Unknown Boyes 0.55" Variant

[Depotman]

As a kid I lived in Bexley and one of my 'playgrounds' was the butts for what I think was the Vickers works at nearby Crayford. I dug many interested 'bits' out of the sand including 20mm Hispano and a 25.4mm Vickers! One piece that I still have is pictured next to a 'standard' 0.55" Boyes head; it used to have a steel core (long since lost) and I wonder if anyone has info on this 'long' version of the 0.55" Boyes?
By the way, my playground was cleared when the A2 was widened many years ago!

 

[Falcon]

I believe this could be a W Mark 1 AP instead of a W Mark 2 like the one below it.

Do you still have the 25.4mm Vickers projectile?

 

[Depotman]

I believe this could be a W Mark 1 AP instead of a W Mark 2 like the one below it.

Do you still have the 25.4mm Vickers projectile?

Many thanks for the info. No, I don't still have the 25.4mm Vickers! I recall that it had a steel nose with a 'button' knob at the front and had hit something at an oblique angle which had dented the side of the nose. If it was a fuze it hadn't gone off!

 

[TonyE]

Boys W Mark I

As Falcon has said, not unknown at all, but a W Mark I proj.

The Boys W Mark I bullet was approved in December 1936, weighed 930 grains and was about 58.5mm long. It had a velocity of 2450 fps and the AP performance was not very good and little better than the .5 Stanchion that had been abandoned in 1935. Proof was 7/10 to penetrate 16mm ofarmour at 100 yards normal attack.

It was realised that this needed to be improved with war approaching and the W Mark II was aproved in June 1939. This had a shorter bullet weighing 735 grains and about 50mm long.

It achieved a higher velocity of 2900 fps and whilst penetration had increased to 7/10 to penetrate 19mm at 100 yards normal attack this was soon obsolete with improvements in armour.

Regards
TonyE

 

[TonyE]

25.4mm

That would be a nice proj. to still have!

There were two Vickers 25.4mm rounds, a long rimless and a short rimmed case, both dating from the 1930s. The long 25.4 x 189mm was used in a Vickers anti-aircraft MG and I believe the only known example of the gun exists in Argentina.

It fired a fused projectile, but it is almost certain that any rounds fired in ballistic tests on the range would have had an inert fuze.

Tony Williams shows an example of the round on his website.

Regards
TonyE

 

[christhurston]

I assume that production of the Boys WI ceased in 1939 after the Boys WII was approved? I have a few 1939 dated WI cases from Kynoch and R^L,but have so far only managed to find one of the longer WI bullets,they appear to be a bit thin on the ground,or perhaps,even,in the ground!!!
Regards Chris.

 

[Chris 42 RQ]

Competition

Deleted this post as I was suffering from "Foot in mouth" syndrome-oop's !

 

[Andysarmoury]

Here is a MkI and MkII the MkI is from a 1939 case and the MkII is from a 1942 case.
Andy

 

[TonyE]

I assume that production of the Boys WI ceased in 1939 after the Boys WII was approved? I have a few 1939 dated WI cases from Kynoch and R^L,but have so far only managed to find one of the longer WI bullets,they appear to be a bit thin on the ground,or perhaps,even,in the ground!!!
Regards Chris.

The W.I is not rare, but they are becoming harder to find. The Kynoch made examples are more comon than the R^L ones.

Although the W.I was approved in 1936, the earliest headstamped examples are dated 1938 from both Kynoch and RL. Even in 1937 the AP rounds were still headstamped 7416A W. This is not a reference to an Armstrong Whitworth drawing number as has frequently been promulgated in various places, but to the Woolwich DD/L drawing number 7416A and the "W" indicates armour piercing.

My example shown below.

Regards
TonyE

 

[Depotman]

Unknown Boyes 0.55" - Now Known!

Thank-you very much to all contributors to my query - I love it when a mystery is finally solved (50 years in this case!).

 

[Big Al]

I have owned a number of the Boyes rifles including a Canadian and British versions.

There is a marked difference in recoil between th light and heavy bullets. In general the recoil is "stout" with the light bullet and "significant" with the light bullets. I converted the Canadian rifle into 50 BMG and the recoil was "mild" in comparison. The conversion did no permanent damage to the rifle.

 

[Tony Williams]

There were two Vickers 25.4mm rounds, a long rimless and a short rimmed case, both dating from the 1930s. The long 25.4 x 189mm was used in a Vickers anti-aircraft MG and I believe the only known example of the gun exists in Argentina.

It fired a fused projectile, but it is almost certain that any rounds fired in ballistic tests on the range would have had an inert fuze.

Tony Williams shows an example of the round on his website.

Yep, see the photo below of the long 25.4 and two variations of the short one, from this article: http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/Vickers25.4.htm

As far as I know, the only long 25.4mm mountings are in Argentina, but there is a gun in the NFC. I also have a scan of a Vickers handbook on the gun and mounting - in Spanish.

 

[Stan Padgett]

I have a .55 Boys case that has a K.40 then a WI on it.
Thanks
Stan

 

[TonyE]

Although the W Mark II was approved in June 1939 it always takes time before a new round enters full production and so you will find W Mark I rounds with a 1940 date. Even 1941 dated W Mark II examples are not common, the great majority being dated 1942 and 43. Of course by then the Boys was of little use against German tanks although it still had a capability against Japanese tanks in the Far East.

In an effort to improve the performance a composite rigid proj. was developed for the Boys that wold have become the W Mark III, but in the end the project was dropped.

Photo shows on the left a Kynoch made example and on the right a Ragway Green example.

Regards
TonyE