My rifle is a 42 Lithgow and I have mounted a like new walnut stock I bought from the net. I have this Somme dug butt plate and I'm thinking of cleaning the brass, removing the rusty screws and mounting it. What do you guys think?
My rifle is a 42 Lithgow and I have mounted a like new walnut stock I bought from the net. I have this Somme dug butt plate and I'm thinking of cleaning the brass, removing the rusty screws and mounting it. What do you guys think?
Can you name any great battles of the Somme fought by the Australians in 1942, 43, 44 or 45.
Or to put it another way if you were restoring a 1942 Cadillac........
Would you put a 1916 Cadillac rear bumper on your 1942 Cadillac and call it restored.
I think you'll have a WWII 1942 Australian rifle with a WWI buttplate. Not sure why you would want to do that? Except that you have no other buttplate.
I've got a WWII butt plate on it now but this piece has been sitting on my shelf so I thought well heck I can take the rifle to the range and fire with some history.
I'm against it, as my first and second reactions. If it MUST be placed on a rifle, which I'm still against, it really ought to be period correct.
Leave it be, I think. Neither the rifle or it's operator made it off the the field "alive", I think. Shudders.
Last edited by jmoore; 06-04-2010 at 07:11 AM.
I think it woud be nice to mount the butt plate (with minimum cleaning) on a walnut plaque with a nice brass name plate indicating it came from the Somme and hang it on my "I love me" wall. This would be a more proper end for something 100 years old with a known history.
I have this nosecap, recovered from the site of a fierce battle involving a Welsh regiment.
I plan to mount it on a timber base with its details on an engraved plaque.
It's easily the most poigniant item in my collection.
Cheers,
Matt
Butt plates aside........... what a sheer MAGNIFICENT Cadillac. Is that a restored example Ed? Or a press photo of the era? It looks like the sort of car that Ike would have had (in Kakhi of course) while inspecting the troops just before D Day.
What a pleasure to see a work of art like that............
Peter,
Pretty sure it's a restored example. Some years ago, a friend had an unrestored one that ran (& that was about it) that he was given in exchange f/painting another car. The only thing I really remember about it was the "flat head"(valve-in-block) V8 engine. It was enormous in comparison to the little Ford flathead V8s I owned. Id bet that one head on the Caddy V8 weighed 75 lbs or so. Yes, it is a beautiful auto, if a little over-ornamented f/my tastes. BTW, I don't think the US military used Cadillacs, @ least officially, in WWII. They did use the engines in some armored vehicles, I seem to remember.
Donzi
Originally Posted by Peter Laidler
Last edited by Donzi; 06-05-2010 at 10:15 AM. Reason: correct errors
....a Cadillac for a staff car. I don't know about England, but in North Africa and Italy, yes.
Looks like a modern pic to me. Notice the headlights on in one pic, and the license plate "blanked" out in another. It actually is probably nicer looking as a restoration than it was when new. Production vehicles just don't have the attention to detail as a one at a time restoration. It IS a cool looking car !!
FWIW,
Emri
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