25 Pounder info needed.

[rob love]

Great to hear from you again, and that you are on the top side of the grass.



What a great find. Certainly it is one of the holy grails for a 25 pounder, and on my short list of 25 pdr items to find yet. I do have the apparatus, but not the container. Your photos will go a long way towards making one if I have to go that route.



I have a spare 25 pdr carriage here, but postage to your end of the world would be ridiculous.

[David Dunlop]

Nice to hear from you again, Tony. Great find for the 25 pdr!

All Best Wishes to you and the family for Christmas!

David

[m606paz]

Good to hear from you Tony!
I have missed your progress on the CMP as well as all your comments. Merry Christmas and may we start to see that CMP more assembled next year!
Best regards!

[Ken Smith]

Tony, wonderful to have you back. Looks like you haven't lost any of your restoration skills.
That box looks perfect.
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Ken

[Lynn Eades]

Welcome back Tony. and Happy Christmas!

[Private_collector]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

Tony, wonderful to have you back. Looks like you haven't lost any of your restoration skills.
That box looks perfect.
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Ken

Hi Ken.
Happy New Year to you & your family.

Thanks for your kind words. I know some people disagree with full restoration of historic pieces like that, but I see it as restarting a clock that should keep going now for another few decades. At least it keeps it presentable and looks worth keeping when in good shape. I wonder how many interesting pieces of history got chucked away by someone who thought it was just junk, after the owner was no longer around to vouch for it's significance.

[David Dunlop]

Very nice tribute, Tony!

David

[Private_collector]

Thanks Folks, and Merry Christmas.
I have no current plans to restart CMP work as yet. That one's a bit too heavy duty for me now.
T

[Mike Cecil]

Welcome back, Tony.

Nice find, and an Australian-built No.5 set.

Nice job with the restoration, too.

Best regards

Mike

[Private_collector]

Well, I didn't get the illuminating apparatus onto the shield as expected.

I had a slow start to the day, and spent too long installing a slide out hot water system to the canopy of my old Defender (AKA 'Overlord') and just plain ran out of daylight. Maybe tomorrow. On the positive side, now we dontneed to be dependent on grotty old amenity blocks in order to get a hot shower. In fact, as long as we can find toilets somewhere, we're now independent on our travels.

I did make another acquisition today though. I bought a dial sight from ebay. My other one had a case which had damage to the leather straps, meaning it couldn't be attached 100%. It wouldn't have stayed closed, and could have bounced out while travelling. I will take steps to get it repaired some day. The one I bought today, comes in a case which is fully intact,........and it was made in Australia!

[Mike Cecil]

Tony,

FS Ltd = Ford Sherington Ltd, of Sydney. Also made other leather products such as Vickers MMG spare parts cases.

Mike

[Private_collector]

Originally Posted by rob love

Great to hear from you again, and that you are on the top side of the grass.



What a great find. Certainly it is one of the holy grails for a 25 pounder, and on my short list of 25 pdr items to find yet. I do have the apparatus, but not the container. Your photos will go a long way towards making one if I have to go that route.



I have a spare 25 pdr carriage here, but postage to your end of the world would be ridiculous.

Hi Rob,
Might not be as ridiculous as you would think, if a freight forwarding company brought it in with other things. That said, closer to home would save a lot, no doubt.

Would you like me to send you more drawings to aid your construction of a case? Happy to do so, if it helps. Possibly doing a seperate thread on MLU might benefit others also, if anyone is interested. It really is a most over-engineered little box, in reality. Quite complex. Without detailed photos an measurements, it would be almost impossible to replicate convincingly. I might have tried, some years ago, but the lack of available reference materials (or a real one to study) put me off.
T

[rob love]

There was a fellow from down under a few years ago that was after some 105mm artillery items I had. He mentioned that a neighbor of his regularly imported farm equipment from Saskatchewan via seacans, which is the next province over. He felt his stuff could hitch a ride in one of those. The deal never did come to fruition however...he kind of dropped off communications.


The box certainly merits a thread on it's own, with plenty of photos. It looks like some of the hinges are actually where they rolled the ends of the sheetmetal rather than simply adding piano hinges to the appropriate spots. Photos of all sides and back would be mucho appreciated.

[lynx42]

Tony, Happy New Year, it might be for you. There was, or still is, a 25pdr. trail hidden in scrub on a property just out of Bright, Victoria. I am sure that if it is still there that the owner could be talked into parting with it. Don't remember their name but will go and check it out if I am in the area, Won't be for a while as it's on my way to the Corowa for the Swim-In and 2021 has been cancelled for the correct and obviously reasons. Cheers Rick.

[Private_collector]

Originally Posted by lynx42

Tony, Happy New Year, it might be for you. There was, or still is, a 25pdr. trail hidden in scrub on a property just out of Bright, Victoria. I am sure that if it is still there that the owner could be talked into parting with it. Don't remember their name but will go and check it out if I am in the area, Won't be for a while as it's on my way to the Corowa for the Swim-In and 2021 has been cancelled for the correct and obviously reasons. Cheers Rick.

Hi Rick, thanks and same from me to you!

If you wouldn't mind, that would be great. Pulling off a find like that, would save me hundreds of hours of work and some swearing! Pity google isnt a bit higher resolution, or we could scan from the comfort of home, no matter what lockdown we find ourselves in.
Thanks again,
T

[Private_collector]

The Illuminating Apparatus box fits fine, but man it had close tolerances to the telescope tube on right side, and wooden block on left side. With top lid fully open, they are both missed by about 5-6mm.

I picked up my second dial sight and case on Saturday. Gave the leather some rejuvenation before sitting it in place on Sunday. As I had hoped, all the straps are present and in good condition. Now I need to make the two buckles that attach it to the lower brackets. I wasn't game to do so when I only had the one I knew wouldn't ultimately be used.

The sight itself is in very good shape but some of the black paint is gone. All glass is in great shape, though there are some dirty marks inside. I am VERY reluctant to pull anything apart. If I damage something, I would never forgive myself. Might touch up the exterior paint a bit, but nothing more dramatic will be attempted.

[Oliver Missing]

Awesome work, Tony!
Do you have some decent photos/drawings of the leftsided telescope/dial sight/Probert carrier that you could kindly post ?
Just struggling with my current 3D drawing in this matter…
TIA, Oliver
www.o5m6.de

[Private_collector]

Originally Posted by rob love

There was a fellow from down under a few years ago that was after some 105mm artillery items I had. He mentioned that a neighbor of his regularly imported farm equipment from Saskatchewan via seacans, which is the next province over. He felt his stuff could hitch a ride in one of those. The deal never did come to fruition however...he kind of dropped off communications.


The box certainly merits a thread on it's own, with plenty of photos. It looks like some of the hinges are actually where they rolled the ends of the sheetmetal rather than simply adding piano hinges to the appropriate spots. Photos of all sides and back would be mucho appreciated.

I understand, deals have a way of going cold before completion. I will start taking measurements and photos of the Illuminating Apparatus this evening, and make a seperate thread to put them in. We're going into town today. I will go to the hardware store and look for a ruler or two that have marking easiest to read clearly in photos. Most my existing ones are quite worn, and some marks are getting hard to read.

You are absolutely correct about the hinges. There aren't any individual hinges attached, as all hinges are rolled edges of plate. Takes me back to my metal-shop days at highschool! From a painters perspective, the rolled hinge type gives more clearance (when done properly, and these are) between the surfaces, meaning when you move the hinge, you don't scrape paint off the other surface.
T