What is it? Set 298

[Rob H.]

I need some help with the first item this week, I've shown it to a number of people and most of them don't even have a guess for it, I'll be surprised if we get the answer:

[Peter DiVergilio]

First item is a link to hold .50cal Machine gun ammo

[Alexander Thesoso]

1702 A guess, based on a crude description of the parts... A tractor (or possibly animal team) pull sled. It has a weight and a mechanism to move the weight from one end to the other as it moves, changing the effective drag.

[Alexander Thesoso]

1701 Let me try a wild guess, based on the words in the description... When I was a kid, baseball scoreboards had a guy hanging numbered panels in windows. Nowadays, they use computers. Could this be part of the control for a baseball scoreboard?

[Roy Smith]

kind of chain or belt.

[Steve W.]

1699 - Browning M2 .50 cal belt link. (missing the important part that goes bang. 1700 - Could be an early hole punch ?

1701 - Not a clue. Looks like it could be interesting though!

1702 - Home built weight transfer machine.

1703 - Old self locking clamp?

1704 - easy pour oil filler for a lamp???

[Lloyd E. Sponenburgh]

1699 It sure looks like a .50-caliber machine gun belt link to me.

LLoyd

[Polyp]

Looks similar to the trailer towed in "mud drags" / "bog racing" where the further the thing is dragged the greater the load it presents to the towing vehicle. mmm, cant find a pic of a similar one anywhere.

[Andrew Erickson]

1699 - I would guess it's a part to an old gun, perhaps holding the stock or magazine onto the barrel and chamber. If so, I would assume that a gun nut/collector could look up the hieroglyphics and numbers stamped on it and determine more about it. 1700 - Lumberman/logger's tool for manipulating logs (with the pointy end) or stamping them with an ownership mark (flattened end, which would originally had some raised punch)? 1701 - These look to me to be hydraulic control valves for some piece of equipment, such as a cherry picker truck or car carrier trailer. The boom (?) mount in the background looks far more cherry-picker like than car-carrier like. 1702 - Ye notte so olde battering ramme?...or perhaps a smallish portable pile driver (which would of course e stood up on end before being used)? 1703 - This appears to be designed to hold a strap or rope or similar thing against (modest) tension; perhaps the intended use was for old-fashioned large venetian blinds, or perhaps something else entirely. 1704 - This looks somewhat like a gasoline tank of comparatively early design, but I think that's likely not correct, especially with the pivot or screw apparently piercing the side in the middle. Maybe it's a hose reel.

Now to read other guesses...

[Pete Snell]

Could 1701 be the 'control panel' for a bell or chime tower?

[J. Clarke]

That was my first reaction, but note that one loop is smaller than the other--it could simply be bent but if it's part of a disintegrating belt it seems to me that that would be likely to cause a stoppage.

[Northe]

1699: Definitely looks like a link from belted ammunition. Depending on size, it could be 7.62 mm for the M60 machine gun, .50 caliber or, possibly, 20 mm.

Northe

[Paul K. Dickman]

I think the guesses that 1699 is a link from a .50 cal ammo belt are correct. See:

imagine it takes a lot of these to keep Ma Deuce fed.

1700 looks like a blacksmith's hot punch.

Paul K. Dickman

[Lloyd E. Sponenburgh]

"J. Clarke" fired this volley in news: [e-mail]:

Nah... that's the front -- just keeps the rounds "registered" in the belt. Now, staggered rounds -- that'll end up stopping a Browning 50.

LLoyd

[Lloyd E. Sponenburgh]

Northe fired this volley in news:t6ejm.114623 $ [e-mail]:

The size is shown.

LLoyd

[Bruce L. Bergman]

1700 - If there isn't some sort of a spring or friction device at the rotate joint to keep the head from rotating during normal operation (but allow a break-away if forced) it won't be that effective as a hammer or pick. 1701 - My first thought was the Gel Iris and and Dowser control handles on a Follow Spot. But that's not it...

That's an awful lot of hydraulics. Car Carrier?

1702 - Yeah, a weight-transfer tractor pull sledge, minus the friction plate and tractor hitch part. Pretty sure. 1703 - Wagon cargo tie-down anchor for agricultural loads on wagons that are always in the same size crates? Some sort of rope grab one-way clutch for leather belting, quick release for many trips a day. The nubbies on the center pivot section would grip the belt as it goes through. 1704 - it's terne plate sheetmetal - some sort of oil dispenser?

With the tray underneath, they might have been going for storing something very viscous like honey or tar - light a fire underneath to warm it up, then pivot and pour once it's liquified.

[Tom Veatch]

First item is a link from a disintegrating link ammo belt. Based on the size, it's for a .50 cal Browning. Since it was found out in the desert, it probably fell from an aircraft during gunnery practice. Could be some .50 cal brass scattered in the same general area.

Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA

[Tom Veatch]

They are all made that way - at least for ammunition with necked down cartridges. The small loop fits around the neck of the cartridge. The large loops fit around the body

Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA

[Rich Grise]

This Helps! Rich

[Rich Grise]

That holds the narrow end of the brass - the bullet goes out the front, and all the brass goes into another box, still linked.

Cheers! Rich