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5.5" gun...many questions


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Morning Gents,

Is there a knowledgable person or maybe even a 5.5 owner out there who might be prepared to lead me by the hand through a number of questions & queries on the beast please ?:blush:

 

Master patterns are virtually completed for our 1/24th kit now but I could do with some extra info on a few things before it goes for casting. Especially on the make up of the ammo, & details on CES stowage.

 

Things like.....

Is there a definative method of easily identifying marks of gun....I've seen flared & straight muzzles for example:undecided:

 

On the stowage its things like what is stowed where & how this might vary from mark to mark

 

On the ammo I just want to make sure I'm understanding it correctly & wanted to ask about how the shells & bag charges are stored, box size, qty per box & things like that.

 

If anyone could help out I'd be eternally grateful...we could do this offline if anyone can help out. kfs1@btinternet.com

 

Thanks in advance guys.

Howard @ KFS

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Hello again chaps......it appears there are no takers for the above:cry:

 

So can I just throw open a question please, about a specific point on ammo carriage/storage for the 5.5" in the hope someone will know & can enlighten me.........

 

My reprinted handbook (1941) for the 5.5 inch states in the general description page 102 "Shell are issued plugged & unboxed". Does this mean literally that ?...i.e 5.5" shells are not carried or stored in traditional ammo boxes ? Sounds a bit odd.

 

Further reading suggests they are filled with Amatol at some point in the field (presumably in a rear area) & not as I assumed, in an ammunition factory, again this sounds rather odd. Are the shells then boxed after filling ? (visions of a pile of unboxed cylindrical shells sliding & rolling about in the back of a gun tractor)

 

I would have thought the filled shell & its fuse (detached for fitting before firing) would be box packed at the factory & virtually ready to use.

 

Can anyone shed any light on it please:confused:

 

Best regs........Howard @ KFS

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Howard,

 

Attached are a few pics,one of some 5.5 rounds in transport crates which are in a friends private collection.

The projectiles were stored and transported in ammuntion boxes along with the charges as some pictures show.

As you will already know the projectiles were fired from a bag charge.

 

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

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Many thanks for those Rob.

 

That has answered several conundrums & the pictures actually offer more info on stores stowage too. So thanks for those also.

 

Re the bag charge, yes I was fairly happy with that side of it & the tubes/containers they came in. It was the shell store/transport thing that had me well confused.

 

Regards.........Howard @ KFS

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Many thanks again Rob,:thanx:

 

Pictures confirm 3 different forms of boxing involved......including the long slender steel box, one which I was curious about.

 

I can also see the rarely seen 'Box No4 Stores' on the left trail leg of one gun & the bottom picture shows a spade & a shovel...both listed as carried stores in my book but rarely ever seen in a photo.

 

I'll bet that lot was a sight to behold when they all let rip at once.:cool2:

 

Best Regs.

Howard @ KFS

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Hi Howard, Not sure if these are of any help. Firstly some images of the 5.5

 

http://www.42regt.com/guns/55.html

 

And secondly some images of the Leyland Martian tractor that pulled it which I just put up.

 

http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?29704-Gallery-Leyland-Martian-Artillery-Tractor-%28FV1103%29-in-service-with-42nd-Regiment-RA&p=303259#post303259

 

Cheers, Duncan

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Cracking set of pics Duncan, cheers.

 

Stamped another couple of confirmations with those, many thanks.....i.e the two reflector brackets on the front of the carriage. I'd got pics of the brackets but without the reflectors...this proves what the 3 bolt holes are for.

Good pic of the handspikes in use also.

 

Smashing set of Martian pics too........I like how the Martian dwarfs the 5.5. :cool2:

 

Thanks again.....crackin.:thanx:

H

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Quote;- Could it be sowing the seed of thought for your next model? The Martian to go with the howitzer....

 

So many great subjects to choose from so little money, & so little life left to do them all !

 

Martian is quite high on the list, but then so is the 432, 434, Antar & trailer, Conqueror, Bedford RL, Humber 1 Ton, Saxon, Militant Mk1, 2 Land Rovers & a 105 light gun ........its a very top heavy list:D:D

 

If only the wife would stop picking the wrong lottery numbers. Its all her fault.

 

H

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  • 1 year later...
Quote;- Could it be sowing the seed of thought for your next model? The Martian to go with the howitzer....

 

So many great subjects to choose from so little money, & so little life left to do them all !

 

Martian is quite high on the list, but then so is the 432, 434, Antar & trailer, Conqueror, Bedford RL, Humber 1 Ton, Saxon, Militant Mk1, 2 Land Rovers & a 105 light gun ........its a very top heavy list:D:D

 

If only the wife would stop picking the wrong lottery numbers. Its all her fault.

 

H

Bit late, Thought you might like a photo of my 5.5.image.jpg

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  • 3 months later...
Waouuuu !!!

 

Such beast.

 

Originally, the scammell is the tractor of this gun or it's Matador ?

 

Cheers

Hi, the matador is the 5.5 gun tractor, the Scammell was the gun tractor for the 7.2 on the old 8" carriage and a variety of pre war guns, The 5.5 was the only gun I could find as the majority of 7.2s were given to the Indian army after the war. I do have ammunition boxes, drill round bag charges, dummy shell and a couple of fuses along with most of the equipment strapped to the gun if that is any help.

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Hi, the matador is the 5.5 gun tractor, the Scammell was the gun tractor for the 7.2 on the old 8" carriage and a variety of pre war guns, The 5.5 was the only gun I could find as the majority of 7.2s were given to the Indian army after the war. I do have ammunition boxes, drill round bag charges, dummy shell and a couple of fuses along with most of the equipment strapped to the gun if that is any help.

 

You should have a word with Firepower at Woolwich they have one rusting awat in the back:-(

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  • 3 weeks later...

"Shell are issued plugged & unboxed"

 

Means exactly that. Carts were boxed, fuzes were boxed, shells were plugged and delivered loose, US used a plug with a lifting eye, IIRC UK used a flat plug. May also have been a protective packaging around the driving band, but I may be getting mixed up with 8 inch on that point. Plugged & unboxed was the normal arrangement for medium and heavy arty ammo before ULCs were introduced with FH70 (and the US adopted pallets).

 

In 1941 the only 5.5 shell was 100lbs, the 80lb appeared a couple of years later.

 

The photo of shells in box is odd, there is a driving band immediately below the ogive, definitely not 80lb and I've fairly sure not 100lb, the length/diameter proportions look odd as well. Something experimental? A 80/100 lb shell was a one man lift, why put them in boxes, one man wasn't going to handle a 160/200+lb box!

 

Incidentally UK used 7.2 in Mk 6 into the 1960s (there were several heavy regts in the 1950s), 14 of these were converted to 8 inch. Macks were the towing vehicles, towing either with a limber or without and suspended.

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  • 7 months later...

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