WWI inspection. Note thumbsnails in breech for light

[A. F Medic]

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[Emri]

What on earth is a "thumbsnail"?

[old crow]

"Thumb nail" in breech provides reflected light to view the bore. ?

[smellie]

A Thumbsnail is either the result of getting one fringer in font of the other while typong, or else it is a very small cephalopod that crawls along your thumb while you are asleep, quietly singing the praises of Karl Marx in your ears.

On the other hand, the "thumb-in-the-breech" was standard in the Canadian military up until and even following the introduction of the C1 (FAL) rifle in the 1950s (the Canadian FAL body cover was open at the top). It was only used when the platoon was at "Inspection Arms" and proper procedure had the thumbnail at an angle in order to better reflect light that the bore might be inspected. Best position was with the thumbnail atop the magazine follower, about halfway back along the length of the magazine. Get too close to the chamber and the thumb would block light rather than reflect it to where it was wanted.

Hope this helps.... sort of.

We need a National Association for the Protection of Thumbsnails.

Great pics.
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