RRPG dig - British army dump - 21st October 2012

[Whitehunter]

Good display Steve, enjoying your posts LS keep it up

[Steve T]

Where's the picture of the 'thing' !!!!!! Bloody kids......

[Whitehunter]

Where's the picture of the 'thing' !!!!!! Bloody kids......

ah, well i have kind of lost it in my pile of 'waiting to be cleaned stuff' Sorry! it will reappear sometime soon (i hope)

[LUCKYSTRIKE]

Hi m3bobby
Thank you once again for another in depth Id on these butt plates, not even heard of the Savage before so another enjoyable trawl of the net is required.
I find it really amazing the range of dates and types of weapons that all these relics came from. Pretty much all of these finds came out of just one hole, Just imagine what the site must have looked like when it was all freshly dumped 'just breath taking'.
Cheers WH, I'll keep chipping away at the to be cleaned pile and post anything of interest.
All the Best.
LS

[LUCKYSTRIKE]

Ive been chipping and chiseling, soaking and brushing, wire wooling and preserving more finds. It's a slow job but Im getting there. Here's the next lot

Unsure on this one, it's top loading but could it be part of a Springfield rifle based on the trigger guard shape? The odd rusted bit to the top has been retained because it's the remains of the spring.





A good stash of Lee Metford butt plates, these were introduced 1888 and withdrawl from service began in 1895.





Several were marked to show the rifle number and also the Regiment they were issued to.
(Left) 9 LD I believe is for 9th Bn Light Dragons?
(Middle) (shown before) Hard to read due to corrosion and the fact it hass been crossed out so the rifle could be reissued to another regiment. If it's 5 LI? then perhaps 5th Bn Light Infantry? reissued to ? I can see a K at the end and perhaps O or G infront.
(Right) 5YK 5th Bn Yorkshire Regiment?



This is the best preserved and nicely marked . Originally issued to 24 LD 24th Light Dragoons? then reissued to 6 SEA, 6th Bn Seaforth Highlanders? It's also nicely marked at the top with WD broad arrow and EFD 64?



Not all were marked, the right hand one appears to have markings but Im going to leave this as is as an example of how they're found. In fact I actually spent 20 minutes chipping rust off just to get it back to this.



Two Bren butt plates, left and below Mk1 it needed a fair bit of work to get it back to this but Im pleased with result and right in poor condition Mk2.



Mixed bunch, British 1903 bayonet handle? another nice brass oil bottle with internal brush attached to lid. A Sten mag loading tool an unidentified trigger guard and a lift the dot clip. Bottom is unidentified brass tube prob go for scrap.





Initially thought a Gas mask eye piece, but it's too big so think it's the front of a torch or lamp, it has a WD arrow marking.



A couple of butt plates.
Left appears to be an early Lee Enfield MK! (Long Lee)? made of steel with oil bottle trap.
Right is sadly unidentified.



Thanks for looking
LUCKYSTRIKE

[Steve T]

Nice work LS. Some great examples there

Could the trigger mech be a Martini-Henry ?

[big ned]

Nice work LS. Some great examples there

Could the trigger mech be a Martini-Henry ?

I think LS has got it. Sure looks like the trigger guard and floor plate of the 1903 A3.

[davejb]

Nice work LS. Some great examples there

Could the trigger mech be a Martini-Henry ?

I was thinking the same thing, but the top loading mechanism was directly above the trigger, also the trigger guard does'nt relate, plus the screw hole at the rear , and it looks to have a magazine in front of the trigger

[TonyE]

The trigger guard looks much more like that of a Pattern '14 rifle to me.

The Lee-Metford butt plates are all marked to either Territorial Force battalions, Special Reserve battalions or new Army battalions suggesting they all date from WWI. 9th LD was the 9th London Regiment (New Army) as was 24th London (24 LD) and 6th Seaforth was either a Territoral or a New Army battalion.

The normal battalion order was that 1st and 2nd were regular army, one serving abroad (7 year posting) and one at home, 3rd was Special Reserve and was essentially a skeleton battalion based at the regimental depot, 4th, 5th and sometimes 6th, were Territorial Force battalions based in the regiments geographic area. Some regiments were officially "Large Regiments" and had double the number of battalions.

Regrads
TonyE

[m3bobby]

I dont think the trigger guard is P14 or 17 as they have a kinked front end, its also not springfield. I suspect its from a Japanese Arisaka, possibly a type 30 or 38.