Peter, ? regarding Grenade Launchers

[breakeyp]

Available official sources regarding grenade launchers (i.e. wire wrapped rifles) seem to be far and few between. Can you or Westminster help with any of the following:

Is there paperwork indicating when cord or wire wrapped rifles entered or left British service? I know they soldiered on for a much longer time in India. I doubt you saw many unless it was in the Far East. I have seen serveral different ways of anchoring the wrapping using screws and tacks. Also the amount of wrapping seems to be a personal choice thing. The Indians seemed to have sorted it out into a more orderly process.

Is there any indication of allotment of GL per company/unit? I have never seen an official designation for the cord or wire wrapped rifle. This seems very strange as there seems to be official numbers and names for just about everything else in the army!!

Textbook of Small Arms indiates that WWI issue GL were without the wrapping but training rifles had them. I have never seen a period picture with a wrapped rifle.

As always your comments and remarks are appreciated. p.

Information

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[Peter Laidler]

A lot of these q's are answered in an article I wrote about them that's in the forum library.

On those we refurbished and re-bound for mobilisation stores in the early 70's or so, the start of the wire was pulled right through a wire size hole in the fore-end and held by the first few strands of the wire as it was wrapped on the slowly rotating lathe. Same as the last strand - and then secured with soft solder using a big old fashioned copper soldering iron that was heated up on a gas ring. The same gas rings we used for melting the old hot-melt animal glue. I never saw a sisal/cord bound EY until I came to Warminster and saw a few Patt 14's

There is a parts list for the launcher somewhere as all of the parts were available including the nozzle part that had to be examined periodically by Armourers for gas leaks and 'soundness'. Quaint language, but how do you check for 'gas leaks' and 'soundness'. I digress........ There are also instructions for fitting the thing properly so that it seats on the end of the barrel and not the nose cap

I never saw one used except to play with, firing a tin of something or other with a blank. We had one cup discharger at the workshop while we were rebuilding them on an Ordnance programme.