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I purchased this recently. I know it is a British 1" Signal Pistol, No.1 Mk.5 and based on the "BE" stamped on the hammer I would assume it was made by I.L. Berridge & Co of Leicester. Can anyone tell me anything else about this, such as what the original finish was or when these were used in service?
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Most have a black paint which may have been added when there were refurbished. My examples are in storage and I can't access them right now so I can't comment on original finish without looking through the pile.
Maybe Suncorite originally? I looked into having it re-Suncorited, but to do so would likely outstrip the value of the gun. I may re-do it with high temperature automobile engine paint, but wouldn't mind any input.
I have handled about a million of those little signal pistols. We used to call them 'Berridges'. Cheap and cheerful and they did the job but the side plates were too thin to support the screw threads so stripped threads were the norm and caused plenty to be scrapped. The barrel axis screw could be replaced with a nut and bolt. They were all phosphated and black of course. The action was a one-off in that the hammer worked on the rebound system. Still in irregular use until......, well, probably STILL in use in some small units somewhere. 1" flares always seemed to be in short supply.
If you want it phosphated and painted with the correct paint, back to original you could try Brian at BDL Ltd in SC
We still use the no.4 pistol in Air Traffic control and in the runway caravan but they are being replaced now. Hopefully the controllers will have a better idea of safety with its replacement.
Mmmmmmmm, what was the problem with the safety of the little Berridges BP? We didn't encounter anything too drastic.
No problem other than operators who have no idea about firearm safety. For example, while live firing red flares (that is all they could spare for training) they were firing horizontal to the ground (they never fire Red flares into the air unless it’s an emergency) when one of them decides to walk off into the firing area oblivious to what he has just done. When someone got his attention he just waved!
Ther reason I asked was that the pistol itself had a couple of ingenious mechanical safeties built into its rebound system. Taken incidentally from the 2" mortar mechanism. Not a lot of people know that!
Well, now we all do...lets see how many of us retain it...?Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Laidler