Collectors Club Meeting November

Meeting was attended with several familiar faces bringing various items for “show and tell”.

Brett showed a hexagonal Whitworth style target shooting projectile c.1860-1880. This projectile is interesting as it still has original (and fragile) paper-patching attached as well as two steel scrapers, these were part of a system designed to keep fouling down between shots in a competition. 

Gary showed a British Pattern of 1914 rifle and a US Rifle, Model of 1917. These rifles have an interesting story, starting out with the British experience in The Second Anglo-Boer War leading to the development of a Mauser-based rifle in a new .276-caliber cartridge which was adopted as the Pattern 1913 rifle. With war once again on the horizon, the British decided to keep the new rifle but in the old cartridge (.303) and adopted it as the Pattern of 1914. These rifles were made under contract for the British in the US by Winchester and Remington (Eddystone) and were mostly used as reserve arms. When the United States entered the war in 1917 they realised that they did not have enough Springfield rifles but had two factories set up for production of the British P14 rifle. With a few changes to the caliber and sights they adopted it as the Model of 1917; this rifle formed the backbone of the American Expeditionary Force in WW1. Both patterns of this rifle were used extensively by British Home Guard and other reserve forces during WW2. 

Pete showed a Martini-Enfield with Victoria Government markings. This rifle was originally made in 1884 as a .577/450-caliber rifle before being converted to the .303” cartridge in 1895. This rifle has exceptionally crisp markings and makes an excellent example of an early Australian colonial-era rifle.