.55"/.303", most definetly fakes!

[Bockscar]

As I said, most definitely fakes as I made these myself! I always had a soft spot for these rounds, and realising I would probably never get to have the real thing, I decided to make one for my own amusement and for representative display. Whilst machining was ongoing, it was decided that a clip of five would look even better! So that's the way I went.
Knowing the way some feel about such items, I shall openly state that these items have enough subtle dimensional changes that I built into them in order to differentiate them from the real thing.
image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg

[raymeketa]

They look great!

"Fake" tends to imply deceiving someone with larceny in mind. "Replica" or "reproduction" is a better description, IMHO?

Ray

[peashooter]

Bockscar I am with you I will never have an authentic rounds so I would be very happy with a representation of one and I must say yours are fantastic, do you have any photo's or video of how you did it. I would like to have a go myself.

many thanks
Richard.

[beihan62]

Excellent job of work there Bockscar,well done,and as far as "fake"goes,I am with raymeketa,replicas,,,not fakes,
Regards,
Don,

[Bockscar]

Richard,

No real secrets here with regards to turning your own example...all the dimensions up to the shoulder are taken from a standard .55" Boys example. For the remaining section it was just a matter of of some drawings to bring the angle from the shoulder to the neck into agreement whilst keeping the overall length of 99 m/m in mind. The details of neck diameter and length were deduced by eye from a line illustration that I came across which seemed to be to 1:1 scale. These dimensions were applied to to the finished models and look "right"!
To set the angle on the compound slide of the lathe, I chucked a .55" example and ran a DTI over the length of the angle until I achieved zero over its length. I then manufactured a complete wood example as a tooling up exercise and also to set stops etc'

image.jpgimage.jpg

The case in this example was the important element to work on to get my sizes etc', the projectile was added later on a whim and as you can see I did not get the profile quite right!

Bockscar.

[peashooter]

Many thanks Bockscar, I only have 1 spare boys case so I think I will try and have a go with a .50 case first as I have lots of spare 50 cal. I do like the wooden round as well it is a great piece on its own merit. Like you I only want a representation so if my shoulder/neck angle is a bit out I don't mind

thanks again
Richard.

[butterfly]

First of all congratualtions, fantastic craftsmanship, well done and yes definately replica, not fake.

.......here is my only issue with such things. Its great to see you have placed subtle differences in the measurements to make it obvious to those, in the know. However to an outsider like me, they look pretty good and if I saw one I might buy it as an 'unsual round'. Now lets fast forward twenty, thirty or forty years...these rounds now have age, details of who made them have been lost and they find their way onto the open market. You have five made, but say 'John' and 'Dave' (fictitious names btw) want a clip each and so on. All of a sudden these rounds have credability, maybe not to the expert, but to those less than knowledgable...........get my drift?
As collectors we have a duty to protect our own hobby, with this in mind would it not be worth the little extra effort to engrave one side 'Replica'? I would like to ask other collectors who would accept one of these into their own collections as a 'fill in', would the wording Replica have any undue effect on the piece? - as this is what it is. Of course they could be turned around so that the engraving couldnt be seen, but then future issues would be solved once and for all.

Dont get me wrong, I'm not stood on a soapbox lecturing saying this should be done, that should be done. I'm just more interested where everyone else stands on this issue? I'm lucky to have collected and gained knowledge before the influx of reproduction items. Militaria in general is now awash with repro items, this can only get worse if we allow it to.

over to you guys.

As I said at the start, excellent work, I am not taking anything away from the skilled craftsmanship you have shown and the above posts indeed echo this. Well done in also recognising the issue I raise by changing the dimensions in the first place!!

all the best
regards Kev

[peashooter]

That is a very fair point you make I for one Kev would have no problem with my replica "if I manage to make a descent one" having replica or reproduction down the side or to replace the Headstamp, I agree whole heartedly with you on the fake/future/aged debate. I have a few rounds that are resin replica's and metallic replicas that are marked as such and it does not bother me in any way.

Richard.

[US-Subs]

They look great!

"Fake" tends to imply deceiving someone with larceny in mind. "Replica" or "reproduction" is a better description, IMHO?

Ray

Preface this to Bokscar, nothing personal, simply standing up for the opposition - to remain silent is to be counted with the majority.

As one of the more vocal I'll grab the banner and run with itadding my own humble opinion. Said it before and I'll say it again, today's "reproductions" are tomorrow's "fakes". If you don't understand/believe that then you are either a new collector or you have not been paying attention. This is a constant and increasing problem, and creating more is simply polluting the gene pool. Regardless of innocent intentions today, time moves on and not a week goes by without someone on this forum asking if they are wasting their hard-earned money on something that is not as it seems. Subtle changes intended to be obvious today in the future may be questioned as variations. Money changes hands, a collector is screwed and the history is muddied. Look no further than the title of this category - spotting fake/reproduction items. Why is this category necessary? Why add to it? We have all seen it happen, most of us have had it happen to us. Innocent intent or not, the result is the same. My two cents, again.

[SG500]

Very impressive.
Some more info here on fake Boys rounds.
Dave.
http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/thread...ight=boys+fake