Did my mag pouch shrink?

[Harlan (Deceased)]

I feel the same way about them Dave.

[JimF4M1s (Deceased)]

Oh well, I certainly will keep all this in mind the next time I buy some dirty old piece of canvas. Previous owner could have shrunk it or I could have. Cost me $12 at the gunshow last month with most of Life's scars shown so fortunately it wasn't an expensive lesson. Live and learn I guess. But this pouch did stretch for me last night and now makes a perfectly functional addition to my CMP rat gun:



Maybe I'll try to restore it. Can't hurt. Learn some more too. Creases I hope will work out with use and maybe some sun might fade the color to uniformity. Hopefully the snap won't scratch my stock. NOT. Don't know what I can do about the ball point pen ink though. Easiest just to leave it. Probably from some sweet heart's present during the mop up days after the war (bayonet not shown) ...

OK I'm outta here. Third problem resolved. Thanks and take care.

CrossedCannons,

As for washing it, don't you think these things ever got rained on when worn over seas? Tropical storms I bet soaked the hell out of some. I'm sure they air dried nicely, I can't see the military issuing new pouches after each rainstorm. Now if you had put it in a dryer, that might have been a bit much.

It shows use, like your rifle does. I think it's a pretty good union.

It had already lost it's collector value when someone wrote on it with ink, so you didn't ruin anything. You only paid $12 for the pouch. Do what you want, experiment and enjoy it. As someone said earlier, I would remove the snap.

When you want a mint one, they are only about $30.

Jim

[phil441]

Yep, as JimF suggests, I'd go ahead and remove the loosened snap and save the stock. It's a good match. If it's pretty much for show I'd leave it on there. It all looks natural.
If you like to shoot your carbine much, I think you'll find a fully loaded "stock" pouch will turn your carbine into a naturally shooting anti-aircraft weapon as it'll want to shoot high. Of course you can always remove it by loosening one screw.
I think you've got a good looking setup there. It looks good to me.....

[Harlan (Deceased)]

You can't put them (or most any other WWII vintage web gear) through a washing machine, even on delicate cycle Jim. I've seen it done before with some of the stuff other re-enactors tried and it wrecks them after surviving 65 years. You probably can't tell as much from the last photo, but the dye washes out and there will be permanent creases and white areas on the creases and they look really bad. It will usually 'pooch up' too and lose it's shape permanently, even if not put through a dryer.

I saw one nice 1928 field pack a guy tried to wash in a machine and it even came apart and the seems all frayed. He said he used a gentle cycle and almost cried when he removed it from the washing machine. He said it was in good shape before, but just had dirt embedded in it and thought it would come clean.

Yes, they can get wet. Like I said, if it really must be washed, use a very mild cleaner like Woolite and soak it gently. I've cleaned a couple of items that way such as very soiled web slings that and just set the pan or bucket near me and swish it around gently every so often while watching TV.
Then rinse carefully with cold water and air dry.

~ Harlan

You're right, another pouch in good condition still runs about $35.

PS, CrossedCannons,
Glad you were able to get it installed on your stock. I agree with all - I think you should go ahead and remove the snap.
It won't hurt the pouch's value at this point, and the snap on those things is the most serious detriment of putting them on an old original stock anyway.
If you leave a pouch on for a long time the snap can even press through duct tape leaving an impression, and it you shoot it much you'll rub the snap against your stock even more.

[Harlan (Deceased)]

Once I bought a new $50 reproduction pair of herringbone twill pants for re-enacting, because my son and I never used any of our 65 year old original clothing in situations where it might tear or otherwise ruin the original clothing.

Of course the new pants looked a brand new OD green when the UPS man dropped them off, so I tried washing them in hot water hoping they'd fade and look worn.
(Wife said the directions said to wash in cold water only and told me not to try it)

I did it anyway, and when I pulled them out of the wash, the color of my $50 pants had changed from olive drab to a true baby crap yellow!

When she saw them, she didn't even say "Told you so!" (It would have been easier on me if she had)

[Bill Ricca]

Fabric items can shrink. Not only will soap and water do it, but water with long periods of time will do it. Remember a lot of WWII items were never Fungus Proofed (Mildew Resistant Treated), so water will get into them.

I have had some pouches that shrunk to the point that the mags would no longer fit. I found old beat up mags, and stretched the pouch after soaking it in water, inserted the magazines and locked the lid closed. I left it that way for two days and once the pouch dried out, the mags fit. I did the same thing with wooden blocks without having the danger of the magazines rusting. A couple of times I oiled the outside of the mags, but it stained the inside of the pouch.

The last 25/30 years I no longer wash anything in a washing machine. Now I wait until I get a large batch and dry clean it. Commercial dry cleaning works perfectly and does not effect the overall color. The items are placed inside a pillow case and tied closed when drying cleaning.

When I find something quite valuable, I might even dry clean it separately. The last item was a carry case for the WWII 2.36 Rocket Launcher Ammunition. It cost me only $10.40 to dry clean it. I always recommend dry cleaning.

Fabric/webbing can shrink.

[CrossedCannons]

I also ended up with a "yellow" ebay repro sling after trying to remove some of its "newness" before I found an original C-tipped sling at the same gun show for $2. Maybe I'll post it in another thread.



Thank you Mr. Ricca for your comments. i just didn't expect such an "experienced" item which almost certainly encountered water at least once in its life would still shrink. Once washed, my jeans don't really shrink much. So the phenomenon and the fact that I don't really know these items (it doesn't say 30 caliber anywhere on it) just raised some doubts in my mind as to my purchase.

FWIW, I think the lesson I learned here is to use some type of stretcher to prevent shrinkage when drying if fit is a real issue. Maybe if I dry it on my stock with your idea of using wood blocks for mags its fit will actually improve. Probably how it was done originally by the real end users (but with steel mags). Hmmmm ...

Thanks guys.

[JimF4M1s (Deceased)]

You can't put them (or most any other WWII vintage web gear) through a washing machine, even on delicate cycle Jim.

Harlan,

I never said to wash it in a machine. I have never done that. I said as for washing it. Because I know my stuff got wet in Viet Nam. We just laid it out in the sun when the rain stopped.

I was just being a wise guy saying Now if you had put it in a dryer, that might have been a bit much.

Because most of my web gear is in very nice shape, I hadn't thought of Bill's dry cleaning idea. That now might make me buy something I would have passed on before. Thanks Bill.

My point was that it was not collectible and he would not lose much if it didn't work out.

Jim

[INLAND44]

' dry clean it'

This is it. Never wash an old piece of web gear. I usually dry clean stuff myself if I feel like it has to be done by 'washing' it in dry-cleaning solvent like Naptha.

[phil441]

' dry clean it'

This is it. Never wash an old piece of web gear. I usually dry clean stuff myself if I feel like it has to be done by 'washing' it in dry-cleaning solvent like Naptha.

So you do your own "dry cleaning"? Or did I mis-read your post? As I seem prone to do.....
Never tried it myself.
Any tips and tricks to dealing with dry-cleaning with Naptha to share?

Thanks