Well Crap!

[gunslingerdoc]

I thought that would get your attention.

In my new quest for an Mg 42, I talked my single gun buddy into ordering 2 mg3 'pods from Robert. Both arrived nicely packaged (at his house - keeps the wife happier that way -- ). So we open up both boxes and as the 'purchaser' (and conspirator) my buddy get first dibs. One of our groups rules is that whoever takes the wrath gets frist pic (yeah the single guys make out well.)

Lucky for me, he pics the DISA and I get the HK pod (its got some scratched paint on the forward leg), but less rust. Well I finally get it all set up and the rail that the scope mounts too is bent. The block where the optic mounts is canted to the left which results in the scope 'tilting' about 20-30 degrees to the left when the pod is levelled.

I removed the block and tried a using a cresent wrench to bend it back, but no dice. I got ZERO movement. Robert is out of town until Wed. So no luck there for now.

My real concern is that Robert will be out of 'pods and NO PLACE I can find has spare rails. I'm sure Robert will offer to refund my $, but then I'm stuck getting a 'pod from Tapco at a higher price.

So any thoughts guys?

Parts source?

Get out the torch and warm her up a bit and then 'massage' the rail back into place?

Wait to hear from Robert?

I had planned on welding up a 1919 adapter and trying the pod out this weekend since the wife and daughter will be out of town and it'll be just me and the boys....

[TOM R]

I say do the adapter, but don't mess with the optic bracket till you talk to rob, he may just have you send the bad part for exchange, when places "run out" there is usualy a few damaged floating around the warehouse

[Daskraut]

I say why chance pissing off robert and possibly breaking the piece, best to just sell it to me at a reduced rate and cut your losses...........

[Abwehr]

DON"T DO ANYTHING with tools yet!!!! If the base is only "canted" it may be out of adjustment. The adjustment is not easy to explain and I am out of town until late next week so I can't help much.

The adjustment is with the socket head cap screws in the mount. John Baum's book on the MG3 Tripod explains how to adjust them so you can zero the base & scope. Get in touch with John and get a copy of his book. Maybe he will see this post and let you know which book it is in. You need this book anyway as it explans the entire operation of the Tripod.

Even when using the socket head cap screws to make adjustments it "feels" like you are doing something wrong. There was a thread last year on the 1919 Forum that had an explanation on how to adjust the base. You may want to go there and search under the "TRIPOD" section of the Forum. I think it was posted by "loboslanding".

Here is the address to John's website: http://www.germanmanuals.com/

[gunslingerdoc]

The base is bent. I took the whole thing apart last night 'cause I was pissed and planning an little 'red wrench' massage. I can to my senses and decided I wait on Robert.

Ive got enough projects cooking that I decided I didnt need to add one more half completed one to the mix. Im gunna spend my time getting all the other loose ends tied up so I can hit the MG42 without distractions (wanna wish me luck?)

[Reichpapers]

That's a crappy system...both you and your buddy pay the same amount of money, but then one of you gets first dibs... Personally I prefer that everyone waits for both parties to be present, then we choose a box a piece...then its luck of the draw...

[gunslingerdoc]

Everybody's happy with the system. Since we're all friends nobody gets screwed over (that bad).

We all agree that whoever; A. lays out the cash. B. Gets stuck going to UPS when its 'sig. only'. C. Has to listen to the others continual whinning/nagging/bitching while vender 'X' is taking their sweet time shipping. and D. (most important) has to listen to their wife/GF/bookeeper (our last single guy is in business with his sister as the bookeeper) bitch/cringe/demand to know why the purchaser needed 20K of ammo, should get first dibs.

In this case it turned out that I got a pristine optic and light box that are as new. My buddy's are not - we had to totally rebuild the switch and rewire the light box to get it to work since one of the wires was broke and connections were Yugo SKS nasty with corrosion. Overall, my 'pod has less actual rust, but more grease and dirt.