Canada's War reserve weapons storage

[x westie]

When the C7 rifle was adopted, all of Canada's FN C1 & C2 rifles were placed in war reserve storage ,..from what i can gather that these rifles were not properly stored....after sometime...not sure of the time frame , but these weapons were inspected and found to be rusting and their general condition was not good....then the order was given to have approx. some 75,000 C1, C2 and 9mm SMG cut up into little pieces or melted,....why were these rifles not stored in cosmoline,.....is that not the correct method of long term weapon storage.

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[Stevo]

Who knows how they were actually stored or even if they were intended to be kept in "reserve".

Given the goverments in power during the '80's and '90's I'm sure very little thought was given to the possibility that the rifles should be kept as a "War Reserve". My belief is that they were stored til a disposal plan was in place, thus the condition was irrelevant.

[The Queens Medalist 86,87]

I personally took part in the final preparation for war storage of the last of the FNC1's, around 2,000 from Base Chilliwack in 1991. They were rebuilt/repaired. Then dipped in the oil tank filled with water displacement oil. After a half hour of draining the rifles were placed into thick plastic rifle bags with a V capsule to absorb moisture. The bags were sealed/melted with sealer. Rifles were then sent to Montreal 202 workshop for war storage.
Most were recently destroyed at ArcellorMittel #2 Melt Shop. 300 kept for museums etc.
Ironically before I was a Reg. soldier I poured steel at Dofasco as thousands of Canadian firearms were melted in the early 80's under both Tredeau and Mulrooney. Now they are being destroyed under Harper. Go figure.
A total waste of hundreds of millons of dollars! Perhaps a billion!

[Lee Enfield]

I personally took part in the final preparation for war storage of the last of the FNC1's, around 2,000 from Base Chilliwack in 1991. They were rebuilt/repaired. Then dipped in the oil tank filled with water displacement oil. After a half hour of draining the rifles were placed into thick plastic rifle bags with a V capsule to absorb moisture. The bags were sealed/melted with sealer. Rifles were then sent to Montreal 202 workshop for war storage.
Most were recently destroyed at ArcellorMittel #2 Melt Shop. 300 kept for museums etc.
Ironically before I was a Reg. soldier I poured steel at Dofasco as thousands of Canadian firearms were melted in the early 80's under both Tredeau and Mulrooney. Now they are being destroyed under Harper. Go figure.
A total waste of hundreds of millons of dollars! Perhaps a billion!

Kind of pre-dates Harper actually. The C1 SMGs were all gone 3 years ago and the C1 & C2 rifles have been gone @2 years now.

And this was a "military" decision, as we have decided that we no longer "need" a "war reserve"....

[Stevo]

Kind of pre-dates Harper actually. The C1 SMGs were all gone 3 years ago and the C1 & C2 rifles have been gone @2 years now.

And this was a "military" decision, as we have decided that we no longer "need" a "war reserve"....

Why would we need a "war reserve"? Look how peaceful the world is now, and besides, we've got the UN to protect us.

[Claven2]

It's probably b/c a C7 cna be made almost as cheaply as it costs to degrease ad re-commission a C1A1.

[Stevo]

Well, us Rangers were annoyed that we didn't get the C1's. They would have been much more fun than the No4's.

[tiriaq]

AFAIK, the arms that went into storage were refurbished or rebuilt prior to being placed in storage. It is my understanding that Diemaco did some of the work.

[smellie]

When the C7 came in, along with the C8, the contract averaged out at $1,314 per rifle, of which $300 per rifle was being paid to Colt as a royalty on "their" design.

Being that I was editing a newspaper at that time, I queried this, knowing that the US purchased M-16s during the Viet-Nam War for $109 a pop (which included royalties to ArmaLite; complete rifles at that time were $198 retail in Canada).... and I was told that "the contract included spare parts"!

With inflation over the past 35 years, we can now expect to pay about 5 grand a rifle if the Government has anything to do with it, despite the fact that you can buy essentially the same firearm for a third of that. I really don't think it would have cost all THAT much to have degreased a bunch of FALs that were already bought and paid for...... and had double the effective range of their replacements..... especially as the actual work likely would have been done by defaulters!

But this is not a political discussion: it is about the economics of firearms storage versus replacement.

It would only be political if one of us were a Lawyer who was running for office!

LOL!

[smellie]

Further on the issue of the C7/C8 is the pricing of ammunition.

The contract for supplying the ammunition for these was awarded to a Canadian Company which shall remain unnamed (they hate me already). Grants were given for tooling up to make the 5.56, despite the fact that the plant had been turning it out by the shipload for the US ever since the introduction of the M-16.

Ammunition which was turned loose on pallets sold, FOB the factory, for 37 cents a round. This rose to 42 cents if the ammo was packed in regular steel ammo boxes. At that exact time, you could buy Federal or Winchester in NEWFOUNDLAND (most expensive place in populated Canada at that time)... for 25 cents a shot, packed in nice little boxes of 20... and DND attempted to tell me that they were getting a really good deal on the ammo by buying it millions at a time! They actually could have bought 50% MORE ammo for the same money if they had bought it a box at a time from the local sporting-goods shop in Grand Falls!

There have been times when the old newshound in me gets the idea that perhaps somebody might not be telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Makes it REALLY hard to write newspaper articles, I'll tell you that much!
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