Lightning,
I should be able to help you out with some of the manuals. Are you trying to restore a certain type of turret?
I can't say for sure if the copywrite laws are still valid on these old manuals. However, you can find a lot of them on ebay and other online sites with no problem.
As for parts dealers, there aren't a lot to choose from out there. There are some dealers online like "Warbird Parts" operated by Jay Wisler and "Warbird Relics" operated by Micheal Ryan. Unfortunately, turret parts can be extremely hard to come by. The Martin 250 CE turret parts are still easy to find but if you're looking at restoring a Sperry Upper Turret or ball turret (like me), good luck with finding parts! Many of the turrets were destroyed or scrapped after the war so parts are scarce. The hard part is trying to find a turret project with the main components. I currently have that problem with trying to find ball turret shell components.
Luckily, good ol Albert came along and was able to save that huge turret treasure trove from the smelter. I would encourage you to send him a PM and give him a list of what you're looking for.
John
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