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British 105mm pack howitzers (please help!)


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Hello,my name's Jay. I was hoping to get some advise and expertise from you guys if that's okay? Please forgive me if I have overlooked any etiquette in posting on here. I'm new to this site and have joined for a specific purpose. I tried to write an introduction but the site says this is now no longer an option due to spammers? I have read through some threads and there are some amazing examples of kit on here!

 

 

Here's the thing. I'm a serving soldier in the Royal Artillery in the Larkhill area. My RSM has tasked me to recondition the gate guards for our new camp (Horne Barracks, Larkhill) which are a pair of British 105mm pack howitzers from the 60s, possibly L5s?? The guns are pretty much complete however they have been painted by crow gunners over the years that don't have a clue and have been open to the elements for a good long while and are in need of some TLC, a few parts and some bits to be replaced. I have a very keen interest in this sort of thing (this is why I was dicked to do it as he knows this) and I want to do a good job but I wandered if someone could advise me on how to go about it or maybe put me in touch with someone who has experience in this? I've never done this sort of thing before and my regiment and I would greatly appreciate the help!

 

 

I searched the internet and came across this forum. You guys seem to have a wealth of knowledge here and I would love to hear from someone who may be able to help?

Im sorry I haven't posted any pics with this thread yet, I will endeavour to get some on here tomorrow but in the mean time Thanks for your time and hopefully hear from you soon. Jay

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Hello mate

 

Your first port of call should be Rob Nixon from Catterick, who posts on here as rnixartillery. What he doesnt know about restoring artillery pieces isnt worth knowing! I notice he's not been on for a few weeks so maybe on holiday so I would give it a few days see if he turns up...

 

Cheers

Tim

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Hello mate

 

Your first port of call should be Rob Nixon from Catterick, who posts on here as rnixartillery. What he doesnt know about restoring artillery pieces isnt worth knowing! I notice he's not been on for a few weeks so maybe on holiday so I would give it a few days see if he turns up...

 

Cheers

Tim

 

Thanks Tim! I had read a thread from a few years ago on here of his whereby he had restored one of the exact same pieces I'm looking to try a sort out. I did actually put a post on that thread but I didn't get a reply, I thought it was because it was an old thread etc. I appreciate the tip mate, I'll wait a while and see if he pops up.

 

Regards

jay

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Being in the RA I think your already off to a good start. If you speak to the RA museum, I reckon they will have all the EMERs (or what ever the equivalent is for Heavy stuff) you need plus many of the spare parts and the bonus is it's the RA museum and stuff should be free!!

 

http://firepower.org.uk/

 

Chris, thats a good shout! I'll give them a shout and see what they can do. Top man! Jay

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Chris, thats a good shout! I'll give them a shout and see what they can do. Top man! Jay

 

Hi Easty100

Best place for EMER's would be the REME Musuem at Arborfield, after all they are a REME publication and not issued to users.

Timbo's advice is a good call Rob Nixion knows about all there is to know on Arty. I've worked on Bofors 40/70, 25 Pounders, Light Gun, FH70 and some of the SP Guns like Abbot. Pity I'm now retired from REME and can't help you with the job.

Regards

Artifficer

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Hi Easty100

Best place for EMER's would be the REME Musuem at Arborfield, after all they are a REME publication and not issued to users.

Timbo's advice is a good call Rob Nixion knows about all there is to know on Arty. I've worked on Bofors 40/70, 25 Pounders, Light Gun, FH70 and some of the SP Guns like Abbot. Pity I'm now retired from REME and can't help you with the job.

Regards

Artifficer

 

thanks is for the advice Artifficer. As I'm new to the sight I'm not really sure how to message him directly? Does anyone know him or know how I can do this please? I appreciate the help. I took a few pics of them today so I'm going to try and work out how to get them on this thread haha.

 

Cheers

jay

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Can you tell me what the phrase 'crow gunners' means ?

Thanks

Bob

 

Bob a 'Crow' is a brand spanking new guy that hasn't spent long in the unit. I was just helping describe my frustration as over the years the guns have been painted by them as 's#%t taskings' resulting in the majority of the components being painted shut and solid in layers of thick green paint. :-(

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My RSM wants these re chromed but I don't like the idea. Green would be better but it's his train set! I'll need to remove both the muzzle breaks and source tyres too, these have cracked over the years quite considerably unfortunately.

image.jpg

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Hello Jay

 

A couple of nice L5's you have there to play with ! Yes I have restored a few of these in the past and I currently have one in my collection, a very nice and unusual piece indeed. They are a pretty easy gun to restore, not that many bits to it in comparison but in my experience I find the hardest part of restoring any Artillery piece is taking the thing to pieces without causing damage. What ever you break will have to be fixed and trust me there are very few parts available for this weapon.

DONT TAKE A BIG HAMMER TOO IT ! Plenty of heat will probably be requires to loosed the components if the guns have been stood as Gate Guards, for example I am just coming to the end of my current restoration of an 18 pdr MkV and it took me three full days to remove the Barrel and jacket alone !.

I very much doubt you will get any help from the Artillery Museum regarding parts but as the guns look relatively complete that shouldn't be the issue. If the guns had been regularly serviced you should be able to strip one in ten minutes as you have probably noticed there are no tools required to do this ,its a case of pulling pins and flipping catches.

There are quite a few Aluminium components on the L5 and these are the bits that normally corrode first, I had to have these re-made.

If you need to know the strip down procedure pm me and I will take you through it step by step ,I will send my e-mail address in return .

 

Its a walk in the Park !

 

Rob........................rnixartillery.

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