A5/B4 scope also Evans Bros's WW1 scope mounts

[Roger Payne]

Had another go at some photo's....

[Roger Payne]

and a few more.

Ian, the Evans rifle is shown in this posting; with the twin mount bases & the scope missing. The scope for it is shown in the last but one photograph.

[Roger Payne]

Hope it will be legible, but can you make out the initials written on the Model 1918 scope case?

The Watts scope with Purdey mounts is not mine - it belongs to a friend who was kind enough to loan it to me.

The Jeffery came with civvy range drum, but there is a military example shown by it (though probably too far away to discern any major details).

I at first thought the purple writing in the lid of the Aldis H&H scope case might have been faked, but I now seriously doubt it - a little research revealed that it was a popular colour of ink to write in a century ago.

...........& yes, that is a piece of 1" mild steel rod in the rings of the SMLE Aldis Overbore rifle. As you can no doubt guess, it's a reconstruction job in progress, although I do have a nice 4th pattern Aldis selected for it.

Thanks Rob - re the HBSA journals, I was thinking about people who may like to see them but who perhaps are not members or did not know about the association.

Hope people find the pics of some interest.

[henry r]

roger, have you ever considered adopting? if so i'm 41, housetrained and like old guns.

[Brian B]

Simply amazing!! You have no idea how jealous I am looking at that impressive collection!!

Thanks for sharing.

Brian B

[Roger Payne]

Thanks chaps. I've just been collecting since I was a teenager & I'm 58 tomorrow........have just slowly amassed it over a very long time.
Hadn't considered adopting but my wife would sell it all in a flash for any reasonable offer!

Incidentally, has anybody yet noticed the significance of the initials on the scope case for the No3 (T)? It says.......'EGBR'. Ring any bells anyone?

Ian, would you be in a position to let us see some photo's of your scope(s)? I'd be fascinated to see.....

[Promo]

Hey Roger, I might not be the right person to determine the initials on the scope pouch, but some other questions:
- why are the two checkered spring depressors on the PPCo snipers differently shaped and differently checkered? Are there different variants for different periods?
- why do the two H&H scopes feature different rear scope rings? While one has the notch towards the front, the other one has it towards the rear
- The SMLE rifle with the H&H mount does not have the rear handguard. Is this usual for these snipers, or is it only missing for the pictures? I'm mainly asking because the handguard for the Purdey mount is perfectly inletted.

[Roger Payne]

Good questions!
The photo of the two PPCo SMLE's I took to illustrate exactly this - I have noticed two distinct minor variations in the bases - one with the smaller thumb catch & the squared off front lower corner, & the one with the larger thumb catch & the rounded front bottom corner. There are also considerable variations in the checkering of the catch, which I guess was probably done by hand.

What I didn''t mention is that one of the two H&H mounted scopes is a military example but which was modified to fit a Lee Speed in an over bore configuration, hence the differences in the rings, although even in the military configuration there are minor differences in the contour of the front ring 'leg'. No doubt there are other differences too......I can only mention what I have noticed.

There is no guard on the Aldis H&H SMLE because that is the rifle I rebuilt from genuine parts (featured on the Restorer's Corner a few pages back), & I still haven't got round to fitting the guard! From the few original rifles or photo's thereof that I've seen, there seem to be variants even in this, or it is missing altogether.

ATB

[mike1967]

'EGBR'. Ring any bells anyone?

Mr Reynolds himself?

[Roger Payne]

Well Mike, I'm presuming that's to whom it likely refers. The scope & case were bought at a Bisley arms fair many years ago by a friend of mine (the No3 (T) is genuine but mis-matched). It really would be stretching coincidence for that combination of initials to be someone else, though I've no confirmation, unfortunately.

ATB.