ArtistsRifles

Just learnt the rest of the gang are away all weekend at a show so it be solo working again. Some of the jobs I wanted to look at - such as the spare wheel mechanism and the engine cut-off will have to be shelved as a second pair of hands are needed for them. Might have a chance to get the tail gate down and have a look inside the accommodation if I'm lucky but priority will be to: Cut the old padlocks off, so that the lockers can be opened, derusted and painted internally before kit is put in them (must get another jerry can at W&P. Get the vacuum cleaner working in the cab so that I am not crawling through a nest of spiders webs every time I want to do something. Get some air in that O/S front tyre Get the outside pressure washed off if possible (depends on whether or not the genny is up to the job - and whether or not the hose will reach from the nearest tap - fingers crossed.) So hopefully a busy day - and will have to take a flask of coffee too. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Are you sure it's no longer edible?? In the mid seventies we were eating packs dated late 50's

Oh dear!! I just have the three - tool locker, jerry can stowage and oil can stowage. So much simpler with a Mk 1 GS Good news today - I FINALLY got the generator to work!!! :-) So all is good for tomorrow :-) Rangie is loaded up read to go - jet wash, hose reel, vacuum cleaner, angle grinder, mole grips, step ladder, hose reel. Might throw in a small compressor too if it can reach 60 PS!.

Also one of these: http://www.paddockspares.com/336351-axe-r-plate.html

10?? :wow: :wow: Gawd I thought 3 or 4 (Landie) was bad enough Luckily the bigger lockers on the Mk 1 are T-Keyed

I haven't seen a 10 man pack in 30+ years For ease I've been getting the 10 x 1 man pack boxes from evilbay for use at shows. - saves taking fresh food other than maybe bread. First box i got were late 80's and were very good - had Biscuits AB, Biscuits Fruit AB, Oatmeal Blocks and Yorkie bars in them with a nice selection of meals. Last box I got was a more recent issue - most of the good stuff was gone - breakfasts were replaced by friggin muesli for gods sake!!

http://blog.davide-pedersoli.com/muzzle-loaders-endangered-by-the-eu-press-release-by-face/

Wish I was going - still got the old P38 can opener on my key ring!! :-) :-)

Many thanks kind sir - I will have a closer look at the inside of the passenger door on Saturday. I will also take a brush with me in case the genny decides to refuse to work again as that side is a mess of spider webs. :wow: I got the padlocks from the manufacturers - actually cheaper than getting them from evilbay and you can order keyed alike rather than having to work through a batch of keys to find the right one. Their website is: http://www.squirepadlocks.co.uk/squire-padlocks/old-english-padlocks.html

At a guess the shovel brackets have their positions reversed at some time. Measure the heights to verify the shovel will fit if they are swapped and if thats the case just drill out the rivets and re-rivet into the correct place. What you call the "axe" is actually the head of the pick axe. If memory serves correctly the handle is secured across the hard top above the rear door as in this image: No idea what bracket 3 is for - perhaps a 3rd strap for the shovel handle:

Thanks Iain. :cheesy: Lets also hope its not a repeat of today's weather - thunder, lightning and everything under a half inch of water!!

What body version is the Militant??

You've got 3 unopened tins of oatmeal blocks - my god man - you are RICH!! If you ever want to share the wealth you know where to find us Biscuits AB - I loved. either on their own or with the tins of meat paste that used to come in the packs. Spent many happy hours using the army issued clasp knife digging paste out of the tins and spreading it on the biscuits whilst on watch. Biscuits Fruit AB - as Tony said, Garibaldi's on steroids - delicious!!. Invariably there was a lot of horse trading going on as different people liked differing things. I would swap the jam and the gum for the Biscuits Fruit or Babys Head whilst my mate would have sold his soul for the tins of burger and beans. The 10 man packs - our Regimental Cook would have a No.1 burner going with - ISTR- 4 dixies on the grid. 2 of rice and 2 in which EVERYTHING (and I do mean everything!!) from the 10-man packs was emptied into followed by a tub of carry powder. And you could always tell which of the assistant cooks was out of favour on the day - he would be the one with no eyebrows and singed hair. :cheesy: :cheesy:

Hopefully nothing will stop me getting over there this Saturday and I can have a closer look. Another parts delivery today - a small thing but important in the scale of things - a set of 3 keyed alike Squire 220's to replace the ones on the vehicle that have rusted solid. Once I get the genny running i can use the 4" grinder to slice the old ones off.

The packs I remember for the 70's had the oatmeal blocks in a green foil bag, same as the biscuits AB and the tea mix was in white paper sachets inside a plastic bag with the salt, pepper, sugar etc.

Thanks for the correction Mike. Leaving the bulk of the politics aside it is grossly unfair that our standards have had to be replaced with the drivel currently published by the Home Office - BEFORE the EU has even reviewed the Rapportuers papers and voted on the proposals. As has been stated elsewhere - both the Proof Houses and NABIS have said these new standards are unworkable as regards certification unless the Proof Houses actually carries out the deactivation work - and that ain't gonna happen!! As regards the magazines the question no one has answered yet is how the hell do you weld polymer magazines into steel receivers?? For starters the AK range uses both Bakelite and Polymer magazines - neither of which are weldable!

Look like they are from the ration packs from the 1950s/60s. Probably the individual ones as I seem to recall the 10 man ones had the brew packs labelled accordingly.

Still no joy with the genny - so tomorrow I am going to try a new spark plug as it's been suggested the OEM plugs are, basically, crap. Hopefully that will sort it. I'm kind of stuffed at the moment days wise as i only get Saturdays (when no one else has decided to go out) - one of our dogs is 15 and has failing kidneys so the vet has fitted a Foley catheter and he has to be drained by syringe ever 3 hours or so. The OH always goes out for 3 or 4 hours on a Sunday and I can never guarantee the daughter Mk 1 will be home so I have to be here to do the deed. So Sunday becomes another Landie/UAZ day. Sooo frustrating with all that I want to get done on the Militant!! Made the most of the good weather today though - got the 24v heater blower bolted into the FFR landie and the heater matrix then the air inlet to the matrix reshaped sufficiently to get the connecting ducting on to it. However - Muprhys law then engaged full bore and I am finding it impossible to get the ducting over the outlet from the fan - its under the wing and to say space is tight would be an understatement. Got a nasty feeling I am going to have to unbolt the blower again and fit the duct to it then go through the struggle of getting the holes to line up up again On the positive side I have 3 keyed alike Squire 220's on order from Squire to replace the badly corroded one on the vehicle which need to be cut off and they should be here by next weekend. Also an airline so if it fits the adapter on the Militant I can get the front tyre back up to pressure. Quick quetion - the passenger door - is there an internal lock on the door handle? Everything I've tried will not open the door and as there is a key lock on the drivers door it seems logical there must be a way of securing the passenger one - but I am damned if I can remember if there is and if so - how it works!!!

Another lost weekend!! No idea how I did it - but Friday night I managed to catch some sort of bug of the kind that involves throwing up for about quarter of an hour. By the time it had passed I had managed to severely wrench my right thumb leaving my fight hand useless and in considerable pain Its now the early hours of Sunday morning and it's just starting to become useable again - now way can I climb up in the cab let alone grip anything. This thing with lost weekends is really starting to pee me off

By Western standards the Hebdo weapons were not deacs - they were Slovakian and just had pinned barrels to allow blanks to be used for film work I forget the description now - but "sonic rifles" keeps coming to mind. The media, not being ones to allow truth to come before a good story, latched onto the word deactivated without bothering to research what the term actually meant in most Western countries and the UK in particular. Had they bothered to do their research properly all would have been made plain to the public. Sadly it seems you will not be taking a Bren any more unless it is the latest EU all welded spec. The WW1 guys going over to the Somme cannot take their weapons - the Home Office are reported to have refused to grant them an exemption for the Somme 100th events.

Haven't seen a physical one yet - but the Home Office have finally got off their lazy arses and issued the standards required now: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/deactivated-firearms-implementing-regulation-eu-20152403

Concurred. 24v battery box between the front seats but no shunt box behind it. and what the hell is that engine?? 200 TDi?? The shot of the data plate apart from showing a civilian data plate for an 88" also has the holes where the military sized plate used to be.

And if crossing rails - either remove the aerials or make sure the rail company has the power turned off to the overhead catenaries (sp?). There was an incident in Germany in the late Seventies when a US unit went to cross a rail track and neither precaution was taken..... :(

Looks like a fun weekend - hopefully next year we'll be able to join you

We now have working brakes again - had to give up and put her into a garage to get the air out. As the MoT was due in a weeks time I got that done at the same time - she passed with no advisories even! First time for that. Today as I was stuck at home on dog sitting duties I thought i would do - what I thought would be - the simple job of fitting the heater fan. Cue cynical laughter. To get access the spare had to come off, the bonnet stay disconnected and the hood propped upright. Having had experience in the past I lashed it back with para-cord to the rear rear hitch then unbolted the heter matrix and propped it up out of the way whilst I fitted the fan. Unbeknownst to me the local moron kids thought it was a good lark to undo the para-cord from the hitch and whilst I was trying to work out how the fan went in the wind gusted and dropped the bonnet both on my head and onto the heater matrix. To say I was - and am - pissed is an understatement :mad: :mad: So now I have to work out how to reform the damaged area so the air ducting can be fitted. Getting the fan lined up with the holes in the bulk head caused more problems - as you can see in the photo below - there is an armoured cable that runs across where the fan/air seal should sit. Anyone know if that cable is in the right position or if it should be running back down at the rear of the front wing?? Moving the cable aside for a while - if the fan lines up with the holes in the bulkhead then it is sitting right under the wing - is that correct? Hard to find photos of the fan mounted on a FFR 109". So much for the "easy job"!!