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I've had this oiler for a number of years which I picked up from a trader who did Flea Markets/Car boot sales etc with much of his stock coming from house clearances owing to the owner passing away. All I know is that it's British, it's some sort of oiler and it's the only one of it's type that I've ever seen. I'm open to any suggestions as to what exactly it's intended application is other than it's an oiler. Clearly it doesn't fit in the Lee Enfield butt trap. Thanks for any help/info.
I think you'll find that comes from the grip of a Vickers gun...
Thanks for the information, Jim. When it was part of the Vickers grip, were the cores also oilers/oil containers or has it since been made into a oiler from parts salvaged from a vickers gun? I have been scratching my head a long time over this item.
Photo 4, the lower bit held a paint brush thing to splosh the oil around. I can smell the OIL, OX52 from here.......
Look at the picture of the back plate and grips. The inside of the wood is that thing...holding it like a bolt.Quote:
Originally Posted by Flying10uk
It's a pity that it can't talk because I bet that it could tell us all a few stories of what had happened to it during it's lifetime. It was fairly mucky when I got it and I think that I had sorted it out from a box of brick-a-brac. I bet that it came from a WW2 Veteran's home before the trader got it.
The oil bottle is from the buttstock of a Lewis gun. The stocks were bored through vertically and the oil bottle was inserted from the underside, then the retaining collar was screwed up tight to hold it in place. There was an LOC that introduced the oil bottles during WW1. The Vickers oilers were made integral with the grip during manufacture.
I believe you. I couldn't get a close enough look to be sure. They're very close in look though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Woodsy
Thanks to Jim and Woodsy for this information; I wouldn't have ever guessed it myself. I do have a Russian 1910 Maxim (U.K. deac) which is currently stowed in a packing chest with other items on top of the chest. I will at some point have a look at the grips on that to see if there's an oiler concealed in the grips. I've never checked but now rather think that there maybe.
Woodsy, thread 7, last sentence. In ours the oil bottle was inserted down into the top part of the grip plate, through the wooden grip and down, into the bottom part of the grip plate. That's how we were able to replace the wood grips that the gunners damaged with monotonous regularity when they dumped the gun breech end down.
In the last few months before I left the Small Arms School, we had a visit from a couple of the old and bold from Chippenham, Wiltshire Regiment MMG platoon, who had arrived in Europe a month after DDay to replace tired or worn out crews. They kept the same Vickers MMG for the whole time, reliable as the days is long until a few days before it was all over when it was run over by their section Bren Gun Carrier. He cut the upper and lower grip plate off and kept the oil bottle and wood grip as a souvenir. He asked me to keep it safe for the future. Brought a lump to my throat. It SHOULD be in the Wiltshire Regt museum really..........
See, that was what I thought as the .50 grips were just a tube held in place by a bolt. I haven't got a real Vickers here to examine, nor a live Lewis though. I expected the assembly on the Vickers would be the same. Thing is, it doesn't look EXACTLY like the Lewis. And of course the brush bristles are missing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Laidler
The raised ring with the straight cut knurling (right side of first picture) does unscrew from the tubing but I didn't think to take a picture of this when I did the other photos.
I dunno, I still think it's specifically for the Vickers. I've been looking at scads of pics for them and the Lewis is just a bit different. The inner is spot on for the Vickers. Vickers Mark I
The Maxim also used that idea...
I have several Maxims (1901 VSM .303, 1905 Russian, 1910 Russian, and few MG'08's) and they all have the integral grip oilers. The 1901 VSM and M1905 Russian have one-piece cast brass backplate/grip units with screw-in brush tops. The others are like the Vickers in that the grip assembly is made of several pieces including the oilers and are designed to remain as one piece. The oiler in question is the style that was used on the .303 Lewis and also the .303 Hotchkiss, and these were introduced for retro-fitting to guns already manufactured and issued. It could be that the oiler is for the Hotchkiss and may or may not be slightly different from the Lewis one. As they are never pictured other than already fitted to a gun is is difficult to be exact, but after going through all my Lewis photos (can't see the top locking collar in any of them) I am inclined to think that the oiler is for the Hotchkiss LMG, but definitely not Vickers or Maxim. Unfortunately my Hotchkiss, Lewis, and Vickers have been sold a few years ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by browningautorifle
I'm only over familiar with the Vickers. But what about the Boys rifle? That had a similar oil bottle thinggy. It was all the rage at the time. Even the first Brens had or were to have them.
The base plate/plug is brazed to the tubing/body of the oiler. If we assume that the oiler hasn't been changed or modified in any way, since being removed from the gun, it must have been fitted/removed from below.
Peter, the Boys AT rifle has a cast aluminium shoulder piece that has the oiler cast and machined in place, with the typical screw/brush steel cap. The aluminium shoulder piece also incorporates the mounting for the bottom rear grip, and has the leather-covered recoil pad attached to the curved rear face.Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Laidler
Yep, remember that now you mention it Woodsy. Don't have these things handy nowadays!