Review by Jim Dickson
John Baum is most famous for his translations of Gothic script German Army manuals but he recently uncovered some very rare and important US Army manuals from Rock Island Arsenal. They were well worn and soiled and he spent up to 45 minutes per page restoring the pages. The manual on the M1919A4 took 10 days to bring up to standards. It was worth it because they are a rare treasure trove of information that would otherwise be lost to future generations. They are all 8½” X 11” and well-illustrated with line drawings and photographs.
One of the most important is the 178-page Rebuild Standards for Small Arms Material covering the .30 Carbine, Garand Rifle, BAR, Pistols and Revolvers, .22 Rifles, Shotguns, .30 and .50 caliber Machine Guns, Bayonets, Rocket & Grenade Launchers, Web & Leather Equipment. For anyone inspecting, repairing, or rebuilding any of the items covered in this book possession of this manual is vital. With it you have the combined knowledge and experience of the US Army Ordnance Corps. Without it you are starting from square one. Big difference! All that for $22 which includes shipping.
The 36-page Base Shop Data manual for the Thompson M1928A1 covers complete detail stripping and reassembly of this gun down to the smallest part. This would be of enormous help if you ever have to take this gun, or part of it, apart and then put it back together again. It also gives you a much clearer picture of the gun and how it works. It’s price is $8. Not much for information so valuable that the manual was stamped “RESTRICTED” in 1943.
For M1 Garand owners the 34-page Base Shop manual covering the complete disassembly and reassembly of the M1 rifle is also reprinted here. I don’t like to take guns apart without a manual to guide me. Some of them can be tricky. For only $9 I don’t see how an M1 Garand owner would want to be without this. If you ever have to go beyond field stripping the gun you are going to need this one bad.
Overhauling a worn machinegun is always important and there is a 68-page Base Shop Data manual for overhauling the M1917A1 Browning water-cooled machinegun. You have clear instructions for dismantling, overhauling, and reassembly. The Browning machineguns are not as long lived and trouble-free as the earlier Maxim machineguns and anyone owning one of these that plans to do much shooting is going to need this manual. Considering the going price of a M1917A1 today the $13 for this overhaul manual seems like pocket change.
The more common air cooled Browning M1919A4 also has it’s 88-page Base Shop Data Overhaul manual. This one was a beast to restore taking 10 full working days to produce a copy looking like new. It is priced at $15 and worth every penny of it. As one WWII officer said “When working with machineguns you have to know everything about every part in them.”
In the near future there will be an overhaul manual for the BAR. Restoring the original takes time.
The world owes John Baum thanks for saving this vital information and making it available to the public. They are available from him at: John A. Baum, 5678 State Route 45, Lisbon, Ohio 44432; email:
John@GermanManuals.com.
