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hoseman #268719 11th Nov 2008 10:59am
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Originally Posted by hoseman

Ive seen a few rebored to the 7.62, NATO round, commonly used in the Kalashnikov AK47.


Ah, not quite; the NATO round is 7.62x51, the Russian is 7.62x39

Cheers, Chris.


Carpe diem.
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hoseman #268720 11th Nov 2008 11:00am
P
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I have had 2 Lee Enfields, both bored out to .410. Not a brilliant range but enough to stop incoming crows at lambing time!

Had to have the mag. welded up and a certificate to prove it, so it couldn't pop another round in when you pull the bolt back. It never occurred to the numpties that drew up these regulations that a shotgun cartridge, by nature of its non-tapered nose, will not go into the breech anyway ! Of course THEY know best (?)

The last one was dated 1943, so presume the "long" version ??

#268725 11th Nov 2008 12:43pm
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Originally Posted by Pinzgauer

The last one was dated 1943, so presume the "long" version ??


That would be a SMLE No.4 Mk.1 (as opposed to SMLE No.1 Mk.III & earlier). They were what we used in competition in the RAF. The most obvious difference was that the barrel stuck out a couple of inches beyond the furniture, whereas the earlier ones were virtually flush.
I've never seen one converted to shotgun; I suspect it felt a bit unwieldy. Glad to know it did the job though.


Carpe diem.
chriskay #269288 14th Nov 2008 10:57pm
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MY Wifes Grand Father was stationed at West kirby, and my dad used to deliver the mail there after the war.

I did a quick google images search and found this:

http://community.webshots.com/album/196696005HQpoyk

Last edited by Brocks; 14th Nov 2008 11:07pm.

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phillhere #269350 15th Nov 2008 12:41pm
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Originally Posted by phillhere
I live on the estate commonly known as the RAF houses just by what was RAF West Kirby... last year we had a large part of the garden removed to level it off... and when we were removing the earth, there were loads of old cartridge cases...I will go out and dig one up a bit later and post a pic.. maybe someone could tell me what they were from...


Any chance of a pic? I'd be interested.

Cheers, Chris.


Carpe diem.
chriskay #272770 1st Dec 2008 8:56pm
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Sorry to change the subject completely on this post but just bought a little book on ebay about the RAF base and it has a brilliant description of Wirral and surrounding areas .

Interesting how much has changed!

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ScannedImage.jpg (681.25 KB, 393 downloads)
West Kirby Parade
ghostly1 #273366 4th Dec 2008 8:36pm
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Oops.. forgot to add this to previous post

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ghostly1 #319748 17th May 2009 12:30pm
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I had a 3 hour rummage around RAF West Kirby yesterday. You really have to walk round the place to take in the size - it is/was massive.

In between all the roadways (which have mostly been left in place), the ground has been completely scraped clean at some time, the furrows of the bulldozers are still clearly visible around all the areas in the woodland. Most of the woodland consists of young birch type trees (see later in post).

Only in one corner of the site (western edge of woods in northern corner) is there any remnants that I found, this is like a concrete squarish tank, about 18ft square, I have seen these before at other sites, I assume it is either a bund (to contain oil leaks in an oil store) or a cess pit, or less possibly a EWS (emergency water supply). Just by this was also part of a brick building base. Other than that corner, I found less than ten bricks on the whole site - it has been very thoroughly sterilised.

Three hours is not sufficient time to very thoroughly search this site, plus for many areas even I (this goes totally against the grain) would need some protective wear against brambles and hawthorn. But it doesn't take long to take in how thoroughly most of the site has been cleared. Also a swathe of more recent clearance has taken place to put pylons in. I have not checked the woods south of the stuff I found (above) - I ran out of time and was getting a bit physically tired - a fall in shoulder high nettles and brambles when solo is not for the faint hearted like me!

If anyone wants to do searching of areas like this - a few hints.
1. Dominant quantities of young birch trees seem to be indicative that ground has been thorughly scraped/sterilised - this occurs around bromborough, eastham, larton and bidston.
2. Look for older estalished trees such as beech or oaks - this has paid of many times, the bulldozers miss these areas out and leave things behind.
3. Best areas seem to be where there is a natural mix of plants - namely nettles, hawthorn, brambles, ground clearings (because of tree cover) and ivy. This shows the area has had minimal man-interference and so has not been thoroughly cleared.
4. Trees fallen over for no apparent reason - sometimes indicates there is concrete bases underneath, tree couldn't root properly and falls over. Sometimes if brick bases the trees pull bricks out the ground when they fall - have a good look at fallen trees at the root end.
5. FLAT wet areas but only a couple of inches sinkage - often concrete bases underneath - no drainage.
6. Furrows - usually at 3 foot or 6 foot spacing - indicate heavy bulldozing.

Couple of pictures of concrete structure later - if you actually read this far.

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Well come on... Put em up !


Over 5000 years of Wirral History:
Doctor_Frick #319806 17th May 2009 3:43pm
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Ok Fricky, especially for you...

RAF West Kirby

Attached Images
IMG_0500s.JPG (65.03 KB, 299 downloads)
Everybody does on e of these memorial picture, so here is mine.
IMG_0501s.JPG (115.21 KB, 294 downloads)
An attempt at photographing the furrow, they look like they are made from the wheesl of those bulldozers they use at rubbish tips, with the square spikes sticking out the wheels that would crush anything - and are presumably high grip.
IMG_0502s.JPG (132.08 KB, 289 downloads)
Another picture of the furrows, they are much more pronounced than they look here.
IMG_0503s.JPG (109.63 KB, 636 downloads)
One corner of the concrete "tank" or bund
IMG_0504s.JPG (103.62 KB, 293 downloads)
The sidewall of tank or bund.
IMG_0505s.JPG (98.79 KB, 288 downloads)
I found this pizza hut ballon, tried to write WikiWirral on it but failed!
IMG_0506s.JPG (86.22 KB, 297 downloads)
Some of the roadways
IMG_0507s.JPG (67.85 KB, 294 downloads)
Some more of the roadways
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nice pics d.d. thumbsup


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TRANCENTRAL #320029 17th May 2009 10:54pm
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GREAT PICS EXCELLENT DESCRIPTIONS THERE DD

marilyn #320053 17th May 2009 11:41pm
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lol DD, nice attempt on the ballon smile good pics though bud.


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Sanchez #320083 18th May 2009 12:25am
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Originally Posted by Sanchez
lol DD, nice attempt on the ballon smile good pics though bud.
I'll have to add a marker pen to my pocketfulls of bits I take with me when I'm out on a wander - just in case.


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diggingdeeper #320085 18th May 2009 12:26am
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You need a sharpie DD wink


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