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Boys rounds

Andysarmoury

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Hi, Can some one tell me how many different types of Boys rounds they are and what sort of price they make please and any photos would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Andy
 
Boys

There were two marks of AP, plus a third type of rigid composite that would have been the W mark III, but was not adopted. There were three marks of ball, two of practice and three of proof.

Add to this one mark of tracer, a practice tracer that was not formally approved and one mark each of drill and dummy.

Including the practice tracer that is fourteen different marks (plus the Local Pattern Canadian drill).

I have posted some of the drill and inspectors on another thread plus the .55/.303, but there is not much to look at that is different about the other types, so I did not bother posting them.

One other type is the .22 sub calibre adaptor shown below.

As for prices, I have had most of mine for a long time, so am a bit out of touch - sorry.

Regards
tonyE
 

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Thanks TonyE, i never thought there was so many and i have just found your other thread and very interesting it is too, i only have two complete rounds at the moment a
WI K 39 and a WII K4 1942 AP and two fired cases which i am proud to say i fired and i thought a 50 cal was bad, so i have a few to get.
Cheers
Andy
 
The rigid composite (tungsten cored) one wasn't adopted, but I understand that something like 20,000 of them were made and about half sent to the Far East for evaluation. However, they are now as rare as the proverbial avian dentition.

Many years ago I heard from an Australian that he'd seen this clip of Boys rounds in a junk shop but the bullets looked odd, with two different colours, and he hadn't been that interested in ammo then so he hadn't bothered to pick them up....makes you want to weep!
 
Thanks Tony, i think we all have had an experience like that and regret it, i know i have i want a time machine :tinysmile_fatgrin_t
Andy
 
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Hello Chaps,
I can't help noticing that threads about Boys ATR rounds do not attract much comment from our membership,apart from TonyE's invaluable contributions.I have mixed feelings about this,although some info that I need is not forthcoming,I guess that if everyone was interested in these particular rounds,and everyone wanted them,I wouldn't be able to afford them.

What should I be paying for these things I ask myself,considering this apparent lack of interest.I was informed last year that moves were afoot between a couple of dealers to decore a considerable quantity of Boys AP rounds,and the price that had been suggested for these was 25 for a 5 round clip.I have not pursued this matter because it would have involved a phone call to one of these dealers,something I'm most reluctant to do.

I have the feeling that there is far more Boys ammo around than how often you see them would suggest.The Section 5 status of the AP rounds (easily sorted) being the main reason for this,however,what about the practice,drill and inspectors versions,don't see them much either.I was offered a couple of drill rounds recently that are in the US,one South African U D1,and the other R^L D1,these were $100 and $40 respectively,too much for me I'm afraid!!!

Regards Chris,
 
There were two marks of AP, plus a third type of rigid composite that would have been the W mark III, but was not adopted. There were three marks of ball, two of practice and three of proof.

Add to this one mark of tracer, a practice tracer that was not formally approved and one mark each of drill and dummy.

Including the practice tracer that is fourteen different marks (plus the Local Pattern Canadian drill).

I have posted some of the drill and inspectors on another thread plus the .55/.303, but there is not much to look at that is different about the other types, so I did not bother posting them.

One other type is the .22 sub calibre adaptor shown below.

As for prices, I have had most of mine for a long time, so am a bit out of touch - sorry.

Regards
tonyE

Tony would I be right in assuming you'd need a FAC for the .22 adaptor - it being rifled etc.?
Dave.
 
Boys

Those prices seem about right, both for the Uk and the US. I think I paid about $90 for my Canadian aluminium DI LP a couple of years ago. D.I drill rounds go for about 25 here in the UK I think.

By far the most commonly encountered rounds are the AP WI and WII, but that would be expected as these were the normal service store for the waepon. The ball and practice rounds never saw great service and are consequently that much harder to find, and the drill and inspector's dummy were made in lesser quantities also. As for proof rounds, they enjoyed very limited production.

As with so many different types of ammo, the rarity of rounds can change overnight. Thirty years ago, a Boys AP W.II made by Radway Green was almost unheard of. We knew they had been made, but none had been seen. Then a dealer brought into the UK several crates of Boys ammo that had been with the Portuguese army in Macao, and guess what, it was all RG made W.II!

I think they are out there, all we have to do is find them!

Regards
TonyE
 
Yes, pressure bearing part and all that. I should add that because of the associated aggro, I sold mine at one of the overseas shows.

Regards
TonyE
 
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Don't suppose anyone has a spare Boys Gerlich round do they? :tinysmile_eyebrow_t There's a lovely one photographed on page 317 of Peter Labbetts book "British small arms ammunition 1864-1938" but so far I've not managed to track one down.
Dave.
 
Boys Gerlich

I think that one is the only example I know of in the UK and I know who has it now, so get in the queue!

Cheers
TonyE
 
I think that one is the only example I know of in the UK and I know who has it now, so get in the queue!

Cheers
TonyE

Thanks Tony, I'm a very patient person so the queue it is.......any abroad or is it a case that there's only one there too?:neutral:
Dave.
 
Many thanks,Tony,it's very handy to get some idea of what's being asked for these rounds,you need a starting point for a bit of haggling.I was assured by the seller in the US that the two drill rounds were priced at going rate over there.I didn't doubt that,but postage has to be considered,of course,plus what's likely to happen to them if the package is opened in transit.

I was most interested in the source of the Radway Green rounds you mentioned,I might,possibly,have one of those very rounds, RG 43 WII,unfortunately,like another one I have, K43 WII, it has been inerted via a drilled hole,which is a great pity.

I have wondered numerous times about a Boys round depicted in the illustrations at the back of Ian Hoggs book on WWII Infantry Weapons,this,I guess,is the tungsten cored WIII,as it would have been ,if it had gone into mass production ( I want one !!! )

Regards Chris.
 
Chris,

Whereas the Boys threads recently may not have generated too many comments, there has certainly not been a lack of hits on the subject - The latest two have over 500 combined! so there is a fair bit of interest out there.
Tony's comments about the tungsten cored variety made me wonder where I had seen a picture of that round, and it was when you mentioned Hoggs "Infantry Weapons" book that I suddenly remembered and got my copy out for a look, and there it was!

I also looked out my files to get more information on the 5 Boys rounds that I have on a clip and came back with the following;
1 x 1942 WII K4
1 x K42 WII
3 x RG 43 WII

Prices paid at the time( approx 15 years ago) I am not going to tell you!
 
Oh dear !!! better change the subject,stimulating too much interest might be counter productive pricewise !!!
 
Clip of 5

Pictured are a clip of WII Kynoch 55 Boys AP rounds, it would embarrass me too greatly to reveal how much I paid for them some 30 odd years ago:tinysmile_cry_t:
With a poor picture of the rear of the clip.
 

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Thanks Tony, I'm a very patient person so the queue it is.......any abroad or is it a case that there's only one there too?:neutral:
Dave.

I am pretty certain there is one or maybe two in a certain collection in Tucson, but I will check next month when I am there! Bill also has a couple of variations of the .5 Vickers Gerlich. Unfortunately I have neither, but I do have some contemporary documentation.

As for the Portuguese connection, the rounds were in a Boys crate with standard British markings, but with over labels marked "Arsenal de Exerjito Macao" (or similar spelling!).

The illustration in Hogg's book of the rigid composite was nicked from an official photo of experimental rounds. I have a Boys with a solid turned brass projectile that I believe to be one of the development ballistic vehicles for the rigid composite - on an RG case too.

Regards
TonyE
 
Dummies

I picked up a couple of nice Boys drill rds before christmas.. A nice Brit and 1 CDN...
 

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Boys drill

Nice rounds. Not that I want to be pedantic, but those are drill rounds, not dummies.

OK, I am being pedantic!

Regards
TonyE
 
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