New owner of a Finnish Bofors 40mm
 

So I was able to scrape together my pennies and buy a Bofors 40mm from Collectors Source here in Canada. It was imported from Finland and was deactivated on import so no gun law issues here. It is very complete and has quite a few post WW2 attachments on it which I will remove to bring it back to the basic WW2 "Canadian" configuration. Looking for some info on unit markings, would need to have some army unit represented. Thinking Europe after D Day.
The gun functions, rotates and elevates with ease being very well greased prior to retirement and deactivation. The barrel needs a good cleaning as it is rusted and the carriage has minor rust on some of its parts. Overall a nice coat of paint and it should be ready for the show season, if it ever comes this year.
The markings on it are in Finnish and I was able to translate them on my phone. Will eventually make up new brass plates for the "safe", "single" and Multi shot" settings. The rest of the data plates are going to be left alone.
The whole thing is a mash up of multiple guns. The carriage is from 1939 and the barrel from 1945, the rest is from all the dates in between.
Recovery was a simple matter, the carriage fit nicely on my heavy trailer and with the aid of a winch and a tractor it was positioned and rolled on. Tires are the biggest problem as the 7,00-20 tires are not made anymore and the rims are rusty 1 piece split rims. I asked the local tire shop and they should be able to get me farm implement tires but the rims are a no go for them, not allowed to touch those death traps...
COVID traffic was light and the drive was easy.
Pictures to follow once I get some loaded onto my computer.

7.00-20 tyres
 

Jon,

Good for you! The Bofors is of course an iconic piece of artillery.

Re. 7.00-20 tyres: I looked into this for my 20-cwt trailer and they are still being made to cater for the vintage truck and trailer market. They may not be available off the shelf and will come at a cost, but they are out there.

Now, how about you showing us some pictures?

Surely the 7.00-20 size was renamed 7.50-20 so GMC CCKW tyres would fit. These are readily available as they are still being manufactured as NDCC (bar grip !). Even if the sizes are different they are very close.

David

Coker Tire lists 700-20 as available in highway tread pattern. https://www.cokertire.com/tires/fire...ad-761401.html Not all trailed equipment got cross country tires. They didn't need driving traction and highway tires used less rubber.
If Coker has them the other usual suspects will too - Universal, Wallace Wade, Summit - whoever offers the best total deal on tir, tube, flap, shipping, etc.

Although I know it never happens here on MLU, but I'll sidetrack for a minute to say that I believe Wallace Wade Tires is no more. Wallace passed a couple years ago and a google search shows the company is no more and the warehouse is for sale. Derk Derin and myself both have humorous memories of dealing with Wallace at some of the MVPA conventions. He was a tire man to the end.

Thanks for the update - one less distributor. It was from WW that the Hammond crew sourced our buy of 10.50x16 tires and that did work out well.

You mentioned Summit who are my go to guys for the vintage tires these days. They offer free shipping to the border, which works out well. At least it will when the border opens. Their price is $367 Canadian shipped.
https://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/cok-77240

The farm implement tires, if cheaper, might well be the way to go since you are unlikely to be towing this configuration down the highway. I can't speak to the relative lifespan(weathercracking) of an implement tire vs a highway tire though.

With absolutely no actual data to go on, I suspect the rubber on a "working" farm tire might be better formulated to resist UV and weather than a "collector" tire.

[ :teach: mode on ]

No, 7.00-20 was not renamed to 7.50-20. The 7.50-20 is a different tyre with a section width being .5" larger. The section height should also be somewhat lager as that is dictated by the section width. But the 7.50-20 tyre having a wheel diameter of 20" will fit on the Bofors gun rims as they have a comparable - if not identical - rim width (bead) as the wheels used on GMCs.

So yes, "Even if the sizes are different they are very close" :)

[ :teach: mode off ]

Attachment 113911

I knew that !

However I thought that it was like the change in the UK from 13.50-20 to 14.00-20 and 10.50-20 to 11.00-20 where for a while the tyres were marked with both sizes. Possibly the term re-designation would have been better ?

In any case tyre sizes are not that precise, particularly the width measurements and do vary a surprising amount between manufacturers.

David

Picture
 

Guys,

I live in the same county as Jon, and just had to go and visit when I heard about his latest acquisition. Maintaining the correct social distancing, I was able to catch up with all the latest and check out his new piece. For an infantryman, Jon has a definite soft spot for artillery.
I also know how much we enjoy pictures, so here's my contribution.

Peter


Attachment 113912

Thanks everyone
 

Thanks Peter for the pic.

Everyone else thank you for the interest. The wheel sub thread was interesting.

The pile of tools that came with it was also excellent, the shell removing tools are key as once they are in the loader they don't come out easy without it. :doh:

Here are the anticipated photos. I can put up more but for now these and the one from Peter should suffice.

As you can see there is very little rust and aside from the "modern" parts attached and the bad black and green paint scheme it looks like a vintage from the blitz.

Followup
 

So the followup on the tire discussion, the implement tires are roughly $120 CAD each and then roughly $30 for each tube. $150 x 4 is not too bad. Once I get the rims cleaned and painted they can be put on with all the care and attention needed an old split rim wheel.
The implement tire as mentioned is not a high speed wheel but this will likely never go anywhere on the roads unless on another trailer. Low speed for a parade or anything like that will be fine.
Bumping around out in a field is what they are made for and the quality of the farm tires is usually very good.

To start a new discussion- what is the most likely tractor for these? CMP? APT? Half track? or a form of gun tractor? :cheers:

Jon and Peter,

Thanks for the pictures, nice catch Jon.

The next thing you need to cast your nets out is for a LAAT, Light Anti-Aircraft Artllery Tractor - see e.g. http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=24307

Spare wheel....?????
 

I was sure I had a spare wheel Jon

................. but turns out to be quite different.

Is a 20 in. rim with a 32 x 6 old style tire........

....... available to anyone who can justify the use......

Cheers

Hi Bob,

I think your wheel is a standard 20" Ford 3 ton (here on a German Ford V3000 but other nations mounted them).

Attachment 113999
https://i.imgur.com/DFMLtTT.jpg

Cheers,
Patrice.

Ten stud on a Ford ?

David

5 versus 10 holes......
 

It seems that in that era a lot of wheels had 10 holes drilled but only five used in front and ten in the rear and they got around to five studs in front by using a 1/8 in. thick spacer between the nuts and the rims thereby hiding the extra 5 holes...... very common on GM and possibly GMC....Maple Leaf..... no experience with the Ford.

The wheel does look similar to the Ford pictured.

Thanks for the info..... wheel remains unspoken for......

Cheers

Bob C