vickers tripod dimensions/drawings

[Peter Laidler]

Where have you been since 1988 Flying 10? The Enfield PR moved to Nottingham and a few years ago was gifted to the nation, lock stock and barrel, to the Royal Armouries. Now it's all at Leeds. And some say, not for the better either.

[Vincent]

well I have done alot of dimensioning from photos and I am going to go with a guess of 24" for the rear leg and 20" for the front legs

I would love to see a picture when you have it completed.

[Peter Laidler]

What would look good and be relatively simple to fabricate would be one of the various 'fortress' type Vickers mountings as used in fixed fortified positions. In view of the shortage of tripods in the US, maybe that's an alternative idea. Where there's a will, there's an EASY way and all that......... Plenty of examples in the Goldsmith Grand Old Lady book

[Vincent]

Wish I could read that book, but it’s VERY expensive. Over $500 here.

There’s a scale drawing of the tripod on page 10 here

[Brian Dick]

I've got plenty of Ian's SAID Series booklets on the Vickers MMG. It's a great little reference. I've referenced mine about a zillion times along with most of the others.

[Flying10uk]

Does any-one know what the original idea of producing the lightweight MK4 tripod was? Was it intended for Airborne Use? Or perhaps, it was an idea to save time and material in wartime? Also the Mk4 would need a much less skilled worker to produce it?

[Peter Laidler]

Airborne use as they were container dropped and far lighter than the brass casting. Made/cast by Phillips Radio works on the A4 West Way. Where Harold Turpin made the first two Sten Guns. The casting was so bad it looked like it was sintered.

[bigduke6]

I am trying to make a tripod for my vickers and I need a few measurements from the legs
I need to know the length of the legs, the diameter and the foot size.
thanks

Cant help with the size of the legs but can help with the transit chest size if your looking at making one.

[Flying10uk]

I thought that when looking at the photo the photo the legs were removable or folded in and so being Airborne makes sense in order to fit into a airdrop container. I'm guessing that most British Containers were a standard external size with different internal fittings etc, as required??? Can any-one, please, give a brief description of what the "Fortress Vickers Mount" looked like? I would think that the legs of the Mark 4 tripod would be made would be made from a "standard" diameter size tubing commercially available at the time that it was made. In other words I wouldn't hade thought that a special tubing was produced just to make the tripod. I would suggest, Mr E. that when you think you have estimated the diameter of the tube from the photo you look at the closest available in 1940s Britain. Some of the "standard" steel tubing available today in the U.K. can come in some odd and strange diameters. Some times it is sold on the basis of the internal size of the tube and sometimes on the external size and to complicate matters different wall thicknesses of tube are sometimes available. The tube sizes available in the U.S.A may, of course, differ from what is available here in the U.K..

[Peter Laidler]

I think that you ought to invest in the Goldsmith Grand old Lady book Flying 10. It answers all the Q's pictorially too.