RRPG dig - British army dump - 21st October 2012

[Steve T]

Hi all

Well, a very successful trip to the British army dump at the weekend. Some great finds made by all, one within 5 minutes of starting digging !!! As usual for this site, lots and lots of weapon parts and associated items.

Not had a chance to clean anything yet and will post more pictures when I have done so, but here are pictures of relics recovered pre-cleaning

Group shot........



Bren, Le-Enfield and Sten magazines.



Just a couple of MG belt starter tabs. Picture doesn't do it justice really as there are over 50 here. Two top left are Vickers belt, rest we believe are Browning.



Sten Mk 5 stocks, a strange and very small rifle bolt, and a load of little oil bottles. Not sure what these are from though so if you know, please let me know !



A nice little Elastoplast tin.



Buckles and buttons. Again, there are more than 50 here.



Lee-Enfield oil bottles, one of which still appears to contain oil. Two brass, one Bakelite



Sten Mk 2 magazine loading tools. Also shown is a Bren gas regulator, (lump bottom left), and a trigger guard off something.



A trigger + action from something. Needs cleaning up to ID it properly.....



An odd little locking mechanism off something. Found a few of these. Recognise it ?



Lots of bayonet handles and chapes. Once cleaned they will be more recognisable. One of them seems very unusual, as does one of the chapes.



Lastly, butt plates. Lots of different types here with Lee-Enfield, Long Lee and Lee Metford being the commonest. Also a nice little pistol pull-through shown at the bottom.



I'll post more pictures when I get stuff cleaned

Lots more pictures to come from the other guys who were there

Cheers

Steve T

[Richard_J]

Some of my collection, pictured on the garage floor (my wife made me put that so nobody thinks our kitchen is that dirty!) Including Bren, Sten & SMLE Mags, Bren sling hooks, bayonet handles, oil bottles......Oh and the massive saucepan!


Close up of Piat rubber butt pad. Very pleased with this!


Only had a quick clean on this Bren gas regulator that my wife found!

[Steve T]

That PIAT shoulder pad is just awesome, and the Bren gas regulator looks like it just came out the packaging !!!

[cornishboy]

Im amazed again at the quality and variety of finds! Well done chaps for saving them Steve your the only bloke who collects dirty magazines that im happy to know

[Steve T]

Oh bugger. When you sent me the pm asking if you could borrow my dirty mags, I was a little confused. DON'T let your Mrs open the parcel I sent you yesterday.......I sent the wrong dirty mags !!!

[harry211]

really nice find guys , wish I could have been there . That regulator is mint.
Were you digging down the bottom corner near the fence or still slogging away up top?

[Steve T]

Both. We spent the morning near the road extending the hole towards it. That's where the PIAT pad and regulator came from, as well as the mags. We spent the afternoon near the fence, which is where all the butt plates and bayonets came from.

Wait til you see what John found........well weird !!!

[m3bobby]

Some good finds there chaps. I still can't access the member section of the forum or see my PMs, in fact I have to run the forum in compatability view, the only forum I have to do that. Its nice to see some finds I can see, Steve, your unusual bayonet section looks like a Japanese Arisaka bayonet and the chape looks German.

[LUCKYSTRIKE]

Here's my stash of finds for the day. For once the weather/temp was perfect for digging non of the usual extremes (heat, cold or wet ). A good days digging was had by all. This site certainly produces quantity and quality of finds its just a shame most finds come out in very relic condition.

I recovered a fair bit this time, but I cant help thinking how long is it going to take to get this lot cleaned and preserved. I'm starting to sink under the backlog of finds for cleaning , not a bad position to be in I suppose

First up my stash of butt plates. Many different types in there.



Sten mk V



Bayonet handles, you get a good idea of the condition that they're usually in when first pulled out !!



Mixed bunch here, but with a few interesting bits, notice the Bren mk1 butt plate and the handle from a Browning .30 cal.



The final stash with a jumble of other relics.



I also got 4 x Besa ammo boxes to restore and repaint (3 x 7.92mm and 1 x 15mm) and three army boots two of which are a pair.
That's enough cleaning and resto to keep me busy until at least the Spring.
Cheers
LUCKYSTRIKE

[Steve T]

Nice haul LS I think you've probably got enough butt plates now though .......

Lol @ the 'not more' !!!!!