Collectors Club Meeting February

Meeting was very well attended with several new faces in amongst some of the regulars. 

The main display theme was Sniper/Marksman rifles with Scott showing two excellent examples of Lithgow No1MkIII* HT rifles, one with early High Mount and the other with later Low Mount scope rings. These rifles were developed towards the end of The Second World War but were used extensively by Australian snipers during The Korean War. 

Scott also showed other items that might’ve been issued to an Australian sniper, including an Owen gun bayonet (arguably of questionable value to a sniper), a S&W Victory .380” revolver with ammunition pouch, a 1944 compass, and “Scout Regiment Telescope, 4 Draw”, which would have served as the main type of spotting scope that was used with these rifles. 

Ethan and Pete brought some more modern examples of Marksman Rifles in the form of an Accuracy International Mk1 and Mk2. Both of these rifles were paired with appropriate Schmidt & Bender scopes and greatly illustrated the difference in rifles that were used in the same roles, just 60 years apart. 

Brett showed an example of an Australian-specific piece of Vickers Gun kit in the form of a Lamp, Aiming, MG, (Aust.) Mk1. This was a greatly improved version of the British lamp that was only used by Australian MG Battalions. More info can be found in this video: https://youtu.be/mKrojNISKOQ (https://youtu.be/mKrojNISKOQ) 

Brett also showed several bayonets including a British Pattern 1888 bayonet for the Magazine, Lee-Enfield rifle and a reproduction of the later Australian Patt ern 1944 “machete-bayonet” for the No1MkIII rifle.