Nov 112011
 

Seventy years ago, a Spitfire crashed into an Irish bog. It was recently dug up and found to be ina  remarkable state of preservation; one of the main wheels was still inflated. Impressively, one of the Browning machine guns  was cleaned up… and proved perfectly capable of firing.

Neat!

Spitfire redux: The WWII guns firing after 70 years buried in peat

 Posted by at 10:06 am

  2 Responses to “Bog guns”

  1. note the comments for that article. hoplophobia is rampant over there, isn’t it?

    “Firing restored guns such as this for fun is wrong. Guns can be dangerous and should only be used to kill people during wars. They are not toys, and I think it is irresponsible to use them in any way other than that for which they are intended.”

    next time they beg us for guns, say NO.

    • > note the comments for that article.

      Out of hundreds of comments, only a surprisingly few were blatantly hoplophobic. The very first one to pop up was such a comment, but most of the others ere either enthusiastic about the Spitfire, or annoyed that the BBC is covering this news story as opposed to some other news story.

      And as for “over there,” I believe one of “Glacier Girls” ultra-rare prototype 20mm cannon was chopped up by the ATF because… well, I don’t know why for. Presumably to keep such a dangerous implement out of the hands of a dangerous organization like the Smithsonian or Air Force Museum. Hoplophobia is not a problem of “over there,” it is in fact a firmly entrenched official sickness in the US government.

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