mg34 50 rd drum, WW2 or postwar?

[RodneyO]

Hi,
I have an mg34 50 rd drum and could only find “ddf” stamped on the cover and on the side latch “5”, no date or waffenamt stamp. Not painted but more of a bluing finish, even on the inside of the drum. Is this a postwar drum or an early one?
Thank you,
Rodney

[WITTMANN.]

hi,

do you have a interior picture?

vincent

[searchandfind]

Hi,
I have an mg34 50 rd drum and could only find “ddf” stamped on the cover and on the side latch “5”, no date or waffenamt stamp. Not painted but more of a bluing finish, even on the inside of the drum. Is this a postwar drum or an early one?
Thank you,
Rodney

German drums and guns were overworked in the Ukraine postwar. It´s typical for these arsenal reworked drums, that they are complete blued (black). "ddf" was a typical German drum producer.

MfG,
searchandfind

[RodneyO]

Hi Vincent and searchandfind,
Sorry, not able to post pictures but interior looks like WW2 drum except no date or waffenamt stamp. There’s a dot-punched arrow to indicate the direction of the belt coil on the bottom of the inside.

Did the ddf ordnance produce 50 rd drums after the war for Ukraine and other countries that continue using the mg34/42’s hence void of date and waffenamt?
Thank you,
Rodney

[Alan Smith]

Does the drum in question have a blued or black-painted finish on it similar to either of these drums?

[RodneyO]

Hi Alan,
That's a nice looking set. Hard to tell but the one on the left looks a lot like mines. My drum looks and feels more blued then painted doesn't have that coated (paint) feeling. Does yours have any waffenamt on them and the arrow (dot-pouched) on the inside for the direction the belt goes?
Mahalo,

[searchandfind]

Hi Rodney, off course all captured weapons were overworked postwar in the arsenals of the Ukraine. So these guns and drums are all German produced from the ww2, also your ddf marked drum. The code ddf was only used during the ww2. Most of the German ww2 stuff which was reworked and very often electropencilled (serial numbers) like P38 and K98 comes from the Ukraine.

So your overworked drum is an origin one from the second world war.

Best regards,
Christian

[Alan Smith]

Yes, they have the "punched" arrows inside them, and correct WWII German markings. One is blued; the other is black painted.

As the other post indicated, these are all original WWII German issue that were, apparently, post-war reworked by the Soviet-block.

[Alan Smith]

WWII German maker's code and date of production. Both drums in this set just happen to be by the same maker.

[RodneyO]

Hi Christian and Alan!
Interior is exactly like yours even the dot-punched arrow on the bottom. It looks a lot nicer attached to my demilled mg34 (which has the electro-penciled serial number) then my first drum which has four layers of paint, red primer (and interior), field gray/blue, tan and OD green. Both have the same ddf code but the painted one has a white painted arrow on the bottom.
What would be the best way to remove OD green paint?
Thanks again for all your help, I really appreciated you for taking time to post your pictures and getting me educated on postwar reworked German firearms.
Mahalo,
Rodney

[WITTMANN.]

hello,


Here is a quick link to know the difference between a good war after war and manufacture

http://mcollec.free.fr/ident/viewtop...rommel#p682673

friendly

vincent

[RodneyO]

Hi Vincent,
Can't get into the website but sounds like a good one, is there anyway you can post the information directly here in this forum?

Thanks,
Rodney