The Canadian ones were walnut.
Memories of an RCME Armourer >
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The Canadian ones were walnut.
Memories of an RCME Armourer >
Looks like, according to Hank, some were also beech, birch, or maple. Never seen one in maple that I can recall, but plenty in beech & a few early examples in birch, though these last were all UK production for UK rifles, not Canadian. Would be interesting to know if, in practice, cheekpieces other than walnut, were ever produced in Canada & issued on Canadian rifles. Or at least, it would be interesting to a geek like me........
My wife thinks I get excited by the strangest of things. She's probably right.
Now to get the picture to show!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Payne
Attachment 116622
The right hand row upper and lower are pine.
The lower one has obviously been stained.
They are well beat and weathered as a number of them came from the old HCF factory before being torn down, which was across the road from my father in laws feed mill.
There is a Canadian walnut one or two in the pile and the one top row center is Canadian marked on the inside. The Canadian ones were new when I got them. Apparently there was still some in the system up until a few years ago; wood unknown.
The rest are walnut and one of the lighter ones appear to be maple.
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Quite a variation in size and shape!
Quite. Aside from the different woods used I've seen three subtle but distinct variations in shape of Canadian cheekpieces.......there may well be more.....that's just what I've noticed over the years.
Warren, are all of those 'pieces shown in your photo of HCF, or at least Canadian, manufacture?
The ones on the right hand side are from HFC.
They were found in the factory when it was being torn down and given to my father in law to give to me.
Had I know at the time they were tearing down the place I would have been there like a dirty rat.
Truck loads had already gone to the dump (tip) and it was several months later that I found out about it.
I was given several of the others by armourers in the local area and western Canada.
Some are marked C arrow and an inspectors mark.
I have a P14 sniper with a cheek piece that is a period piece by the look of it and I am 90% sure it is pine.
I'll try and get to it and take a picture.
Thanks Warren. I thought some of them looked British, some Canadian. It's only my anecdotal observation, but I suspect that at least some of the early UK production cheekpieces were made from birch, & stained to give that characteristic orangey-brown colour not too dissimilar to Savage wood. We then seem to have gone over to beech, which accounts for the majority of British CP's, but with a substantial number made circa 1944 (& sometimes seen on 1945 rifles as well) made out of what I thought for a long time was oak, but which I have been advised is much more likely to be ash. Most unadulterated 1944 rifles I come across seem to have these ash examples fitted.......they're my favourites - I much prefer ash to beech; it seems a lot denser & more damage resistant.
Warren, in the real world, have you come across many Canadian rifles fitted with cheekpieces other than walnut? I was wondering if HCF just experimented with other woods, or if they actually got issued to an appreciable extent?
Roger:
That has been my opinion for years on a lot of the stuff we run into.
Was it done as a full run for just trial to see if the wood was sufficient for war time or as they said war time expedient?
In my digging into HCF and talking to my father in law I found they shipped boat loads of lumber to the UK in pre sawn blanks.
You must remember that a lot of the forest in the area where HCF was located was as close to virgin old grown forest as you will find.
There are pine trees here that are 6 feet plus in diameter at the base that the tree huggers are still trying to protect.
Our climate of 80 deg C difference between winter and summer produces good wood.
I order wood for our seniors wood club and I can get a lift (200 board feet) of clear pine with nothing under 12 inches wide and 8 to 10 feet long and not a knot in it.
I picked up 200 13 inch wide pine boards by 8 feet long for $1.00 a board: 75 P UK, 80 Euro's or 75 cents US.
Not sure what it would be now as wood has skyrocketed.
I used to bring pre sawn walnut over to the UK for a chum that make chests for pistols. More problem to fumigate it that it was worth, but he appreciated it.
Anyhow, I digress and run on as normal.
Picture of the old cheekpiece on the P 14 sniper will be attached later today.
Hi guys,
thanks for all the news, with a cold mind I came to a conclusion, I will make it in pine wood, looking for well seasoned boards and possibly without knots, there are old carpenters who have old pine boards in their workshops, while for the internal parts they used a harder wood, perhaps beech.