6 pdr drag ropes
 

I'm trying to get my head round the drag ropes for the 6 pdr. At first sight, it seems as though they might be the same as 25 pdr ones but they are not. There have been references on here and other places to 'correct 6 pdr ropes' but what is the difference.

The handbook just says they are 'the 30ft ropes converted' and the parts list states the rope size as 3", the same as 25 pdr and 17 pdr et al. The thing is, the hooks on the shield come in different lengths and the short ones are not really long enough to take a coiled up 25 pdr rope.

So, are the 'correct' ropes a standard rope but shortened or are they made from smaller (2"?) rope? If the former, how long are they and are the chains the same length as the wheel is considerably smaller than a 25 pdr wheel. The standard rope works on the 6 pdr wheel but I would like to know exactly where they are different.

I am aware rope sizes are measured as circumfrential, not diametrical.

Any help gratefully received as I will likely have to make a pair and would like to get them right.

Adrian,

I have the same issue and question. The 25 pdr ropes are indeed to thick and I can only get one on the hooks. When I just acquired my gun I had some email exchange with a chap from Australia and he did tell me the early ones are thinner than the 25 pdr ropes used later for the 6 pdr as well. He did have some early thin ropes then but was asking a lot plus shipping would have been a killer too.

Think we may have to search the internet for photos to see how the ropes were stowed back then?

Cheers,

Thanks Marc, that fits with my thinking. I agree the Australian ropes would likely cost more than the 6pdr itself.....

6 pdr ropes that I have seen are a thinner rope. We have NOS one at work less the chain and hooks. I believe we have a complete one in the main museum on our 6 pdr.

Hi Rob,

Would you be able to take some dimensions and photos?

Cheers,

Looking at photos in Doug Knights book, the situation is illustrated very well.
The cover shows long hooks on the shield and a picture on page three shows the same gun with standard ropes fitted and they certainly fill the hooks.
Page five shows a gun with short hooks and ropes that are clearly much thinner in section. The hooks look smaller too.
Photos and measurements of a known to be correct rope would solve the issue... Rob? :salute:

I'll get some this week when I'm back at work.

Adrian, these ones at $130 each in Australia, are they correct ? Postage was expensive when I enquired, but if we split the cost if Marc needs a set.

Kevin.

I just brought in a pair of them myself. They are the 25pdr size, although did someone mention he also had the smaller size? There were a few differences form the drag ropes I see around here, such as the design of the hooks, but in the end, 99.9% of the people who will see them will not know or care about the difference. By the time I got the pair here, they were just under $450 Cdn but I had them within a week of ordering.

It's Rod Bellars who has both types. Tims are good value but as those are fairly common over here, the shipping kills it.
I don't know what Rod wants for his, I doubt I could afford it.

Rod says that the thinner ones don't have the chains, just the hook on one end and an eye on the other, rather like 18 pdr ones but the eye is not leather lined.

There were two ropes of the 18 pdr vintage, the heavy one in 3" rope which was 30 ft long and the light one in 2" rope and 15 ft 6" long.

The picture I mentioned above of the thinner ropes might indeed show these as I can't see any evidence of the chains. Not saying they are not there, just that you can't see them.

Looking forward to what you find Rob.

The thinner Ropes that were being passing off as 6 pdr ropes were ACTUALLY post war drags for the 105mm Oto Malara ,I did send a picture from the manual with the part number at the time.
The 6 pdr rope has the same configuration as the larger type used on 17 and 25 pdr.

Rob......................rnixartillery.

Ps , I have several pairs of standard drag ropes available if anyone is wanting some.

Thanks Rob, good to know. :thup2:
Just need to get the details.

It was a very busy day at work, but here is what I was able to find. As Rob mentioned, they are indeed the same style as the 25 pounder, but smaller diameter rope and hook and chain. As Adrian mentions, the 25 pdr is 3" rope, and the 6 pdr is 2" dia rope.
I'll show the 25 pdr rope and it's makeup from the parts manual on this post, and on the next post I'll show the 6 pdr rope and it's makeup.

Now here is the 6 pdr. One notable thing is that it does not give the length, but rather a footnote which says "as required". I'll research this further. The rope we had that I thought was a NOS 6 pdr rope turned out to be 50' long, which seems a bit lengthy to me. I had a quick check of the 6 pdr over at the main museum, and it does not have it's drag rope.

When I get a chance later in the week, I'll check the inventory of accessions and see if there are any dragropes hidden away.

Gents, interesting thread on drag ropes on another site http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?...=230240&page=2