That is the nicest looking MG42 ive ever seen being sold. The wood, metal is all in good condition. The waffen ampts are there still. The dates, etc. If only I had $42,000.

Looks like fun Harrison. Wish I had the time to get together an American counterpart for you to "war" with. Thanks for sharing. Looking good brother. How much all that gear set you back?

Darryl you ought to move down to Texas. IThey've got a real big US one I beleive its the 34th ID (it's the one that has the "T" on it) Harrison probably knows which one as he probably fights with it.

If you want to see a great reenactment (spelled it right this time) You need to go to one of the major Civil war ones. Usually they have a "BIG" one once a year. I know for a Gettysburg annniversary held at Gettysburg they drew in something in the vicinity of 16,000 reenactors. If you saw the Gettysburg movie those folks were reenactors. We even saw one of our buddies in the flic. I did a big one in Memphis one year, we had about 6,000 and it was a blast. They draw in groups that big easily in Virginia and such for the big shows. As civil war battles were fought with lines of mem firing at each other in fields, it is great for the spectators. We do the period encampments and of course accuracy is stressed right down to how you cook your meals. I kind of feel like Harrison, I did it for me not to entertain folks. I got indignant when someone came up and asked me when the next show would begin....like this was Disneyland or something. Of course, I was polite and pointed out that we were reenactors not actors and these were not shows, that we were being kind in allowing people to observe us.

No problem with the half-tracks, I kind of guessed you wouldn't be running around in millions of dollars worth of kit! A friend of mine found two German Steyr 1500s rotting in a French farmers yard in 1994 during the D Day celebrations (he'd taken his 1940 21/2 ton Jimmy). He was offered them, completely derelict for £50,000. He didn't take them up! If you pay $45,000 for a machine gun, maybe he should have!
The thing about Beltring is it's all armour based, so only 20th Century on. You don't go if you don't want to see SS men! There are guys camping out in the woods all weekend, all authentic gear. Not everyone takes part in the battles, these are just to give Joe public something to gawp at. At the end they get a load of post-war tanks in & go "car crushing" just for fun.
Yes, Hohenstaufen does refer to 9th SS, but I'm not a re-enactor or anything. Being nearly 50, 5'8" with a pot belly & a beard, I wouldn't make a very convincing SS man, LOL. I just started modelling this unit many years ago because they were a semi-conscripted unit who fought mainly in the West, especially Arnhem & Normandy, & were never accused of any war crimes. I figured that would allow an accurate assessment of their fighting capabilities as soldiers without complications. Also I thought the H with the sword through was a cool symbol!

Hohenstaufen does have recorded attrocities. I saw it in a website once, but if you want reference ill shoot you a link (but ill have to find it again). There was only one SS unit with no recorded war crimes. that is the 17.SS "Gotts von Berlingen"
You know you could pull off a herman georing if you shave your beard?? Besides, there are alot of older, over weight men that do reenacting. It encourages them to get slimmer/healthier to put forth into looking better during a reenactment. Luckily I am one of those kids that cant get fat even if I tried.
As far as your buddy, I dont know how much your currency is compared to ours, but $50,000 can get you 2 Czech post war halftracks (already converted).
Also, the 2 halftracks that were in those pics were both in the famous show serious "Band of Brothers".

Thanks other extremely wise, and talented and witty scout for that link. Some nice photos for references there.