Interesting W/end find.........

[Dronic69]

Visited a couple of vintage /junk stores over the w/end and spotted what I initially assumed to be a tractor /industrial solid bronze hand wheel - approx. 8" diameter

On closer inspection, it appears to be artillery related "Unlock Before Traversg" and stamped "FL 230 1941" on one of the rear spokes.

It's the LHS hand traverse wheel of a 2pdr AT gun!!! :tinysmile_twink_t2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq-565saS1E

............now I have to find the rest of it :tinysmile_cry_t4:

BTW - FL230 I believe is a part number, where "FL" stands for Field, Light

 

[tankbarrell]

Nice find. It is indeed for 2 pr gun and FL230 is the part number. Interesting it has a square hole as mine has a hexagonal hole and has the same part number! I wonder if yours has been repurposed for something else and the bore has been altered to suit.

 

[Dronic69]

Is yours Bronze or Aluminium construction?

From a 1942 parts identification List, it states that FL230 is made from Aluminium? I'm assuming the earlier ones were bronze?

 

[tankbarrell]

Mine is bronze. That parts list states many of the gun parts are aluminium alloy but the only parts on my gun out of aluminium are the elevation wheel and the seat bracket. Going from a few guns I have been involved with, the aluminium parts were early and were later made from bronze or steel.

 

[Dronic69]

Mine is bronze. That parts list states many of the gun parts are aluminium alloy but the only parts on my gun out of aluminium are the elevation wheel and the seat bracket. Going from a few guns I have been involved with, the aluminium parts were early and were later made from bronze or steel.

From your experience, were the bronze bits ever painted or just left with their cast bronze appearance? The one I have appears to have a "natural" old bronze patina - doesn't seems to have been painted (haha has a couple of post war splash spots on it)

 

[tankbarrell]

It's very hard to say. My traverse wheel had some paint on it as did all the other bronze castings but that was all more recently applied, likely 1960's so doesn't help. Period pictures are very hard to interpret but these ones are almost certainly unpainted and probably aluminium.