Boys rifle

[bas]

There's a couple of them still floating around NZ, still in their original .55 calibre. A collector I know let me photograph his Inglas Mk 1 rifle
I think its 1943 dated. A very cool firearm.

 

[TheIndifferent1]

I want one

I'd also love one of the Ross rifles that were restocked to be used as Boys trainers, but I don't know if any of those still exist. I have a photo of the blueprints somewhere.

 

[stencollector]

Does the conversion to .50 make it less desirable? Isn't that like taking an
all matching No4Mk1(T) and converting it to 8mm Jap, or an all matching K98 8mm and converting it to 0.303 ? To me it ain't the same once its been Bubba-Bubbed and Humped.

The conversion to 50 cal is fairly accepted in the Boys rifle realm. In the US it is due to the Boys being destructive devices due to their caliber. Many were not registered as such, and had to have their barrels removed. Here in Canada, it is also reasonably common to have them in 50, because the ammo is much more plentiful and relatively inexpensive. Even the US military made some conversions back in Vietnam, with the installation of a BMG barrel and a M84 scope.



A decade back, I was able to find 40 rounds of Boys ammo for only $10 a round. In this day and age, you are lucky to find individual rounds at $25. I have to admit, I shot every round I could find back in the day, making the remaining rounds just a little bit more rare.

I had my rifle barrel contoured to match the original, and made some minor mods so it would feed ammo out of the mag. Better a functioning anti-tank rifle than a safe queen for lack of ammo.

Interesting to note that the Inglis shown in Bas's photos is also US property marked. I have to wonder if all Inglis Boys were US contract.