Boys anti tank rifle owners, I need your help!

stencollector

stencollector

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
229   0   0
Location
shilo MB, the armpit of Canada
If you own a Universal (Bren gun) carrier, then you need to own a Boys rifle. But if you end up with a boys with the flat Mk2 muzzle brake , then you are frustrated in that it does not quite fit into the back of a mk1 universal carrier. One or two of my friends have been feeling this frustration (I am lucky, my Boys rifle is a proper mk1 with the round muzzle brake) so a machinist friend of mine decided to help them out. He had a CNC program made up for a portion of the brakes, and made a very small run of them. Below are some photos of the two. The new one is still in the white:






Now here is the problem. When my friend went to install his new muzzle brake to replace the mk2 muzzle brake, it did not snug up against the front sight by a fair bit of space. What we are wondering is if there is perhaps a crush washer on the mk1 Boys rifle muzzle brake to properly align the orientation of the brake. So the first question to the other owners of the Boys rifles, is what is between your muzzle brake and your front sight?






My second question pertains to the special wrench to remove the muzzle brake. I found the wrench to be too tight on my original, and so of course it is too tight on these exact copies. Has anyone else found they have to remove just a slight bit of material from the wrenches to make them work? I am talking about maybe .003".

Any help that other owners can offer would be appreciated. These repros are pretty meticulous, so these two problems are a bit of a puzzle. The barrel currently on my rifle is of no help, since it is a 50 cal replacement barrel. The gunsmith who did the initial work took a few liberties, so it is difficult to ascertain what is correct on it. For instance, he changed the left hand thread pitch on my muzzle brake to a difference of 2 TPI from the original to match the threads he put on the end of my new barrel. Why he did this I can't fathom. I have my demilled original 55 cal barrel which is what you see in the photos.
 
.
In my Computer Notes for the Rifle, Boys, Mk.1, I have a copy of Drawing DD(E) 1926 revised 30-7-37. This drawing gives a view and some major dimensions of the parts of the Rifle. Group C, the Recoil Reducer, shows no spacer washer, nor does the Barrel-Receiver group.
 
I also have that drawing set here as a poster before me. I did not note a washer on it either, but then again I could not find the front sight on the drawings. But here is a photo of a Boys rifle di-assembled garnered off the internet, and it shows a crush washer.

I would be very interested in hearing what others have on their rifles.
 
The flat muzzle brake came with washers for the obvious reason that the brake had to be horizontal. My favorite story about that is the guy who disregarded those washers, The brake wound up vertical instead of horizontal and he then proceeded to fire it on a gravel berm!
Looking at your round brake I would assume they were also necessary as otherwise the gas would be deflected in the wrong direction (verticaly instead of horizontaly)
 
Front sight mount is #49 and the front sight blades is #50 on my copy of that poster/drawing.

I think JOHN SUKEY could be right about the washers. Different thickness washers would be needed to align a Mark II muzzle brake for sure and probably for the Mark I too. A muzzle brake would be a part that only an Armourer would be allowed to remove completely.

Small Arms Training
Volume 1 Pamphlet No. 5

Anti-Tank Rifle
1937

Lessson 1 - Stripping and Cleaning - Recoil Reducer

"Using the Combination Tool, unscrew the three deflector screws and remove the Deflector."
"Assemble in reverse order. Care should be taken to replace the Deflector in the same flanges."

From the instructions, it would appear that the rear portion of the Recoil Reducer would remain solidly attached to the rifle, but the front portion was designed to be disassembled. If a different thickness crush washer was needed to align the slots of the recoil reducer, it would remain with the rear portion of the Recoil Reducer and thus not be lost during the cleaning or stripping of the rifle.
.


.
 
Last edited:
I am pretty sure you guys are right as well about the washer. I have the round brake on my Boys, and during a shoot in the spring it shot ice chinks the size of my fist back at me from the muzzle brake. You would want the gas ports at 4 and 8 o:clock.
 
"...then you need to own a Boys rifle..." What for? Universal Carriers carried BREN guns. You need a Boyes for sniping between mountains in Northwest India. Guy came into the shop who had done just that. Told us about it after staring at the PzB we had.
 
Universal carriers did indeed have a Bren, and if available, a second one for a spare. But the kit layout also included the Boys rifle. Brens are dime a dozen compared to Boys rifles. Boys rifles are also a lot more impressive looking too.
 
I actually think I spotted the problem. It is with the threading on the new muzzle brake. The threads on the barrel stop before they reach the front sight. The threads on the repro muzzle brakes need to be undercut by about .040", as was my original. You can kind of see it on the third photo in my original post. Pretty sure this will solve the problem. If there is an indexing problem, some material could be removed from the end face of the brake...it would not take much since the max you could be out would be less than 1/3 of a turn. I'll assume you would want a closed portion of the brake pointing at the ground.
 
Why not put a washer on it and save a lot of time and trouble.....
I had to look close but no washer and I thought there might be an internal collar but did not have the time to crank it off.
Can you PM me with the maker...???
cheers,
W
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom