Need a picture from Skennerton books about the Lee Enfield rifle

[Smellymarkfive]

I remember my mum smacking me round the back of the head saying I didn't need my hands to look, but it certainly helps (the hands not the smacking). Have you found any that are still workable? Whatever it screws into has to be thin because of the space between the threads and that main block thingy.
I've got a sneaky feeling someone out there is laughing at us and rolling around on the floor. If you are please put me out of my misery. WHAT IS IT?????

[RRPG]

I have the same feeling!! Waiting on Ian Skennerton and a couple of his friends to get back to me. Hopefully they will have the/an answer

[Peter Laidler]

Believe me RPG, from my experience here, if the forumers on this site ain't identified it yet, then guess what chance those outside the UK and US Military system have........... Yep, slim and none! But like I always say, I stand to be corrected.

[RRPG]

I agree Peter. It is rare that a WW2 relic beats me, so you can imagine how frustrated this is making me! Only damn things in my museum that I can't ID!

[Sentryduty]

Why don't we all agree to call it something obviously incorrect, and then offer it for sale as such? You will either sell them all, or someone who knows what they are will contact you with an indignant email, outlining every reason why we are wrong, and you might even find out what they think your of family and breeding free of charge!

It's a low investment high return gamble, what could possibly go wrong?

[RRPG]

What a good idea Sentryduty. I might just do that at a ludicrous price as well to generate even more vitriol

It is getting more and more obvious that this item is so bloody rare/unusual that it is not going to get IDd any time soon........ DAMMIT ! BLOODY THING!

[Smellymarkfive]

I know what you mean smelly, but don't forget I have found around 20 of these things, and others have been found by other diggers at the site, bringing the tally close to 60 of these things. You may have needed to engrave things, but would they really need this many?

How many of these compared to other objects. Their amount can only be understood when compared to other finds. There may be 60 which sounds a lot, but if you're finding 100s of other things then it sounds less. Also is it found in association with other things, and what are their frequencies? Rubbish piles tend to build up over time and trying to find the sequence of deposition can be very informative about the objects in each event. That's the difference between archaeology and just digging stuff up, and how just digging stuff up can obliterate useful information. Having done both though, just digging stuff up is a bit more fun. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is the devil might be in the detail and it may be useful to properly excavate, you might find some of the logic to why certain things were dumped at different times.

[RRPG]

Smellymarkfive - I totally understand. I am always keen to note the context in which a find is recovered as, like you, I realise that this can have as great an impact on identification as anything else. These items are always found in what we like to call the 'WW2 Layer', a layer of dump that holds relics that were most prevalent in their use in WW2. However, we also realise that some of these finds from this layer may have been used in an earlier context. What we know for sure is that they can appear anywhere in any of the WW2 layers, in among any other relics. However, the commonest location I have found them is in among webbing and sling buckles. This may not help as, within this 'buckle' layer, we also find items such as bakelite spike bayonet scabbards, connectors for condenser pipes for Vickers and Browning MGs, as well as Vickers and Browning cloth belt starter tabs.

Upshot of all this is, yes context makes a difference, but this site is so large and diverse, all we can say for sure is that it was probably used at some point during or pre WW2.

[Smellymarkfive]

Sounds like a pretty interesting site to poke around in. so whatt was the purpose of the dump, is it for obsolete or beyond repair equipment? Maybe it was for both. What type of facility was it associated with? I sometimes wonder about what "the war effort" really means in scale and scope, especially in terms of things being manufactured and recycled in the millions. There's so much activity from that period that has been forgotten or just plain ignored while the media focus on battles and soldiers. I'm sure you'll get to the bottom of it eventually. You might be able to find someone local that worked or was stationed there?