Boys Anti Tank rifles for the Carriers

[kevin powles]

Bruce, I have not tried it in the back, the tank hunter does not have the fittings, I have all the fitting for the standard stowage carrier but have not mocked it up as yet, I would say the rifle must fit complete and I am sure I have seen an official picture with it stowed complete, regarding the mystery rear clips under the radio battery box, could this be for a mk 1 bren gun front support legs, the extendable type?.

I have received back two metal cast receivers which are being drilled and machined this week, hope to have one near ready for War and Peace., still looking for a front site if you can help.

[kevin powles]

I have two cast barrels available, not the prettiest castings but a starting point for a replica rifle, they are £20 each if anyone is interested.

Kevin.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

I've got more checking to do. My first problem is that the felt at the front is so hard the muzzle doesn't want to slide all the way forward. If I guess where the butt would be if it did it doesn't appear it would sit nicely on the narrow bracket at the back. The monopod may swivel sideways and drop down beside the tool box. I'll play some more and report back.

Here's a closer pic of my receiver. I won't tell where the repairs are...

Originally Posted by kevin powles

Bruce, I have not tried it in the back, the tank hunter does not have the fittings, I have all the fitting for the standard stowage carrier but have not mocked it up as yet, I would say the rifle must fit complete and I am sure I have seen an official picture with it stowed complete, regarding the mystery rear clips under the radio battery box, could this be for a mk 1 bren gun front support legs, the extendable type?.

I have received back two metal cast receivers which are being drilled and machined this week, hope to have one near ready for War and Peace., still looking for a front site if you can help.

[kevin powles]

Bruce, if you could gets some pictures of one stowed that would be great, are the three components for stowage original?. I would say it should be stowed with receiver cover and muzzle cover fitted also.

Nice work on restoring your receiver it all looks original to me.

Kev.

[rob love]

I used to stow my mk1 Boys rifle in it's holders without any major issue. The only issues I had earlier were the use of the flat style muzzle break, which does not fit into the carrier, but I know both Kevin and Bruce have that problem licked.

I am nearing completion of my current carrier, so hopefully in the next month I can verify the fit of my current Boys rifle in my current carrier.

I would love to solve the mystery behind what exactly went into those little stowage clips on the back deck of the carrier. The carrier was designed for the earlier Boys rifle, so they will not be for the two legged V bipod. Peter Laidler is supposed to have a small book on the Boys rifle available at some point. Perhaps I'll contact him on another forum and see what light he can shed on it.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by rob love

I would love to solve the mystery behind what exactly went into those little stowage clips on the back deck of the carrier. The carrier was designed for the earlier Boys rifle, so they will not be for the two legged V bipod. Peter Laidler is supposed to have a small book on the Boys rifle available at some point. Perhaps I'll contact him on another forum and see what light he can shed on it.

That mystery is even more confounding if the Boys is stowed 'ready for use' (ie with the monopod attached).

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

I tried the fit again. The bracket at the back is 2" wide and falls 54" to 57" from the division plate muzzle bracket, which means it coincides with the rifle wooden cheek piece. The problem is that the cheek piece plus the rifle at that point is over 4" wide.

No fit.

I thought that maybe the bracket was meant to hold the cheek rest and left hand carriage rail of the Boys only, with the buffer tube and right rail hanging off the bracket inwards. This worked at the rear end but the barrel was too far to the right to fit the middle support bracket. So I took off the cheek piece and it clicked into place. The rubber strap won't work with the stud on the right and I think the stud would be better positioned on the bottom of the bracket. Mine is on the side because I think it originally took a web strap that used a buckle at the top: the stud being the anchor for the strap (similar to the way the web strap works out the front of the commander's position).

Note how the monopod sits nicely in the space forward of the cooker trays.

The odd thing is that there is room on the left side of the rear bracket so why didn't they make it wide enough to hold all 4" of the rifle without removing anything? The butt bracket in the front is wide so why not the rear one?

And of course, what DO those clips under the batter box hold? My guess (assuming they hold a Canadian Boys bipod at all) is that that is exactly what they are for. If you were unlucky enough to be issued a Canadian Boys I don't think the bipod would fit as neatly as the British monopod. In that case it may have been necessary to remove it, like it or not. Did early British carriers have these clips?

[rob love]

I have the earlier monopod on mine. I thought I had checked it for fit before, and it did not. I'l try it again next time I head out to the shop.

I can't see them making the operator remove the cheekrest in order to stow the rifle. Anytime you have an operator un-do screws, you lose them. They would have to have a stowage bin filled with the screws, along with bandaids for the damage the screwdriver will inevitably cause to their fingertips.