Dischargers, smoke generator, 4 inch

[Ron Pier]

Received Rob. Thanks a million! Ron

[Tim Bell]

Rob.

Also received my copy.

Excellent - many thanks for making the effort.

Cheers

Tim

[kosbie]

Rob
Thank you for the copy. Very much appreciated.
Rick

[David Dunlop]

Based on the information I received from the Enfield Pattern Room, this piece of equipment evolved in the following way. No dates were available to form an actual timeline, but it is very likely some overlaps occurred.

No. 1 Mk 1: The action was based on the .303 Martini Enfield. No further information available.

No. 2 Mk 1: The action was based on the No. 1 SMLE rifle with mods for firing by a remote control Bowdenex Cable.

No. 2 Mk 2: The action was based on the No. 1 SMLE rifle with no modifications to the firing mechanism.

No. 3 Mk 1: The action was an original design specific to the discharger. Employed a dropping breech block similar to the Martini action. It could be fired by a pull chain or a remote Bowdenex Cable.

No. 4 Mk 1: The action was based on the No. 3 (Pattern 14) rifle. No further information available.

Canada produced a quantity of their own dischargers, based on the British No. 2 Mk 1, utilizing both the Ross Mk. III Rifle actions and No. 1 SMLE rifle actions. I do not know what, if any, numbering convention Canada used for this production. Some were built for cable operation and some had no modifications to the firing mechanism.

The Bowdenex type cable is essentially a bicycle brake lever and cable assembly. Different lengths were issued for different vehicle installations. For the No. 1 Mk 1 Dischargers, the available cable lengths were:

No. 1: 3 feet
No. 2: 5 feet
No. 3: 6 3/4 feet

For the No. 2 Mk 1 Dischargers, the available cable lengths were:

No. 1: 3 1/4 feet
No. 2: 5 feet
No. 3: 7 1/2 feet


David

[Michael R.]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Based on the information I received from the Enfield Pattern Room, this piece of equipment evolved in the following way.

(Paraphrased)

No. 2 Mk 2: The action was based on the No. 1 SMLE rifle with no modifications to the firing mechanism.

Canada produced a quantity of their own dischargers, based on the British No. 2 Mk 1, utilizing both the Ross Mk. III Rifle actions and No. 1 SMLE rifle actions. I do not know what, if any, numbering convention Canada used for this production. Some were built for cable operation and some had no modifications to the firing mechanism.

David

David, is there a source document that speaks to: "utilizing both the Ross MK.III Rifle actions and No. 1 SMLE rifle actions" ?



I ask, as examples of the Canadian Ross actions have been observed, but as Canada did not manufacture the SMLE action, outside of a specific serial number or Dominion of Canada Proof stamps, in absence of official documents, how can we identify an SMLE discharger action as being Canadian produced, or should I correctly say, modified?

Ross rifles did not have factory applied serial numbers on the metal parts in a manner we would expect to see similar to other military rifles. The Ross actions used for the discharger conversions have serial numbers applied. Those numbers appear to follow a set sequence or identifiable pattern and location.

Ross discharger actions can be observed specfic to the Canadian Mark of Universal Carrier they were designed for. By example, the MK-I* series carrier used the cable release you identified. No such release cable was required for the MK-II* series carrier. As a result, the modified trigger guard and trigger designed to attach the release cable was redundant. I am thinking you may have some Ford factory images that show the MK-II* U.C. Ross actions in place?

I believe we will find both (original) Ross discharger actions had their safeties disabled by the removal of select parts.