Snipery grand pappy of no man’s land
- Thread starter VJJPunisher
- Start date
Joking aside, the Vickers is supposed to be one of the most accurate machine guns ever made... some would say almost "too accurate" for a MG. Very cool @VJJPunisher
Yeah, heyday of parts sets was 15-20 yrs ago. Had multiple Vickers, Maxims, Brens, 1919s, etc sets. Got a Maxim built and a few 1919s but ended up selling most to make a few $ profit. Thought I was making a killing when I sold 1919 parts sets for $450!
Cleaned up the tripod carriage, had to take apart the elevation mech, polish and re thread some parts, had to re fab a stop bar, now it runs like a top. Then cerakoted it
Damn, giving Buffalo a run for his money 
Absolutely amazing what you guys with the skills and some free time can accomplish.
Absolutely amazing what you guys with the skills and some free time can accomplish.
Can't wait to see video of this bad boy sending lead downrange
I know, it just made me realize I hadn’t mentioned it was a semi auto build, and hadn’t shared any of the mods yet that were done prior to putting the reciever halves together
Maybe some of the history guys can chime in on more accurate colors for these, I just went with what I thought looked good
It's not stamped/marked DP (drill purpose) anywhere is it? A lot of the parts kits that were in circulation/built into displays were worn out/damaged and marked for drill purpose only prior to release. You're probably already aware but FYI if not. Not that they can't still be built into safe semi-autos if any issues are addressed.
If you don't already have it, keep an eye out for Dolf Goldsmith's Grand Old Lady of No Man's Land. They've gotten pricey!
If you don't already have it, keep an eye out for Dolf Goldsmith's Grand Old Lady of No Man's Land. They've gotten pricey!
No there aren’t any DP parts, everything looked solid, everything is MA but a few varying dates. I’ve been watching for that book, but yes they are too pricey for me
Very impressive, thanks for sharing this! Can't wait to show this thread to a co-worker tomorrow.
Sorta looked for a water jacket cover, not too hard though, may keep an eye out.
I agree, there were a lot of kits for cheap a few years ago that at the time I was intimidated by the idea of building, now they either don’t exist or people want rediculous amounts of money for.
There is a Lewis display gun on gb right now but man it’s steep
Fuck dude that was fast! What's the field of fire look like?
Video or it didn't happen
- Nov 3, 2010
- 10,296
- 22,322
Some assorted Vickers screenshots from different movies:
You Can't Win 'Em All (1970):
Nicholas and Alexandra (1971):
The Lighthorsemen (1987):
Empire of the Sun (1987):
Doctor Who Series 3:
Granted these are in film armories so they probably have been repainted and touched up and don't necessarily use the correct shade, but there seems to be a fair degree of variety.
Thanks, very interesting. I like the one on the right of the Nicholas and Alexandra screenshot, shows the I believe German army mustard turd dierrea brown paint that I’ve seen pictures of. Never want to paint mine that color but it’s interesting and stands out from all the green ones
- Nov 3, 2010
- 10,296
- 22,322
I liked that pic too. Chose it specifically because of the two different colors. As I said, since they're in movie armory inventories, I dunno what they might've been used for before that particular movie and it doesn't mean the colors are accurate. Look at how a lot of WWII movies paint their grenades the wrong shade of green/brown or omit the yellow band or even don't paint them the yellow color of early-war grenades, for example. And film quality and lighting have their say in it too.
But I'd say you have good enough reason to color yours as you did and it doesn't look half bad either, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. A picture on Wikipedia looks like it's painted white for the winter, so you could've gone that direction if you wanted. If it were me, I'd have gone with the closest to typical British Army Green-brown, and then painted over that with a khaki color for that El Alamein look, haha.
The fluted jackets are early production, later guns are smooth for ease of production, only a slight weight increase. Vickers guns are probably the only military gun to remain a MkI version for it's entire issue span of more than 50 years. There is an incredible array of tools and accessories, calibers, belts and so forth.
My personal gun is a post-sample, also Australian. I have a boatload of spares, a 7.62x54R conversion and misc interesting accessories, like the clinometer for use in indirect fire. I have a signed copy of Dolf's book (and no it's not for sale) as well as one of his custom designed operators wrenches.
As far as a steam can, the standard was a 1L petrol can painted as appropriate, mine is a Shell Motor Spirits can.
The original packing for the seals was asbestos string, plumbers valve packing works fine, some people has converted to O rings.
Headspace is adjusted by shims between the locks lever and the connecting rod, secured by the adjusting nut. Barrels seem pretty uniform but the extractors are not, so check headspace or risk burst cases.
I never did breakdown and buy an optical sight, and it makes me sad now. I've only ever seen one belt loading machine in the US, so hand loading belts is the norm and the late model belts with no tabs are not too bad. At one point there was someone that made a plate type loader with interchangeable plates where a plate used the tabbed belts, using pins through the grommet holes.
If you have specific questions on the Vickers, don't hesitate to ask!
My personal gun is a post-sample, also Australian. I have a boatload of spares, a 7.62x54R conversion and misc interesting accessories, like the clinometer for use in indirect fire. I have a signed copy of Dolf's book (and no it's not for sale) as well as one of his custom designed operators wrenches.
As far as a steam can, the standard was a 1L petrol can painted as appropriate, mine is a Shell Motor Spirits can.
The original packing for the seals was asbestos string, plumbers valve packing works fine, some people has converted to O rings.
Headspace is adjusted by shims between the locks lever and the connecting rod, secured by the adjusting nut. Barrels seem pretty uniform but the extractors are not, so check headspace or risk burst cases.
I never did breakdown and buy an optical sight, and it makes me sad now. I've only ever seen one belt loading machine in the US, so hand loading belts is the norm and the late model belts with no tabs are not too bad. At one point there was someone that made a plate type loader with interchangeable plates where a plate used the tabbed belts, using pins through the grommet holes.
If you have specific questions on the Vickers, don't hesitate to ask!
Anyone have a good source for belts that are not so ancient and shrunken up that they will run?
All my belts are on their last legs. And would love to buy three or four repro belts if anyone is making them. Cheers
Not me but only video taken the day I took it out shooting, this is a buddy on the gun, had a little double feed action, after I thought we’d the fusee a little it seemed to have Gone away
IMA currently has a pretty nice vickers display gun complete with tripod, at $4995 it’s not…….terrible. That thing is craving one of you guys to build it back into a functioning work of art. If I wasn’t poor white trash I’d get it and build a second one
I don't think "poor" and "build a second Vickers gun" are congruent statements, sir
- Nov 3, 2010
- 10,296
- 22,322
He’s a closet poorI don't think "poor" and "build a second Vickers gun" are congruent statements, sir
