No2 Revolver, BODY and Pairing numbers

[Peter Laidler]

Forumers on the Bren forum raised a point about serial numbers matching throughout the whole kit. I'd looked into this while we were refurbishing hundreds of the old No2 revolver which has both a SERIAL number PLUS a pairing number that matches the side plate to the body. It is critical to keep these together because the axis pin holes and screw holes are drilled together so that when the trigger and hammer axis pins are fitted, they align exactly with the side plate.

At one of our big Base Workshops (40 Base) we had hundreds going through at a time and as the side plate was matched to the pistol, they'd easily become mixed up with dire consequences! So the In Inspector, Mr Saw had a little book where every gun SERIAL number would have penciled in alongside the serial number, the 'pairing' number - the internal number that matches the frame with the accurately matched side plate. So....., if you had a mismatched body and side plate that didn't fit, instead of searching through 200 oily pistol bodies you could just look at the book, match the pairing number with the original frame serial number and match it up easily.

Are you still with me...............? Keep up at the back of the class! I wondered whether the 'pairing numbers' on the body and side plate had any relationship with the serial number of the body. But nope, there didn't seem to be any correlation at all. Even when the serial number letter changed it made no difference. Same as the year change...... Sometimes the pairing number just seemed to re-start at 0099 and carry on for a year. Maybe I had too much time on my hands and really needed to get out a bit more

Just a bit of useless info for you No2 pistol owners who might have wondered about the why's and wherefores of these numbers. Why didn't they simply put the pistol serial number on the side plate? Probably becauyse the pairing number was done early on in manufacture while the serial number was put on at the last final inspection.

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