Rasputin

If anyone has some pictures of these modifications for the SLR covers, I'd love to see them.

Thank you. I figured that was the case, but I've never seen a close up picture of these. Does anyone have a few pics I could check out?

I've seen several pictures where it looks like Troops had these. I believe the pics were from Northern Ireland in the 70s and 80s.

Were these made by the Soldiers themselves, or a unit issued item?

As far as I'm aware the marking discs were in use throughout WW1, I've seen a number of WW1 rifles with the disk and my own relic gun retains it.

 

The * doesn't indicate the windage sight, volley sight and cut off were removed, it indicates a change to the pattern that was not worthy of an increase in mark so the MkIII* was made as a MkIII* and was never a MkIII. Some MkIII* were converted to MkIII post war by fitting a cutoff and windage sight but as the stocks had been made differently to the MkIII, the Volley sights were obsolete.

 

Weedon were repairing and checking weapons through WW1 and right after. Thousands passed through Weedon as the weapons were returned to store after being handed in by returning soldiers.

In your opinion, is that "P" nothing more than a poorly struck "R" indicating repaired at Weedon?

This disc is original to the rifle as far as I can tell. I collect mostly German GEW98s, and when the stock discs are messed with, or even replaced, its very easy to tell.

I'm not sure how well it comes out in the picture, but when you look closely at the disc in question, you can see how the wood has swelled around it, and this almost always indicates that its been on the rifle for decades.

Good eye on the stock, I never really noticed that. The * after the III indicates it had the volley sights, and the magazine cutoff removed, so it seems fair to assume that after WWI any SMLE rifles that had this feature were returned to a maintenance shop to be retro fitted.

I'll have another look at the "PW" mark to see if its a poorly struck "R". Thanks for the info!

Found this gem in a local gun shop for $300 OTD. Although it looks really rough, its cleaning up nicer than I expected. Its all matching - receiver, bolt, barrel fore stock, and nose piece, and not marked FTR.

The question I have is the unit disc on the stock. If I'm reading it correctly, it was issued in February, 1920 to the 1st Battalion Leicestershire Regiment, and the rack or weapon number was 74. I'm a little confused as to what the "PW" means, so can anyone shed some light on this? Enough of my ramblings, here are the before pics of the rifle as found:

Thanks for that info! Here is what I tried on the operator level, and slightly beyond:

I removed the gas tube, and inspected...no cracks found. I did however notice the gas tube would move just a bit too much, so I carefully filed down the end that screws into the gasblock, and re-installed. Most of the play went away, but the problem persisted.

I re-checked the gas plug after firing twenty rounds to look for signs of excessive gas leakage...nothing found.

Using drill bits, I checked the size of the gas hole on the block...normal, and no blockage. I could have made a mistake here, but the Smith will check this again.

I measured the diameter of the gas piston, and this was well in spec. I then checked to see if there was any binding with the piston with the spring removed...no problems there.

On of the first things I did was to replace the gas piston spring. The recoil springs were new, properly lubed, and good to go.

When I emailed the Smith about the problem, he said the issue might be with the headspacing. He went on to say that he normally headspaces a little tight to account for the stretching of the receiver over the life of the weapon. I think this may be the issue, and other than the under gassing problem, the rifle is very accurate, and user friendly.

The guy who built this rifle for me is a well respected FAL Smith in the US, but usually works on and builds metric rifles. Inch pattern rifles are not rare, but are uncommon, and are usually built using metric receivers. Mine was built with a proper inch receiver using all British parts that were in excellent or better condition.

I'll be sure and update the progress here when its fixed, as I have to zero the SUIT sight, and I'm sure the former Squaddies that used this type of rifle would like too see how things are progressing, and maybe offer some pointers to the Yank.:laugh:

Just a quick update;

I added a few things to the SLR such as the Hythe Sight, and an extra long buttplate. I started having some serious cycling issues, and the weapon would only run on setting 1 or even 0, so I dropped it off to the Smith that built it to do some tweaks. As soon as I get the old girl back, I'll post some new pictures.

Does anyone know where I can lay my hands on the later style of tritium foresight? I plan on installing one, and re-animating the tritium element.

I really like the first Jumper you have there! There is a company in the States making repros of these, but I have no idea of the quality. The company is "What Price Glory"...anyone have any experience with these guys and said Jumper?

When I came home from Iraq in 2005, I was able to bring back several AK bayonets, and a few other odds and ends, but had to leave my souvenir pistol.

I do have my Grandpa's P-38 pistil he brought home in 1945 though. It shoots great, and he gave it to me before he passed in 2003.

Gary, you need to go buy a lottery ticket. That German Smock is easily worth $4K in that condition.

Thanks again for the insight guys! As soon as the weather gets a little better, I'll post a few pics of the SLR with the modifications I made.

Hythe sight

Correct (for me) XL butt pad

Rack numbers

I'm still looking for the later model Hythe foresight though. I have one of the early models, and understand why the MOD changed them...:-D

The man I bought this from told me the compass pocket was sewn by Jay Jays of Brecon, and had Para wings and a RQMS rank. I have no idea what RQMS is.

I honestly have no idea at all. The only thing I know for sure is that its an SAS Smock. As was pointed out earlier, its likely not from the Regiment because of the patches, but I'm still curious as to who might have been using it.

Its this was used by an RAF Warrant Officer, mabey he was flight crew in a unit that flew missions for the Royal Marines, or the SAS. This might explain the addition of the compass pouch being added to the front. If they were shot or forced down, a compass would have been vital for E&E.

Sorry for the dumb questions, but I'm almost finished with my upgrades to the SLR, and wanted to get as close to authentic as possible.

Thanks for the info!

I don't know how I missed this, but I found this patch on the lower left sleeve of the Smock:

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What is this one for?

Thanks. Right side of the stock for the numbers?

Thanks. White paint then?

I finished the upgrades to my SLR, and was thinking of adding a rack number. Was there a standard method of applying these? example pictures would really be a big help. Thanks!

Pics of the Artic Kit please. I would love to see these parts up close so I know what to look for.

I think it's the arctic sling for the L1A1. I've got one somewhere along with the rubber muzzle cover and securing lanyard. Later versions were in a crappy nylon webbing.

 

Fittings always seem to be rusty on these too, mine is the same!

 

Cheers

 

Paul

I believe you are correct. I'm still trying to find all the pieces for the Arctic Kit for my SLR, and the sling I have is exactly like the one you posted.

According to the original MOD SLR manual, there are two types of Arctic Kit for the rifle...one is for the Army, and one is for the Royal Marines.

I would be interested in seeing a thread on SLR Arctic Kit for you guys that have them. I'm missing a few key pieces, and would love to see some good close up pics.

I measured the Union Jack thats still on the opposite shoulder, and although its close, the size is wrong. I sure wish I had a better idea of what was on the sleeve so I can put the patches back on.

What are TRF patches, and would the jump wings have been subdued?

Now with pics:

Front:

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Rear:

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The owner added what I've been told is a compass pocket. Looks to be professionally done:

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The right sleeve. It had Para wings, a smaller rectangular badge (drop zone as suggested?) and rank:

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On the rear of the right sleeve is the FFD pocket, the sleeve on the left has another pocket. No shoulder seem, and the material looks to be Gabradine to me. I really like this Smock ALOT!

If I were to try and locate the correct patches to sew back on, where would I get them? Also, the DZ patches I looked up were square in shape, but I did find one that was rectangular, and this one was listed as Signals. Thoughts?

What does a DZ patch look like? Also, where is a good source for the patches I need? I'm going to put the missing patches back on.