Picture of the day

SVT-40 sniper said:
Canadians have to be the most intense Nazi hunters on the planet, every pic I see they have their poop together. In that pic you got a spotter with a tommy gun and a guy laying there ready to wipe out a group of Nazis and another guy with the LE watching their 6. I would run from them too if word got out Canadians are coming.
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The Lance Corporal with the Thompson will be the section commander. The kneeling soldier isn't "watching their 6"; he is looking in the same direction as the others. Could well be the No. 2 on the Bren. Much of the time in Italy, Canadians were opposed by German paratroopers. They didn't tend to run.
 
ciphery said:
Actually tracks have big fat orings between the links and are filled with high pressure absorbtion grease. Tracks are lubricated, but they are sealed....once the orings pop and the track looses its grease sand does infiltrate and begin to wear...but as you stated they have much looser tolerances and more meat to wear.
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SALT (sealed and lubricated tracks) rails didn't become a reality until the very early 80's. Until then, operators were subjected to the most annoying constant squeak that would almost drive you nuts.
 
fingers284 said:
SALT (sealed and lubricated tracks) rails didn't become a reality until the very early 80's. Until then, operators were subjected to the most annoying constant squeak that would almost drive you nuts.
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Totally different between a tank track and a track used in todays heavy equipment. As for wet tracks (lubricated) the Germans where using that from the 30s till 1945 on applications that needed a high speed track (Sd.Kfz250/251, HK101). I doubt very much you would find a SALT track on a tank today and certainly not in use in WW2.
 
Fallschirmjäger were tough nuts to crack. They even had folding rifles:

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Some of my pictures aren't working . . . looks like there were two versions of the rifle, one folding at the wrist, the other breaking down at the chamber:

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Cool, they remind be both of the Schmidt Rubin 1889 trial cavalry carbines with the folding stock, and the Type II Arisaka with the breakdown chamber. I could even see it being likely the breakdown chamber one being inspired by the Type II Arisaka.
 
MarkCNP said:
Fallschirmjäger were tough nuts to crack. They even had folding rifles:
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We know who cracked plenty in Ortona and in Crete (Galatos for example), but yes, they were tough fighters no doubt.

This idea was probably a response to the kicking they got in Crete where the dropping of weapons in containers cost them many lives. Their "experts" decided they would drop away from the combat area and have time to find and open the containers and get their kit together before advancing to contact. Dangerous assumption, as assumptions tend to be in war. Why didn't they just put the rifle in a valise to be let down on a lanyard before landing like the British did? Who knows! The K98 is shorter than a No4 after all.

I used to have one of those British valises, made of felt about 3/4" thick with what looked like strong mine tape for the lanyard, which went around the wrist of the butt and out that slit in the case. Very simply sewn together and made to be disposable in combat. Cut it open along the seam and you could almost make a sort of sleeping pad out of it to keep your back/butt off the dirt.

The hinged butt idea? Hinge is doomed to fail, lockup has to be perfect to preserve accuracy. Good enough for a few days fighting I guess.

Interrupted thread on the barrel? Fine, but how do you take up the slack which develops? As a design that one stinks. The shoulder on the barrel that bears against the front of the receiver should be as large as the receiver ring and in near perfect contact with it. When such a rifle is fired, the whipping of the barrel would all be on those threads and that shoulder. Same problem Savage 99 take-downs have. Again, good enough for a few days fighting.

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Ok, the pic is from this thread on another forum:

http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=486926

The top three are:

Rifle No1 MKIII* HT Sniper SAF Lithgow 1945
The HT Sniper rifle is based on a rebuilt No1 MKIII* ( In this case a 1917 model ) fitted with a heavy barre; and telescopic sight made by Australian Optical Co, Victoria. The rifle was introduced into Australian service towards the end of WWII. This particular weapon is fitted with a wooden cheek piece to assist with aiming.

No6 RAAF Trials Rifle 7.62mm Cal SAF Lithgow 1958 ...
Converted from a No6 Mk1, this mod was proposed as a possible solution to the large number of Surplus .303 rifles held in Australia at the time of the changeover of mil cal to 7.62mm. The proposal was abandoned when the trials weapons fitted with metric bbls and FN-FAL mags suffered serious damage to their actions which could not withstand the high pressures of the 7.62mm round.

Rifle No1 MkIII* Bakelite furniture Cal .303 SAF Lithgow
This experimental rifle had furniture made from Bakelite rather than timber. The material was found to be unsatisfactory in trials due to a tendency to warp and fracture under pressure. A small number of such experimental rifles were made at :Lithgow and Britain - the reason appears to be an attempt to prevent saturation of the rifle by gas in chemical warfare.


But the last two... No definitive description as to what they are. Guessing some form of grenade launcher and... A skeletonized trainer???

I found the Bakelite one kind of interesting... Didn't think they were trying synthetic stocks that far back.
 
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