Greetings, Stove Mates, Sweet Bride and I returned home from our out of State work trip, day before yesterday. As always, it's great to be back home, once again! I am sorry to report, however, that I did not find even one small stove on this trip! We had way too much work to do, while in Tucson, and only had a short time to visit one antique store, which only offered the rather poor Butterfly lantern, about which I've already told you. So, sorry to say, but I "got skunked" on this trip, and found no stoves, at all!! HOWEVER..... Upon our arrival home, our Post Box was brimming with mail, and also a few boxes of fun stuff that I'd won on eBay, just before leaving on our trip!! Amongst the fun goodies was a very nice 1937 Primus 51, complete with silent burner, and an early MSR Model G stove!! Here's a shot of the Primus: This stove was complete, even down to the early Primus outer and inner burner caps. I've never seen a Primus 51 with a silent burner, so this one is a treat which I'm happy to add to the collection! Next, was the MSR Model G stove. I have two MSR X-GK stoves, one from just around when the Model G was discontinued, say about 1981, or so, and another, later, one, which is an X-GK II Shaker Jet model. I've seldom seen the earlier stoves, from which the later X-GK's developed. So, I was very tickled to find this one on eBay, and got it for a pretty good price. You can see some of the hallmarks of those early MSR stoves: a blue body on the stove; different type of clips holding on the pan supports; the striker mechanism; a cleaning pin which was made in Sweden was supplied with the early MSR stoves; a sintered brass surge damper, which fits underneath the jet; and two other early features - the simmering plate, which was nothing more than the top of a tin can , and the flat screwdriver, which later became the trademark MSR multi-tool. Neat!! Here, you can see the early, plastic base of the stove, with it's MSR logo, and it's patent information. You can also see that this stove was never lit, beyond the testing it got at the factory, before shipment!!! Cool, indeed!! Another sign that this stove was never used, is the mint condition of it's windscreen and reflector plate. The windscreen is actually stapled together in the front, which may, or may not, be an early factory feature. A shot of the early instruction pages, which came with this stove. The early instructions actually included a date, which helps to place this stove in the MSR scheme of development. Last, this stove came from the eBay seller, with no pump, nor a fuel bottle. Not to worry, however, as I had exactly what I needed, already on hand! Here's a shot of the MSR Model G, with the addition of the proper fuel bottle and pump. So, even though I got "skunked" on finding any stoves on our actual trip, all was not lost! 8) One thing I WILL have to find, though, is a proper jet for the MSR Model G. This stove was missing that item, when it arrived. I've contacted the seller, but expect not much help from that end, though the seller was a very nice person. So, if anyone has an extra jet for an MSR Model G, I'd love to buy it from you, or trade for something that you might need. I tried to install a jet from an X-GK, but it does not fit the Model G, and MSR no longer offers the proper jet for that stove. No matter, though. I will never actually use this stove and it will join the few others in my collection that will remain unfired!! Thanks for reading, and it's outstanding to be back again!! Great, too, to find Ross back amongst us!!!! Ahhhh, life is good!!! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc Mark
Doc Mark, Nice stoves on both fronts. It is too bad that MSR didn't make a metal pump for the stove. It would have made it a little more bullet proof but, it is still a nice item to add to your collection. I still like the brass stoves and your No 51 looks to be a winner also. So you getting skunked was well made up by the mailbox treasures waiting for you. Chuck
Good Morning, Chuck! Great to hear from you! Thanks, also, for the kind words. I agree with you about the "brass stoves" bit, as they do have more of a "soul" than many others. But, I've always wanted one of the early MSR stoves, too, and it's fun to have a predecessor of the X-GK, which is one of my favorite stoves! The MSR "plastic pump issue" is a funny one, too. I never had one tiny bit of trouble with any of my MSR plastic pumps, UNTIL I talked to a guy at REI, who told me that MSR was having a ton of problems with them. The very next week, I had the plastic tabs on one of those pumps break right off!!!! The REI gent had told me that REI had been replacing any of the older pumps with new ones, if you had a sales receipt, and the purchase had been in the last year, or so. So, I dug out an old receipt, and took my broken pump to the same gent, who, good as his word, replaced it with a new one!! Unfortunately, that program is now over, or I'd take a few more pumps in and BEG!! But, I agree with you about the plastic, and like the metal pumps on my Optimus Nova and Explorer, MUCH better than the MSR pumps!! Now that one of the plastic pumps has broken on me, I no longer trust them as much as I once did!! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc Mark
