Han Solo ANH Hero Blaster Flash Hider *FOUND*

I hear ya,
just keep the peices life and intended purpose in mind is all.
One was at the end of fire, hundereds of times per minute while the other was behind all this with a smaller round and much lower rate of fire not to mention probly being holstered....

The Mauser was a functional weapon so its standards in care were much higher than the tip of something that was possibly found in a pile/drawer/box...

I know how set weapons are handled today compared to yester'year as stunt peices were uncommon as they are standard now. Hell, most of the time an average hero weapon is a stunt peice now a days.
 
Don't forget about "Duo-Lite" Blueing either.
Which wasn't trully a blueing.

Don't know about the first two but these I do.

Carbonia & Charcoal Blueing: Too time consuming to do. Colt did it on the first runs of 1911's for the US Army. Stopped when WWI started as the finish took too long.

Slow Rust Blueing: Again, too slow of a process and not feasible during a wartime setting.

Nitre Blueing: This is often what I call Hot Oven blueing and is the standard for bluing. Most military weapons during WWII were Hot Oven blued. Quick, resilient finishs obtainable in a short amount of time.

True Bluing: ?

Cold blueing: Ineffecient and not really something a firearms manufacturer would do as it isn't as resilient as hot oven blueing.


Reason why the gun, scope and the hider all look different. Well, just by looking at the gun and hte scope, the finish of the metal is a lot more polished then the hider. A cleaner metal (ie: more polished) will result in a darker "blue" bluing that will work on the metal better. More rough the finish of the metal, more "black" the bluing will look and it will be easier to flake off and to tarnish ala: the Black Army pistols of late 1918-1919.
 
I just heard back from the place Drew went to and I was told the only MG81 they have ever seen was in a book, so it wouldnt surprise me that they are not familiar with the flash hider.

I thought he posted they had dummy guns for sale which I was going to purchase without the correct falsh hider..........but they dont :(

Jim
 
Personally, I believe it would have received the same blueing as the MG81 during the war. In WWII Germany, resources would have not been abundant enough to warrant different processes of blueing, they had to get the weapons out of the factory and onto the field or in the air as soon as possible.

I think a matte-blue finish is what was probably used, as for the means of how this is done, I have no idea. The matte-blue makes sense to me because you would not want a reflective surface on a war era gun.

Though I am curious if they would have used different tolerances of blueing for a Flash Suppressor vs an MG. Though, I would imagine it being the same.
 
I asked Martin to comment on the number of MG-81s produced and the finish of the Flash Hiders and this is his reply:



The MG-81z were a fairly rare gun even during WWII with only about 46,000 built. Most were destroyed during the war and there are probably less than 100 complete MG-81's in the world including private collections and museums.

Most dealers and collectors have never even seen one, let alone know anything about the variants. I have 3 complete twin Z's in my collection with 4 variants of the flash hider/booster assembly.

In regard to the finish, most of the flash hiders were painted black, but some were parkerized.




I have talked with Martin via the phone and he is very knowledgeable about MG--81s and I accept his information as fact.


He also explained the reason for the various flash hiders and I will break it down for everyone.

The back half of the part is know as the Booster and it is what creates the back pressure to make the gun operate. There are 2 main version of the boosters, one has internal lugs and the other has external. You depress the locking mechanism and screw the booster in place and then release the locking mechanism to secure it.


MG-81s that were mounted to airplanes normally had just the boosters since there was no reason to suppress the flash of the muzzle.

Some MG-81s were converted for use on the ground so they added the cone which acts as a flash suppressor, a common element on assault machine guns.

These also come in both internal and external locking lugs.


I hope this helps.
 
Excellent info David. So the suppressors were parkerized huh? Just doesn't look like a park finish I'm familiar with. I've also never seen a parkerized Mauser gun before.
 
Excellent info David...

Can't wait to see what comes down the replica pipeline...

I'm soooo kicking myself for selling my HW 3x now....

-Gary
 
I just received confirmation from Martin that he is willing to ship me the parts that I will need to create and accurate blueprint which will lead to an accurate replica.


I'm sure I can do this for $100 or less if I have 30 - 40 people that will commit to buying one or more replicas.

If you are interested and want to be added to the email list for this part send an email to bobadebt@ec.rr.com


DO NOT SEND YOUR INFO TO ME VIA PM



Please put "MG-81 Flash Hider" in the subject line and the following info in the body of the email

Your Forum ID
Full Name
Number of Flash Hiders you are interested in



This is just a preliminary list and if you are on it you will be privy to additional info that I may not have the time to post.
 
"The MG-81z were a fairly rare gun even during WWII with only about 46,000 built. Most were destroyed during the war and there are probably less than 100 complete MG-81's in the world including private collections and museums. "

then:

"MG-81s that were mounted to airplanes normally had just the boosters since there was no reason to suppress the flash of the muzzle.

Some MG-81s were converted for use on the ground so they added the cone which acts as a flash suppressor, a common element on assault machine guns."


So, less than 100 MG-81's probably out there..

but, if they were normally mounted to planes..just with boosters.. how many were converted for use to ground... probably alot less.

however, if the Flash suppressor was an added peice... maybe they are still around out there..... and no one knows what they are for.?

So, the "Could" be out there as a misc peice at say a mil show? With no insight to what it really is/for........???

call it rare, but one might run across one someday without actually having to see a Full MG81 I'd say....
 
So this flash hider was in use on the Solo hero and the Merr-Sonn...

What about the Jawa blaster? Could this be another variant or does the thing just look huge when mounted on a Luger?

Just clearing things up so I know how many to order...

Patrick
 
I need to clear one thing up.

The cone was not added to the booster as a separate part.

The Flash Hiders with cones are one solid piece




The Merr Sonns were made from resin but they did have the MG-81 Flash Suppressors. The Jawa Blaster had the correct Booster but the cone was larger and had 7 holes per row instead of 6
 
I would also be interested in a resin version of this piece for my Merr Sonn and Luke ESB stunt blasters.

If they were cast from a real MG81 supressor that would make the part all the more special.

my .02

Dan Stokes
DDStokes@aol.com
 
I wont know about offering them inexpensivly in rubber or plastic until we know for sure the correct model is indeed local. Maybe by the end of the week we will have it in hand :)
 
If I may make a suggestion: please start the interest threads in the Junkyard, so this thread can remain dedicated to locating, obtaining, and displaying an MG81 suppressor in good condition. Too many "I'm in." and "e-mail sent." posts will just add clutter...

- Gabe
 
If I may make a suggestion: please start the interest threads in the Junkyard, so this thread can remain dedicated to locating, obtaining, and displaying an MG81 suppressor in good condition. Too many "I'm in." and "e-mail sent." posts will just add clutter...
Click to expand...


Yeah, opportunity being what it is.....junkyard it guys. Not here.
 
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