befo
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Posts: 45
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Post by befo on Apr 9, 2015 1:05:35 GMT -5
Hello, I am building an impression 1 BEP, and have this to start... I am going to replace the newer belt with my WWII G.I. one. Anyone near me in Augusta Georgia?
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Post by lew on Apr 9, 2015 12:04:17 GMT -5
Bienvenue!
Member Étienne is in NC, if I remember right. I'm in southeast Michigan right now, but I'll be moving to Arizona later this year. My focus is on the Algerian War (units of particular interest: 11e BPChoc, 1e RCP, 13e RDP, and 15e RTS/75e RIMa), but I've quickly expanded into Indochine as of late (units: 1e RCP, 8e BPChoc, GCMA/11e BPChoc).
It looks like a good start, and you are already aware of the belt. Are those US M43 boots? Either way, oil them up! I like Pecard's Leather Dressing. Stay away from neatsfoot oil. The Carbine's a good weapon to have. US or French Carbine mag pouches or French Mle. 51 MAS Mle. 36 mag pouches will work for Carbine magazines, and all were used. We will hate you in very quick order for having that TAP Mle. 47/52 uniform. Take advantage of the current favorable Euro-US Dollar exchange rate and keep an eye peeled on eBay.fr and other vendors, namely La Tranchée Militaire and Doursoux. Delcampe is another auction site that sometimes has goodies.
Since you have the uniform already, keep building up your web gear and go from there. For 1e BEP with the 47/52 uniform, French web gear- Mle. 50 belt, Mle. 51 canteen, Mle. 50 or 50/53 suspenders- would be more appropriate than US equipment. The Mle. 50 belt can be hard to find, but they pop up on eBay.fr every once in a while. Doursoux.com sells a three piece green beret that would be perfect for your 1e BEP impression. I have one in red/maroon for the colonial airborne and it is well made. If you don't have the winged dagger airborne beret insignia yet, be sure to stay away from the cast model as that is a recent addition and would not be correct. I bought my reproduction CEFEO M1 helmet liner off of eBay.fr and an M1 helmet shell and neoprene band from J. Murray Militaria.
Étienne has been tearing it up lately with new content, and member craigtx and I have been adding our input, too. There are a couple other interlopers, but's that's about it, which is mostly fine with us. Still lots of info here, and we check in regularly Once there's some more foliage outside, I'll be taking pictures of my impression mock-ups, plus I have some thread material in the works, mostly pertaining to Algeria.
Books: The three that basically comprise the "bible" of Indo/Algérie collecting: The French Foreign Legion in Indochina 1946-1956 by Raymond Guyader, and Les Paras Français en Indochine 1945-1954 and Les Paras Français en Algérie 1954-1962 by Eric Adam and Patrice Pavetta. The latter are really two volumes of the same work and both contain information relevant to both conflicts (which, as far as the French were concerned, was sort of one semi-seamless conflict).
Bernard Fall's Street Without Joy is an excellent overview of the war in Indochina. His work Hell In A Very Small Place and Ted Morgan's Valley Of Death are probably the best approach to Dien Bien Phu. The former focuses more on the events during the battle, and the latter more on the politics behind it. There are other titles about the battle, but I believe these two in tandem to provide the best coverage.
Stick around a while, read up, and feel free to ask away with any questions you may have. We are happy to help.
Cheers!
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Post by craigtx on Apr 9, 2015 15:49:13 GMT -5
Howdy!
Take a look around there's a lot of good information here. There's only three of us really active on the forum here.
Steve's right we're gonna hate you and be really envious of the Mle 47/52s. You've scored a big coup there.
Other than that, I can't add much to Steve's welcome.
Craig
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Post by Étienne on Apr 10, 2015 15:35:51 GMT -5
Yeah...what they said!
I've been in and out of the FIW "scene" for a long time, but just recently became active on this forum. There is lots of info on it and I've learned a lot.
I am in NC but can't find the time to travel more than an hour or so away unfortunately thanks to work. I lived in Augusta for awhile in 1990 (well, at Ft. Gordon), as I recall it was a nice place. Anyway, it's too bad we couldn't get a bunch of people together for an event as I too am fond of the 1BEP.
As Lew said, right now the Euro to dollar rate is good, and it might get better. Tranchee Militaire (TM) has really good prices, and as I learned from members of this forum, you can manipulate your cart to get a decent shipping rate. They have a lot of the Mle 1950 and 1951 gear you want/need for anything post 1951 or so. Also, keepshooting.com has Mle 1950/51 ammo pouches for the cheapest anywhere I've seen, even from French surplus sites. I use a (khaki!) US M-1936 belt because a Mle 1950 belt is too tough to find in my opinion (it's like a decent set of French lizards...I don't even bother looking anymore). TM has the Mle 1950/53 belts with the RAPCO buckle for the late 1953 and on look, however.
This forum is pretty easy to find information on very specific things typically (unless someone like myself rambles on for several postings about something that has nothing to do with the thread!), so you'll likely be able to find the answers to most questions. If not, make a new thread or post and ask away! Craigtx and Lew, for instance, are old salts on this site and they can answer questions you didn't even realize you had yet!
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Post by craigtx on Apr 11, 2015 14:00:28 GMT -5
Wow... I've only been on this forum comin' up on two years. Pretty sad when that qualifies you for "old salt" status... Regardless, It's nice to see new folks comin' in.
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befo
Entraînement
Posts: 45
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Post by befo on May 27, 2015 15:25:37 GMT -5
Hey Guys, thanks for all the comments. I have been busy with family stuff but I did pick up a super nice MAS 49/56 with bayonet.
I will be posting pics of all the kit I have for comments and ideas.
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Post by lew on May 27, 2015 18:04:26 GMT -5
No worries. We were thinkin' ya got disappeared. You got it. We'll pick through your kit and give ya some tips and pointers. What's the serial number prefix of the -49/56 (G-, H-)? I have two, have sold two, and will be adding three or four more when I get the funds. Excellent rifles. Doursoux.com offers a great tenue de saut TAP Mle. 47/56 that would go swimmingly with that MAS for a great Algerian War impression. The quality is outstanding, and it compares very well with my original set.
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befo
Entraînement
Posts: 45
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Post by befo on May 27, 2015 21:35:39 GMT -5
It is "G 59711"
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Post by lew on May 28, 2015 8:05:48 GMT -5
I'll check my serial number list when I get home.
What does the front sight housing look like? Are the sides straight or is it cast steel with an angular cut on the sides? Also, what- if any- is the rebuild date? There should be a stamp with "Pxx" in a box. The "x's" are digits indicating the overhaul year. One of mine has no rebuild date and the other is "P73".
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Post by lew on May 28, 2015 15:34:44 GMT -5
Early-mid 1961 is when your rifle was produced. It would have originally had the Type 2 muzzle brake, but was then modified to the Type 3 by opening up the inner diameter of the brake.
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befo
Entraînement
Posts: 45
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Post by befo on May 28, 2015 21:51:05 GMT -5
I'll check my serial number list when I get home. What does the front sight housing look like? Are the sides straight or is it cast steel with an angular cut on the sides? Also, what- if any- is the rebuild date? There should be a stamp with "Pxx" in a box. The "x's" are digits indicating the overhaul year. One of mine has no rebuild date and the other is "P73". The rebuild date is 1986..
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befo
Entraînement
Posts: 45
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Post by befo on May 29, 2015 12:41:49 GMT -5
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befo
Entraînement
Posts: 45
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Post by befo on May 29, 2015 12:42:56 GMT -5
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Post by lew on May 29, 2015 17:02:34 GMT -5
Very nice. That's the first model front sight block.
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befo
Entraînement
Posts: 45
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Post by befo on May 30, 2015 8:29:38 GMT -5
It came with a bayonet and scabbard.
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Post by lew on May 30, 2015 17:14:27 GMT -5
If the bayonet has a full edge on both sides of the blade, it's the Mle. 56. The Mle. 58 has only half of the top blade sharpened at all. The leather for the bayonet frog follows the same scheme as the rest of French military leather goods. Unfortunately for us, the russet bayonet frogs/scabbards are exceedingly rare and the green ones are all we have.
Very nice buy. Aim Surplus has Prvi 7.5 French in stock.
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befo
Entraînement
Posts: 45
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Post by befo on May 30, 2015 23:36:06 GMT -5
It is the later one..
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Post by lew on May 31, 2015 12:37:18 GMT -5
Cool.
Did you get a proper belt yet?
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befo
Entraînement
Posts: 45
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Post by befo on Jun 1, 2015 19:59:01 GMT -5
Not yet, and I owe you all some pictures of all the kit I have.
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luigi
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Post by luigi on Jun 2, 2015 10:06:10 GMT -5
Hi, welcome from a new spanish member!
You have a very nice equipment! Congrats!
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Post by lew on Jun 2, 2015 11:33:41 GMT -5
We shall wait patiently. Mle. 50 belts (ceinturon) and Mle. 51 canteens (gourde) don't pop up too often, but keep an eye on eBay.fr. Mle. 50/53 suspenders (brelage) Mle. 50/53 belts with the Rapco buckle, and Mle. 52 canteens are all commonplace. The latter was not used at all in Indo, but saw extensive use en Algérie, and the 50/53 belt was only issued in small quantities toward the end of the war.
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befo
Entraînement
Posts: 45
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Post by befo on Jun 2, 2015 20:56:22 GMT -5
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befo
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Posts: 45
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Post by befo on Jun 2, 2015 20:57:19 GMT -5
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befo
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Posts: 45
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Post by befo on Jun 2, 2015 20:57:42 GMT -5
one more Attachments:
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befo
Entraînement
Posts: 45
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Post by befo on Jun 2, 2015 20:59:01 GMT -5
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befo
Entraînement
Posts: 45
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Post by befo on Jun 2, 2015 21:00:29 GMT -5
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befo
Entraînement
Posts: 45
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Post by befo on Jun 2, 2015 21:00:50 GMT -5
close up of boot markings Attachments:
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