7,500 AK-47 Weapons seized in Italy.. en route to NYC

[Endangered Specie]

"A HULL OF A HAUL"

http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/19199.htm

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April 21, 2004 -- A Turkish ship headed for New York - and stuffed with thousands of Kalashnikov assault rifles and AK-47s - was seized en route in Italy, authorities said yesterday.
The ship's deadly hoard of more than 7,500 terrorist-grade rifles and machine guns worth more than $6 million was discovered illegally hidden under piles of properly labeled arms in several massive cargo containers, Italian officials said.

The ship MS Adnan Bayraktar, which bears a Turkish flag, had come from the Romanian port of Constanta and was on its way to a stopover in New York when the bust was made, the authorities said.

Documents showed the cargo containers were ultimately headed to a large U.S. company based in Georgia.
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Wow, you could start a war with that arsenal.

[raysr]

1. Bet the

NRA and Heston are pissed.

[DoNotRefill]

2. More likely....

they were destined to be "chopped" in the US and turned into parts kits. The exportation process was legal in Romania, the importation process was legal in the US (I've read there were BATCAFE-approved Form 6s included) but apparently all the rules weren't followed in the port, the transshipment point.

I've seen pictures of some of the guns involved, and they included MG-34s. Don't get me wrong, MG-34s are cool beyond belief, but they're crappy guns (in that they're too well made, which causes big problems) that are 60+ years obsolete (their replacement was adopted in 1942) and are a cast-iron bitch to maintain and keep running (I've easily got 15 MG-34 bolts that I've bought and cannibalized to keep my kitten purring....well, OK, to keep it coughing up hairballs, but it's still sort-of functional, but they made 3 bolts per gun, so I've cannibalized 5 guns worth of bolts at least to keep it up, and those bolts have to come from somewhere).

Somehow, I doubt these were destined for gangs or anything like that.

[Superfly]

4. Hmmm...that's interesting

Is the bolt the quickest part of the gun to wear out? How about the barrel? You getting any tube wear?

I would love to have an MG-34, just for the collector's value. I would also like to get my hands on an MG-42.

BTW, did you know that the receiver on the M-60 is pretty much a 100% copy of the action of the MG-42? Says something about that design.

[DoNotRefill]

14. yeah, the bolt takes almost all of the wear.

because it's the part that moves the furthest the fastest. Everything else has a very limited traverse, but the bolt moves quite a distance for each round fired, and therefore takes the most punishment.

The MG-42 is still in production. They changed the name to the MG-3 after the war, along with the caliber, from 8mm mauser to .308, but most parts of an MG-3 are interchangeable for the 42. The Wehrmacht....oops, I mean Bundeswehr or whatever they are calling themselves these days, still uses them, along with a bunch of other countries.

I'm not real fond of the M-60. IMHO, they're pieces of crap, not because of the design of the action, but because they were designed by committee, so there are a bunch of design flaws in them. The MG-42 (and even the 34) have a far superior quick-change barrel design. The FN-Mag 58 is far superior to the M-60.

[slackmaster]

15. Mine's a wall-hanger - GUN PORN ALERT!!!

The bolt is a marvel of workmanship. That and the whole gun are WAAAAAAAAAAAY more complicated than they need to be. I appreciate the mechanical beauty, but it's definitely not a "terrorist-grade" weapon even if all the pieces are brand-new and the gun is working perfectly.

[Superfly]

16. Do you have a picture of the bolt?

[slackmaster]

17. MG-34 bolt, two views

Bolt in the open (cocked) position. Bolt is top-side up.



Bolt in the closed (fired) position. Bottom of bolt is up.



Note: If anyone's interested, my '34 is built on a dummy receiver, not a DEWAT. I bought an 80%er from http://www.philaord.com

[DoNotRefill]

20. Nice bolt...wanna sell or trade it?

I'm always in the market, and I have bolts that look perfect, but are non-functional. ;)

BTW and FYI, your bolt is Czech manufacture, made by BRNO. Just like my gun, which is a DOT 43. :)

[slackmaster]

21. Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll keep it

I know I got a good one. Finish on the exterior parts is nice deep blue with just the edges worn through. A couple of pieces were bent but fixable, and the left handgrip is a disaster area. Bore is pitted but would be shootable on a functional gun.

Replacements for just about everything are available, but I know bolts are hard to come by. It would cost big bucks to manufacture those at any size of run.

The Philadelphia Ordnance dummy receiver is a fine piece of workmanship. The blue was a good match for the original parts. It's a lot of fun figuring out how these things assemble and how they work.

[DoNotRefill]

22. Bolts aren't that hard to find....

they go for $50 at the creek for good ones. Of course, there are people running around asking outrageous money for bolts, but it's a matter of shopping around and finding the reasonable ones. That's why I asked. I have no need for one at this point, but when I find'em, I buy'em.

When you say the left handgrip is a disaster area, is the bakelite damaged? If so, let me know, I've got a set of spare bakelite grips in new condition.

[OpSomBlood]

3. I still love the term "terrorist-grade"...

The anti-gunners are shameless in their abuse of firearms terminology.

If you're against guns, fine...but don't go inventing terms to make them sound scarier.

[enfield collector]

5. they have to keep making the guns sound more evil

and scary. otherwise maybe joe six pack would realize that its bad people doing the killing.

[MrBenchley]

6. Hey, op, is that supposed to be another "cogent point"

And are we supposed to believe some innocent antique collector wants 5,000 assault weapons and machine guns?

Give us all a fucking break. Not everyone is as grotesquely stupid as the freeper you were snuggling up to the otehr day.

[OpSomBlood]

8. Did I say that?

This was an illegal shipment of illegal fully-automatic firearms. Exactly where did I say that the confiscation was some sort of travesty of justice? I'm very glad these weapons didn't make it to America, because they were more than likely headed to the black market to be sold to criminals.

Conversely, not everyone here is as stupid as the stereotypes you love to perpetuate.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[OpSomBlood]

10. Yeah, we're all in bed together.

Not my friend, just a guy whose views I largely agree with on this issue. Freeper or not, I'd hardly classify him as stupid.

By the way, I'm just going to continue to counter your baseless angry rhetoric with common sense. Let me know when you need a breather.

[MrBenchley]

13. Too TOO funny?

"I'm just going to continue to counter your baseless angry rhetoric with common sense"
You gotta start before you can continue, op. So far I've been telling the truth about you, your sources and your rancid causes, all you have had in reply is stale horseshit and sniveling.

[FatSlob]

23. edited for truth:

I think you meant to write "all you have heard in reply is stale horseshit and sniveling". You left out a word, Bench :hi:

[MrBenchley]

24. No, fat slob, it was 100% correct AS IS

but then he isn't haunted by imaginary little "l" libertarians like you are...

[Superfly]

7. The Boeing 767 is "terrorist grade"

by their definition.

[jtb33]

11. lol...

I caught that too... "terrorist grade" as opposed to, say the lesser "gangbanger grade" or "mafia grade"?

[slackmaster]

12. Dupe

This was covered in yesterday's GOTD.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=118&topic_id=53133&mesg_id=53182&page=

BTW - The New York Post is a right-wing tabloid, not a real newspaper.

[demsrule4life]

18. I'm surprised the internet link police hadn't brought that up

Why does "two faced" pop into my mind?

[OpSomBlood]

19. "Kalashnikovs and AK-47's"

"AK" means "Avomat Kalashnikov".

Good thing the NY Post is doing their research.

[Wickerman]

25. Locking - Dupe