.303 Spitfire Browning Relic-Job Done!!

[Falschirmjager]

What a cracking find! where did it come from? its also in really nice condition.
all the best
John

Hi there John, Well, it was purchased from Jay and Paul of Dugup.co.uk. They sent me a mail saying they thought it would be up my street and to have a look as they had added it onto their website priced up at £175 which i thought was too cheap. Had a look and thought blimey thats very good item so had it off em. When it arrived apart from the barrell and breach section it was in parts and i had to attach the top cover and the two pieces of breech casing. The damaged or broken gun parts were included too. As you see from the pix it was covered in rust when i got it and thought it would look better cleaned up and treated with a good metal preservative which would protect it from any further rust or corrosion in future. This was originally brought up in fishing nets by a Dorset fisherman off the Isle of Wight back in 1958 along with a Spitfire MK1A wing section. The fisherman only decided not to throw it back overboard out of curiosity by seem of it and he took back in to port and handed it in to a firearms dealer who checked it over and made sure it was safe and could not fire etc. The guy also removed a lot of the 18 year ocean crap from it too. It was the returned to the fisherman who kept it in his garden shed where it stayed until his death a few months ago. His son rediscovered it when clearing out his fathers things out of the shed. Thats the complete story on it so far mate. Its deffinately a Battle of Britain combat loss as over 29 Spits were lost over coastal areas of the English Channel between August and September 1940 and thats excluding those that went down into French coastal waters and further losses in the following months of October, November. I think the guys realise they let it go too cheap now as theyve asked me if i ever decide to sell to give them first refusal! Its a rare item in any form as you just dont see these things even at the big shows anymore and if you do they cost a fortune. Last item i saw similar to this only not as complete was a German 13mm MG131 barrell and breech section mounted on a board and the guy wanted £450 for it. Best Regards mate.

[ssg keay]

You should see my Browning 50 Cal MG's from a P-47 site Still with original finish on it. Danny

[GasMasksUK]

You should see my Browning 50 Cal MG's from a P-47 site Still with original finish on it. Danny

Have you posted it on the forum already, if you havent can you upload some pictures?

Thanks

Danny

[Falschirmjager]

Have you posted it on the forum already, if you havent can you upload some pictures?

Thanks

Danny

Hi Danny, Yep the pics have been posted up of how it was when i received it and how it looks now mate. What i like about this particular item is the fact of how little i had to fork out for it as i dont think the guys really knew what they had with this item. 303 Brownings especially one from a Battle of Britain Spitfire combat loss which there is no doubt this one was are very rare indeed in any form and any condition. I have seen quite a lot of .50 cal machineguns found at wreck sites being offered for sale. A guy i know who deals in this kind of stuff advised me that the area where my gun was found was where Flt.Lt John Dundas went down seconds after he shot down the German 'Ace' Helmut Wick. He said if it could be proved that this gun was one from Flt.Lt Dundas's Spitfire it would be worth a considerable amount. Unfotunately this gun was found by fishermen back in 1958 and they did not keep the other pieces of wreckage that came up in their nets apart from a complete MK1A Spitfire wing tip. There may have been a data plate somewhere on the other pieces that could have indentified the actual aircraft. I was told the wingtip section was snatched by a collector almost as soon as the guys got into port. Fascinating stuff this tho! regards, Tim.

[Whitehunter]

Hi there John, Well, it was purchased from Jay and Paul of Dugup.co.uk. They sent me a mail saying they thought it would be up my street and to have a look as they had added it onto their website priced up at £175 which i thought was too cheap. Had a look and thought blimey thats very good item so had it off em. When it arrived apart from the barrell and breach section it was in parts and i had to attach the top cover and the two pieces of breech casing. The damaged or broken gun parts were included too. As you see from the pix it was covered in rust when i got it and thought it would look better cleaned up and treated with a good metal preservative which would protect it from any further rust or corrosion in future. This was originally brought up in fishing nets by a Dorset fisherman off the Isle of Wight back in 1958 along with a Spitfire MK1A wing section. The fisherman only decided not to throw it back overboard out of curiosity by seem of it and he took back in to port and handed it in to a firearms dealer who checked it over and made sure it was safe and could not fire etc. The guy also removed a lot of the 18 year ocean crap from it too. It was the returned to the fisherman who kept it in his garden shed where it stayed until his death a few months ago. His son rediscovered it when clearing out his fathers things out of the shed. Thats the complete story on it so far mate. Its deffinately a Battle of Britain combat loss as over 29 Spits were lost over coastal areas of the English Channel between August and September 1940 and thats excluding those that went down into French coastal waters and further losses in the following months of October, November. I think the guys realise they let it go too cheap now as theyve asked me if i ever decide to sell to give them first refusal! Its a rare item in any form as you just dont see these things even at the big shows anymore and if you do they cost a fortune. Last item i saw similar to this only not as complete was a German 13mm MG131 barrell and breech section mounted on a board and the guy wanted £450 for it. Best Regards mate.

Hi mate, i go on dug up quite a lot its a really good site. Thats an intresting story because my Grandad, Dad and uncle all used to be fishermen they would come home with buckets of finds each day
we have a museum that is full to the top with grandads life time collection. They found stuff dating from 15 million years ago right up to present day. grandad found a machine gun from a german plane which was also just off the isle of wight.
Sadly grandad passed away eariler this year.

cheers,
John

[Falschirmjager]

Hi mate, i go on dug up quite a lot its a really good site. Thats an intresting story because my Grandad, Dad and uncle all used to be fishermen they would come home with buckets of finds each day
we have a museum that is full to the top with grandads life time collection. They found stuff dating from 15 million years ago right up to present day. grandad found a machine gun from a german plane which was also just off the isle of wight.
Sadly grandad passed away eariler this year.

cheers,
John

Hi John, The fishermen used to get some fascinating stuff from the war turning up in their nets though often caused them to have damaged nets so not all of these things were welcome but there are a few well documented cases of aircraft parts and weapons being hauled up. That gun from the German plane might have come from Wicks Me109!!!-i hope you still have this item!! I did have a huge collection of Luftwaffe aircraft parts inc the propeller hub and reduction gear and cannon barrell from a Bf109G5/R2 that was excavated in France along with the pilots remains. Thankfully he was buried with honours with his sister and brother at the service. I sold virtually everything in that line to the Dugup guys in 2007. I think with these things its best to have one or two really top items rather than hundreds of bits of metal but the top notch stuff is big money now. I mainly focus on ammunition now as its so much easier to store and/or display but if i come across a really good aviation item i still have that temptation as was case with the 303 Browning. That was such a bargain at £175 and Jay said he had loads of guys offering money after he put it aside for me and realises he should have made more on it. I intend having a display box made up for it as i dont trust wall mounts as they can fall off. You must post up some pictures from your museum as it sound fascinating. Cheers and best regards, Tim.

[Whitehunter]

Hi John, The fishermen used to get some fascinating stuff from the war turning up in their nets though often caused them to have damaged nets so not all of these things were welcome but there are a few well documented cases of aircraft parts and weapons being hauled up. That gun from the German plane might have come from Wicks Me109!!!-i hope you still have this item!! I did have a huge collection of Luftwaffe aircraft parts inc the propeller hub and reduction gear and cannon barrell from a Bf109G5/R2 that was excavated in France along with the pilots remains. Thankfully he was buried with honours with his sister and brother at the service. I sold virtually everything in that line to the Dugup guys in 2007. I think with these things its best to have one or two really top items rather than hundreds of bits of metal but the top notch stuff is big money now. I mainly focus on ammunition now as its so much easier to store and/or display but if i come across a really good aviation item i still have that temptation as was case with the 303 Browning. That was such a bargain at £175 and Jay said he had loads of guys offering money after he put it aside for me and realises he should have made more on it. I intend having a display box made up for it as i dont trust wall mounts as they can fall off. You must post up some pictures from your museum as it sound fascinating. Cheers and best regards, Tim.

Thanks for another intresting story and yes we still have every thing in the museum. I will try and get some pictures at some point

all the best
John