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Watch out for these fake law rocket

Good that you noticed it. This is the company that used to be Big Sky Surplus. The guy that runs it has fake dummy fuzes turned out on a lathe somewhere to fit the 57mm recoilless, and 2.75 inch rockets. In the old days, he would dip small arms ammo in different colors of paint and sell his creations as "collector ammo". I cautioned Dano about buying his dummy fuzes a year or two ago. He used to have RPG-2 rockets that were partial fakes also. He has been seen at the Phoenix SAR show in past years.
 
any idea where he is located and what his back ground is (EOD?). Was going through his site, was wondering where he got most of the items lited. I didn't notice any items that seemed fake off hand, other then the LAW - but it is a nice job just shouldn't be listed as a real item inerted
 
He has been located in Northern Idaho, in a few locations like Spokane Washington, and across Idaho into Montana. He is definitely not EOD. He mixes and matches wrong projectiles, cases, and fuzes all the time. He buys the stuff in quantity from Surplus sellers. If he gets something that he hasn't seen before, he sticks an outrageous price on it like $1,000.00 to $2,000.00. Unfortunately, every now and then he will get a newbie Ordnance buyer who doesn't know any better, and will pay the outrageous price, thinking he is getting something rare. Unfortunately, this just encourages the seller to continue with the same practice.
 
Hell, I don't even think he is a vet, and he doesn't seem disabled other than mental. I'm still trying to figure out if he is as dumb as he seems, or if it is all an act. I've told him how his mismatched stuff doesn't go together, and he pays attention, but he doesn't fix it, and he always seems to be ignorant about things. I've know the guy for 30 years.
 
I have seen many people wo started trading such stuff and their morale went lower and lower to finally reach the ground zero. No surprise what I read here.
 
Well, as far as I know, he isn't a collector. He just preys on collectors.
 
Well I did not limit it to collectors but as we know some become dealers somewhen...
 
Dang it man....

Is it just me Hazord, or do you seem to be a bit frustrated with the former Big Sky Surplus gentleman?

In regards to collectors, what dealers (with the exception of a rare few) do not prey on them?

After my decade worth of dealer interactions, I would enthusiastically place the Big Sky Surplus cat high at the top of my list of positive experiences. I have purchased from the man at the Knob Creek machine gun shoot every time I have been there, and I look forward to doing business with him come October.

I don't know where the likes of who would frown upon the man in question acquire their items, but your's truely rarley stumbles upon luxurys. Weekend to weekend, I am out pounding the midwest's and east coast's antique malls, flea markets and whatever roadside establishment possess a miniscule semblance of promise to find anything ordnance related.

After spending all day and $60.00 in gas to drive to a venue, only to be presented with a 40mm Bofors projectile, marked with a ludicrous price of $175.00; or a 75mm MK1 shrapnel shell, begging to be given away for $400.00; you may come to appreciate the likes of Big Sky Surplus.
 
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Hmmmm. Interesting post that this is turning into. This started out as a caution to collectors regarding a very obvious conterfeit fake overpriced imitation piece of ordnance. If you peruse the seller-in-question's bill of fare:

http://www.cdvs.us/JULYAUGUST-SPECIALS-C225.aspx

You will find a whole catalog of faked, pieced together, overpriced ordnance. How about the 5 inch Zuni for $400.00 with the wrong fuze and a bullet hole in the warhead? Here is a real classic, an aluminum 75mm howitzer case (maybe) with a 76mm Walker bulldog HE projectile in it, and advertised as a 75mm howitzer round?

http://www.cdvs.us/75mm-Howitzer-inert-Aluminum-case-dummy-round-with-inert-nose-fuse-P1387.aspx

You will also notice that there are no detailed descriptions of the items, especially the part of the description that would tell you that there are torch cuts in the projos to demill them, that the "fuzes" are lathe turned solid aluminum plugs, etc. etc..

There is a huge difference in dealing with collectors who actually know what they have and are honest and tell you everything you want to know about something, and dealing with scrap dealers who piece demilled crap together and advertise it as something it is not for outrageous prices, and then play dumb when you call bullshit on them. For someone who is getting into collecting, from the outside I can see that this guy might seem like a great resource, but that doesn't make it OK for him to misrepresent his sale items and screw people. I've known him and seen him at gun and militaria shows for 30 years. I have corrected him every time I have seen him, on how he has things mismatched and incorrectly labeled. He plays dumb and never changes or fixes the problem. And now, the SCAM continues with the renaming of the company "Combat Disabled Veterans Surplus". I'm going to make some phone calls tomorrow to confirm this little detail, because I know other people that know him, and he is younger than me and I've never known him to be in the military in the 30 years I've known him.

And, yes, DEADLINE222 I am frustrated with Bob, because he is screwing everyone that buys this faked, conterfeit, overpriced junk. Yes, I have purchased things from him over the years, and because he is only a few hundred miles North of me, I have seen him a lot over my 40 years of collecting. I consider ordnance collectors my Brothers and don't like to see them getting screwed, especially when the person pimping the ordnance is constantly reminded of how his descriptions and creations are incorrect, demilled, torchcut, etc.. If you are happy with your purchases, great! I'm thinking you might want to post some photos of the things you have purchased from Bob, along with how they were described, and maybe we can find some discrepencies that might sway your opinion a bit.

My writings on this post were intended to continually confirm what Ordman basically said at the beginning, "Let the buyer beware!"
 
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I stopped collecting years ago, but when I was collecting I bypassed operations like his becasue it was obvious from their listings that they ahd no idea what they were trying to sell. Once I also went to buy a collection of Soviet fuzes, from the pics looked like a real prie. But when I got there they all turned ouot to be the molded platic one the Army turned out in the mid to late 80s for EOD training.

sorry just look at the catalog, he has no idea what he is selling and the prices - even as a newby collector I'd pass

An if this guy is not a disabled vet, then he just presented me with another war to fight. FYI my small business if a certified disabled vet owned business, yes there are steps to get this classification just like native american, minority or women owned. And the best part it is illegal to represent business as a disabled vet (may only apply to government contracts I need to check).
 
I'm thinking you might want to post some photos of the things you have purchased from Bob, along with how they were described, and maybe we can find some discrepencies that might sway your opinion a bit.

I have purchased a few demilled 40mm Bofors projectiles, several 2.75" rocket motors and warheards; a demilled 152mm projectile and various other smalls that have slipped my mind.

Understand: Despite having several pieces that would make the proprietor of the world's greatest inert ordnance collector fervently foam at the mouth, I am still a noob -a bottom feeding noob at that.

I take what I can get; whenever and from wherever I can. I love inert ordnance. It keeps me awake at night, and often steals my attention from my ultra-hot lady-friend. As a restorer, I simply do not care what condition a piece is in, or if the piece is a hybrid. Finding the right combination of parts is part of the learning process, and the thrill of the hunt.

Campared to most of you guys, I am a day trader. I cannot aford fancy fuzes or 99.9% of anything out there that was not made in a United States arsenal. I suppose I could save my money for some of those jem-mint, unadulterated, one of a kind specimens out there? But I like to stay busy on the weekends. And saving money is not my idea of a good time.


I agree with you Hazord, and I hear you loud and clear. But as long as my purchase is not a direct facsimile, I simply do not care as much as you do.

I take what I can get.
 
We all take what we can get, and make it work. I understand the craving for Ordnance and not having an unlimited supply of cash. That doesn't make a scumbag selling the item any less of a scumbag.
 
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