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I have this Lewis gun mag, but not the gun, which I believe may be ex Gurkha/Nepalese army. It appears to be in relatedly good condition, for it's age, but other than that I don't know too much about it. I wondered if any members had any thoughts on this item, good or bad, please? Thanks for any information.
The ex-Nepal one I've got is not painted brown, as this one appears to be, but does have the semi-circle of white paint (now yellowed with age) reminding you which way round it goes.
Markings are consistent with all other British ,303 Lewis mags I have owned and have seen.
Colour I don't think can peg them to any country or particular usage.
Most original mags have the white half circle so they could be correctly oriented when loading the gun, as James (MKVII) has stated.
A blued mag with the white half circle is a nice one to have and if you have the gauges and tools the mag should last a lifetime unless dropped on a hard surface when loaded.
The main tools to have with a Lewis and the mags is a mag roundness gauge and the tool for adjusting the pins and the rims.
If anyone is interested, I'll post a picture of them
Yes please.Quote:
Originally Posted by Warren
Of course we are Warren let's see.Quote:
Originally Posted by Warren
If filling it with inert dummies they must all be full-length resized or the magazine become progressively harder to wind, and finally impossible.
Me and my old pal WO2 Ray Dxxxxxx have filled and wound a few of these up. To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised how reliable they were. They accept a small amount of ovality that's within the gauge spec, but not a lot
First to clean up what might be a bit of confusion with Lewis panniers.
There are NO springs in the panniers to assist in feeding or to wind up.
The ONLY spring in the pannier is a hair pin spring that operates the pannier catch to hold the pannier on the gun.
The pannier does not require any spring tension to operate as the pawls and dogs in the gun itself advance the pannier which are operated by the cycling of the operating rod and a stud on the rear of the breech block.
Pictured you will find a Lewis pannier in the stages of being loaded:
The loading tool is inserted in the drum aluminum centre from the bottom
The loading tool disengages the pannier locking mechanism and allows the aluminum centre to be freely rotated in any direction. The inner and outer rotate independently except when locked if the loading tool is removed or the pannier is loaded with ammunition
You can load the pannier starting at any position one round at a time while rotating the hand loading tool handle in the centre of the drum.
47 rounds and you are done. 96/7 rounds if you are really lucky and have an aircraft drum.
If the drum is in gauge it is easily loaded..out of round a proper bit*h": almost impossible
There is also the ultra rare "rapid loader" which is not worth the price of scrap metal. Picture also attached.
The gauge used to check both the inner pins and outer rim of the pannier is shown.
The inner legs check the alignment of the inner pins and the outer hook checks the outer rim of the pannier. Also shown is a tool with a hole in one end to fit over the pins and a slot in the other to align the rim of the pannier by bending the rim to fit the gauge or the pins, whichever is required.
Drop a loaded drum on a hard surface and you have a few hours work ahead of you.
Any questions, just drop me a PM and I'll try and get back a bit more often than I have for the last while or those that have my home email always happy to discuss Lewis guns.
And I'll bet the guy devising the rapid loader was awarded the helpful hint award for that year too...along with the small cash prize...
I hesitated before using the words 'wound-up' when I wrote the thread but it seems to be an apt word when going 'round the block' filling a circular magazine on your lap on the ranges. It's been referred to as winding the mag for years and years and no doubt will be misinterpreted as such for the next 100 years or so. Like calling it a 'winding' staircase(?) when you don't wind it or the Bren 'deadly accurate'. It was many things, but accuracy wasn't one of them!
Am I forgiven?
I thought that some of the early Inglis Brens were felt to be "too accurate" or is that just a myth? I ended up with a full metal case of fully loaded Lewis mags with cloth covers a while back--should post a picture for everyone if they want. I don't have a Lewis so it should probably go to someone who does.
Ed
It's not possible for a military weapon to be too accurate...give me all you've got for accuracy.Quote:
Originally Posted by boltaction
Bren accuracy was a myth that was perpetuated for all of the right reasons. But in short, in terms of accuracy and the mean accuracy pattern requirement on single supported fire, it wasn't even as accurate as the most mediocre rifle of the era. The same as 'reliable' in the case of the first Brens - which were anything but reliable until the gas and fouling problems were finally properly identified, sorted out properly - and got to grips with later. The Mk3 variants of gas cylinder, Mk1* barrel, piston post, piston post plunger etc etc........
Sorry to pi55 on the magnificent Brens parade but by 1944 or so, all the problems had been solved after much gnashing of teeth and stamping of feet and what emerged was truly, the Magnioficent Bren......., the longest serving bit of kit in the BRitish Army. I won't go into it again in any length as I have been through it all several times on this forum
Humble apologies Mr Bren.
Wow! i didn't know they were called bren as they were designed by a mr bren. ;)
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:Quote:
Originally Posted by henry r
I remember my Sergeant Major in the cadets stating that the reason the Bren sights were offset was because the Bren was found to be too accurate for a machine gun and so the sights were put to one side to make it less accurate. I remember thinking to myself the reason was probably because there was a magazine stuck where the line of the sights should be and it wouldn't be much good having the sights on the centre-line unless the soldier happened to have x-ray eyes to see through the magazine. I thought it probably not a good idea to point this out to my Sergeant Major.
And that is why you are still with us today..... :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Flying10uk
To answer the question by Flying10uk. The Lewis mag in the photo's you have posted (Flying10uk.) It is from Nepal. Hope that is of some use to you.