Lewis Gun

We have just had a replica Lewis made for our BE2, PM me for more details;)

VX927
By any chance is the DH2 in question the one that was built at Lands End? I wondered what had happened to it.

To be honest with you, I dont know off the top of my head… But I’ll find out. I do know that she’s been sat in a barn somewhere for quite a few years! I hope to be able to get some photos of her soon!

Thank you everyone who has helped and posted links… As always it’s much appreciated.

I meant aircraft-spec Lewis’s, so completely stripped of fins and jacket etc, then pressed into the anti-aircraft role in the ground

Interesting bit of Lewis trivia – in WW2 when WW1 era stripped down Lewis’s were used in the ground role, it was found that the lack of the cooling fins and jacket had no detrimental effect on the weapon, and could work fine without it, even in the desert. Interestingly, the AA Lewis guns fitted to ships on the Arctic convoys manned by the Army kept the cooling jackets on!

Does the term ‘stripped Lewis’ just refer to a Lewis gun without a cooling jacket (or fins) then? I’ve seen this term mentioned many times in a book about CAM ships when these were used to bolster the close-range AA defence of ships and wondered exactly what it meant.

I had heard that there was little or no difference without the cooling jacket but that never really surprised me as I think the design intended that air would be draw along inside the cooling jacket as the result of suction created by the bullet leaving the end of the muzzle.

The battlefield relic Lewis is at the excellent Passchendaele Museum in Zonnebeke, not far from Ypres – I spent an excellent weekend in the area and flew over the museum in a Stampe SV.4 biplane. Someone I know picked up a relic Lewis gun, fairly complete still with the jacket for about £500 whilst we were there!

There were two relic ones, better than that illustrated, about 2 miles from your home just very recently. I will tell the new owner(s) of your interest. They may part with them but they weren’t cheap.

Always looking for a lead on one thanks !

There were two relic ones, better than that illustrated, about 2 miles from your home just very recently. I will tell the new owner(s) of your interest. They may part with them but they weren’t cheap.

Even a ground spec Lewis will cost you about 5K now – the batch of 12 that came in earlier this year in about late February/March were going for £2250, and all sold within a week, I know two people with them, fortunately they were all fitted with the carrying handle, which makes things easier for those lugging them about.

Even if you got a ground spec Lewis and wanted to convert it to an air one, be more than just taking the jacket off, as under the jacket there are rows of cooling fins – here’s a photo of one dug up on the WW1 Battlefields with the jacket rusted away.

If the chap wanted a de-activated one and couldn’t find a stripped down air spec Lewis, could always just use a ground spec one and change the butt to the handle and keep the cooling jacket etc, as some aircraft (such as the Vickers Gunbus like at Hendon) kept the cooling jacket on.

Interesting bit of Lewis trivia – in WW2 when WW1 era stripped down Lewis’s were used in the ground role, it was found that the lack of the cooling fins and jacket had no detrimental effect on the weapon, and could work fine without it, even in the desert. Interestingly, the AA Lewis guns fitted to ships on the Arctic convoys manned by the Army kept the cooling jackets on!

Oh, and if anyone wants some WW1 and WW2 Lewis gun pouches, let me know, i’ve got some up for sale

Thats a loverly relic Lewis, where is that ? I am very jealous I have been looking for a relic one for years !

VX927
By any chance is the DH2 in question the one that was built at Lands End? I wondered what had happened to it.

Love the description of the “non-firing” model – I think someone knows their audience! 😀

Adrian

Rob – if in doubt refer to the manual!

http://www.fenrir.com/free_stuff/lewis/021.htm

Cooling sleeve is a separate assy which fits into the barrel jacket and around the upper part of the barrel itself
http://www.fenrir.com/free_stuff/lewis/023.htm

I cant think of many weapons off hand which have integrated cooling vanes on the barrel itself, the only one I can think of immediately is the M1928 Thompson, but of course the vanes were done away with on the simplified M1 Army issue version.

Back on topic – found a cheap Lewis gun which may do the job:

www.nieuports.com/index.asp?page=feature_builders

ATB

Ben

Ah cheers, I thought they were part of the barrel construction. WW1 dated ground spec Lewis for less than 5k (ok best say about 4k to be on the safe side) and you’re on – a friend of mine bought one for £3500, and the only other one on the market (that we knew of) was for 5k, and even that one’s now been sold I think

Well when we filmed Heroes of the Victoria Cross, we helped the armourer take the jacket off and no vanes were present…in fact they are part of the jacket assy, therefore I stand by my assertion! And we fired that one fully auto!

Equally I bet in a fortnight I will find ground spec Lewises for less than £5k – I remember when Manton arms offered them for £650….happy days!

MK1/ MK2 or MK2*?

🙂

TT

Even a ground spec Lewis will cost you about 5K now – the batch of 12 that came in earlier this year in about late February/March were going for £2250, and all sold within a week, I know two people with them, fortunately they were all fitted with the carrying handle, which makes things easier for those lugging them about.

Even if you got a ground spec Lewis and wanted to convert it to an air one, be more than just taking the jacket off, as under the jacket there are rows of cooling fins – here’s a photo of one dug up on the WW1 Battlefields with the jacket rusted away.

If the chap wanted a de-activated one and couldn’t find a stripped down air spec Lewis, could always just use a ground spec one and change the butt to the handle and keep the cooling jacket etc, as some aircraft (such as the Vickers Gunbus like at Hendon) kept the cooling jacket on.

Interesting bit of Lewis trivia – in WW2 when WW1 era stripped down Lewis’s were used in the ground role, it was found that the lack of the cooling fins and jacket had no detrimental effect on the weapon, and could work fine without it, even in the desert. Interestingly, the AA Lewis guns fitted to ships on the Arctic convoys manned by the Army kept the cooling jackets on!

Oh, and if anyone wants some WW1 and WW2 Lewis gun pouches, let me know, i’ve got some up for sale

Hi VX,
….a site you can try for replica lewis guns is in the states. The site is www.repligun.com . They also have vickers guns, and spandau guns too!

hope this helps,

tim

When we had the DH2 flying replica at Duxford, this had a deactivated Lewis gun. The gun had been fitted with a blanking plate under the ammo drum. I did find scale plans for the Lewis in an early Scale Modeler magazine late 70s/early 80s.

Dave

You’re right Dave. In fact, I think until quite recently the aircraft had the gun fitted however, it is no more!!!!!

Anyway, good news is that the aircraft is being assembled one more and should be flying again very soon! I’m not 100% sure, but I think this is the same DH2 that was flying at Duxford.

When we had the DH2 flying replica at Duxford, this had a deactivated Lewis gun. The gun had been fitted with a blanking plate under the ammo drum. I did find scale plans for the Lewis in an early Scale Modeler magazine late 70s/early 80s.

Dave

VX927 do you have a DH2 to put it on? Or are you perhaps thinking of building one?????

Not personally… but I know a man who does!

The gun I’m looking for is for a very good friend of mine.

I’ll try and post some photo’s of the DH2 in the coming weeks when she finally takes to the air!

Thank you everyone who has replied so far… Texantom… Thanks for the links. I’ll let you know the cost when i get a reply!

VX927 do you have a DH2 to put it on? Or are you perhaps thinking of building one?????

Hello there –

well if you want an air spec Lewis then £5k maybe the money, a normal ground spec Lewis, if you’re not fussy about dates etc can be had for about half that – still an awful lot of money.

whip the barrel jacket off and it looks pretty much the same as an air spec version save for the ring and bead and (depending on the version) the grips.

If I were looking for a convincing replica, i might start here…have a look at the gun room…. :eek::eek:

http://thevintageaviator.co.nz/

http://thevintageaviator.co.nz/projects/reproduction-guns/lewis-gun

My replica cost a LOT less than those will I suspect, but there is a good £GBP/$NZ exchange rate and they do have er, quite a lot of them, let me know what the price is!

BR

TT