25 pounder muzzle covers

[rob love]

At the recent Rod Bellars estate auctions, I noted that the 25 pounder muzzle covers were marked no49, as per the parts manual. I picked up one lot of canvas 25pr items which included a muzzle cover no23, which looked very similar. When I went to try it onto a mk2 gun, it would not fit over the muzzle brake. I suspected it was for a mk1 gun without the muzzle brake, and that was confirmed when I found reference to it in an early stowage list.

Before I continue the search for the no49 muzzle cover, can anyone confirm it fits over the muzzle brake? Common sense tells me it should, as it is listed in the 1950 mk2, 3 &4 parts manual, but in discussion with another member on the board, he was not so sure.

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Rob

Any WW2 & post war Aust manufactured muzzle cover for a 25-pdr up to 1961 will be for a barrel without a muzzle brake. They are for the 25-pdr Mk2 (etc) ordnance.

The only Aust application before 1961 was the Yeramba SP.

Looks like you have an Aussie muzzle cover going spare ...

Mike

[rob love]

Mike
My thought is that the Australians would have followed the British supplied patterns when they made the no49 muzzle cover. I have no doubt the no49 would work just fine on the barrel without a muzzle brake.



That said, I also got several smaller spare parts rolls as well as one tool roll in the lot of items. The parts rolls perfectly match the ones in the manuals, but the larger tool roll has some variation to the layout and shape as well as the number of the pockets compared to the illustrations. But on the back of it it is clearly marked for the 25 pounder with the standard part number of CM1598.

[Mike Cecil]

Hi Rob,

By the time the Muzzle Brake was introduced (and rejected by Australia) the No.23 cover was already in Australian production: there was no requirement to change to a new design.

The Sept 1943 Canadian parts list shows two covers:
No.23 Mk.1 p/n CM1919 for guns without muzzle brake

C No.49 Mk.1 p/n CCM3916, for guns with muzzle brake, so this one was a Canadian design interchangeable with the British No.49, but modified to suit Canadian manufacturing.

The 1952 Australian handbook - 8/9 years before the muzzle brake was introduced into service - shows only the No.23 cover.

As an aside, the initial 25-pdr detailed drawings on which the Aust 25-pdr was manufactured in Aust came from Canada, not the UK. (A lot of this detail is in my book on the 25-pdr) Australia didn't prefix its part numbers with an "A" like the Canadian "C" for interchangeable parts and accessories.

Mike

[rob love]

That is a lot of good information Mike, thanks. I don't have access to a lot of those different part manuals you quote. Your information confirms what I need in my quest for the correct muzzle brake cover.

In the previously mentioned auction, I think I saw about 6 or more of the no49 covers. I only saw this one no23 cover. But the photos of what was in some of the piles and boxes were not always indicative of what was there.

[Ed Storey]

Attached is a page from the 1943 Parts List.

[rob love]

Thanks Ed. Exactly what Mike was talking about. I wish I had the Cdn manual.....I have 2 guns, a spare carriage, a limber and 3/4, and a ton of EIS for the guns, but no Cdn manual. I don't get nuthin...


I did have some luck in that, since it is a balmy -4°C today, I cleared away some of the snow to the gun shed, pried the sliding door open, and discovered I have the no49 cover after all. It is likely post war as it is in green, and has no reflector, but it will have to do for now.
Any chance you can show the photo that goes with that part listing Ed? There are a few things on there that I am wondering about.

[tankbarrell]

The No 49 is also specified for 6 pdr with muzzle brake and 17 pdr. Colours varied from light tan to green, sometimes more than one colour in each cover.

[Mike Cecil]

Interesting, Adrian, and thank you.

A 'one size fits all' muzzle brakes, despite some obvious size and design differences. That would account for why someone has pencilled in '17 pdr' on the same line as the No.49 cover in my 1943 Canadian 25-pdr spare parts book.

Mike

[rob love]

It turned out we had the North American (Cdn) 25 pounder manual at work and as well it had already been scanned, so we also have it in electronic form. If anyone would like a copy, PM me with your email information and I'll send you a copy. It is a 21mb file.


There are a few differences between the Cdn manual and the British manual. For instance, rather than that long British wheel brace, the Cdns used a more traditional wheel wrench with bar. I recently bought the brace from Rob Nixon, and it turns out I already have the Cdn wheel wrench. There are also a few other containers listed on the Cdn manual that I have not yet been able to ID.