This is a 'The Gunners Store Ltd' Web Site
| Registered Company Details |
| Vickersgun.com is an information and sales web site owned and operated by The Gunners Store Ltd |
| Sentimental Journey Ltd is a Company Registered in England and Wales with company number 4620443 |
| Registered Address: 35-37 Chapelgate Sutton St James Lincolnshire PE12 0EF UK Email: Sales@thegunner.net |
As a part of The Gunners Store Ltd, we specialise in the Vickers Machine Gun, stocking a huge range of accessories and (UK legal) spares. The Company is run on a day to day basis by Ian Durrant, a proud Ex TA Gunner (see photo right, arrowed, when he was a lot younger than he is now, he had hair then!!), who is interested in artillery, Vickers MG's and 3" Mortars, amongst many other things, including Clay and .22 target shooting when he gets the chance.
The photograph at right was taken at the end of Exercise Keystone in Germany in 1988, at which point Ian Lance Bombardier, 'coverer' (second in charge) of E Subsection, (the 105mm Light Gun behind the crew), 100 (Yeomanry) Field Regt. The gun No1, Sgt Dick Dunkley, is standing directly below the barrel.
Ian is ably supported by his wife Mandy (who is a keen .22 target shooter and ex RAF Reservist) who takes care of the accounts.
Although now hard to come by, whenever possible we buy in Vickers guns and in the case of WW1 guns refurbish them as much as possible, strip off old paint and where legal, and stocks exist, replace items (such as grad plates, cocking handles, sights, oil bottle caps etc) which have been changed during service for later components withVSM or unmarked components. (See photo right of L4500 being restored and the finished result of a B series gun). At the time of writing we are about to start on L3663, made during February 1916 and complete with a 1915 tripod, rarer than the gun!! This example has matching serial numbers and has survived pretty much untouched from WW1 as a drill purpose (DP) gun, which has been stamped on just about every component!
In addition to stocking original spares we also hold reproductions of items which are now scarce. These include WW1 pattern hoses, WW2 hose connectors, barrel wraps, ammo box carriers and thread protectors.
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'JEAN' |
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| Here she is, our company Vickers Gun, Serial Number L3663
made February 1916. She has obviously had a hard life, much of her water jacket
phospate is very thin and she is stamped DP throughout, however she retains all
her VSM components except for the barrel which is an MA, which means she is a
virtual time capsule as a Vickers. Unusually the steam tube carries the date
1915. All her serial numbers are matching, and she will sit on the 1915 dated
tripod she came with. So, why is she called Jean? Well after stripping the paint the slight wear marks of a Sangster tripod were found, along with a faint but readable 'Jean' etched (probably by paint) along the line where the water jacket fits the rear mounting. We believe this to date from WW1 as the green paint was almost certainly WW2 (and would reflect usage in WW2 from the MA barrel), and the DP marks and stamps were over the lettering. A really historic piece, and as a named gun virtually unique. Does anyone else have an originally named gun out there? |
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| And this is how we like them to end up after
restoration!. B Series Vickers made 1917 which we sold, complete with its box, after we had cleaned and fitted VSM marked sights etc. |
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| L4500 was particularly interesting, virtually untouched from its WW1 configuration, including the sight grad. plate, as the paint came off it was possible to make out sand and green camouflage from the Western Desert. It was too late to save that as the paint stripper had bitten, but underneath on the original phosphate was the clear wear marks of a Sangster tripod. Without a doubt this gun had spent at least two wars in the front line! It is now in the hands of a private collector. |