Pattern 1913 quiz

[Roger Payne]

Here's one for you then Jim. A selection of ground dug stuff. Before anyone panics the rust & dirt encrusted No5 grenade is empty.....!

Anyone notice anything slightly unusual about the other No5 grenade?

The three launcher/lever retainers are the Adams type, named after Captain Adams of the RE depot at St Omer where he developed them. All three are ground dug but the one in which the original maker's marks are visible was obviously retrieved & cleaned up a long time ago. The one that differs slightly in shape to the other two is a two piece riveted together early pattern. I've never seen any reference to this variation, but the example shown came out of Bernafay Wood on the Somme about twenty years ago.

In case anyone else has more than a passing interest in British & Dominion WW1 era grenades, the two books shown are fairly new out - written since Covid by the author who is very well informed & a thoroughly decent chap.

And the odd No5 grenade.................? If you look carefully you can see a casting join around the two halves of the grenade......but in this case the join runs horizontally around the waist of the grenade, NOT vertically, as is generally seen. Early on in production both methods of casting were used, but the 'horizontal' join soon went in favour of the vertical pattern. It was found there was less wastage using left & right halves rather than top & bottom halves.

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[browningautorifle]

And the odd No5 grenade/ in this case the join runs horizontally around the waist of the grenade, NOT vertically,

Must have escaped being thrown, would be VERY early I would think.

Nice box of base plugs, don't have a spare for a standard M36 in there? Matter of fact, I need a whole parts set for one of my M36s. I should look up that UK company and see about it.

[mrclark303]

Four P13's!!!!

Good grief, I've only ever seen a single unmolested example in Warminster..

They must have an absolutely facinating history.

[tatou]

We have not had a quiz lately. I don't like the phrase "rare" but what pictured is seldom seen? (In my opinion)

I'm a little late in my posts viewing but i'm sure glad i saw yours, it's nice to finally see what the chargers look like.
I'm lucky enough to have found three of the .276 rounds over these last few years to display with my ''franken13''
Thank you for posting a picture, now i know what to look for... maybe one day...

[breakeyp]

Speaking of stripper clips, a very odd duck is the clip for the .55 caliber Boys anti-tank rifle. All it is good for is to keep the rounds organized in the cloth bandolier. The user had to remove them from the clip to manually load the magazine.

[Strangely Brown]

Speaking of stripper clips, a very odd duck is the clip for the .55 caliber Boys anti-tank rifle. All it is good for is to keep the rounds organized in the cloth bandolier. The user had to remove them from the clip to manually load the magazine.

That says an awful lot about the British military mindset of the period; don't get me started about army bed blocks in recruits battery circa 1966!

[Surpmil]

Lovely rifles, a triumph of design, though the backsights could have been made much more robust. What a pity they couldn't swallow their pride and just adopt .280 Ross as the cartridge.

[Terrylee]

And another! Unfortunately, only one rifle with a single cartridge and no charger.

[Surpmil]

That one should be enough!