IMA-USA lafette.

[pitfighter]

Hi there,

I finally folded and acquired one of the Yugo refurbished WW2 "style" Lafette mounts from IMA-USA.
I was looking for one for a while and found some in Europe, but shipping was crazy.
This wonderful hobby is quite expensive, and I was really putting off buying a mount, but realized like everything they are just getting rarer and more expensive.

Has anyone else bought one - http://www.ima-usa.com/mg-42-lafette-tr ... nsion.html

How much work is required to give it a WW2 look - I spoke to Christian and he said some customers have found waffen marks, some have not, and there is no telling whether they are post war in entirety or refurbished German issue. I am cool with this, and can't afford a genuine WW2 one anyway.
He also added that he originally had about 75 and was now down to about five examples.
Listen I realize he's a salesman, but I quite enjoyed chatting with him.

Any one with experience in this model, out there - I am really looking forward to having a mount for this belt-fed baby, lol.

Photos to come - I did look at the RTG H&K mounts, but they just look way to modern, and my collection is pretty much only pre-1945.

Thanks in advance, guys,

Pit.

We shot 2800 rounds of blanks in this night-club over two days, how much fun is that for a living?

[pitfighter]

No one here own one?

[bbrown]

No one here own one?

I got a post-war Yugo one several years ago, also with the AA extension, but not from IMA. Mine has no WaA anywhere that I can find, and still has the original Yugo data plate. It's quite heavy, and makes for a very stable platform. I've never bothered stripping off the green Yugo paint because, well, that's part of its history.

[42rocker]

There needs to be a study done on these someday. I've been told by those that are bold that the one's that have the sight mount on them are German...
I have not bought any from IMA a few $ spent with them on other items but no lafette's.

I do have over 1/2 dozen mg42's lafette's in my collection. Guess that I need to sell some --- someday. Some with marks and some without. Some with sight mounts.

When you get yours take a few pics and we will see what we can help you with on German vs yugo. The top release lever can tell us a few things. Early German or late which could be either.
2,800 blank rounds in a night club.. WOW Washington would be upset at that...

Later 42rocker

[pitfighter]

You can bet I will photograph it, lol.

This is my first German mount, I have a nice tripod for the 1919.

BTW - IMA no longer include the AA extension.

Rocker - why sell anything? I try not to unless I really have no use for it, lol.

I will likely get it painted in WW2 color, the whole idea was to have something that looked vintage for movie use.
otherwise I would have bought the lighter weight HK style set up from RTG - but you're absolutely right, the Yugo certainly would have some history to it.

Looking for a Kubelwagen and then a Kubelwagen mount next, lol.

Pit.
Ref. The Nightclub; we had two separate spot checks, sheriff's, fire, etc., mostly looking to see what was going on - they did check my permits, the FX guys and the required permit from the city for using pyro/blanks, etc.

[42rocker]

ima just sent out a flyer that has a nice motorcycle on it for sale.

Why sell sometime. Well I only need so many and I bought them to fix up and pick the best from and then sell the rest to hopefully make some money.

AA extension -- try Dave at Sarco and see what he has.

Later 42rocker

[pitfighter]

Here is a brightly colored one - http://www.dandbmilitaria.com/Yugo-MG53-Lafette.html

I may pick one of these up next UK trip - a quick paint job and this could work in the background, on a production, too.
Oh, I'm sure the purists out there hate me - but think of it this way, would you want me scratching up a real WW2 tripod, getting mud, fake blood and scratches on it.

Pit.

[42rocker]

pitfighter
Nice link. Good Luck on your projects.

Later 42rocker

[pitfighter]

Beautifully packaged and shipped quick!
It is however not waffen marked, and the only mark I can find is a very non-German looking 47 - range plate and vin number are in Yugo of course - I believe this 100% a Yugo post war - but I am very happy, as it is perfect for film work and will look great in my little "Musee des'armees de pitfighter."

Will need to remove a lot of cosmo and repaint, which, I am afraid I may have to out source, I'm just not that excited about that job, lol.

Christian said at one time he had about 75 of these, and is now down to three or four.
I looked at Zib and all the other Euro vendors for one in my price range, before settling - shipping and export issues more than equaled this one out.

Anyway, not for hard core collectors, but great for novices like me.
I am very happy



Pit.

[42rocker]

Pit
A couple of pics of the top would be great.
Where are the markings?

http://www.bergflak.com/lafette/markings.html

Later 42rocker

[pitfighter]

I love that site - great stuff, thanks for posting it.
I have bought several MP40 tough to find items from bergflak - all good stuff.



Unfortunately according to that site, not only is mine not German - which I knew - but it should not be called a Lafette , well, I am afraid I will be calling mine a Lafette, lol.

I am ready for that N.Korean invasion -

Pit.

[Tommygunn]

A little off topic but are the 'D' rings on Yugo tripods much flatter in profile than the German ones? My Germans rings are more rounded, disregarding the straight section.

Tom.

[pitfighter]

Tommygunner:

Here are pics of the rings on this one, all four rings are identical.



Need some shoulder straps now - my, aren't those just cheap and cheerful to pick up - two leather straps for $600, what a bargain, lol.

Pit.

[JBaum]

Repro straps are available on ebay from AtTheFront (I think). $100, exact reproductions, and they're nice.

[Tommygunn]

Here's a photo of my German d-rings, as a comparison, and they are quite a bit different.




Also, I noticed that the back pad on the Yugo tripod appears to have stitching that goes all the way around the pad whereas mine does not have any stitch holes in the top and bottom middle sections of either the upper or lower pad panel or leather.

Could be useful to help id any suspect German tripods.

Tom.

[pitfighter]

Certainly some differences, thanks for posting - yours looks like a salty relic, with lots of history -
I hunted hard when I was in Naples, there was some interesting stuff on show at a few museums (the one in the tunnels beneath the city was interesting - a city that was taken and lost several times, a hard time for sure, but a rich history), but, certainly nothing for sale anywhere - or in any antique shop that I explored. I would be interested to know where one would by surplus in Italy.
France was easy, you just engaged in conversation with the store owners, they nearly all had WW2 items hidden away, laws against displaying it, but not selling it - however the prices were at least double US prices.

Thanks for the heads up on ATF selling repro straps - I'll be getting some.

Sorry if this thread offends the serious collectors, I would love to go original, but, can't afford to, so thought this might be of interest to anyone else like me, who may mot be the high dollar spending sector.

Good shooting!

Pit.

[Tommygunn]

Oh no, my Lafette was bought many moons ago when I was in the UK and is currently in the process of being restored from it's last job in Austria. The thread is located here: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=12162
Yes, having a niche hobby in Italy is very tricky.

Talking of history, that 7.92mm ammo you can see in the photos is actually some ammo (approx 350 rounds in two cans) I dug up on the hill overlooking Gemmano (Battle of) which I am currently de-rusting and re-lacquering for display. Here's a link to the find: http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/13593-t ... -in-italy/

Tom.

[pitfighter]

The story about finding the ammunition is just great and awesome pics.
I would love the time to go do something like that, well done.
Cool that one of the cans was alloy - is there any truth to those being used by paratroopers, or is that salesman spiel?

Very good and nicely told story, too.

I've been watching the tripod restoration, looking forward to seeing that come together.

Pit.

[www.Prussia.us]

Hey Pit,

Nice mount, you made a good call they may get more, but the way prices are going through the roof on everything, the prices will only get crazier.

If you are looking for a Kubelwagon, check this site out:
http://www.kubelkraft.com/kubelwagen-replica.html

Shooting 2800 rounds in a NY nightclub, that is pretty cool, looks like you made out better than Plaxico Burress did

[pitfighter]

Ha - I had to look up who that was - yes, the footballer, not really my game -
this was all above boards, in fact, as we were in a City that doesn't get a lot of film work, we had more than one spot check from police and fire (they see you have pulled a permit from the City and drop by to make sure your paperwork is in order, fire-lanes and bldg. capacity laws observed, etc.,)

There may be more of these Yugo mounts around, but I am pretty positive they won't be this cheap again -

Anyway - I bought it to use and abuse, so rock on.

Yes - I like that replica kubel site, thank you -



Pit.