Scout T5329

[David Dunlop]

Alastair.

The key is in the sleeve I think. It very likely locks the Boys Rifle into a secure travel position. From there it would move to an unlocked position allowing the Boys to be elevated for aiming purposes. It's final movement would be to back off enough from the mount assembly to allow the Boys to be removed entirely from the mount in the Scout Carrier and taken afield.

It would not surprise me at all if the Boys had little, or no, traverse capability in the unlocked firing mode. The German Hetzer self propelled artillery vehicles had minimal traverse ability. If significant traverse of the gun was necessary, the driver adjusted the position of the vehicle in coordination with the gunner to bring the main gun to bear on the target. A similar process would work with the driver and gunner in the Scout. Should the crew of the Scout encounter a target, I suspect it would likely be under circumstances where the engine is running and you have options if the situation gets too dynamic, so giving your carrier a bit of a wiggle would be no big deal.

David

[Lynn Eades]

Alistair and David, as Charlie says, have a look at the 1st photo in post #164.
You can see the built in stop that is an integral part of the mount assembly. My guess is that the boys has about a 30 to 35 degree field of fire, without the carrier having to move.

[David Dunlop]

Told you my eyes were crap, Lynn!

There is a central, cylindrical piece to the lower casting of the mount that bolts to the face of the carrier. Looks like it supports a pin/bolt assembly from the upper section of the mount. Cottered and flat washered at the very bottom. The entire upper section would pivot side to side until the beveled corners stopped any further movement. The last photo of that group shows the cylinder casting perfectly.

Ben mentioned earlier there is a rubber u-shaped pad bolted to the back of the mount that the Boys rests on when not in use. I can see the sleeve perhaps being used to lock the rifle from any elevation movement while the carrier is travelling, but from what is visible of the mount, would it not still swing in traverse unless something else secured it?

David

[kevin powles]

Nice find on the original drawing, now you have to find someone brave enough to drill 4 holes in there boys rifle frame !, eekkk!, I have two ground dug reasonable frames here, another I just sold to Nigel Watson.

Kev.