Quote:
Originally posted by Jon Skagfeld
Hey...I just noticed after I posted...whereinhell did the Vickers on the UC come from?
Fluted, straight, what barrel...CA, full, de-ac...c'mon Stewart, details, please.
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Jon,
I was happy to get first pick of the new shipment at Collector's Source in Acton. I am sure that Fred and Al were quite sick of me calling them every week to find out when the 'stuff' was coming in. The whole story of how this gun got to Canada would be funny, if you were not the guys who had paid for them all in the UK, only to have them held up by every Customs guy from Halifax to Southampton for more than a year.
The gun that I selected was one of a pile of mid-1940's Australian made guns and tripods. My tastefully deactivated gun was made near the end of the production ( if I can believe the web page about Vickers MMG ) with a smooth water jacket. Prior to getting a pin welded through the firing chamber it was a .303 shooter.
You know my feelings on the Draconian gun laws in Canada - so I won't bore anyone with my rantings about that subject. I have seen that some folks in Nevada are taking Australian Vickers dewats and converting them to semi-auto. The gun importers that I spoke with recently were split - either they were illegal to get into Canada, or they were far too expensive a toy ( even for me , Sean! ).
I had been collecting Vickers bits for a while, and all of the ammo carriers, flash suppresors and extra sights fit like a glove. The deactivation allows the top covers free to open to show all of the splendid bits and parts of the workings of a true engineering marvel. It's too bad that I will never get to fire this extraordinary part of history.
Stewart