MG08 Project

[mg34nz]

Hi All,

many of you will have seen this over on Gun Boards but as this is such a great resource for the MG08 I figured I would post up some pics over here as well and a few others may be interested to see one of the project guns I have been working on this past year, a 1915 DWM made gun.

This gun is one I had seen many years ago and the Chrome plating made me hardly give it a second look at the time but after my interest in the 08 Maxim was rekindled by a 1916 DWM project gun I picked up I thought I would have a crack at securing this one as well and after a good deal of pestering the owner gave me a price and we met at a gun show to make the exchange. The gun was touted as being complete except the barrel and I couldn't remember any detail other than the darn chrome which was really starting to worry me! Well it was missing a lot more than just the barrel but as I rolled it over and noticed the 1915 date I decided that I could maybe overlook the missing bits and be happy to have found quite an early gun.

The chrome,well that was disheartening to say the least and to make matters worse the gun had had a hell buffing prior to the application of the "bling" and deep gouges were evident in the metal,you may even notice in some later pics in the thread that the domes on the rivets holding the springs to the top cover were buffed off completely !
At the same time I managed a few repairs then passed it over to a gunsmith friend to re blue which after making his bluing tanks bigger he was able to achieve with admirable results,at the same time I was scouring the world for parts to piece the old girl back together which is an ongoing effort but slowly but surely Im getting there and what started as a long and daunting parts list is gradually reducing with the help of a good many new friends that I have made along the way, still quite a bit to find but any progress is good progress.

pics of gun in all its chrome plated glory....

[mg34nz]

OK so those pics were a shock! now here are some showing the gun stripped of chrome which illustrate the extent of the buffing it had endured,the de chroming also revealed quite a bit of rust pitting which may have been on the gun before plating or rust formed under the plating as a lot of rust creep was evident. Also depicted are some repairs made as I progressed

[mg34nz]

This time we have some refinished gun pics, black as charcoal bluing. its a great finish but Im going to attack it to weather/age the gun for a more authentic look,I will experiment a little to find a good method of making the finish look used and abused. Still more parts to go to complete the project ! Blue on the back plate is original as this is a replacement for the old back plate which was missing all the trigger components and had badly damaged wood (de chroming process did not help them either) the old back plate was not serial numbered to the rest of the gun so may indicate a field repair or post war swap around many years ago.

Would I recomend restoring a chrome plated gun? Well It is definately not for the feint hearted ! I think the biggest thing would be before you start you need to know what is involved, it is achieve able but little things like the metal being buffed prior to plating can cause damage that cant be seen until the plating is removed and also the removal process can chew carbon out of the steel due to aggressive acids so shop around for a seasoned professional and maybe pay a bit extra for a decent job. The blue job can also be an issue,most gun smiths just dont have big enough tanks to accommodate a machine gun receiver or water jacket and wont be interested in making bigger ones for your job so again do your homework.
Lastly parts....In particular MG08 parts, well if you are patient you will find them and the bulk of Maxim enthusiasts are quite gentlemanly and a pleasure to deal with so dont give up! I still have a few items to cross off my list and eventually I will find everything required.


enjoy!

Andrew

[42rocker]

Wow nice story and nice redo. Hope that you get the chance to finish everything up and then get to show us an in use range video sometime. As it is Thanks for restoring a piece of history from the chrome bling thing.

Later 42rocker

[K98dkmauser]

nice work want to see you shooting it
its to bad that someone put that chrome on that fine gun

[www.Prussia.us]

NICE SAVE, that is such a beautiful gun; killer fuse cover by the way.

I am glad someone chromed it, that diamond in the rough sat un-realized all these years until the right man found it to restore.

Well done

[mg34nz]

Hi Guys

Thank you for your interest and your positive comments,it is much appreciated.

I may even be lucky enough to find some capture details for the gun, the NZ war trophy register is still in existence and from what I have seen some capture details are very specific detailing where,when and who captured a particular gun, others listed by contrast are very brief with little information other than maybe a month/year listed

Yes I do intend to have the gun in full working condition but wont be able to post any action shots as the law in New Zealand has no provision to shoot our Machine Guns ( It can be done for theatrical purposes using blanks if you follow the correct procedure).we can own as many live full auto's as we like on a collectors licence and one of the ownership restrictions is not using them as they are purely "collectibles" so as a result we do not discuss this subject openly .

I look forward to updating as I progress,I recently acquired a steam tube which is currently in transit so that will be another item crossed off the wants list.

Regards

Andrew

[42rocker]

Your weapon ownership details are very interesting. Sometime we should start a thread on different weapons ownership around the world.
Ok hope about video someday of the MG08 firing blanks if nothing else.

Later 42rocker

[mg34nz]

A bit more progress today...

A year or so back I managed to pick up a booster assembly, quite rough condition with a rust hole in the flash cone and the whole unit all frozen with rust, some time in the electrolytic removal tank chewed away the bulk of the rust ....and made the original rust hole a lot bigger in the process as unsound material was dissolved.Some gentle persuasion with a bit of heat helped to release the frozen threads and piston from inside the booster. I put a lot of thought into how to repair the hole in the cone as any invasive repair process is a risk when dealing with a precious part and I didn't want to take any risks so months and months went by as I mulled over my plan of attack,welding was deemed the best method. I had a dig around my workshop and found some 1" brass round bar which I machined down to match the taper of the cone,this was inserted into the cone to act as a heat sink and contain the weld so it didn't blow out into the interior and then with much caution the rust hole was welded using a TIG welder and steel filler wire,it worked better than expected ! A few pockets of rust caused some fizzing and bubbling while welding which were a slight concern but these were soon burnt through and then after it cooled I knocked out the brass insert and proceeded to file and sand back the cone to a smooth finish.I didn't fill all the pitting so as not to make it look artificial compered with the rest of the booster which still boasts some pitting. This will be re blued and is destined to reside on gun #2 (DWM 1916) Still looking for a flash cone for the 1915 gun and will consider options on this before long.

First pics are the after pics last one is the booster as I received it,rust hole can be seen at top.it ended up about 3/4" in diameter ( had been touted as a "shrapnel" hit which it definately wasnt)

Enjoy

Andrew

[42rocker]

More good looking work, keep it up.

Later 42rocker

[1851NAVY]

This is an inspiration!!! Thank you for sharing your work and you did a great job on the 08! I have a few more parts to locate for my own 08 before I can begin making the semi auto modifications - can't wait!

[MarkFinneran]

If you have rusted old pieces before restoring them pse shout as I am looking for old rusty pieces for relic projects, and would happily offer good condition items in exchange. Mark

[dwmmg08]

Awesome job!!! I am very impressed with the wonderful job you've managed to do on this whole project. Excellent work. I'll bet it feels wonderful to bring one of these antiques back to life, especially such an interesting piece. Your booster looks very good indeed, it seems to be a bit shorter than normal on the cone? But it looks like it was always that way? This is actually not the first I've seen that seemed to be a bit short, but I'm not sure why they would have done that back in WWI. Could it have sustained some damage to the front of the cone, and had that amputated by a Waffenmeister or the factory?? IF you can measure the overall length perhaps we can see if it really is shorter and not just a trick on my brain, I could be wrong...

Again, awesome job!!!! I love the way the gun looks!

[MarkFinneran]

Your weapon ownership details are very interesting. Sometime we should start a thread on different weapons ownership around the world.
Ok hope about video someday of the MG08 firing blanks if nothing else.

Later 42rocker

I guess I will have to sit behind mine and make verbally amusing 'rat a tat' noises in the comfort of my lounge. Naturally I will wear a helmet just to add that extra touch of authenticity.
Mark

[dwmmg08]

Your weapon ownership details are very interesting. Sometime we should start a thread on different weapons ownership around the world.
Ok hope about video someday of the MG08 firing blanks if nothing else.

Later 42rocker

I guess I will have to sit behind mine and make verbally amusing 'rat a tat' noises in the comfort of my lounge. Naturally I will wear a helmet just to add that extra touch of authenticity.
Mark

OUCH! Mark that hurt, I feel your pain... It's not like you don't put your life on the line to defend the society or anything, but you're not trustworthy to have an antique maxim..

Here in Oklahoma, USA, we have only the law that Felons can't have any guns, MG's included, and.... that's it. No other MG laws at all. There's the Federal NFA statute, but there is no State one, they're just like any other gun as far as the state is concerned. (And I'm ok with that!)

If you're in the States sometime and lost driving between Chicago and Dallas, you may be in the area, come over and have fun! In all seriousness, there's a big MG shoot at Wyandotte just NE of here, we go every year, and you'd be welcomed!

Glen in OK

[mg34nz]

Thanks again for the interest and comments, Glenn I will measure the cone on Friday and report back, I can confirm that aside from the rusty third the end face of the cone is a nice flat machined surface which would be period original so if it has been cut down at some stage it was when it was in service.
Mark if I find any rusty/relic parts I will keep you in mind.

I guess I will have to sit behind mine and make verbally amusing 'rat a tat' noises in the comfort of my lounge. Naturally I will wear a helmet just to add that extra touch of authenticity.

...you need a Vickers fire simulator, much better than a "Rat a Tat"

Regards
Andrew

[mg34nz]

OK here is the measurement of the flash cone taken from the back of the flange as pictured, did it with the Imperial side of my ruler for the benefit of you US based guys, I think its 3 and 3/16 inches or around 80mm for us in metric land.
I would be interested to know if this is "standard" or weather differing lengths of flash cone were produced?

Regards
Andrew

[MarkFinneran]

In a thread sometime back I posted images of 2 of my muzzle cones that were different in size. As you have stated there is no doubt in my mind that these were manufactured intentionally, or at the very least 'factory' altered as they are not armoured jobs.
Mark

[mg34nz]

Well I have been hunting for a front sight and a booster cone for quite some time now but had very little luck.I did find a damaged sight that I had in reserve thinking that if I was unable to find a complete example a rebuild would have to suffice, new parts were filed from key steel and tig welded into place then file finished. The booster cone was a last resort replacement machined up from 4140 steel using the previously posted example above as a pattern. Both parts will be blued to match the rest of the gun.

[42rocker]

Right needs to be blued to match. But looks great. Did you do the work or?
Your project looks great.

Later 42rocker