Ah to be in the land of the free! (and kevlar!) :p

TT

They were coming out of Australia 🙂

Interested in the whole de-act/replica/blank firing thing and was thinking how it affects bombs, missiles and rockets and how are they de-activated? Are all those on display in museums training and inert or are some de-activated?

At least one of the 2 missiles hanging on the Duxford EE Lightning still has the proximity fuse in it…. or at least it did the last time I looked at it…

I think the two inch deep, half an inch wide gas axe cut they put across the junction between the barrel and the breech might test even your undoubted skills 😉

I was refering to “demil’ed” guns, not demiled & dug out of a very deep hole…
Pop off the barrel, drill out the rivets holding the side plate on, machine up a new plate, drill holes, rivet plate on, replace any dinged up bits inside the gun, replace barrel….

…& head off to the range….

…then proceed to blow holes & put dents in 3/4in plate 🙂

We carry out licenced excavation (under the Protection of Military Remains Act) and often find guns in varying states of dis-repair from almost perfectly straight to banana like 20mm cannons. At present we have to declare them to the local police and then have them deactivated. This included welding a rod into the barrel and also welding the breach. I would like to know how you go about reactivating that as the distortion caused by heat from a welding torch is enough to mean it could never be fully cleared of weld and damaged steel.

Piece of cake if you know what you’re doing…
I’ve “reactivated” M2’s that have been cut clean in half with a gas axe, tested em at the range & then sent em off to Govt museums for display.;)

How about Casa built examples?

(sorry for throwing a spaniard in the works…:rolleyes: )

& I’ve seen “Buick” cast into Merlin cylinder blocks in the US….

On the subject of U.S rebuilds, can anyone shed any light on who may have done this rebuild?
It is a V-1650-7 which I have in from a customer in the UK. Odd thing is that it has not been run, but has had a professional rebuild done and sadly there is no paperwork with it.
He purchased it from Denis Kay about 10 years ago.
The colour scheme tells me it must have come from across the pond.

Pete

Looks like a Zueshel engine to me, or maybe one of Rick S’s when he took over where Dave left off…
DZ did quit a few red Merlins.. & then one day some chap from RR told him “at the factory we paint our scrap red”:D I see quite a few red ones around SoCal…
& one painted bright bloody orange….:eek: