Thought you might like to see the suitcase display cases I take to occasional gun and militaria shows in an attempt to find more goodies for the collection. I refer to them as "bait" as they are used to go fishing for new ordnance.
These were originally assembled about 25 years ago using normal inert grenades, primarily to take to the old Great Western gun show in Los Angeles twice a year. It resulted in lots of good leads and new items for the collection. Sometime in the early 1990s, California passed a law that made possession of empty grenades (that might be reloadable) illegal. It was supposed to be directed at street gang members who were reloading them, but caused a lot of concern among collectors, too.
Rather than stop taking them to the shows, or risk having them seized by the police there, I decided to alter the display by filling the cases with cutaway items. I figured that would remove the possibility of the grenades being reloadable. I never got bothered by the Police again, until the show ended in about 2000. In fact, the cutaways made the display much more interesting to look at, just as BOCN member pzgr 40 always says. I only cut two or three items with all the rest being original factory or arsenal display items.
They are getting a bit tired and in need of some revision so I snapped these pictures at the Reno, Nevada gun show last weekend to remember the old version before I start changing things around. I'm tempted to have everyone guess what all the items are but there are a few that I can't even identify. But feel free to ask about anything that interests you and I'll see if I can fill in the blanks.
Rick
These were originally assembled about 25 years ago using normal inert grenades, primarily to take to the old Great Western gun show in Los Angeles twice a year. It resulted in lots of good leads and new items for the collection. Sometime in the early 1990s, California passed a law that made possession of empty grenades (that might be reloadable) illegal. It was supposed to be directed at street gang members who were reloading them, but caused a lot of concern among collectors, too.
Rather than stop taking them to the shows, or risk having them seized by the police there, I decided to alter the display by filling the cases with cutaway items. I figured that would remove the possibility of the grenades being reloadable. I never got bothered by the Police again, until the show ended in about 2000. In fact, the cutaways made the display much more interesting to look at, just as BOCN member pzgr 40 always says. I only cut two or three items with all the rest being original factory or arsenal display items.
They are getting a bit tired and in need of some revision so I snapped these pictures at the Reno, Nevada gun show last weekend to remember the old version before I start changing things around. I'm tempted to have everyone guess what all the items are but there are a few that I can't even identify. But feel free to ask about anything that interests you and I'll see if I can fill in the blanks.
Rick
