Here are pics of the custom bar key I got from Milspin a few months ago and keep forgetting to post pictures of. I sent the pics to Sarge, my army roommate from 40 years ago to see if he had any questions or comments about it. He wrote back, If we can't fix it "modify it." The guy we called Joe Schmuck The Ragbag used to say, If it ain't broke we can't fix it. Sometimes there was nothing wrong with a weapon that came into the shop other than an operator malfunction so he came up with that saying. I told Sarge I didn't know who started that Never Again thing but it stuck with me ever since. He said was on the jacket he had made. A lot of guys I saw who were stationed in Korea had jackets with a Korean flag, the unit they were in, and the dates embroidered on the back. I remember the black jacket Sarge had but not what the picture was or the details of the writing. Sarge said our ******** CO didn't like it much, which made him like it that much more.
Neither one of us liked Capt. Rat-Face Ray very much.
Another Sgt. we worked with was the one that said if you can't fix it modify it, but since I worked for Joe Schmuck I mostly remember what he said. 1979-1985 were the years I was on active duty. I also had some reserve time in 1979 in the Delayed Entry Program. They waited until I was 18 then put me on active duty and sent me to basic training in December.
The "Old Ironsides" insignia is the 1st Armored Division, which was where I spent over 2 years in Germany. The diamond is the symbol of the 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) where I was stationed at Fort Polk before heading overseas. The 5th Infantry was the only division in the army other than the 101st Airborne that had colored shoulder patches on their fatigues instead of subdued like everyone else. But when the army switched from green fatigues to woodland camo BDUs, that was the end of all non-subdued insignia on combat uniforms. The Army Ordnance Branch Insignia, besides representing the Ordnance Corps, to me personally represents Aberdeen Proving Ground where I took my Advanced Individual Training. That's where I learned to repair small arms up to the 4.2" mortar, which fired a larger caliber projectile than the M60A1, M60A3, and M1 tanks in service back then.
If you order from Milspin through this affiliate link I get a kickback.
https://milspin.com/?rfsn=6113145.751722 If you order from Milspin, but not through that link, you're still doing business with a veteran-owned business started by two Recon Marine brothers running a small metal fab shop in Columbus, Ohio.
https://milspin.com/ They and other veterans they hired are making high end CNC milled products for people who are tired of mass produced low quality crap shipped here from overseas. I'll post pics of some of the other stuff I bought from them later. If I earn chump change as an affiliate I'll spend it on alcohol, or give it to the guys to spend on alcohol. They accept contributions to the Milspin beer fund. But if manage to get more than chump change I'm open to suggestions on where to donate it and will keep you informed when I do.
I think I mentioned before the 4.2" mortar was 107mm and the 105mm tank guns were only 4.1-something inch. I don't have it memorized down to the thousandth of an inch like Sarge does. But I remember they were M68 guns. I saw the barrel for one in a wooden crate once and I think it said the weight was 1,360 pounds. When the barrel needs to be replaced you take out a key that's held in by one or two socket head cap screws, give the barrel 1/4 turn with a big wrench, then pull it straight out. You have to take the bore evacuator off the barrel first so you can put it on the new barrel after you install it. The guys used an overhead crane in the old Luftwaffe hanger to pull barrels at the rear. But in the field they had to use a wrecker instead, like what I watched from on the tank once at Fort Polk. I still remember the time I hung from my belt on the crane and flew around until my belt buckle broke in half.
Like Icarus, I dared fly too close to the sun.
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