Farewell the king is forgotten movie that was really good.  I had not heard of it until i saw your post a few day ago.  I'm way late to this discussion, but thank you for pointing it out.   

Thank you for the correction!  My eyes and attention span are on the wane.  I skim too fast.  however, not that i am reading the post correctly, what is an Indochinese paratrooper?  Was this a French sponsored units prior to US taking over war?  My history is lacking here.  I'm familiar with Indochina as a geographic description but not as a political entity fielding troops.  Please help me out when you can.  I'm very interested.  

thank you again for the info!  I'll look for the book.  I have no regrets.  Fires beautifully.  While I'd love to think this is how it came out of the factory - and that possibility exists as you have shown me - I'm happy to have one that is all WW2 parts even if a post-rebuild - a rebuild that would have occurred in the late 40's and no later than early 50's as I understand it.  Could have seen action in Korea War is possibility.    Thank you again! Valuable information!

that's good information!  Thank you!  That confirms what my thoughts on the SKS.  What does Jane's say about early to mid-90's MAK90? which is  another rifle i looked at as cheap but look back now and it looks to me like solid good quality craftsmanship, just like the SKS - both rifles were relatively inexpensive in early 90's.  The Vietnamese used the sks to great effect during the war. 

Thank you for that!  That makes sense.  The spiked helmut had a good run, but not ideal for combat.  Hindenburg looks good in though! 

This 1939 ek.2 iron cross was found in an attic. The ring is unmarked but the core is magnetic. Can I get your opinion, real wartime? Or post-1945? thanks!!! 

Lets repost this, a better video of the scene actually.      

I went back this morning and bought the helmet for $50 US. I’ve looked all over and can’t find any markings at all anywhere.  Now I need to find a suitable replacement for the cord that holds the liner in.  mikie

The Pickelhaube stopped being issued when the war was still ongoing, like 1918, maybe even earlier in 1917. It still was worn by those who still had them when on leave and what not back in Germany however. With Hindenburg and any other high ranking generals, maybe even colonels, wearing it still in the 1920s was simply a tradition thing, it had nothing to do with it being a Reichewehr issue item

I made a quick Google search on "Suomalainen militaria", "Finish militaria" in Finish. That gave some interesting links:   The first one: https://militaria.fi/ had articles and pictures of Finish militaria.   The second: https://www.huuto.net/osasto/keraily/militaria/204 seemed to be a auction site in Finland.   Use the Google translate button in your browser if you don't understand finish. Just a quick start...   I also searched "suomalaista militariaa käsittelevä kirja" which means "Finish militaria book". That didn't give any reference books on Finish militaria but it produced this link:   https://www.doria.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/173047/Räjähtävää_voimaa_osa1-Janne-Mäkitalo_korj..pdf Which is a pdf-file about WWII in Finland. I have no idea what it says as it is in Finish. Google translate and some patiance probably will give some results.   Best regards Lars    

Lucky to be alive.

I don't know but I would think that it's probably because a lot of what China produces is cheap crap and therfore people would assume that guns produced there would be as well. I have heard that they are tough and reliable, also I have a Jane's infantry weapons book from the 90s and according to it the SKS has a longer barrel then the AK. so it has a slightly higher muzzle volacity and effective range than the AK.