[PartTimePork]

Looking for a bit of help with a project. My son recently joined the Army National Guard and will be graduating from Basic Training in a few weeks. Since I can't travel to Ft. Sill to attend I am putting together a Shadow Box Display with lots of little odds and ends. I have some challenge coins, about 10 patches both regular and subdued, a commemorative Ka-Bar Army knife, etc. You know, all the usual stuff. Here is where I need some help: I'd like to put in there some inert/dummy rounds from everything he has told me they trained on. So I'll need .50 BMG, 7.62 NATO, 5.56 NATO, and 9MM. Of those four groups, I only have 5.56. Anybody out there spare 3 or 4 rounds of .50 & 7.62, and even 9MM. I hate to have to buy a box of each to get 3 rounds. Since I have never done this, for the 5.56 that I have, do I just drill a hole in the brass of a live round and dump out the powder? Is that safe? I am perfectly willing to pay for your time and effort and of course shipping. Since I am begging, I shouldn't be fussy. But I'd like them to look nice. Also, open to any suggestions of things Military that might be coll to include in his display.

 

[Zeus]

You definately don't want to be drilling a live round, it is possible to cook one off. You need someone with a bullet puller or find someone who has used brass and bullets and just press a bullet into a case without a powder charge leaving the used primer in place. I don't have 50 BMG but I may be able to help you out with the 7.62, 5.56, and 9mm. I would need to know how much time before you need it. Lots of Army surplus stores have 50BMG dummys for sale.

 

[elnonio]

Looking for a bit of help with a project. My son recently joined the Army National Guard and will be graduating from Basic Training in a few weeks. Since I can't travel to Ft. Sill to attend I am putting together a Shadow Box Display with lots of little odds and ends. I have some challenge coins, about 10 patches both regular and subdued, a commemorative Ka-Bar Army knife, etc. You know, all the usual stuff. Here is where I need some help: I'd like to put in there some inert/dummy rounds from everything he has told me they trained on. So I'll need .50 BMG, 7.62 NATO, 5.56 NATO, and 9MM. Of those four groups, I only have 5.56. Anybody out there spare 3 or 4 rounds of .50 & 7.62, and even 9MM. I hate to have to buy a box of each to get 3 rounds. Since I have never done this, for the 5.56 that I have, do I just drill a hole in the brass of a live round and dump out the powder? Is that safe? I am perfectly willing to pay for your time and effort and of course shipping. Since I am begging, I shouldn't be fussy. But I'd like them to look nice. Also, open to any suggestions of things Military that might be coll to include in his display.

I can send you a 7.62 and a 9 mm round all polished and inert. Can't help with the 50 cal

 

[ShootingSight]

I can send you a pair of 50bmg. I won't drill a hole in the case, I just won't put in a primer.

Send your address to me at [email protected]

Art

 

[PartTimePork]

Copy All

7ART,
Sent private email to supplied address.

Thanks for the immediate response to my call for help.

For everyone else, the 50 BMG rounds I need are taken care of.

Thanks!

 

[PartTimePork]

I don't have 50 BMG but I may be able to help you out with the 7.62, 5.56, and 9mm. I would need to know how much time before you need it. Lots of Army surplus stores have 50BMG dummys for sale.

Mr. ZEUS,

Excellent! 7ART has a pair of 50 BMGs for me. So all I need from you is the 3 smaller groups. Here is the quantities I'll need:

4 - 7.62
6 - 5.56
10 - 9mm

That is more than I originally planned, but the layout has changed. I want the bottom row in the shadow box to look like this:

Is this something you can do? I'll need them within a week to 10 days.
I will be more than happy to pay for the ammo and the shipping.
Let me know with a PM if you can help me out.
Thanks in advance,

 

[Zeus]

Do they need to be NATO cases and bullets or just look the part through the frame. The M855 5.56 rounds are pretty pricey these days but if you just need some good look alikes I could probably have them in the mail by the weekend. Let me know :wink: Very nice piece by the way.

 

[PartTimePork]

Do they need to be NATO cases and bullets or just look the part through the frame. The M855 5.56 rounds are pretty pricey these days but if you just need some good look alikes I could probably have them in the mail by the weekend. Let me know :wink: Very nice piece by the way.

Mr. Zeus,
Like a poorly tossed grenade, close is good enough. If one person looks into this display and says, "Hey, those are .223 rounds, not Mil Spec or NATO so this isn't an "AUTHENTIC" example of military ammo". I will offer to shoot them with both an M855 and a civilian .223 and see if they can tell the difference!

Clearly, this is just a gift to my Son recognizing the first milestone in his new endeavor. I am proud of him for choosing this route in life and I appreciate his service to our country, as I do all military personnel. This box of trinkets and doodads collected mostly on eBay are not going into a museum. Authenticity is not important. Me recognizing his accomplishments with inert symbols that "look cool" is what is important.

Whew boy..........got off on a jag there. Yes Mr. Zeus, some good look-alikes will be perfect. And again, I don't expect this to be free. I will pay for the shipping and any other expense you incur to get these to me.

And thanks for the compliment on the display layout. I keep getting more pieces as this develops and the dang thing keeps getting bigger and bigger. I hope to hell they don't take his platoon out to the artillery range. A shadowbox big enough to hold a 155mm shell is going to take a large amount of timber! He did tell me they were shooting some 40mm grenades with smoke, flares, and orange powder, but I am pretending I didn't hear that. :shock:

 

[Zeus]

I will have them done tonight and I will get your mailing info or you could PM your info to me. They will be mailed out in the A.M. on Friday. Glad to help you out, I think it's pretty cool that you can do that for your kid. Should not be a problem sice it's not loaded ammo so no hazmat fee will be required. You'll have to post some pics when it's done for us to see though, please

 

[ShootingSight]

Should you replace a few of those 9mm with .45ACP? If he didn't shoot a 1911 in basic, he should have ...

 

[PartTimePork]

7ART,
He didn't mention shooting a .45 auto. He did shoot the Beretta M9. I guess I will have to ask him if he gets his 1 hour cell phone time on Saturday. It sounds like things have "softened up" a tad in Basic Training. He said the DIs will scream and yell at every single one of them for something or other. But he said he really likes his DIs. (Maybe he just wrote that in his letters, thinking the DIs were reading his outbound mail) In any event, I happen to have a box of .45 ball ammo if it turns out they were shooting 45s. Is there anything else still in the Army arsenal that shoots .45?

I know for sure they have trained on M16, M4, M9, M60, M249, M2, M203.
And I think they went through a class about the 40mm grenade machine gun. I think it is named Mk19?? But they didn't actually shoot it. Just the single shot launcher mounted under the barrel of the M4 (M203).

 

[Zeus]

I haven't seen anyone other than spec ops shoot the 45ACP since the mid 80's. The M9 Beretta has been the standard for decades now. Although they finally after all these years have given the 1911 an M designation. FN built the FNP45 to compete for the rumored 45 contract that never happened. They just re-upped the M9 for another few years or so.

 

[Zeus]

Will this work for ya PartTime? If so they will be in the mail tomorrow

 

[PartTimePork]

THAT IS PERFECT!!!

Mr. Zeus Sir,
Yes, those are perfect. I surely didn't expect you to do all the polishing work as well. Those "jewels of death" will really make his display stand out.

Did you get the PM with my shipping address?

And PLEASE: let me know how much $$ you have tied up in this. Materials and shipping.

I can't thank you enough for taking your valuable time to help somebody you don't even know. I will post a high-res photo of the completed shadowbox when it is done and hopefully you will gain some satisfaction from seeing your part in this project.

I'll be looking forward to seeing your package arrive. Have a good weekend,

Bryan

 

[PartTimePork]

I just received a new piece I forgot I ordered! It is about 4.5" tall and looks like real cast bronze. It is really some kind of resin, but looks nice. It will be the new center piece. Here we go again, change the layout.

 

[Zeus]

I will ship em' out this afternoon after work. I have your info. Glad to help any LEO, soldier or forum member. We are the good guys and need to help each other out whenever we are able. :wink:

 

[PartTimePork]

I will ship em' out this afternoon after work. I have your info. Glad to help any LEO, soldier or forum member. We are the good guys and need to help each other out whenever we are able. :wink:

Mr. Zeus Sir,
I certainly appreciate the help. And I owe you, big time. I work at an aero-space machine shop and we make very close tolerance, high precision fuel control parts and assemblies for military and commercial jet engines, boats, submarines, tanks, etc. You need anything milled, drilled, threaded, ground, laser marked, you name it, you got it man. You saved me allot of hassle trying to gather up very small quantities of each size. And if they arrive here looking half as good as the photo you posted, I will be thrilled.

I had another idea with the shadowbox. You know, you see them all the time with all the stuff inside just attached to the back panel. Everything on one plane. I wanted to add some "depth" to mine, so I ordered a deeper than standard shadowbox and I am going to mount things at all different levels. I will cut shapes out of thin lexan, just a little smaller than the item to be displayed, and space it out from the back with a dark colored wood dowel screwed to the back panel. See photo below. I think that adding depth will really make the stuff pop out at you. But so help me God, if I start talking about backlighting it with tiny LEDs and a hidden battery compartment, have me committed!!!



I can't wait to see those pretty brass rounds up against the emerald green background. Enjoy the weekend Zeus and thanks again.

 

[rainman74]

But so help me God, if I start talking about backlighting it with tiny LEDs and a hidden battery compartment, have me committed!!!

Maybe a wider front frame and some rope light behind it. Just kidding. But it does sound like you are putting alot of thought into this project. I know your son will love it.

 

[ShootingSight]

50bmg were mailed out Thursday via USPS First Class. They should be there today or Monday.

Art

 

[MeridianNW]

Very nice looking project, PTP, I'm sure you're son will be moved.

Cheers~