History on Clark Street
Published 8:03 pm Tuesday, July 1, 2014
By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer
PELHAM—Located at 113 Clark Street in Pelham, TS Arms is a one-stop shop for first-time buyers, experienced marksmen, hunters and history buffs alike.
“There’s a lot of history here,” Tim Hill said of the collection of weapons, ammunition and artifacts he and TS Arms co-owner Darryl White have displayed at the store.
The main shop features relics from World War I through to the present day and from locations across the world, including tripod gun bases from the beaches of Normandy, German war helmets from World War II, a World War II field desk with the original key and a English MK3 machine gun “still in the packing it came from in 1945,” White said.
TS Arms is also home to a 1938 MG13. One of Germany’s first lightweight machine guns, the MG13 can fire 450 rounds per minute. The MG13 is the shop’s most rare piece, and is one only nine functioning models in the world, Hill explained.
Outside the store room, White and Hill have a Desert Storm-era 1985 five-ton deuce truck and a 1942 Ford jeep, complete with the original tool kit and radio, and a 50-caliber machine gun mounted on top.
Like the historical pieces in the store, both vehicles are fully functional and period correct, White said.
“We’re really big about (accuracy), it has to be correct,” White said. “Every nut and bolt has got to be correct.”
Both from military families, White and Hill have been collecting pieces of military history for years and have built up a network of collectors around the world.
“It’s a tight-knit group,” Hill said.
“There are 30 or 40 of us around the world,” White added. “You have to go around the world to find parts and pieces.”
Visitors to TS Arms “run the gamut” Hill said, but he noted the artifacts have special significance to veterans, “they bring back those memories,” he said.
The items at the 113 Clark Street location are only a part of Hill and White’s extensive and expanding collection, and they have hopes of opening a private museum to display all of their pieces.
Some of their items will be on display during an upcoming July 4 celebration. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. attendees can enjoy free barbecue, see the World War II jeep and an anti-aircraft gun will be on hand to fire simulation shots.
“We try to be as proactive with the community as we can be,” Hill said. “For Memorial Day we did hamburgers and hotdogs, for the Fourth of July, we go a little bigger.”