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general history question

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bolt_thrower View Drop Down
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    Posted: April 28 2021 at 6:33am
if the brits needed rifles so bad for the war, can i assume that most lend/lease rifles went straight into battle?......or were they stockpiled just in case and kinda sat around no doing much?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote A square 10 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 28 2021 at 7:24pm
depends on what years , but i cant think most did not go straight to those that needed them , again we have no records of issue to draw from , that was not in the program in those days 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bolt_thrower Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 29 2021 at 2:06am
thanks for the response....i probably shouldn't have said "assume".....maybe more of a likely hood.... 
it doesn't matter, i suppose.....i'm gonna make up a fantastical story about the history of this rifle to be sure.... lmfao đź¤£
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Goosic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 29 2021 at 5:45am
Instead of making up a fantastic story, why not start a new chapter in its life with you as its new caretaker? Nothing wrong with that as far as I can see. Would not you agree?
I have a Savage made No4Mk1* that started its journey with me as just a barreled action and nothing more almost four years ago. Today, it is an exact duplicate of the L8 series of Enfield rifles with the added bonus of having a reproduction Holland and Holland scope mount installed.
 When my daughter's become the next caretakers and someone asks about it, they can say with absolute confidence that their dad made it.
It is not so much about what it did. (If a No4Mk1 saw use in any campaign from WWII to the Falkland's, there is the probability that at least a few people were on the receiving end of a nasty bit of a how do you do from it.) It is about where it is going now. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bolt_thrower Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 29 2021 at 5:58am
i know....i was just kidding around.......  thank you for your honest insight tho...Smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote shiloh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 29 2021 at 8:39am
To the original question, I think it would be safe to say that after Dunkirk, the Common wealth army was indeed in need of rifles as a vast amount were left behind during the rescue.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shamu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 29 2021 at 8:53am
Regarding "Fantastic Stories" anyone remember "Gekko45" & his "Mall Ninja" site?
It was all totally bogus fun, but once in a while you'd get a real Mall Ninja to fall for it then it got even funnier.
Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote shiloh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 29 2021 at 9:30am
As far as stories go, when I bought my No5, the gentleman I got it from said that it was his dads from the war, he supposedly retained it after coming home and he sported it for deer hunting, true maybe, probable, not likely as the weapons were mostly turned in before disembarking.
Whats interesting is his dad was Airborne and was probably issued a No.5, so dad went out a bought one from sears and told his son that this was the rifle he used during the war.
Wish my grandad did that, he was a vickers gunner in WW1... lol
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Goosic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 29 2021 at 9:43am
Originally posted by Shamu Shamu wrote:

Regarding "Fantastic Stories" anyone remember "Gekko45" & his "Mall Ninja" site?
It was all totally bogus fun, but once in a while you'd get a real Mall Ninja to fall for it then it got even funnier.
I found the archived thread. Holy heII! That is some funny stuff...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Marco1010 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 29 2021 at 8:17pm
i like that story. Suspect that a lot of peoples dads just found a for sale example of whatever rifle they actually used and just said it was their rifle.  Most servicemen were not that sentimental about missing their actual rifle they were issued. Bear in mind you might return a rifle and have a new one issued multiple times during your service.  
Like the one guy in the Band of Brothers book, handed in his Garand for a new model and cursed afterwards he could never hit anything with the new one.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bolt_thrower Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 30 2021 at 3:13am
i wondered if things were different then regarding issue of weapons.
like...if a soldier kept the same rifle throughout their service ....
also, ....about cleaning their rifles......these milsurp enfields all seem to be gunked up big time.....is that due to neglect after they were taken out of service or was there no emphasis on maintenance back then?....i know that i spent a he!! of a lot of time in the army cleaning guns...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shamu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 30 2021 at 8:52am
They did emphasize maintenance, by the standards of the day, but that day is long gone.
It used to be, pour 2 pints of boiling water down the bore from the breech with the special funnel.
Pass three oiled "four by twos" (cleaning patches torn from a roll), followed by 3 dry "four by twos", & a final oiled one.
THAT was enforced, but equally once done "the rifle was cleaned." (whether it was or not.)
That was basic daily type maintenance, but there were more thorough cleanings but they were done only by the trained armourers, beyond the ken of the average squaddie.


Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote hoadie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 30 2021 at 2:26pm
Well, my No 5 is the real deal. Barry used it when he was deployed for the Mau Mau..when he was de-mobbed he bought it out of service..& when he came to Canada - he brought it wiv im...wherby I got it.

I had possesion of the diary he kept during that period. He was a medic. From what I read in his diary, he should have been anointed with accolades & medals..instead they preferred to keep quite & leave his service record alone. He performed some pretty dangerous things against specific orders..but the suffering of the indigeonous people was something he couldn't ignore.
Loose wimmen tightened here
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shamu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 01 2021 at 6:00pm
MauMau was some seriously nasty stuff!

I had a Saffer friend & some of the stories he can tell will curl your "short & curlies".
I hosted his Mom & Pop & the "faithful Family retainer", "JoJo", a Bantu. (That is NOT RACIST) it's how he referred to himself.
They had a construction business in JoBurg, but also a farm in the country. Like many they hired migrant seasonal workers & had a very good reputation among the tribes they knew.
This was unacceptable to the rabble mousers & so they tried to destroy it.
His mom, a little old lady, in a print frock mom shot them, repeatedly when the to get into the female quarters.Shocked

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote lyman1903 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 02 2021 at 8:17am
Originally posted by Shamu Shamu wrote:

Regarding "Fantastic Stories" anyone remember "Gekko45" & his "Mall Ninja" site?
It was all totally bogus fun, but once in a while you'd get a real Mall Ninja to fall for it then it got even funnier.

I think he ended up getting banned from a handful of sites, Smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shamu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 02 2021 at 10:20am
Oh yes he was banned all over the place!
I thought he was hilarious.

"Gecko45 writes:

To answer your question about where I work and what I guard, I the liutenant of a 3 man Rapid Tactical Force Team, in one of the nation’s largest indoor retail shopping centers. My job job is to defend and protect the lives of the many shoppers who currently vist this center, and in my line of work you cannot be too careful. My job requires that my weapons be of the highest quality, and compared to the HK94 my Team Leader owns, it is a great gun. The HK MP5SD we tesst fired was quiet, but kept jamminng with Hydra-Shoks. The round would go “nose up” out of the magazine, and stop the bolt, and I kept having to clear the chamber. I will not buy any more HK’s because of these FTF’s, the Civvie-leagal HK94 does the same thing. We are completely done with pistol caliber HK’s on our taem, our equipment must be reliable. For the smae reason, however, we will continue to use the G36 rifles for patrol, be cause they do work more smoothly than the M4’s. I just need a reliable replacement for the HK’s, and we chose SW because of their availibility and reputation." Shocked

Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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