Can you please help me identifiyng this No32 scope bracket. I can buy it from a friend, but I want to make him a good offer when it is original.
I can't identify the marking, it is an W with an S.
Thanks in advance, Dennis
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Can you please help me identifiyng this No32 scope bracket. I can buy it from a friend, but I want to make him a good offer when it is original.
I can't identify the marking, it is an W with an S.
Thanks in advance, Dennis
Go on, I'll stick my head above the parapet, although I must be honest & say I've never seen a bracket quite like this one before. It looks to have some age & has been made to a fairly professional standard; it certainly looks on a par with a Dalgleish or Rose brothers product. Whilst another London based contractor was to have produced No32 brackets during the war, they were bombed out early on & so, it is said, production never got off the ground, & Dalgleish were brought in as the second contractor. However, the logo on this bracket would not be consistent with their initials (Elmbank Foundry). Also the numbering of the cradle clamps does not seem to be consistent with standard UK practice.
I have a couple of part mahined bracket castings that are very similar in overall profile but they do not bear the company intials in relief (or indeed any identifying markings). Mine came out of Charnwood years ago & were a mystery to them too...
I'd be interested to know if anyone else can id this bracket. My best guess would be that it was a replacement made, possibly by/for a friendly government that was supplied with the 4T at the end of or shortly after WW2. But that is only a suggestion......
ATB
Isn't that the Smith & Wesson logo reversed?
I'd say that it isn't fancy enough for S&W .Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Lancer
Sorry, new one on me as well.
6 or 8 decent photos might help. What we've got is about as dim as a toc-H lamp! 'Toc-H lamp' for you non Britishers...... toc-H was the slang for Talbot House, a society of friends of the British Army who provided comforts from home such as library books, etc etc. Their logo was a florence nightingale style lamp. Hence the phrase! On a par with a small scale NAAF1 eccept that being a Christian organisation, didn't have bars in their hostelries. A snug nightcap mug of Ovaltine or Cocoa was all you got at the toc-H. Most soldiers Christianity ended whern the NAAFI bar opened. Anyway, for you non ex soldiers, NAAFI = No Ambition And Fxxk-all Interest
Hi Peter, I shall ask for better pictures :-)
Dens a bit like this,, and then some of the front if you have the time.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...6a7c6e4f-1.jpg
Thank you for posting.
I got better pictures, I hope they help.
@Dens-Mils, your location may be a bigger clue to the origins of your scope mount than anything else. The Dutch Army had lots and lots of Canadian vehicles, and British equipment after the war. I would be comfortable suggesting your mount is a Dutch-made postwar replacement part. For example, I saved some ebay pictures of a Dutch No.8 style case with suitcase type luggage clasps. And some of the more knowledgible No.4 (T) commentators don't recognize it as British.
I was going to suggest exactly the same as Mapleleaf except for mentioning the vehicles etc etc........ I wouldn't mind betting that the Dutch needed replacement brackets/telescopes and set about making their own knowing that spares weren't available from the UK Because the telescope/bracket came as a complete kit and not available separately. It was probably cheaper too AND it kept their own industries busy too. The Dutch made No32 telescopes were made in Delft
We are all in agreement then!!.....I have spoken to the owner of the bracket (he called me from Holland last night as he is interested in some other stuff). I have dealt with him before & he seems a decent bloke. He stated that he came by the bracket some years ago from the estate of an old fellow who had recently died; the chap had been Dutch military for much of his life & apparently a number of firearms as well as the bracket & various other bits turned up. They say buy the gun (bracket) not the story; but this rings true....
ATB
I agree DRP. There was a similar event during the last years of L42A1 rifle when the UK MoD needed some brackets to refinish needy L42's. So they simply had some more made.
Many thanks for all who posted a message about the bracket!!
Dennis
Check for Dutch and Belgian foundry marks. An antique dealer who specializes in cast iron wares will probably help. Or some professional body for foundries. You may be able to add an interesting footnote to our knowledge of the No4(T).
Someone should really seek out some of the ex-servicemen who used the No4(T) in places like Belgium, Holland and Israel and get their comments while they are still above ground.
The Dutch and Belgians used to come to England on the post war sniper courses (we have photos of some of the mixed courses) but initially they came with Canadian mutual aid TP/Lyman rifles which simply couldn't be incorporated into the syllabus so they were issued with bog standard No4T's
"they were issued with bog standard No4T's......"
Gosh, haven't times changed.
Post war they were "bog standard" now the same rifle is "all matching" "as issued", "original condition".
Much more highly desired than bog standard, but I would settle for bog standard any day.
Perhaps we should have a forum, is my No4T bog standard?
Peter please accept my sincere apology - in advance, but I just love the thought of referring to one of the worlds most highly prized and desired Milsurps as bog standard. :)
Paul
I suspect the manufacturer's mark that is present in relief on the central 'strut' of the bracket will probably turn out to be a Dutch foundry/iron/steel goods manufacturer. Had a quick 'surf' tonight but not found anything yet.....
ATB
Roger,Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Payne
Have you tried SM or MS ? also if it is Dutch the W as we see it, could be VSV ? or a combination etc.
What about a bit of S&M............
I always wondered about your choice of avatar!!
:lol::lol::lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Payne
Cheers,
Simon.
These things are 'WAY out of my league, simply because of cost.
That said, I DID work for a lot of years with TYPE. You do that in the newspaper/printing/magazine business.
That logo is not WS.
It is a reversed impression of an SM logo. Look at the shape of the letters: a normal S is WIDER at its BOTTOM.
SM, somewhere in Holland.
SM???????
Now where did I put those little whips..........................?
Hope this helps.
.
Me thinks if it is 'Somewhere in Holland' than it would be SH.Quote:
Originally Posted by smellie
Maybe MS means Meehan and Smalley, Meehanite in more recent times. It could be a quality marking rather than a specific foundry's trade mark.
Forgive my stupidity gioca, but what's meehanite? Please elaborate?!!?
ATB
Meehanite was a company suppling technical know how to some foundries to improve the quality of the castings.
Ah.....Thanks. Alles Klaar!
There is a SM steel works in India, I think.
I strongly suspect the bracket will turn out to have been made in Holland (or possibly Belgium) as a replacement part for use on No4T's supplied to them by the UK after WW2. I now have the bracket as I think Dennis was no longer interested in it as it is not WW2 UK mfr. (The owner wants to do a trade with me for some other bits & pieces). It is made to a high standard & certainly wasn't produced in someone's garage.....
Have we got any Flemish metallurgists or foundry workers on this forum???!!!????!!
ATB