$400.00 Deal or no deal on Lithgow?

[Roger Payne]

Yes, I think a crack there is permissible so long as the keeper plate is fitted & the brass tie pin is intact.

[CINDERS]

All the recoil plates I have for the No.1 MkIII are just shaped flats with no tangs going towards the draws nor a tie plate as is with the No.4 rifle.
Roger I remember seeing those particular recoil plates on fleabay many years ago but was not quick enough to snaffle one or three!

[Roger Payne]

Do you know any more about them Ron? Just curious.......are they Aussie do you know?

I've no use for this one so if you want to pm me your address you can have it.

[Homer]

Do you know any more about them Ron? Just curious.......are they Aussie do you know?

I've no use for this one so if you want to pm me your address you can have it.

The steel pins attached to the keeper plate was a method to reinforce the draws trialled in the 30’s by the Lithgow SAF. It’s possible the idea of copper recoil plates came before the steel pin design above was trialled, but the plates did not come into continuous use until after, roughly 1939/40. It’s a bit of a grey area.

Recoil plates were not a stop gap measure. They were a very satisfactory solution to remedy the problem of bruising that was prone to the softer timbers used in Australian production.