De Lisle Repro

[Nick S]

Picked it up at Bisley last Friday. I know its not a 'true' reproduction as the barrel length is different - but I'm pretty sure it's the closest I'll get to owning a real one! This one is one from Shandwick / TW Chambers in Scotland.

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.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

One of the most ingenious firearms ever concieved.

[Peter Laidler]

I'd describe it as enigmatic, one that has gone into firearns folklore but, alas, not a quiet as its successor, the Mk2 Sten gun

[browningautorifle]

Very nice example...looks great.

[Nick S]

They've also made this beauty - apparently likely to be sold at an auction at some point...

[Peter Laidler]

I remember them coming and photographing ours for that project and their standard gun project too. It was said that the folding butt version (there was only ever one, regardless of what has been written elsewhere) was not a de-Lisle made variant, but an end-of-war era modified by Patchett. It was an early Patchett butt that was used while he was head of the design team at Sterling. And later used on his Patchett SMG's

[mrclark303]

I remember them coming and photographing ours for that project and their standard gun project too. It was said that the folding butt version (there was only ever one, regardless of what has been written elsewhere) was not a de-Lisle made variant, but an end-of-war era modified by Patchett. It was an early Patchett butt that was used while he was head of the design team at Sterling. And later used on his Patchett SMG's

I have had the honour of handling the original Peter, its really quite something ... Love to put a few rounds through an original.

[Peter Laidler]

I could never get the butt to work properly on the original! I wasn't game to strip it as it wasn't what you'd call 'robust'. Certainly not your average crunchie proof.

[H Wally]

This' a cross post from CGN/Canadiangunnutz, but since info is so limited I figured it wouldn't hurt to post here in case some members here don't go on there:


This is by no means an advertisement, just figured I'd share as there's almost no information online about these guns.


Recently I came across the Shandwick Supply DeLisle and was pretty impressed by its quality. Seeing as there's next to no info I decided to contact the company and had quite a nice conversation with Dave McLaughlin, the Managing Director. Quite a nice guy to chat with, and found out some interesting bits about their product, as well as Ross rifles, since they are quite close to Sir Charles Ross' family home, Balnagown Castle.

Interestingly enough, their website shows only that they're a specialty machining firm, but from talking to Dave, it sounds like they do a lot of neat small arms and field gun projects as well as museum work on specialty items like Maxims and the like.
Anyways, info and pictures of the DeLisle:
- All standard builds have a 13” barrel, to comply with UK law, but are still fully supressed. They are considering making non-suppressed reproductions so they can sell to markets like Canada. I talked with him about our gun laws, so he's at least aware of the rough way it works here.
- The price of the standard UK version for export is £2,500 + shipping costs and for UK clients is £3,000 including VAT. Currently building a small batch that will be completed within the next 2 months and some of these are still available to buy.
- In terms of sound: " We have never carried out a sound level test but what I can say is the rifle is exceptionally quiet. A number of years ago we tried one firing vertically and the noise level was very low with only a muffled “poof” sound. When firing on a range it is difficult to be clear what noise is being created as the bullet striking the back stop tends to confuse. We have reduced the number of baffles to accommodate the longer barrel, but the barrel is ported per the original, and much of the gas is deflected rearwards into the larger expansion chamber. I think the net result is a sound level very similar to the original while the longer barrel probably makes it more accurate. I hesitate to be absolute as there are so many factors that come into play and we have never carried out comparative tests for sound or accuracy."
- The Airborne version is only No2 in the world with No 1, the prototype, being held by the School of Infantry at Warminster. It is planned to go to auction later in the year.
-They also do restoration of artillery and build field guns. They have one of the largest capacity firearms machine shops in the UK being able to handle pieces up to 10 Tonnes. Their gunmaker is Hamish Christie and was trained at James Purdey in London.


In regards to the rosses, a fun historical tidbit:
"A steel target Ross used is still on the estate and a friend has timber, with bullet holes, he rescued from the bell tower during the demolition of Logie Easter church. The story goes that Ross was fond of shooting the bell from the castle and certainly the timber supports this."

[#1oilman]

Very nice looks like high quality workmanship, I always wanted to take a crack at building one.