L42A1 1/2 Inch Brush

[Alan de Enfield]

The yellow handled lens brush

Information

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[Flying10uk]

Could someone explain what one was supposed to do with the 1/2" paint brush exactly, please? Presumably one wasn't expected to paint with it? Was it intended as a lens brush, a cleaning brush or what?

[Gil Boyd]

Just through it in probably as they had a load to get rid of, for cleaning the scope.
One for the big end and the smaller one for the smaller end, and when you get bored doing those two bits, the binos as well

[Roy W]

I would imagine just a handy cleaning brush. A lot of people used to add a shaving brush into their cleaning kits as they were much better at getting into the nooks and crannies than the thick bristled nylon brushes found in standard SLR cleaning kits. The paint brush looks similarly useful to me.

[Nigel]

Some pics of a 1973 made tin for the L1A1 scope. As you can see it does have some extra bits inside the tin to store things. However the brush is not quite wide enough to be secured by the clip in the base on the left whilst the handle of the brush is a bit too thick to be pushed sideways into the right hand clip. You could possibly force it but you'd probably snap it in half when you tried to take it out again. The clip in the lid is for the little packet of lens cleaning papers. The mystery of where to store the brush continues!

[Maca079]

Had to go deep into the memory bank but found the reference I was looking for. CES Pamphlet for the L42A1. Can't seem to find a date on it. See attached photos to help, but the document makes reference on the Specific Notes page - Item C.
Carried in item 42. Handle of item 40 (F1/8020-99-943-0422) to be shortened to suit item 42.
Item 42 is the Container Pullthrough Mk1 (Charlie G lens brush bottle M3/1005-12-142-8021) and item 40 is the Brush, flat, lacquer 1/2 inch.
Item 41 Brush Cleaning rifle (nylon) B2/1005-99-961-7994 was to be carried in the Container, Cleaning Kit, 7.62mm.

The Brush, 1/2 flat lacquer is very soft and wouldn't last 5 minutes cleaning a weapon, so certainly suited as a lens cleaning brush.
I don't want to open the packaging of the Brush Cleaning rifle (nylon) i have, but sure it is the common as muck brush found in cleaning kits of the day.

[Gil Boyd]

Bits of Military kit that have no rhyme nor reason as to their functionality with a certain piece of kit. Flannelette is what we used to use. 4x2 whatever you want to call it.
The 4T/L42 scope was designed to take some stick and it certainly didn't need a very soft brush to clean it with nor a longer handled one if you didn't fancy the shorter one.
As I said earlier, a secondary thought by someone who never fired one, no more to it than that IMHO

[Flying10uk]

This has to be the best cleaning brush that I've seen so far which came with a Yugo ON-M59 optical sight. Yep a brush with no bristles!

[Gil Boyd]

Ahhhhhhhh thats why the Russians always want to scratch OUR eyes out

[Maca079]

Guaranteed never to wear out!