Scout Regiment tripod

[colonel blimp]

Thank you to you all for these posts - I'm humbled by your knowledge, gentlemen.

Absolutely fantastic to find out something about it. The scope and tripod came from an old gentleman who had served as a sniper in the Seaforths during the war he told me he'd been issued the tripod with the telescope but I couldn't see how a silvery tripod could ever have made sense in the field - there's absolutely no evidence that this was ever painted.

Sadly he's no longer with us to ask - as with so many of our veterans - so all answers are gratefully received.

Paul

[Cottage Hill Bill]

Son,

The "was the short tripod ever issued" question was debated quite a bit on the WWI forum at Great War Forum

I have both a long and short tripod dated 1915 or 1916. The short one shows no evidence of ever being modified. Fit, finish and patina of the legs on the short tripod match the rest of the unit and looks just like the long tripod. Based on this, some others that I've seen that were similar and some debatable photographic evidence I'm of the opinion that the short tripods were issued as such. Something else that argues against modification is that all the short tripods I've encountered were all the same length. If these were home done mods the chance of all being the same would be nill, whereas if they were made to a pattern...

[Son]

I haven't seen or heard of any evidence the short tripod was an approved mod. The extracts from the LoC I have (Skennerton's) don't go into the instrument stands, but if Parker Hale were offering them for target shooters modified in two different lengths, then it's more likely they were done by PH. They could have bought crates of them for peanuts and set up their shop to modify and then repaint the finished articles.
I'd be keen to see any official references to the shortened size- it does come up as a topic from time to time.

[Cottage Hill Bill]

Son,

Here's the thread on the 1914-1918 forum Signalling Telescope Stands (Tripods), - Great War Forum
There are pictures of my tripods there and the reasons I think my short one is original to WWI.

Now I'm not certain enough about whether or not they were issued in WWI to invite anyone to settle this out in the parking lot. However, from having the article in hand and from having seen others that match it exactly I am more inclined to believe they existed in WWI. Not having the LOC entry doesn't mean they didn't exist it just means we haven't found the LOC entry yet. I too, would be happier to see a photo of one in the trenches or an LOC entry.

[bouletbill]

I remember 7 or 8 years ago a guy had a shed load of these tripods (painted all green) bought up from N-Z . Said he was going to shorten a lot 'cos he didn't think the tall ones were as saleable . This may account for short ones being all the same height !

[Cottage Hill Bill]

Boulretbill,

All of the ones I have seen or seen photos of that are Australian or New Zealand marked (including one in my garage) have been painted a light green and made during WWII. The ones Son and I are debating are marked with WWI dates. The metal is an anodized brass or bronze and the legs are natural with just a coat of clear varnish. Take a look at the Great War forum thread I posted a couple of messages back. PH did make a short metal tripod in the 50's and 60's. The legs are a cast metal, usually painted a light grey, the holder for the scope is a V shaped bronze with a tab and several small springs that strech over the top of the scope to hold it in place. I'll see if I can post a picture of the ones I have this weekend.

Son's second picture in his first post shows a tall New Zealand mount and the short PH post war one I just described.

Peter,

The helio stand has differently shaped legs than the instrument stand. The WWI scope stands, both tall and short have round legs. Each leg is like a piece of broom stick. The helio stands have piece-of-pie shaped legs, as though a single large diameter pole had been cut into thirds.

[bouletbill]

Thanks CH Bill , I was still thinking of Devils Owns dilemma (to chop, or not) since I've also been there . I'm more shooter than collector but I appreciate originality , so being on a tight budget and with no use for a long legged tripod , I didn't buy . For the same reason I didn't buy a nice WWI model at the Wear & Piece Show about 3 yrs ago . However , patience rewarded me with one of those PH tripods found at Bisley in 2008 as well as (at last) a nice leather case for my scope , with an arrow mark but no strap . It's only taken seven years !!!

[Mk VII]

I've got one of these short No.21 Mk.V stands here as well. Was being thrown out in the rubbish when the old club premises were cleared out. Top of the legs might have been shortened - three screw holes and only one screw in each.