British army dump - Very rare Besa find

RRPG · November 14, 2015, 10:08 AM

HI all

I paid a visit to my British army dump site permission last week and had some great finds again. The majority I already have examples of but I did find one or two 'new' pieces for my collection.

As I already had plenty of examples of a lot of the stuff, I decided to keep my eye in with full restoration and take some back to shiny brass. I don't do this with many relics as I like to keep the aged patina, but the odd one or two shiny items are fine. It also shows that, just because something has been in the ground for 70+ years and is covered in corrosion, it doesn't mean it can't be saved!!

I have also described how I clean the relics in the below video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0QpawytOjs

Here are the finds. If you want to know what they looked like before being cleaned, you'll need to watch the vid!

303 drill rounds. No percussion caps present in any of these and the headstamp show them to be 'dummy' rounds.

Connectors to fit the condenser pipe to the steam jacket of a Browning M1917 water cooled MG.

Same thing, but this is a Mk I Vickers MG connector.

And these are the more familiar Mk II Vickers elbow connectors

.....more........

RRPG · November 14, 2015, 10:10 AM

Top pawl springs from a Vickers feed block

Aerial sights from a Lewis MG

Cloth belt starter tabs and the spouts from oil bottles.

Vickers MG cloth belt starter tabs, all nicely marked, one even dated 1940 (40)

Markings on the Browning cloth belt starter tabs.

More......................

RRPG · November 14, 2015, 10:11 AM

Lots more buckles again on this trip.....

Lee-Enfield and Springfield sling buckles along with three pull through rods

Kerr sling buckles, (most commonly used with the Thompson SMG). Three different types but all used on the same sling.

All nicely marked 'NOBUCKL'

RRPG · November 14, 2015, 10:12 AM

Lee-Enfield No. 1 nose caps. This takes my tally of these to above 30!

And now the Besa find. Rare beast this is........combination tool

Hope you like the finds.

RRPG

g.willikers · November 14, 2015, 11:02 AM

Guess there weren't too many Stens thrown in those dumps.
Oh well.

RRPG · November 14, 2015, 01:38 PM

Far from it. I have hundreds of Sten parts from this dump. I just wasn't digging in the 'Sten area'

ottis · November 28, 2015, 12:09 AM

We used to did pit Ft Olgelthorpe, Ga., back in the 1980's, found some Civil War mixed in with WWI, a lot of coins, mostly pennies, 100s of buttons, it was fun.

November 14, 2015, 10:08 AM	#1
RRPG Member Join Date: August 8, 2011 Location: Midlands, UK Posts: 97	British army dump - Very rare Besa find HI all I paid a visit to my British army dump site permission last week and had some great finds again. The majority I already have examples of but I did find one or two 'new' pieces for my collection. As I already had plenty of examples of a lot of the stuff, I decided to keep my eye in with full restoration and take some back to shiny brass. I don't do this with many relics as I like to keep the aged patina, but the odd one or two shiny items are fine. It also shows that, just because something has been in the ground for 70+ years and is covered in corrosion, it doesn't mean it can't be saved!! I have also described how I clean the relics in the below video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0QpawytOjs Here are the finds. If you want to know what they looked like before being cleaned, you'll need to watch the vid! 303 drill rounds. No percussion caps present in any of these and the headstamp show them to be 'dummy' rounds. Connectors to fit the condenser pipe to the steam jacket of a Browning M1917 water cooled MG. Same thing, but this is a Mk I Vickers MG connector. And these are the more familiar Mk II Vickers elbow connectors .....more........

November 14, 2015, 11:02 AM	#5
g.willikers Senior Member Join Date: September 28, 2008 Posts: 10,442	Guess there weren't too many Stens thrown in those dumps. Oh well. __________________ Walt Kelly, alias Pogo, sez: “Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent.”

November 14, 2015, 10:10 AM	#2
RRPG Member Join Date: August 8, 2011 Location: Midlands, UK Posts: 97	Top pawl springs from a Vickers feed block Aerial sights from a Lewis MG Cloth belt starter tabs and the spouts from oil bottles. Vickers MG cloth belt starter tabs, all nicely marked, one even dated 1940 (40) Markings on the Browning cloth belt starter tabs. More......................

November 14, 2015, 10:11 AM	#3
RRPG Member Join Date: August 8, 2011 Location: Midlands, UK Posts: 97	Lots more buckles again on this trip..... Lee-Enfield and Springfield sling buckles along with three pull through rods Kerr sling buckles, (most commonly used with the Thompson SMG). Three different types but all used on the same sling. All nicely marked 'NOBUCKL'

November 14, 2015, 10:12 AM	#4
RRPG Member Join Date: August 8, 2011 Location: Midlands, UK Posts: 97	Lee-Enfield No. 1 nose caps. This takes my tally of these to above 30! And now the Besa find. Rare beast this is........combination tool Hope you like the finds. RRPG

November 14, 2015, 01:38 PM	#6
RRPG Member Join Date: August 8, 2011 Location: Midlands, UK Posts: 97	Far from it. I have hundreds of Sten parts from this dump. I just wasn't digging in the 'Sten area'

November 28, 2015, 12:09 AM	#7
ottis Junior Member Join Date: November 10, 2015 Posts: 10	We used to did pit Ft Olgelthorpe, Ga., back in the 1980's, found some Civil War mixed in with WWI, a lot of coins, mostly pennies, 100s of buttons, it was fun.