25 Pounder info needed.

[rnixartillery]

Tony.

One thing baffles me slightly with this box , I have not seen another with
' Anti tank Guns ' stencilled and I have had dozens of the these boxes through my hands.
We all know the 25 pdr is not an anti tank gun and the majority of these boxes produced ended up on 25 pdr's ,may be its an Australian thing !

Rob......................rnixartillery.

[Private_collector]

That would have been handy to know before I sanded the original markings into oblivion. Still, they're gone now.

If it's of any significance, the date stamped onto one of the lid pieces is, 1953 or possibly 1958.

[Mike Cecil]

The Australian 25-pdr was issued with an Armour Piercing Shot projectile, to be fired using any of three charge values
(1) 'Charge Super' plus increment
(2) 'Charge Super'
(3) Charge 3.

CMF artillery units regularly practiced moving target/anti-tank shooting techniques on the anti-armour range at Puckapunyal up into the early 1960s. The Australian 25-pdr handbooks of the 1950s include descriptions of the AP Shot round and the EFCs that each powder type & quantity resulted in.

An AP Shot may only have 'annoyed' a T-54 or Type 59, but smaller vehicles like APCs would still get a quite a shock from one.

The label was common on these Australian-made boxes of the period.

Mike

[Private_collector]

Another nice 25 pdr reference book arrived today.
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Lots of useful information, and pictures to help it all make sense.
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The last image is particularly useful right now!

[Private_collector]

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The canvas for the tool box lid is now finished.
A single stitch run has been run along all sides, beneath where the leather strip will go, to keep the edges fairly straight. Before it's completely tacked in place, I'll iron the edges and apply some spray starch to help the edges retain their shape.

Incidentally, I have not made any attempt to clean inside of the box itself, but did clean inside the lid. Sandblasting isn't just for metal! The lid will need another blasting before reassembly. It has some PVA glue residue to come off.

[Private_collector]

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New leather strip for the tool box lid has now arrived.
It was custom made and sent within 2-3 days, by an Australian business that I will definately use again. I can think of several areas that will require custom made leather pieces, including straps for the sunshine roof on my CMP.
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My cut tacks are here now too. This is equivelent to the larger of the sizes originally used, and they are SHARP! I'll do a test hammer through the end of my leather strip, to see how easy they drive and what, if anything, happens to the leather. It's a good thickness so hopefully they won't distort on the way through. If they do, every hole will need to be punched, or have an awl poked through.
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I've been cleaning up all the screw heads by sanding to shiny, then applying two layers of gun blue. They should look quite nice when finished, and will match the brackets and hinges. I know it's a lot of work, but I thought they came up well.....until I took the closeup photo. Now I can see there is still grot in several of the grooves. Those will get another run through with sandpaper. I'm sure my eyesight is getting worse.

If the good lords willing and the creeks don't rise, I should have color on the box itself this weekend, and the lid should be completely finished.

[Private_collector]

Getting there.
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Still have a dozen or so screws to clean and blue, before the lid can be properly attached.
It's just sitting on the box, in the above photo.
I found I am not good at nailing leather straight, but it sure is secured well.
Those tacks cut right through leather, canvas, and harwood with very little effort.