New owner of a Finnish Bofors 40mm

[Jon Bradshaw]

So I was able to scrape together my pennies and buy a Bofors 40mm from Collectors Source here in Canada. It was imported from Finland and was deactivated on import so no gun law issues here. It is very complete and has quite a few post WW2 attachments on it which I will remove to bring it back to the basic WW2 "Canadian" configuration. Looking for some info on unit markings, would need to have some army unit represented. Thinking Europe after D Day.
The gun functions, rotates and elevates with ease being very well greased prior to retirement and deactivation. The barrel needs a good cleaning as it is rusted and the carriage has minor rust on some of its parts. Overall a nice coat of paint and it should be ready for the show season, if it ever comes this year.
The markings on it are in Finnish and I was able to translate them on my phone. Will eventually make up new brass plates for the "safe", "single" and Multi shot" settings. The rest of the data plates are going to be left alone.
The whole thing is a mash up of multiple guns. The carriage is from 1939 and the barrel from 1945, the rest is from all the dates in between.
Recovery was a simple matter, the carriage fit nicely on my heavy trailer and with the aid of a winch and a tractor it was positioned and rolled on. Tires are the biggest problem as the 7,00-20 tires are not made anymore and the rims are rusty 1 piece split rims. I asked the local tire shop and they should be able to get me farm implement tires but the rims are a no go for them, not allowed to touch those death traps...
COVID traffic was light and the drive was easy.
Pictures to follow once I get some loaded onto my computer.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Jon,

Good for you! The Bofors is of course an iconic piece of artillery.

Re. 7.00-20 tyres: I looked into this for my 20-cwt trailer and they are still being made to cater for the vintage truck and trailer market. They may not be available off the shelf and will come at a cost, but they are out there.

Now, how about you showing us some pictures?

[David Herbert]

Surely the 7.00-20 size was renamed 7.50-20 so GMC CCKW tyres would fit. These are readily available as they are still being manufactured as NDCC (bar grip !). Even if the sizes are different they are very close.

David

[Grant Bowker]

Coker Tire lists 700-20 as available in highway tread pattern. https://www.cokertire.com/tires/fire...ad-761401.html Not all trailed equipment got cross country tires. They didn't need driving traction and highway tires used less rubber.
If Coker has them the other usual suspects will too - Universal, Wallace Wade, Summit - whoever offers the best total deal on tir, tube, flap, shipping, etc.

[rob love]

Although I know it never happens here on MLU, but I'll sidetrack for a minute to say that I believe Wallace Wade Tires is no more. Wallace passed a couple years ago and a google search shows the company is no more and the warehouse is for sale. Derk Derin and myself both have humorous memories of dealing with Wallace at some of the MVPA conventions. He was a tire man to the end.

[Grant Bowker]

Thanks for the update - one less distributor. It was from WW that the Hammond crew sourced our buy of 10.50x16 tires and that did work out well.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by David Herbert

Surely the 7.00-20 size was renamed 7.50-20 so GMC CCKW tyres would fit. These are readily available as they are still being manufactured as NDCC (bar grip !). Even if the sizes are different they are very close.

[ mode on ]

No, 7.00-20 was not renamed to 7.50-20. The 7.50-20 is a different tyre with a section width being .5" larger. The section height should also be somewhat lager as that is dictated by the section width. But the 7.50-20 tyre having a wheel diameter of 20" will fit on the Bofors gun rims as they have a comparable - if not identical - rim width (bead) as the wheels used on GMCs.

So yes, "Even if the sizes are different they are very close"

[ mode off ]

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[David Herbert]

I knew that !

However I thought that it was like the change in the UK from 13.50-20 to 14.00-20 and 10.50-20 to 11.00-20 where for a while the tyres were marked with both sizes. Possibly the term re-designation would have been better ?

In any case tyre sizes are not that precise, particularly the width measurements and do vary a surprising amount between manufacturers.

David

[Peter Duggan]

Guys,

I live in the same county as Jon, and just had to go and visit when I heard about his latest acquisition. Maintaining the correct social distancing, I was able to catch up with all the latest and check out his new piece. For an infantryman, Jon has a definite soft spot for artillery.
I also know how much we enjoy pictures, so here's my contribution.

Peter


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