20 Pdr training aid or armorers tool?
 

I have a device that is made from the rear six inches or so of a 20 Pdr shell case headstamped RL 1951. I am aware that RL stands for Royal Laboratories. The priming was apparently electric and there is a light bulb mounted where the primer or gain originally was.
There is a 1" section of the rim machined away and the machining continued until the interior of the case is visible through an opening of approximately 1" x 1".
It has a brass cup that fits over the forward (open) end of the case with a finger ring in the middle. The cup is a sufficiently tight fit that the whole device can be carried by the finger ring.
Does someone know what the purpose of this device may be?

David

That is a circuit tester for the electrically fired round, the tests would have the gunner "fire" the main gun in both modes after the loader "loaded" the tester in the breech and then observe to see the small light flash by watching that cut out section with the bulb in the gap between the Breech ring and Breech block.

Yes, I agree with James P. It is an 'Apparatus, Test Firing Circuit' and its construction and use are covered in para 292 of the RAC Pam 15 on Centurion armament. Can be used for both 20-pdr and 105-mm equipped tanks.

Nice find, Dave, will you be getting a Centurion to go with it!!??

Mike

No Mike, with an English wife and as a result a quantity of assorted English outlaws I figure there is enough British content in my life already.
Seriously though, I have never liked British machinery. In earlier times I worked on Vickers Viscounts operated by TAA who also had American aircraft such as Douglas DC3, DC4, DC6, DC9, Boeing 727 and Lockheed Electras. The difference in ease of maintenance of the American aircraft was an order of magnitude. I saw the same thing with vehicles from the two countries though maybe not as dramatic.

Dave