War and Peace Revival

[bigduke6]

Sorry to hear that also MkVII, I went Thursday and yesterday, A vast majority of the dealers were not impressed with the customer turn out and blamed the French..... some of them I would blame there prices..., though I did pick up up a few things mainly Binoculars, a nice German bakelite case.... and a SMLE fore-end (thanks Rog for the pointer and good to see you, Dave and Nigel)

Shame we couldn't meet up for longer but time is precious, I spoke to Waren yesterday he only did Thursday sorry to miss him and Hugh, no doubt I,ll bump into Hugh at Brum.
Did introduce myself to Skiprat and spent a longtime looking for Tankhunter but didn't see him, my foot/ankle give out yesterday so called it a day around 1500. The weather had started to change when I was leaving and certainly had changed for the worst when going through London (torrential rain, luckily I came prepared) don't know if it hit the show ?

I can't say the displays etc are as good as Hop farm, plus the vehicles were all over the place, probably would of been better waiting a day and then return fresh and give the ankle a rest.

Still a good day out and Highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Militaria and vehicles etc.

Regarding the traffic (mainly HGV's) this is what the French unions were hoping for with maximum disruption .....and I don't think it will end until the two ex Myferry link ships in calais run out of fuel and the crew starved into submission.

[Roger Payne]

Pete, you articulated what I dared not (y'know; Hippocrytical oath & all that).

[Peter Laidler]

Funny you should say that DRP. I have just written a quick note to Mr Ziprass the Greek PM, with similar advice on managing the booming migrant crisis on his doorstep - or waterfront!

[peregrinvs]

I went on the Wednesday by train, so didn't have any transport issues. It did seem slightly less busy than usual. Picked up various odds and ends including a 1950's green Bren sling and repro Bren foregrip for my recently acquired Mk3.

It's meant to be continuing next year under new ownership, although a return to the Hop Farm doesn't seem to be currently on the cards.

[Peter Laidler]

The repro Bren clip-on the front mounting pin fore-grips which I have seen advertised here there and everywhere are absolutely nothing like that specified in FARELFMod2 of 1952. These were/looked suspiciously like - from the scaled up line drawing of the fitting instruction - modified Mk2 pistol grips bolted through the trough at the forward end of the butt slide with a small anti rotation stop. This anti rotation peg answers why there was always TWO welded up holes in ex jungle Brens.

[bigduke6]

I went on the Wednesday by train

Thats the way to go (unless your after something big such as a bren etc, lumping that round on a train in the Guntrader black bin bag is not a lot fun for the other passengers) a lots changed since Jimmy did the advert "the age of the train" then again before the high speed from St Pancras, one of the trains to Ramsgate/Margate they say was slower than it was in WW11

[skiprat]

Had a very good show.
We managed to sell some old friends that had been to many, many shows with very little haggling.
A DP No4 went to a good home to be used as intended. But there was little intrest in the other de-activated Enfields on the stall.

I found some very rusty Vickers small parts tins and Mk2 Bren cleaning rods but very little other “wholesale “ lots.

Sunday was a disappointment as many of the traders and re-enactors had packed up and left
It was good to put some faces to names

[peregrinvs]

The repro Bren clip-on the front mounting pin fore-grips which I have seen advertised here there and everywhere are absolutely nothing like that specified in FARELFMod2 of 1952. These were/looked suspiciously like - from the scaled up line drawing of the fitting instruction - modified Mk2 pistol grips bolted through the trough at the forward end of the butt slide with a small anti rotation stop. This anti rotation peg answers why there was always TWO welded up holes in ex jungle Brens.

It's the same as this one here:

BREN GUN FRONT GRIP 65.00 : DBG Militaria, Online Shop

Although I didn't pay that much. I was going to put a post on here asking if they are a repro of something that did exist or are a purely modern creation. Very thoughtfully it comes stamped with a faux Enfield ED cypher. I'm currently in the process of staining the very pale Beech grip dark brown to match the other wood.

[peregrinvs]

Thats the way to go (unless your after something big such as a bren etc,

Admittedly the 75mm armour-piercing shot (I have catholic collecting tastes...) made my load more interesting, but fortunately my rucksack was up to the job and I didn't have large amounts of walking to do on the way home.

[Peter Laidler]

The grips did indeed exist and there are late period photos to show just the carrying handle and another with an Owen grip bolted through. But the criteria was that the grip must not foul the operation of the folding bipod in either plane. Hey....., shouldn't this be in the Bren bit?