25 pounder muzzle covers

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Rob,

By the time the Muzzle Brake was introduced (and rejected by Australia) the No.23 cover was already in Australian production: there was no requirement to change to a new design.

The Sept 1943 Canadian parts list shows two covers:
No.23 Mk.1 p/n CM1919 for guns without muzzle brake

C No.49 Mk.1 p/n CCM3916, for guns with muzzle brake, so this one was a Canadian design interchangeable with the British No.49, but modified to suit Canadian manufacturing.

The 1952 Australian handbook - 8/9 years before the muzzle brake was introduced into service - shows only the No.23 cover.

As an aside, the initial 25-pdr detailed drawings on which the Aust 25-pdr was manufactured in Aust came from Canada, not the UK. (A lot of this detail is in my book on the 25-pdr) Australia didn't prefix its part numbers with an "A" like the Canadian "C" for interchangeable parts and accessories.

Mike