Rick, I do wish that were the case, but no. Much more unremarkable, sadly. The barrel is one item I dare not use an original. Such a purchase would have both Rob and I on several countries terrorist watch lists. That's something I would like to avoid, so I will be sticking with my pale imitation.
That said, if anybody has carriage or cradle for sale, PLEASE CONTACT ME! Those items would be a huge boost to the build. I missed a genuine, good condition, platform on ebay once, because i considered the southern state it was located in, to be too far to travel to get it. That is a mistake I would not make again.
Once the sight assembly is done, the next job will be the creation of the hand spike mechanisms x3.
My most recent purchase was the above items. Quite rare items they would be too.
They are bigger, and heavier, than they look. You push the pedal down.....and the pawl raises up, allowing the withdrawl of the hand spikes from the tapered socket it locks into. Take a look at the next post to see what occurs if massive force is applied to one of these pedals without the pawl having freedom of movement.