Hey MCB Smarties, I just got a VM-68 that appears to be NOS or at least used very little as there is zero breech/bolt/hammer wear and the only small scratches I can find are likely from storage, etc. The guy said it was his and he used it back in the day but who knows. That's not really part of the questions, just interesting color 😂
Anyway, I am reasonably familiar with VMs and have owned a handful going back to the late 90s but this one has a few things I have never seen before and was hoping someone could help me place it time-wise, etc. It looks like the serial number is 8408 but I couldn't find anything that broke down serial numbers online.
1. Feedblock is not tapped and doesn't look like it ever had a brass insert in it. I have only seen them setup to take an elbow but maybe this was an option or there is a different way to run this? I seem to remember there being a direct fit elbow or similar to run a hopper a little tighter but that doesn't seem common based on what I can find and would still need a set screw or similar to lock it.
2. Metal siderails!!! As you can see in the picture it has metal rails instead of broken plastic ones. This is pretty exciting to me but I kind of thought that these were only on early PMI-3's or something like that. They are factory marked and in the same condition as the rest so pretty sure they are original.
3. Valve porting looks small. Honestly, I may be off on this one and don't have another one to immeadiately reference but the 12 o'clock port is not as big as some which I think might be a sign of an earlier run? Of course, I feel like a lot of them have been drilled out so maybe I'm just used to seeing that and I'm guessing these are a lot like may older guns where leftovers would get used as found, etc.
4. Anno is... different. This may not be a big deal but the color of the clear anno is much darker than I have personally seen. More of a dark grey or gunmetal than the usual silver/champagne I am used to.
Anyway, mostly curious about the feed block and options with that as I can always drill and tap it but I don't wanna get destructive too fast. Thanks!
Anyway, I am reasonably familiar with VMs and have owned a handful going back to the late 90s but this one has a few things I have never seen before and was hoping someone could help me place it time-wise, etc. It looks like the serial number is 8408 but I couldn't find anything that broke down serial numbers online.
1. Feedblock is not tapped and doesn't look like it ever had a brass insert in it. I have only seen them setup to take an elbow but maybe this was an option or there is a different way to run this? I seem to remember there being a direct fit elbow or similar to run a hopper a little tighter but that doesn't seem common based on what I can find and would still need a set screw or similar to lock it.
2. Metal siderails!!! As you can see in the picture it has metal rails instead of broken plastic ones. This is pretty exciting to me but I kind of thought that these were only on early PMI-3's or something like that. They are factory marked and in the same condition as the rest so pretty sure they are original.
3. Valve porting looks small. Honestly, I may be off on this one and don't have another one to immeadiately reference but the 12 o'clock port is not as big as some which I think might be a sign of an earlier run? Of course, I feel like a lot of them have been drilled out so maybe I'm just used to seeing that and I'm guessing these are a lot like may older guns where leftovers would get used as found, etc.
4. Anno is... different. This may not be a big deal but the color of the clear anno is much darker than I have personally seen. More of a dark grey or gunmetal than the usual silver/champagne I am used to.
Anyway, mostly curious about the feed block and options with that as I can always drill and tap it but I don't wanna get destructive too fast. Thanks!
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