Transit case for Boyes rifle?

[Hal O'Peridol]

DDid the Boys rifle have a transit case? If so, does anyone have any pics or drawings, and especially any dimensions?

Thank you.

Soon to be the owner of a Boys rifle!

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Peter Laidler]

I had all of ther papers that relate to the BOYS (note spelling Hal....) rifle out while I was at Warminster. No transit case specifically made for it identified but as always, stand to be corrected

[River Gnome]

I don't know if it actually had a specified transit case or not, but I've always wondered about the picture on this website. UK Canadian

---------- Post added at 04:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:10 PM ----------

Although case and box could have a different meaning...

[Peter Laidler]

I was almost tempted to say in my first answer that I expect that there would have been a chest/box of sorts available for when they were sent abroad or exported. Our Boys were issued in a similar manner to the Bren gun, with the Boys and one magazine as the 'unit of issue' plus a separate box of magazines or later for Infantry use, two boxes of magazines.

If anyone is interested, ask me about the two different magazines..... unless it's already common knowledge...

While I was researching the Boys a couple of years ago I looked through an old library copy of the 1942 Equipment Regulations and while the Bren had to be shipped in its chest, the Boys was to be shipped in protective wrapping of lightly oiled hessian and old blankets under quartermasters supervision - and on it went........

[Brit plumber]

Go Peter, I'll ask about the 2 mags.

[Hal O'Peridol]

The reason I ask is because of this case that recently was sold with a Boys rifle at Rock Island Auctions.

[browningautorifle]

That one appears to have been converted to .50 also...could that chest have been built during the re-furb? Line drawings and all?

[Hal O'Peridol]

Well, Wednesday I have an appointment at a local museum, the head of the museum has agreed to let me take measurements and what all so that I can put together a shipping crate for the Boys rifle I bought.

Hopefully in a few weeks I will post pics of the purchase here.

[Peter Laidler]

The Mk2 Boys magazine had a strip down the inside front the same as the Bren magazines. This wasn't because of the noses of the rounds fouling up on the wel;ding spatter or just poor welding along the middle seam* but on the Boys magazines, the spring was to act a a spring 'buffer' if you like to prevent the soft noses of the rounds beating against the front inside and deforming due to mushrooming during the fierce recoil as the rounds in the magazine shifted during recoil. This was exaggerated on the Boys due to the fact that the barrel group recoiled separately to the butt slide.

The photographs taken during the trials at Hythe showed this very pronounced mushrooming very clearly especially by the time the bottom rounds were at the top (or the top rounds at the bottom..... the mag ius a top loader don't forget!), ready to be fed into the chamber. The distortion on these rounds caused feed problems.

While the boys magazine was of a thicker material, the bullet noses didn't dent the inside of the magazines as the gun recoiled....., the noses just mushroomed. However, with a Bren, if a round was incorrectly loaded rim behind rim, as soon as the misfed round got to the feed position and immediately hung up on the next round, that NEXT would also be forced forwards by the full feed force of the breech block and this was sufficient to punch a sort of reverse centre punch mark out, into the lower front face of the magazine. The modified Bren magazines prevented this.

So while the Boys and Bren magazines were modified in the same way, the reason was different.

Not a lot of people know that..........