.

[pitfighter]

There is this website "allouttabubblegum" that reviews action movies (mainly low budget ones) - they do a kill count compilation, beer-game for the more violent ones - it's pretty silly -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g18qz0mhJHY

The 1919A4 comes in at 1:06 -

The full auto was 30.06 rented from the now defunct Gibbons, in Burbank - all the close ups are my semi-auto 1919a4 in .308 (sad to say it actually looks pretty lame all these years later.)

Bill Guiette blank adaptor, Dean Wilkerson did the conversion - had to weld/braze the front spacers in place, so it cannot run live any more - I've wanted one that I could take to the range for a while.

Pit.

[smle-man]

I know Dean! Great guy and great gunsmith.

I worked at a gunshop in Pittsburgh as a young man. One day the manager got a call from a widow to view the firearms of her deceased husband for buying for the shop. Amidst the usual Pennsylvania deer and pheasant hunter firearms was a 1919A6. The widow said that it was too heavy for her to pick up which is why she called him to come to the house. Knowing what was the right thing to do and fearing a sting, gave the widow the phone number to the local PD and advised her that the big heavy gun with feet needed to be turned in.

Wonder how many other unregistered war souvenirs are still out there?

Nice score on the AA A4. I had a choice of an Allied Armaments or Ohio Rapid Fire and I didn't choose wisely. I picked the ORF.

[hermosabeach]

Israeli parts so it was reworked to .308????

[pitfighter]

Israeli parts so it was reworked to .308????

The Israeli army used the 1919 in 7.62mm - not quite the same as .308
But yes, as my original post said - lost in the pictures, lol - this one is 7.62mm.

*Judging by the Hebrew markings and lot numbers (not serial numbers) on all the parts - I actually think it was an Israeli 1919A4 kit with AA engraved side-plates - with fictional Saginaw heritage.
I do not know if the Israeli's manufactured from scratch or remanufactured their guns - I will look into it - but these parts are all Hebrew arsenal marked.

[joefrank64k]

1919 concern.

The Israeli army used the 1919 in 7.62mm - not quite the same as .308
But yes, as my original post said - lost in the pictures, lol - this one is 7.62mm.

*Judging by the Hebrew markings and lot numbers (not serial numbers) on all the parts - I actually think it was an Israeli 1919A4 kit with AA engraved side-plates - with fictional Saginaw heritage.
I do not know if the Israeli's manufactured from scratch or remanufactured their guns - I will look into it - but these parts are all Hebrew arsenal marked.

My 1919a4 is built from an Israeli parts kit, and IIRC the 1919's were surplused to Israel by the US, and converted to 7.62 by them. They were decommissioned by the Israelis and then sent back here.

Or so the story went!

Mine clearly is SA!

[Baboosh]

Nice pickup. Mine says the same thing. I recently converted it to 7.62x54r

[pitfighter]

Yes - a quick over-view on the good old internet determines, Israel took on Surplus US kits and remanufactured them to 7.62mm NATO - arsenal marking parts and remanufacturing many small parts.

Here's a question -
M60 links, or Israeli 1919A4 links?

(They are quite different, the M60 links centering with a rim catch, the Israeli's resting towards the front of the cartridge with a smaller diameter hole for the neck, ALA the 30.06 1919 or Maxim - except they come apart upon ejection.)

Or will either work?