Review of John Baum's German Manuals

[junglewalk]

Thank God for John Baum, and what he has done for all of us guys who are interested in German WWII weapons & equipment.....WTH would we do without all of his translated manuals!....
.....He is a first class gentleman when you spend a few minutes talking with him face to face! (on the phone too)
.....Thanks John!

[motley13crue]

I ordered 2 Mg42 manuals from John. Great pictures and descriptions on the weapon. I would recommend these to anyone wanting to learn about the operation of this gun.

[Blanksguy]

Great books for the guns that you own.

Regards, RichardS
US Army, Retired.

[WhitePatriot77]

John rocks,he has done a huge service to collectors and builders.He took it upon himself to do a task and its been a service to many,I always recommend his books as its coin well spent. Shipping is always prompt and hes just a plain old nice guy to know and speak to, always helpful.

[CaptMax]

Old post or not I had to comment. Nothing but the up most respect for John and his work.
I have several of his manuals and enjoy our conversations at the Knob Creek MG shoot.
He offers a great service for all of us collectors and shooters.
CaptMax

[Der Alder]

Yes they are top notch and very high quality, right down to the paper. John is fast to ship as well. Anyone considering buying or building an MG42/53/3 whether it is a FA or semi needs to get these to understand the workings of the gun. We are very lucky to have such a well knowledged astute member.

[FESTUNG]

I bought all translations of J Baum on MG34 42.
Fortunately they exist because the German documents are difficult to translate with the characters Fracktur.

[nieuport]

Newb question: how/where does one purchase these manuals? Sorry for dumb question but appreciative for your response !

[nieuport]

Ha Ha !! Found my own answer; just wish I had done so before my "newb" post. Oh well, at least I'm racking up a post count

Here's the answer in case it helps someone else:

John Baum's German Manuals:

John@German<remove this>Manuals.com

http://www.GermanManuals.com

[Abominog]

I have long relied on John Baum's MG translations for restoration and troubleshooting. But I recently found that John clearly goes well above and beyond translation.

While disassembling the Lafette 34, I referred to his Lafette manual since it wasn't clear how the FCG could be removed. Upon reading the text, it became clear, and the task was accomplished.

But what really struck me was one particular element of John's Lafette 34 manual. John puts his own notes in { } to add clarity to the original German. In this case though, the manual is pathetically and sadly extremely lacking. Let me restate this: the original description of the FCG assembly is useless. But John's added comments made it clear to me that either (1) he is a mechanical genius and can infer parts relationships with observation or (2) he took one of these SOB apart himself. The inexpensive John Baum manual paid for itself once again.

Everybody restoring or repairing an MG34 or MG42 should have John's manuals! He also has them on the wartime (and thus Yugo) Lafettte as well as the MG3 Lafette ground mount. Do yourself a favor and buy a bunch of these manuals!

[JBaum]

I think perhaps my days spent as a car and automatic transmission mechanic helps with this.

I figure that if I have difficulty understanding what is said, so will others, so I inject notes where I think it will help.

Thanks for letting me know it's worth the trouble.

[42rocker]

Has anyone read his translation of the German Tiger Tank manual???? OUTSTANDING WORK!!!!
I've had Sherman tank folks buy that manual. John did an outstanding job on it. The submarine manual is great also. Seen the one on the German flak 88???? Another standing manual translation.
Well go to his website and check out what he has. If you are in the Tampa Bay, Fl area and you want to see a few of these manuals give me a yell as I have most of them.

Good Job John

Later 42rocker